Couple Of Old Classic .. Cars.

Well.. actually, mostly just one. :)

I went for a ride this weekend, the V-Strom needed a new set of chain and sprockets. It's a 2006 V-Strom, and I bought it in Nov of 2013 as a companion bike to the FJR, which had been giving me some trouble in the latter part of 2013.  This V-Strom had mostly been a garage queen when it was living with it's previous owner. It barely had about 5000 miles on it when I bought it. A 7 year old bike with that little mileage obviously meant it mostly just sat in the garage a lot, so when I bought it I replaced all the fluids in the bike, put new tires on, new plugs, new filters, basically did ALL the requisite maintenance and tune-up except for the chain and sprockets. I have put another 8000 miles on it since then, but despite regular cleaning and oiling, the chain was getting in pretty bad shape and had just started spitting O-rings, which is a death knell for a chain, but understandable since this bike previously just sat around for so long. 

Long story short! I rode up to see my motorcycle guru in Fernley for some chain-work and took the slightly longer but much more fun way over Carson and Monitor passes. I am still looking through those pictures at the moment, and when they are ready - so will I be, to do another trilogy (hopefully) of 'Road Reports' in the Sierra mountains. 

Till then, I thought maybe you would like to take a look at some old classic cars that I found along the way in Markleeville, CA. This was on Mother's Day and a couple of them were out for a Mother's Day drive together.

First up was a pristine restored/maintained 1950s (I forget which year exactly) Hudson Hornet. This is the only picture I took of it, before I caught sight of the car that I fell in love with..

1950s Hudson Hornet.

Hike and Shoot - Lupine Fields of Folsom Lake (Not Motorcycling Content).

I recently joined some photographers' social clubs. One of them had a meet to explore and shoot pictures of the Lupine fields of Granite Bay State Park, besides Folsom Lake. 

The Lupines are in full bloom right now, although they are much diminished from previous years due to the severe drought we are currently enduring. 

Nevertheless, it was a fun photo shoot, made some new friends, also with some people who were out there exploring with their kids in tow, and they modeled for us, which was great! 

Since I have all the requisite model releases now, I am sharing the pictures here with you. I hope that you enjoy them! :)

A Walk in Fields of Purple.

Save A Horse, And Ride The Motorcycle.

There is always a good reason to go ride and to go take pictures, but sometimes the good reason is also for a good cause. 

All About Equine in El Dorado Hills held a fundraiser today, so I rode my own steel horse there to support them. It was open to the public to picnic, and wander the stalls, and look at the Horses and other farm animals that this animal rescue takes care of, and puts up for adoption. 

I was there as part of a photography group - which had organized a photo shoot for the benefit of this rescue organization. We had so called backstage access to the horses, so in addition to pitching in a few funds to keep the wheels turning at this rescue, we were also donating our pictures to them (in my case those that were any good, animals are hard to photograph), or the ones that the rescue might want to use. They have many good looking and some very friendly horses up for adoption. I didn't take a picture of every one of them. 

This rescue does not adopt out gnarly or ragged rescue horses, they rear them back to health (if need be), before the horses are put up for adoption. 

If you or your friends love horses, please feel free to help spread the word. There are animal rescue organizations which go belly up all the time - in fact All About Equine has even rescued horses from other rescues which had failed. 

Here is their info: All About Equine.

I am posting up some pictures, that I took this day. I was here for about 2 hours, talked to the volunteers, talked to the photographers, roamed the grounds etc, before stretching the legs of my steel (well, aluminum mostly) horse for the rest of the afternoon. 

Friends..

Looking through a new lens.

Spring is finally upon us. Even though it feels like it arrived in February, as we didn't really get a Winter season with all it's accompanying rain this year, in another week it will officially be the end of the rainy season in California and the beginning of the sunny season. 

As if on cue, I picked up a new Nikon last week, I have been wanting one for a few years now, watching and waiting for just the right one for me, and finally pulled the trigger last week on a Nikon. I could have waited till the end of the year for better deals this holiday season, might have even saved some money, but I couldn't fathom the thought of going through three more seasons before finally getting my hands on one. This certainly wasn't an impulsive instant gratification thing, I have been waiting a few years for this. 

I haven't had much time to get familiarized with the new equipment and lenses, just a couple of outings on a mostly rained out weekend, before work has separated me from my new love. 
Foolishly, I had jumped right into very shallow depth of field snaps - to mixed results. This camera is unforgiving of rookie mistakes, and a shallow depth of field requires you to nail the focus exactly where you want it to be. Yet here I was fiddling with AF areas and modes etc. as I played around, even throwing in focus and recompose into the fray. I didn't always succeed, actually mostly didn't, but maybe more practice will make perfect. 

What follows are a few examples of my goof ups, which I felt were decent enough to share. Here is to hoping that I get better, much better. That would be something! :)

Hopefully you would enjoy looking at these, even if they are nowhere near perfect!

A Rose at Villa Toscano, an Amador County Winery.

Ice House Rd - Riding the Sierras Series.

The savvy reader has probably figured out by now, that I have split one ride into three different road reports. It would seem I was taking a page out of Hollywood's playbook, but that's not so. It actually was the intention - report on one road per blog post. Instead of one blog post with a glut of pictures on all three roads, we now have three (hopefully) useful blog posts to keep a reader's attention. 

For more detailed road Intel on this road - Pashnit.com can be a good resource.

Needless to say, this road report picks up where the previous one had left off. Wentworth Springs Rd dead-ends into a T-junction. Turn left and you head into ever more desolate wilderness - the road is rough and bumpy, but the rocky and rugged views can be engaging as you head towards Loon Lake Reservoir.

Wentworth Springs Rd. - Riding the Sierras Series.

The second in a series of pictorial blog posts focusing on one local motorcycling road at a time. Once again presented in the context of a rider's-eye view. For reasons which will become evident as you read on - Wentworth Springs Rd is an extremely well known and popular motoring road around here. It starts in the Sierra Foothills out of Georgetown, CA and spits you out in the Sierra Mountains. Positioning you perfectly with two choices to weigh - Into the wilderness to the North, or to the South on another delightfully delicious winding road back towards civilization. Those two choices to be the subject of another blog post another time. 

Once again, not meant to be a Road Guide. I will once again refer you over to Pashnit.com for Intel on Roads in California.

The first 14 miles or so out of Georgetown are "boxed in",  even if ever more sparsely populated as you traverse. The road is still more or less lonesome (look to the right of the photo below..). The lonesomeness depends much on the day you are riding through. :)

Salmon Falls Rd. - Riding the Sierra Foothills Series.

Just a short pictorial blog post about a local road. Presented in the perspective of a rider's-eye view. Thinking of doing some pictorial series of the kind. This would be the first of that series. 

Not meant to be a definitive road guide or anything resembling the like (Pashnit.com is a good resource for road Intel in California). This is just for fun. 

Salmon Falls Road. A short but fun road, right in my backyard. Getting busier as the years roll on, it's best motorcycling days are way behind it. Depending on the day and your luck, it could be wide open with no cars, no squids and no CHP, or it can be chock-full of all of them. Roll the dice, take a chance, but ride prudently and safely!

When you come to a fork in the road. Take the one more fun!