The Squamidian Report – Sept. 15 / 07
Issue #277
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Rumble to the Rock! That’s what it was called and it was pretty cool. It was one of those motorcycle rides aimed at gathering food for the food bank. So to register to ride along you simply needed to bring a bag of food. The staging point was Deeley Harley Davidson in Burnaby, the destination was Squamish. The day was warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Sue and I on our Hog, the neighbour up the street that we ride with and his wife on their Hog plus Ryan on the Virago all rode in together. Registration was at 9:30 so we got there, registered, and then walked over to a restaurant to grab a bite of breakfast. By the time we got back to Deeley’s the lot was full and bikes were starting to park out on the street. There were almost 600 bikes, most being Harley’s and the rest being metric cruisers. The official count was 592.
At 11AM we all fired up, sounding like a giant thunderstorm, and worked our way out onto the side street behind Deeley’s. The police then blocked Boundary Rd, First Ave and the on-ramp to the highway, as well as the highway itself so we could all move out together in one long convoy. That was cool, 600 bikes rumbling loud and deep as they revved and pull away. Ryan, neighbour Brian and I were about a quarter of the way back in the pack, riding together up within the first 100 bikes. Once on the highway we all moved into the fast lane so we wouldn’t be blocking any other ramps. Then through the tunnel and over the Second Narrows Bridge. At that point the highway becomes the Upper Levels Highway and we simply thundered along, riding in a staggered formation to Horseshoe Bay.
Just before Horseshoe Bay the convoy moved back to the right hand lane for the off-ramp onto the Sea to Sky. By this time there were several cars that had gotten mixed in with the bikes. Most of the cars drove along just fine but a few of them made real asses of themselves, tailgating, trying to pass where there was no passing lanes, that type of thing. The bikes moved at the speed limit and behaved themselves all the way to Squamish. Riding the Sea to Sky in a long double column of bikes is great. The combined rumble of the bikes magnifies as you go through rock cuts and along cliff faces. Pretty hard not to grin all the way.
The best places were the long uphill sections of highway, like the Furry Creek hill. That’s a long straight and fairly steep climb where the entire convoy accelerated, filling the whole Howe Sound fiord with the sound of 4-stroke air-cooled engines. Another cool uphill section is where we climb up out of Britannia. The down slopes had their own sound, as 592 bikes throttled back and downshifted. Again, very cool.
Squamish was ready for us. Down near the far end of the main drag is an open pavilion and grass area. They had a band playing, and venders had booths set up. Bikes were parked along both sides of the street for about 3 blocks. Everyone was well behaved, there was no garbage left laying and it was a relaxed event. None of the bikers bothered anyone by unnecessary revving or roaring up and down the streets. By mid afternoon bikers were leaving in small groups. Most were heading back to the city, some were heading north and the some of us that live in Squamish were already almost home. Can’t wait till the next run. It is biking at it’s best.
*
This time of year has to be the absolute best for stargazing. The nights can be clear and cool, the air can be clear and clean. The moon is currently absent so it can’t flood the sky with unwanted light. Both late evening and early morning have things to look at. The most obvious thing in the evening is Jupiter, sitting fairly low in the southwest. She is bright enough to show up before the sky turns dark. Once the sky is dark the Milky Way is visible high overhead. High and slightly east is Cassiopeia with the Milky Way as a backdrop. Slightly down in a southerly direction is the Andromeda Galaxy. She is visible as a naked eye object if you know how to find and look at her. At 200 million light years away, Andromeda is the furthest object the unaided human eye can see. To see her, you must first find her with your peripheral vision. It is more sensitive to light and will pick up Andromeda as a fuzzy patch of light.
Once you find her, you can then use your center vision if it is light sensitive enough. Good binoculars will bring in the center disk as well as the surrounding oval as it stretches across several degrees of sky.
The pre-dawn sky has Andromeda high in the west and the Milky Way will probably appear bright and crisp. The Dipper and Polaris highlight the northern sky. The southeast will show the winter constellations, featuring Orion. There is also the Pleiades, Aldebaran and Sirius. High above them is Mars, glowing bright reddish. Rising in the east is brilliant Venus, and if you have a clear view of the eastern horizon, Saturn will be following, about half way down to where the sun is. The bright star Regulus will be just above Saturn, helping you spot her. Enjoy.
doug
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Hello
Everyone!
I’m just
sitting here reading through my latest Princess Auto catalogue trying to figure
out what I want to add to my collection. We get this little booklet every two
weeks and each time there are bargains I find hard to pass up. Adam bought me a
5hp air compressor for Christmas a few years ago and since then we’ve purchased
pretty much every air powered tool that Princess has to offer. It’s nice to be
able to step out into the garage and know that you’ve got pretty much whatever
tool you might need to handle any job. I use the tools to work on the MG and
also on the motorcycle. The reason the air powered tools are so easily
obtainable is that they are so cheap to buy. Since they don’t have a built in
electrical motor, they are simple to manufacture and therefore can be priced
way below what an electric tool would be.
I’ve even
used the air powered chisel to break the limestone rocks when we were building
the pond out back. What a back saver that was. No swinging of a hammer or
sledge to wear you out when all you need do is squeeze the trigger on the air
chisel. I guess I’m spoiled after having the advantage of such tools at my
fingertips.
*
I guess
we’re in for another election here in Ontario. The Liberals have put us 1.5
billion deeper in debt over the last 4 years and are wanting back in to dig us
a little deeper for the next term. I for one will not vote Liberal after
McGuinty’s lies and deceptions have caused such hard feelings this past
term. The only thing that he and his
liberals have done this past term that will benefit many people in the fire fighting
profession is to have major illnesses recognized as being caused by the hazards
of the job. ie: heart conditions and various forms of cancer. This will entitle
many ill firefighters to benefits they were previously denied. For this I am
grateful to the Liberals. On the other hand Mr McGuinty has gone back on his
word with regards to increasing our taxes and this to me is an indication that
he cannot be trusted to another term in office.
The
Tory’s on the other hand have stuck their necks out by saying if elected they
will support full funding of “faith based” schools. If they do this, it will
cost the taxpayers an incredible amount of money that we cannot afford to pay.
What’s wrong with having all these people attend the public school system
that’s designed for people of any faith and already in place tax wise? I’m sure
if the PC’s continue to press forward with their support of funding faith based
education they will cut their own throats. People that I have talked to about
this have said that the Liberals have already committed us to the tax increase
so keeping them in power won’t be much more of a risk. Whereas putting the PC’s
in power will ensure that we will be burdened with a HUGE tax increase to allow
them to keep their promise to fund the “Faith Based” school systems. So, if the
Tory’s expect to be elected to govern Ontario for the next 4 years, they had
better drop the idea of funding the “Faith Based” school systems. I for one am
getting very tired of having the “politically correct minority rhetoric” shoved
down my throat. It’s been a favourite pet of the Liberals and now to have the
PCs jump on that band wagon is a bit too much for my liking! I sincerely hope
they see the light before they cost themselves the election over one unpopular
issue.
Gotta go
for this week. Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all
again next time in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
They say
a goldfish has a memory span of 3 seconds. Who are “They”? and how did they
figure this one out and at what cost?
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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