The Niva

This was my Lada Niva. I had it from about 2004 to 2006. Picked it up in Caracas, and somehow it got us back to Puerto la Cruz without mishap. It was a small miracle after I learned about all the weird quirks of the vehicle as time went on. Cool car but it was always breaking down in one way or another. Never got to use it for its intended purpose, exploring offroad. The one time I tried, it broke down out in the boonies and had to get the help of a local to pull it up a hill with his truck so I could get it going down hill so I could eventually get it to run again. I think that was one of the last times I used it. A guy I worked with wanted it, I tried to warn him about it, but he bought it and flipped it for more money. Lesson learned.

Back at It

I have decided to start blogging again. I was heavy into FaceBook, a real time suck, but I've closed my account because of all the BS and decided I will publish my pics and stories here again. I might go back to using FB some day, but it will be a highly trimmed down version.

In the past my blog served as a diary of sorts, especially when living overseas in Venezuela. I am now back in the USA with my family, not sure if my post will be as interesting or colorful, but I am back in my hometown in New Mexico, we've been back for a little more than year.

The biggest news so far has been moving back to New Mexico, got a new job, new car, and a new bicycle. My new bicycle is probably the biggest deal. I have not had a new new bicycle since 1992. My custom Coconino is hand-built masterpiece by frame-builder Steve Garro (mentioned in other parts of the blog) whom I've known personally for at least 20 years. I am real happy and pleased how the bike turned out. It is an amazing ride.

More on everything later!

Bali Hai

I'll tell you a story...This pic is somewhat of an experiment on my camera's settings. Didn't really capture the image the way I saw it this morning. 

That is Isla Borracha (Drunk Woman Island), about 6 nautical miles NE of the mainland. It is my Bali Hai (if you know anything about old movies). It looked mysterious and beautiful the way the low angle light plays on those valleys. The first time I saw it, I wanted to go there.

One Sunday way back in early 2002, I paddled across in my kayak (Klepper Aerius II), alone, without telling anyone where I was going. It turned out to be a long open-water paddle that crossed a major shipping lane where I had to wait for a container ship to pass so I would not get run over. 

I thought there would be a place where I could buy lunch, like the other islands off the coast, but there was none; just a ramshackle fishing village, and a neat cove where people take their boats to picnic. 

Though I was bonking hard, I needed get back to the mainland, so I got back in the kayak and paddled back in choppy afternoon seas. I obvious made it back safely, but haven't tried that paddle again. 

Anyway, I still look at this island the same way every time I see it. Bali Hai!

Riding Babylonia Again

Today I went out for a ride and tried Babylonia; first time down since my crash. I first rode around El Morro some and took a few pics. 

I always count the ships waiting where I have a theory that more ships waiting means production bottle necks. Since I've been counting, the most I've counted was in the low 30s, and the least was in the high single digits.The number seems to hover between 13 to 20 on average. Today I counted 13 ships waiting to load or unload oil.

A pair of black vultures hanging out. They do this a lot; black vultures pair up and stay close to each other. 

A self-timer shot of descending the Babylonia Trail today was more difficult due to recent heavy rains. The rains have further eroded the slope and carried away rocks in some areas, and deposited more in others.

Bad Crash

Lately I haven't been writing much. It seems everyday the routine is much the same. My son Benjamin keeps growing and learning new stuff and that's pretty cool. 

Today was May Day - Labor Day and I went out for a bike ride. Did my usual out and back warm-up ride, then was going to head up El Cerro when I recognized a bunch of my bicycling friends hanging out at a Eazy-Up at the base of the hill. Jim Burke was playing the guitar, they had work stands set up to adjust your bike, it was a cool hangout. Darren has been buying bikes off e-bay and getting them shipped down. Today he had a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert full suspension. He offered for me to check it out. I hadn't ridden a geared bike in a while so I decided to go up The Rails and Fausto trails, then across the top of El Morro, then go down on The Babylonia trail.

All went well to a point. The bike handled well and climbed super. It was nice having gears to basically cruise up The Rails. Going up Fausto was about the same as on my single speed rigid Merlin. It went up pretty easy. The bike was light enough to haul up the hike-a-bike section. 

Where  my ride/plan fell apart quickly was on the Babylonia descent. This technical trail is steep, loose, and technical. At the drop-in, I nearly lost it, the fork diving too much and nearly lost control of the bike into a bush. The front end kept doing the same thing; squishing and wallowing. I could not control the bike. At one point halfway down, I laid the bike over (common mistake) but got back on quickly and kept heading down. The next section was the trickiest, the trail is steep with an erosion gully dipping across the trail with some large embedded rocks in the trail at a dogleg turn. I didn't make it. Instead, the front end got crossed up and I kept going down the trail where I did kind of a slow motion Pete Rose-like slide into the ground...unfortunately those large, firmly attached rocks were there to stop my face. I hit with a lot of momentum on with the left side of my face. My sunglasses went flying off and felt my teeth impact the rock through my lip.

