Signs of 50

Some thoughts about turning 50 this week...

Sarcasm, just one more service I offer.

Pushing 50 is exercise enough.

I have one nerve left… and you’re getting on it!

Thank you for not being perky.

I’m much too young to be this old.

I’m smiling, that alone should scare you.

I’m not deaf, I’m ignoring you.

Embarrassing my children, just one more service I offer.

Youth passes, but with luck immaturity can last a lifetime.

50 is when you still believe you’ll feel better in the morning.

“Not a morning person” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Where I live the squeaky wheel gets replaced.

I’ve forgotten more than you probably ever learned.

There’s no way to excuse the way I’m about to behave.

You can hold your stomach in for just so many years.

Do I look like a people person?

They’re making adults much younger these days.

I’m not anti-social… I’m just not very friendly.

Ever stop to think and forget to start again?

What if the “Hokey Pokey” really IS what it’s all about?

How about NEVER? Is never good for you?

I’m not tense, I’m just terribly alert.

I wasn’t flirting, I was just being friendly.

After 50 your body has a mind of its own.

All stressed out and no one to choke.

Drink coffee. Do stupid things faster and with more energy.

Everyone is entitled to my opinion.

Life is short, break some rules.

Mateship

Being a human kickstand while your riding mate runs in to the 7-11, is this good mateship?

A well known GT Rider was quite upset with me recently because I wouldn't meet with him to discuss what he called "mateship". I tried to explain to him that he was stepping beyond his boundaries. You know, the whole glass houses & stones thing. I don't think he understood. In my opinion, "mate" should be used as a noun and not as a verb, especially when you're talking about "mateship"

Maybe I'm missing something or is this a case of "farang rules don't apply here"?

Guilt

A picture is worth a thousand words. Look at this one, guilty or not guilty?

Luke and the pole he Hiekeled, doesn't he look guilty?

Lucky for me I didn't slow down to see what the sound behind me was as it was Luke's CRF250 trying to knock me down like so many bowling pins.

Off the road again

Me and my traveling buddy, Willie Nelson. We shared a few laughs in first class on our way from Houston to Raleigh a few years after the IRS busted him and he had to fly common carrier like the rest of us.

Anyway, yes I've been off the road and off the trail again. The off road part was on purpose but the off trail stuff wasn't. I think it's all Luke's fault. Justin and I were doing just fine exploring all of the off road trails we could find between home and Samoeng and then Luke came back and the old testosterone level got cranked up a few notches.

I learned to carry your own pain killers when adventuring in the jungle. I have Vicodin (codeine) for the small stuff like bruises and bumps and I also have some stronger stuff in case of compound fractures. It's a long way from the jungle to the hospital and the last thing I want to do is suffer while I'm bouncing along in the back of an old pickup. This is especially helpful if you're riding in Laos or Cambodia as the standard protocol if you need medical attention there is to get to Bangkok ASAP.

A crazy rooster spotted in a lychee orchard

BBQ the tree killer - at least I crashed with dignity and didn't slip in an oil spot on the side of the road and scar up my tg who was on the back.

Big & Tall says "good job"

Helmet cams at the ready, luckily they didn't capture my graceful dismount

Team Red shows us how it's done

Team Blue is not one to be outdone

Sometimes the trail is hard to see

You never know who you're going to find in the jungle

It's always good to have Ian along on the trail

Classic example...

... of why I enjoy living in Thailand vs. living in the US of A.

Click here.

Target is getting sued for not making their internet web site accessible to the blind?

Unbelievable... Welcome to the land of entitlement, the US of A.

Off road again

I've been riding off road with Justin just about every other day for the last month. If we had enough gear and didn't have to dry our boots out after every ride we'd probably be out every day.

Anyway, Luke just got back to Thailand after being in blighty for two months. He was anxious to see some of the trails we had discovered and anxious to get back on his CRF250. It had rained hard the previous two nights and the trails were wet so we thought we would head for the south side of Doi Pui and explore behind the Night Safari.

The south face of the mountain has somewhat steeper trails but they tend to be more hard/sandy/rocky/gravelly with very little clay so we thought that would be a good choice. It turned out that water running down the sandy hard packed trails didn't make for easy uphill riding so we abandoned our quest for the summit and headed to explore an enduro trail near the 1269 I discovered on a scouting trip a week earlier.

On the way to the enduro trail I heard a funny noise behind me and at the time, didn't think much about it as Luke and Justin were taking turns to see who could ride the longest wheelie. I got to the next turn and waited a few minutes for my friends and went to look for them after a few.

That funny noise I heard was Luke's CRF sliding up behind me and nearly tagging me while Luke rolled along the road and did a Hiekel on one of the cement posts. Justin said that if I had slowed to see what was making the noise I would have been whacked by the CRF from behind. Luke had rolled on hard in 5th gear coming out of a corner and because he was on knobbies he low sided.

Damage? The CRF now has a nice sharp edge on the left foot peg, the bark buster on the LH side has been shaved down a little. The cement post was merely bent 20 degrees to one side. Luke's RH palm has some road rash and his white butt is going to be sore from the slide down the road.

Those are Justin's hands and Luke's butt. What are mates for anyways? If they won't loan you money for stereos and CDs, what good are they?

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the "boys" to rest up so we can continue our ride. I'm the old man of the group, they're supposed to be waiting for me!

We get to the enduro trail and we're having a blast roosting our way up the hill. I decided to ride TP and had the misfortune of whacking a rock with my left boot. I damn near cried it hurt so bad. I stopped, cussed, hopped around on one foot and waited for them to come back before I headed home for the shower and to Chiang Mai Ram hospital for a 300 baht xray. Nothing broken, the area under my metatarsal bones is swollen and bruised as well. 100 meters from where I split off with the boys, Justin whacked a rock as well.

Hope we can go out again tomorrow!

BBQ