Day Fourteen

   

"Gizmo's To-Do List for Today"

Wednesday
September 18, 2002

Santa Fe, NM -
Gallup, NM

324 miles

5:25 riding time

3 Passes Today
43 Passes To Date

Gizmo's To-Do List
for Wednesday, September 18th, 2002

  1. Beep ... beep ... beep.  Awake at 6am to wristwatch alarm.
  2. Crawl out of bed.  Stand-up .... slowly.
  3. Yawn
  4. Pee.
  5. Stretch.
  6. Scratch.
  7. Tear open hermetically sealed coffee-pre-packed-in-filter, dropping packet on floor.  Grunt.
  8. Make coffee in tiny little motel room coffee maker, which is admittedly better than nothing, but not much.
  9. Tear open "Koffee Kondiments Kit", spilling contents on floor.
  10. Identify faux synthi-cream product.  Ignore Surgeon General's health warnings.
  11. Pour two cups of coffee.  (One for Whizmo, unappreciative jerk.)
  12. Turn on all the lights.  Did that wake you up, Whizmo?  Threaten him with melted ice from last night's ice bucket.
  13. Turn on TV. Try to find The Weather Channel (whether we need it or not).  Settle for local news. 
  14. Do stretching exercises and sip coffee while watching interview of Shoney's waitress who fingered terrorists who turned out not be.  Grunt.  Groan.  Where did I put the Ibuprofen?
  15. Brush teeth. 
  16. Shave.
  17. Shower.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.
  18. Take daily morning picture of self.
  19. Find Ibuprofen, take two.
  20. Dress for riding:  Bicycle shorts, long-sleeve thermal undershirt, long johns, long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, socks, Levis, riding boots.
  21. Pack clothing bag.  It fit yesterday ... hmmm, what's different?
  22. Pack equipment bag.
  23. Pack tank bag.
  24. Head for lobby to scan for free breakfast stuff (a standard feature of Hampton Inns™)
  25. Assemble breakfast:  Raisin bran + cheerios with yogurt, banana, apple.  More coffee.
  26. Try to open sealed plastic package of Costco vitamins.  Try to find tear spot which may or may not be there.  Try to tear with teeth.  Growl.  Finally get it open, spilling vitamins on floor. 
  27. Take vitamins.
  28. Return to room. 
  29. Put aloe vera on sun-burned face.
  30. Put sun-block on sun-burned face.   Contemplate futility of applying suntan lotion after burn.
  31. Put on electric jacket.
  32. Gather bags and riding suit.
  33. One last scan of the room.  Nothing left behind.  I hope.
  34. Head for bike.
  35. Load bags onto bike.
  36. Step into Aerostich riding suit.
  37. Put on glove liners.
  38. Check tire pressure.
  39. Check oil level.
  40. Connect GPS. 
  41. Activate today's route to Gallup.
  42. Examine earplugs.  They look like I've been using the same set since 1970.
  43. Dig out a new pair of earplugs.
  44. Try to open hermetically sealed earplug pouch.  Drop earplugs on ground.
  45. Insert earplugs after trying to clean them, citing the "two-second" rule.
  46. Put on sunglasses.
  47. Pull on helmet.
  48. Wriggle into electric riding gloves.
  49. Connect electric riding gloves to electric riding jacket.
  50. Connect thermostat to electric riding jacket and electric riding gloves, plug into electrical outlet on bike.
  51. Adjust thermostat for suit, electric grips, heated seat.  Fret about anticipated cold toes during morning ride.
  52. Check camera.
  53. Start bike.
  54. Smile, thanking BMW for building such an awesome touring machine, and Santa Fe BMW for getting us in yesterday.
  55. Look for Whizmo's nod - we're ready to go.
  56. Find nearest gas station.
  57. Fill gas tanks.
  58. Clean windshield on bike and helmet.
  59. Reset odometer trip meter.
  60. Adjust windshield height.
  61. Make final adjustments to helmet for air circulation.
  62. Ride.
  63. Grin with abandon.
  64. Take lots of pictures.
  65. Scan for deer, bear, elk, moose, dogs, antelope, porcupines, etc.
  66. Come up with great idea for today's web page.
  67. Find gas station.
  68. Fill gas tanks.
  69. Clean windshield on bike and helmet.
  70. Ride.
  71. Scan for police, slow-moving vehicles, interesting photo ops.
  72. Take lots of pictures.
  73. Try to remember earlier great idea for today's web page.
  74. Find gas station.
  75. Fill gas tanks.
  76. Clean windshield on bike and helmet.
  77. Ride.
  78. Hope for another chance to get the great once-in-a-lifetime picture I just missed.
  79. Stop, pose for pass shot.
  80. Take lots of pictures.
  81. Remember to tell Whizmo funny story about today's ride.
  82. Bathroom break.
  83. Eat lunch at CC's Paisano Pizzeria in Cuba NM
