Motorsickle Races

Captain told me 2 weeks ago that this past Friday would be the coldest day of the year. I thought "what the hell?". Then he told me that Friday was the return of the motorcycle races at the Calsonic Arena in "Shebvull". I knew exactly what he meant then. Historically, when we go watch these guys, we freeze our asses off and this year was no different. We did come prepared with layers and layers upon layers of clothes which is always fun. The video below is the 125 Pros and these guys did not disappoint. I wish I had continued recording and caught the end of the race. On the video, the rider in the lead has a good bit of ground between him and second. "Second place guy" ends up closing the gap and on the final turn, never let off the gas when he crashed his bike literally on the finish line. He rode that sucker all the way down, never letting off. From where we were sitting, it did not look like he crossed the finish line, but I think he was awarded second place. Good stuff...

Cruisin' the Net

Pictured above is a souvenir from the NHRA Mid-South Nationals. While the crew was in Memphis, walking around Doug Kallita's Mac Tools trailer, we stumbled upon some shiny things laying outside the pits and used our 5 finger discount to snatch 'em up. Turns out they were valves to a top fuel ride. This shiny thing has been laying around in my bedroom ever since I picked it up and I hadn't thought much about it. Then I came across these on Bob Gilbertson's driver blog. If you read his latest entry, it looks like the Autolite/Prestone crew is giving one away as a prize to a trivia contest. Neat-o!

Taa Daaa!

The fully constructed dartboard w/ backboard has been installed and is ready for some action. According to the NDA (National Darters Association) website, the center of the bullseye is to be 5'-8" above the floor. Although they do not show up on the picture, my wall is caked with calculations and marks trying to get the board at the right height above the floor. The thing weighs close to 450 pounds, which is not easy to hold with one hand while the other is operating a drill, tape, or pencil. But she is up and even at the correct height (+/- 6"). LLLLLLLet's get ready to throw....

Christmas Holiday Boredom

Over the holidays, I came up with a way to keep myself busy so I wouldn't be lured to join the nutcases running around the malls. Like all my great ideas, I was at the bowling alley when I thought of this one. Me and the regular Wednesday bowling crew were forced to throw darts because a bowling league was about to begin and our lane was stripped from us. I was checking out the dartboard and particularly the backboard that prevents you from turning your surrounding wall into swiss cheese, and thought "I can make one of those". After a quick inspection, I had a plan in place and began compiling my materials. It seemed like it would be pretty cheap and easy.

The backboard at the bowling alley was approximately 30"X30". I took a little more precaution and added some more protection to my backboard.

Basically here's what I come up with:

Piece of plywood with some cork glued to it and a piece of felt wrapped around and stapled to the backside, and a wooden border put around the outside. Pretty cheap and easy huh? Easy - yes , Cheap - not as cheap as I dreamed. All prices are approximate:

* Plywood - $9
* Cork - $28
* (2) 6 foot 1x2 boards - $3
* 3M spray adhesive - $6
* Staple gun - $17
* Staples - $2
* Six Pack - $6
* Mexican dinner w/ margaritas - $23 (you have to take a lunch break, it's state law)
* Felt - Free (after signing up for a credit card)
* Dart Board - $10
* 2 sets of darts - $5
* Total - $109

The finished product turned out better than expected. Thanks to Big A for the help and the use of some power tools. Pictures of the backboard w/ dartboard attached are coming soon.