Weekend Riding

I've been trying to get some time in the saddle between now and June. Not having the bike handy during my work week makes it difficult, so I have been riding the spinbike at the gym and I have a home elliptical trainer (aka torture device). This weekend I ended up doing two good rides; Saturday I rode about 30 miles, and Sunday about 20 miles. Good fun, feeling good, and losing a little weight which makes the climbing a bit easier.

I took this pic on Saturday. Its been very hazy the last few weeks, probably due to range fires. Its very dry right now.

This is a pic looking down off the Acuaro trail. I've been cleaning this regularly, but today I dabbed (arrgh) on the entrance to the steep part (you can see it as that dark shadow just in front of the white jersey wearing rider).

I tried to get a pic of riders coming off the Fausto switchback, but it took me too long to get my camera out of my jersey pocket, turned on, etc. The pic I was going for was the riders all silhouetted against the sky on the switchback, also due to the hazy air quality right now. (There is that white jersey again.)

Anyway, killer rides!

Samana Santa...photos from today

Went for a ride this morning and came across this SUV.
I paused for a minute or two to watch pelicans. Pelicans are cool!

Then around 10:00 I picked up my workmate Matt at the airport. He was in western Venezuela during this Samana Santa break.
In the afternoon we checked out the beach near my condo and I took a few pics.

Crazy beach scene!
This is the Virgin of the Valle.
I like this building. A friend rented a tiny apartment on the top floor for a while. The views were amazing!

Samana Santa...Pedro Rides Again

Went out for a good ride this morning. It was a nice, cool morning, and I rode about an hour or so alone. As I was starting my second "vuelta" (lap), I ran into Pedro and friends who were going in the opposite direction...so I turned around to follow them. We rode for nearly 3 hours...and they had an hour head start on me.

Pedro is a good subject to photograph. His posture/position on the bike is nearly perfect and his facial expressions are always good. He is very focused on the bike. He's becoming an expert at descending the Acuario Trail.

Note: Click on each pic and it'll zoom larger so you can see what I mean about his focused look. Hit the back arrow button to return to the blog.

Under the Sea

Boat on Location

Barracuda!

Lizardfish

Sergeant-Major

Spotfin Butterfly Fish

Mixed Variety

We had access to a launcha on Sunday so we took advantage of it and motored to Isla Borracha . I ended up swimming more than a kilometer taking pics. Water was mostly warm but I am glad I wore my wetsuit top layer; a 3mm [thick] jacket.

The reef is healthy on the northside of the bay and was teaming with fish in those areas.

The camera used was my Canon SD-1000 instead of my A-530. The camera dry bag is for a larger camera like the A-530 and the SD-1000 was small for the bag so sometimes the photos were obscured by the plastic window housing, therefore I've cropped most of these photos to make them look a little nicer, otherwise everything else; color, light, etc. is how the camera captured the shot.

Saw a variety of fish including; a barracuda, a lizardfish, a couple butterfly fish, several sergeant-majors, tons of wrasses, a few damsel fish, and several other kinds of fish that I am not sure what they are.

Sailing

Capt. Dan

At the Tiller

A Broad Reach

The Sawana

Lunch Offerings

School O'Fish

Went sailing today with Daniel and Marino. Daniel bought the sail boat a couple of years ago, but it was in pretty bad shape and got even worse because of neglect. Finally during the Christmas break, Daniel and Marino recovered the boat from where it was tied up, and took it to Marino's place where he had his crew clean it. Boy howdy! What a difference! The boat still needs quite a bit of work, but is now sail-able.

We sailed a broad reach to Playa El Saco (motored the last mile since it was a direct headwind into the beach), had a killer lunch, then did some snorkeling (murky water due to the time of the year...did see some fish though).

Things were working pretty good until a strong wind ripped the mainsail on the way home, then it was motoring. The sail was dry rotted from sitting in the sun for such a long time and would have needed replacing anyway. Now Daniel and Marino will need to find a new sail.

Overall was a fun day on the water.

The Mini-Tiendas at C.C. Plaza Mayor

Bumper Cars at the "Parque Mechanical"

The "Ranger"

Ranger Danger!!

This weekend our teaching staff participated in a weekend professional development workshop. I gave a presentation on my science teaching ideas, inventions, and techniques that I have made over the years, and received a good reception from all those who attended.

Saturday's session was okay too. I enjoyed the math and the technology sessions I attended in the morning. The afternoon session wasn't as fun. During the "Job Alike" lunch, when I told the other teachers I taught 8 preps, their jaws dropped. They were teaching only 5 or 6 science only classes. I am not complaining. Its a challenge for sure, but I know I can do it. No sweat!

Saturday night, Tania wanted to go to Plaza Mayor for something to do. I had my camera (Canon SD1000) and took a few pics to keep myself entertained.

Arbol para Vivir

C.C. Plaza Mayor

Oscar

C.C. Plaza Mayor

Took some photos today. I love my latest Canon ELPH, the SD1000. Small, easy to carry, but lots of neat options to play with. Today I shot mostly in black and white. Here are my favorite shots taken today.