  84. Slip W&G card behind promotional shot of Branscombe Richmond taped to wall (is that his real name?)
  85. Wait for thunderstorm to pass.  Fret about lightning.
  86. Find gas station.
  87. Fill gas tanks.
  88. Clean windshield on bike and helmet.
  89. Ride.
  90. Stop, pose for pass shot.
  91. Scan for humorous local color stuff to poke fun at.
  92. Take lots of pictures.
  93. Try to remember funny story I was going to tell Whizmo about today's ride.
  94. Find gas station.
  95. Fill gas tanks.
  96. Pee.
  97. Clean windshield on bike and helmet.
  98. Ride.
  99. Try to remember humorous local color stuff that had me laughing so hard earlier.
  100. Take lots of pictures.
  101. Stop, pose for pass shot.
  102. Try to remember anything from today's ride.
  103. Find Holiday Inn Express in pouring rain in Gallup NM.
  104. Plead for ground-floor room.
  105. Drag bags and gear into (grumble grumble grumble) second-floor motel room, #221, with lovely view of I-40.
  106. Shed wet riding suit.
  107. Shed wet riding jacket.
  108. Shed damp riding clothes.
  109. Hang wet riding gear up to dry.
  110. Take shower.  Much better!
  111. Unpack gear.
  112. Take daily picture out motel room window.
  113. Send Whizmo to get beer, pretzels, and Frito-Lay brand bean dip.
  114. Unplug floor lamp.
  115. Plug in extension cord.
  116. Plug Whizmo's extension cord into my extension cord.
  117. Plug in MP3 player, portable speakers.
  118. Listen to "Music to Compose Websites By, Whizmo & Gizmo's Favorite Travelin' Road Music" in the background.
  119. Plug in computer.
  120. Connect laptops with crossover cable.
  121. Find telephone line, connect modem.
  122. Try dialup, pray for a reasonable connection speed.
  123. Download new email since last night.
  124. Curse ISP.  Curse hotel switchboard limiting connection speeds.
  125. Disconnect from ISP.
  126. Move pictures from camera to hard drive.
  127. Recharge camera battery.
  128. Format camera memory card.
  129. Rename all pictures to something momentarily meaningful, yet undecipherable a day later.
  130. Start composing daily page in FrontPage 2002.
  131. Curse Microsoft.
  132. Try to remember extraordinarily clever opening devised earlier in day while riding. 
  133. Give up, go with something lame and contrived instead.
  134. Select images for inclusion in today's report from pooled pictures.  Praise Canon.
  135. Edit pictures in Photoshop Elements. 
  136. Praise Adobe.
  137. Write prose.  Select photos.  Edit photos.  Add captions.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.
  138. Think of new contest.  Run it by Whizmo.  Negotiate.  Cajole.  Pout.  Repeat.
  139. Generate the daily map using Microsoft Streets & Trips and Photoshop Elements.
  140. Curse Microsoft, praise Adobe.
  141. Fetch the daily mileage and riding time from Garmin GPS V, add to stats area next to map.
  142. Praise Garmin.
  143. Deliver my generated content to Whizmo's machine for editorial review.
  144. Download tomorrow's route and maps into Garmin GPS V.
  145. Read all new mail. 
  146. Sort mail into contest entries, mailing list maintenance, general correspondence.
  147. Collate contest entries in Excel.
  148. Mildly curse Microsoft.
  149. Admire reader's wit, wisdom and cleverness.  Steal their best stuff to make us look better.
  150. Argue with Whizmo about scoring contest entries.  My friends should win more often.
  151. Do mailing list maintenance and updates.
  152. Reply to email.
  153. Write daily notification mail.  Try to be clever.  What, again?
  154. Back up mailing lists to Whizmo's machine.
  155. Back up all W&G mail to Whizmo's machine.
  156. Enter daily expenses into spreadsheet.
  157. Connect to ISP.
  158. Curse ISP.
  159. Post website updates from Whizmo's machine.
  160. Check to make sure the links seem to work.
  161. Call wife to ask her to check that the links actually work.
  162. Cross fingers.
  163. Send notification mail.
  164. Drink.  Repeat.
  165. Eat dinner.
  166. Beg waitress to let me take picture with her holding W&G card.
  167. Call wife for daily update from the home front.  Say hi to dog on the phone.
  168. Pack gear.
  169. Lay out clothes for tomorrow.
  170. Take two Ibuprofen.
  171. Go to bed.
  172. Think of all the things I could have done better in today's posting.
  173. Think about how this is a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and how extraordinarily lucky I am to be doing it.
  174. Nod off with smile on face.
  175. Go to #1.

