ScubaCinci

We did a fairly relaxed pace last year with some more exuberant spurts here and there (though for much of the time it was only three of us). It's not a race and everyone should have the routes so if some want to blast through, they can do so and if some want to take it slower and stop for some snapshots, they can do that as well. We'll all end up in the same spot eventually and it's a big enough group that there will probably always be others with a like-minded pace. Like all the organized rides, no one should be riding at a pace they are uncomfortable with...let's all get there and back without a mishap.

It's pretty simple on the Tenere if you have the right tool...I know it's a major PITA for a lot of bikes but some have a pretty long service interval which helps. It's every 6K on the Tenere.

Yep, there sure is but I've never been there. It's about 15 mins from my house. To follow up on my recommendation for Cadre Cycle...I had heard a great many things about them but had never gone there until recently. I just had my throttle bodies synched there - cost me $23. I was shocked...I would've thought it be at least $50. I bet if I brought to a regular dealer they would've hit me with a $75 minimum. When I expressed how surprised I was at the cost the guy told me, "We're an honest shop. If it only takes us 15 minutes to do something, that's all we charge". I'll totally be going back there from now on...the best part is it's located 1.6 miles from my house so I walked home after dropping it off and walked up there to pick it up.

Mine was from the fall trip we did last year

and this

The problem is my imagination runs wild...especially if it's a river. No telling what you are going to come across [[shiver]] I finished the video (there's no audio - didn't feel like having copyright issues with Youtube)

That reminds me of an old joke... Anyone know why Tim has big nostrils? He's got big fingers yuk yuk yuk

Yep, that's what I did but I recreated the routes so there were more waypoints lest the software try to fast route me -

Ouch

Sygic updated their app on iOS today and guess what??? Still can't fucking import routes Oh well...the Garmin will do.

Cadre Cycle in Blue Ash has been great and gets a lot of positive word of mouth from locals. Might be a bit far for you. They are a Moto Guzzi dealer and do a lot of euro bike work including BMW (most of them worked at the BMW dealer that used to be in Cinci).

HAd my throttle bodies synched...picking up the bike this evening. She should be ready to go!

If you're lucky it won't catch fire either

Anyone mind if I bring my dog along

???

A* gloves run small IMO. Get at least 1 size bigger than normal. I don't have large hands and I have to wear a 2XL in A* where normally I wear a L/XL in others. Also, my experience is that their quality is no better than anyone elses (except Cortech, I'm done with their stuff). My tourmaster and FirsGear gloves have been great.

I couldn't do those zero vis dives...I've been all over the world diving and the Caymans are tops on my list - Little Cayman especially.

If you are asking me, no, I'm not an instructor. I have several friends that are though.

Similar to how people are on bikes...one close call and they hang it up. I get it. I have my advanced cert and my wife is a master diver but we don't do anything but recreational dives. The only wrecks we do are the ones sunk for reefs and generally we don't penetrate unless it's pretty wide open. That's one of the reasons I like the Caymans...water is warm, clear, very little (if any) current, lots to see, and navigation is relatively simple. We are seriously considering moving there in 10 years. We are going to Raja Ampat in Indonesia in Feb for a 3 week trip. We are going to spend some time in Bali on the way out and stay a few days in Dubai on the way back.

He must have felt the hate...I didn't know you were a diver.

Not that anyone missed me but I was in the Caymans doing some diving for a few weeks. Luckily, Matthew turned north and missed the Caymans or it may have been ugly. We were on a live aboad dive boat for 10 days so depending on where we were, our shelter may have been limited. Anyway, it's always fantastic diving there and I thought I'd share some pics and vids from the trip. The reefs there are protected and it's a very popular diving destination so the wildlife there is very used to having divers in the water. Some even like interacting with them. There are several large groupers there that follow divers around like a dog and like to be petted. This is one of them (I think they named him Freddie)... There was also a nurse shark that they call FINS (friendly inquisitive nurse shark) that is very friendly as well. I was able to pet it a few times...it's very surreal. Here is a video another diver shot of FINS scaring the shit out of another diver who didn't know it was there. This is a shot of Bloody bay wall off of Little Cayman. The top of the wall is about 40 feet and then it drops straight off for thousands of feet after that. Here is me hanging out near one of the wrecks... One of the many swimthroughs around the islands...most are might tighter and longer than this. One of the friendly turtles that comes right up to you. All of the stills and the first video were taken with my GoPro. I have a bunch more video and will be doing a compilation on Youtube when I have the time.

My father in law was a doctor and he always said never operate on a healthy organ. Contrary to his advice I had LASIK 12 years or so ago. At the time, my prescription was such that I had to wear hard lens contacts and I could not wear sports goggles. I never could comfortably put in or wear the contacts. I played a lot of sports and of course scuba diving and so it really made sense for me to do because these things are difficult to do with regular glasses. However, I did and do have some issues. I still to this day have dry eyes where I never had them before and at night I get a lot of starburst and glare from the lights. These aren't huge issues but the dry eyes were fairly bad for me for years. I always had to carry eye drops with me and put gel in my eyes before bed as without them I would wake up with my eyes nearly dried shut. This was mostly in the winter when the humidity was low. Over the years this has gotten better but I still have to use the drops now and then. There are a lot of people that have really severe dry eye and other issues, it's a small percentage but it happens. I always tell people if you can wear contacts don't do the LASIK. If you can't wear contacts then consider it carefully. Looking back, had I been able to wear contacts I wouldn't have done the procedure. Don't be sucked in by the marketing stuff. Read up on issues people have. I found out 20/20 vision just means you can read x sized letters at x distance (I forget the metrics). Even if you see double but can read them, you still have 20/20 vision. It says nothing about your visual acuity. For a lot people it's the best thing they ever did. For others, it's a nightmare. Not trying to scare you, just don't take it lightly. I wear glasses again but am not dependent on them. I can see well but not crisply and especially since I'm on the computer all day, wearing them helps. Once I become dependent on them again, I'll give contacts another shot.

A close call is when I stopped riding like an asshole. It happens...we either learn from it and become a safer rider or we keep pushing it and maybe never get the chance to learn from a second incident. As I tell people nowadays - as I age my sense of adventure is being overtaken by my sense of self-preservation.

I'd rather take a beating than eat that shit

Sunflower seeds in the shells are nice snacks because it takes forever to eat a lot of them and it takes the edge of hunger between meals. Pistachios are the same way though you can do some calorie damage with those if not careful. I also like the Dannon Lite n Fit yogurt - only 70 calories per container (sold in 4-packs). Great for after workouts with a piece of fruit. I honestly don't snack much anymore. I keep some seeds at my desk at work for those times I need a little something and that's it. We don't keep chips, cookies or stuff like that in house. The one thing I crave on a regular basis - PIZZA (drool). It's my kryptonite.