The first thing I did was check if my teeth were still there, or loose, or broken. All good. Then my glasses...thought I lost the left lens but instead just gouged them deeply on the upper part of the rim and lens. I sat there for a few seconds, picked myself up and then picked up the bike. It seemed okay. 

Doh!

I got back on, somewhat in shock, and flailed down the trail successfully not crashing. I get to the tent and when everyone saw me, their faces got real grave. Apparently my glasses cut my forehead above my left eyebrow and I had quite a bit of blood on my face. After a minute trying explain what happened, I had to sit down. I was feeling very light headed. Don't know if it was shock or a mild concussion, but I sat there for a while listening to Jim's singing and guitar playing. 

Jim Burke

I think I'll stick to riding my full-rigid Merlin. Love that bike! 

Happy Trails 2011

Almost the end of the year. Its been an interesting one. Hope to make it back to the USA in early 2012. Though I like Venezuela, I really don't want to be here any more. Got to move forward. 

My biggest deal in 2011 has been the birth of my son in January. He is growing fast and is a great little guy.

                                                                       He's expressive...

                                                                                                 

and casually cool!

*****

Looking forward to 2012!

Pandion haliaetus

This osprey (Pandion haliaetus) has been hanging out lately. According to Wikipedia, the osprey here in South America are non-breeding migrants.

So I guess he is just here for vacation. 
Link: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

Clouds on the Sea

Always when I ride my bike, I try and take time to really appreciate where I am. Now carrying a camera all the time, gives me the opportunity to try and capture some of the things I see and experience when riding. Yesterday I was doing usual ride, and noticed the cloud reflections on the sea. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Shadow and Light

Was walking my son this morning when we walked past this. It stopped me in my tracks and had to go back and take a few photos. I like the contrasting shapes in light and shadow is somewhat of a brain-teaser.

Coragyps atratus brasiliensis

a.k.a. zamuro (Venezuela) or black vulture (USA). Not as big as its cousin the turkey vulture, these are quite common on El Morro here in Anzoategui, Venezuela. Their wings are also shorter and broader than turkey vulture, therefore they don't soar as gracefully as a TV; there is a lot more flapping of wings and more perching.

Saw these guys at my usual spot on El Morro while mountain biking this morning.

Isla Borracha

In 2000, I had been in Venezuela for about two weeks when I took my first trip to Puerto la Cruz. It is when I first saw Isla Borracha looking like this; late afternoon shadows highlighting the valleys, drainages, and sea-cliffs. Very striking in my opinion.

About 2 blocks from our condo, I took this the other day while walking Benjamin. 
(click on the pic to make it larger)

Nova no va!

 This is a common sight here. These guys will rebuild the car on the street.

Lecheria Bike Path

Shot from the hip while walking Benjamin.

El Morro Fun

Did a fun bicycle ride this morning. Rode to the top of El Morro via "La Pared" ("The Wall"), which is very steep as the name implies. I rode to this ridgeline and paused for a few minutes. This is a SE view from El Morro. 

Lecheria and its high-rise condos. The long coastline is mostly Playa Lido (our condo is one block off of Playa Lido), and the beach on the other side of the causeway is Playa Muerta (named because it doesn't get much wave action).

Cathartes aura

Nice turkey vulture, Cathartes aura, this morning. Not sure if these are permanent residents of El Morro or migrating transients. I see them all the time when riding my bike. 

Gymnomystax mexicanus

Saw this oriole blackbird, Gymnomystax mexicanus, at Parque Gen. Francisco Miranda (formerly called Parque de Este) in Caracas yesterday.

Be Happy

Back in Caracas and back at SAIME trying to solve my visa mess. No progress yet, but made progress on Benjamin's VE passport. Took a few pics this afternoon. My favorite is this one. Saw this statue while riding in a taxi. It is of Gen. Francico Miranda and his base is saying, "Be Happy" and "Infinite Love". Nice message from the generalissimo. 

Be Happy!

My Family

I love my wife and son!

Baby Blanco is Back

I bought Baby Blanco new for about $7000 cash in Nov. of 2003. She's been a great car and she is the car I've owned the longest. Recently I spent of bit of money getting her fixed; brakes, clutch adjustment, new ignition wires/tune-up, etc. Shortly after that, she stopped working due to an electrical failure of some kind. I took it to a battery place and the guy said it was a bad alternator, so not wanting to spend more money I let her sit for about 6 weeks. 

Finally, yesterday, I had contacted a one of our old ELA families who has an electric auto shop. They came over with a technician and he determined it was simply a bad battery. Doh! We got her started, drove it to the shop where they tested the electrical system (okay), and put in a new battery, cleaned the cables, etc. 

So now Baby Blanco is running great! We've ridden in a lot of taxis over the weeks and some have been really uncomfortable. I find Baby Blanco, as basic as she is, a very comfortable car. No weird vibrations, fairly smooth ride (for a car in its class) and kind of peppy (fun). 

She's a little rough around the edges.

Ride Pic of the Day

Ride pic of the day: assessing the morning's catch.