 

Ed and Ron at Santa Fe BMW kept us on
the road with minimum downtime

18.  Take daily photo of self

Los Alamos commuters.  Great road,
too many cars.

How bad a day could it be with a
rainbow like this starting out?

Pretty nasty

Brief respite from bad weather

Welcome to Cuba, New Mexico!

Watch out Branscombe (if that's your real
name), here come Whizmo & Gizmo!

"Whizmo & Gizmo?  That sounds like
two cartoon characters."

More bad weather ahead

and more

See #96

See #101 (damn rain)

Bad weather was a theme today

Hey, make me part of a W&G contest!

Drying out the 'stich

Contest #9 - Motorcycle Trivia - Results

This was a fairly tough contest as no one got all the answers correct.  But reader (and MSF instructor) Bruce Scott distinguished himself quite well by answering correctly 12 of 14 possible.  Congratulations Bruce!  Bryan Grover was a close runner-up with 11 right, followed by Russ Richards who bagged 10.

Here are the answers to Contest #9, 'Motorcycle Trivia':

1.  What brand of motorcycle did Bronson ride in the hit, and in our opinion underappreciated TV show "Then Came Bronson"? Harley-Davidson.  I believe he rode a Sportster.  Needless to say, he packed lighter than we do.
2.  What slogan catapulted Honda to the top of the motorcycle sales chart in the 60's? "You meet the nicest people on a Honda."  This is generally accepted as one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history because it reversed the image of motorcycling as a rough/tough sport and created a whole new market for clean, efficient, reliable, Honda motorcycles.
3.  What was the nickname of Suzuki's first water-cooled motorcycle?  (We're looking for the American nickname, not the British.) Water Buffalo due partly to the bike's bulky styling.  The Brits also used the term "Kettle".
4.  What brand of motorcycle did Fonzie ride in the hit TV show "Happy Days"? Triumph.  Several readers mentioned that he rode a Harley in early episodes and Google turned up some references to this possibility.  In every episode I ever saw, he was on a Triumph so that was what I was looking for.
5.  As taught by the MSF, what does 'SIPDE' stand for? Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute.  Gizmo gave this answer a couple days ago in his report.
6.  In terms of US circulation, what is currently the most popular motorcycle magazine? Cycle World.  While a bit fluffy, this is still a great motorcycle magazine, with crisp editing, superb photography, and witty columns..
7.  What was the name of the first Honda motorcycle with a V4 engine? I was looking for "Sabre" to identify the 1982 Honda VF750S V45 Sabre.  A couple readers also mentioned "Magna" which was the cruiser version of the Sabre and both were produced in 1982.  So either answer is acceptable.  Many of you mentioned the 1969 Honda CB750 which was a revolutionary bike, but its engine was an inline-4, not a V4.
8.  What recreational equipment manufacturer once owned Harley Davidson? AMF, of bowling ball fame.  AMF's acquisition of Harley went very poorly and the AMF-years are considered Harley's darkest days.  Harley became independent again in the mid-80's and has been wildly successful since.
9.  Who invented the first gasoline-powered motorcycle? Gottlieb Damlier.  You'll hear more about this later.
10.  What TV celebrity owns a gas-turbine-powered motorcycle? Jay Leno.  In very limited production, I believe it uses a small helicopter turbine engine.  Reader J. Ozinski says that it is for sale so give Jay a ring if you're interested.  Leno tells an amusing story where a small compact car pulls up too closely behind him at a stoplight.  The bike's hot exhaust melted the bumper of the car.
11.  What movie star did his own motorcycle stunts in the movie "The Great Escape"? Controversy here.  I was looking for Steve McQueen and it is my understanding that he performed all the motorcycle stunts with the exception of the final grand jump where a double was used.  In any event, McQueen was an accomplished motorcycle rider/racer and highly skilled.
12.  Who won the 2002 500cc World MotoGP Championship? Valentino Rossi.  But I should have said "who will win the ... Championship" as contest winner Bruce Scott correctly points out that although Rossi has a commanding lead, there are a few races left and it is theoretically possible for Ukawa or Biaggi to catch him.
13.  What was the actual engine displacement of Honda's CB350 produced from the late-60's until the mid-70's? 325cc.  I know, minutia.  No one got this right.
14.  What two Japanese motorcycle manufacturers recently announced a major alliance to share products? Suzuki and Kawasaki.  Right now you can buy mechanically identical models of several dirt bikes in either yellow (Suzuki) or green (Kawasaki).  Most experts think this is a prelude to a merger where Suzuki and Kawasaki will be two brands from the same company, not unlike Honda and Acura.

 

!!!  New Contest - Contest #10 - You Be The Judge  !!!

And here's Contest #10, 'You Be The Judge!'  Whizmo and Gizmo are having so much fun judging your great entries that we decided we should turn the tables and let YOU be the judge so WE can win some cool prizes!  During one of the rare weather breaks this morning, we witnessed a very attractive sky with big puffy clouds and the sun casting beams our from behind the clouds.  We both took pictures, then started arguing with one another about whose picture was better.  Since we're deep in artist country down here in New Mexico, we thought that it would only be fair to put our compositions on exhibition in the W&G Art Gallery, with a brief note explaining the artist's perspective on the creation.  Your job is to vote for one or the other composition, based upon any criteria you choose.  And if you wish to add your own commentary about the pictures' relative merit, that might warrant consideration in a future contest.

Those yahoos at the Weather Channel predicted clear skies.
- Whizmo
 

In this *unmanipulated* image, I was inspired by the sun broadcasting its hopeful message of a brighter future, not just for Whizmo & Gizmo in their futile quest for commercial sponsorship, but for all of us. The dark areas in the bottom right corner symbolize the constant tension of man's struggle with nature, balanced against our natural blue-sky optimism in the upper left. The shafts of light indicate the individual paths we're all traveling in our unique journeys toward our individual, yet related destinations. I hope you feel the same inspiration that I feel when I witness such beauty in nature. Life. Love it or leave it.  Vote for me. Please. It's really, really important. Whizmo always rides in front, I need to come in first in something.
- Gizmo
 

To vote for Whizmo's artsy-fartsy shot, click here.  To vote for Gizmo's artsy-fartsy shot, click here.  One vote per person please.  This isn't American Idol.