Mulga Bill's Bicycle

I love Banjo Paterson.   For those of you who do not know him, he was a famous Australian Bush Poet who lived at the end of the 19th / early 20th century, and wrote some wonderful poems about Auatralian life and characters, the most famous of which is probably "The Man from Snowy River" which was of course later adapted to become a wonderful Australian movie. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Paterson
But one of my favourite poems of his was about a man called Mulga Bill, a wild bushman / cowboy who decided he would master the cycling craze at the turn of the century, with somewhat mixed success. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulga_Bill's_Bicycle
Little did I know this week how similar I was to be to Mulga Bill !!!


I have been resting in Anacortes for almost a week now - Resting primarily from writing my blog !! Ha ha.   But this week has proved to be so interesting that  thought I would share it with you.

Before I left Australia I spent a lot of time trying to get fit, in the knowledge that I would be spending a lot of time sitting in the car over the coming weeks, and therefore trying to build up some fitness that might last till I got to Alaska where I would like to hike and kayak and cycle and enjoy everything that Alaska has to offer to the fullest. During the trip over the last 5 weeks I have tried to walk / climb hills wherever possible, but some times there just aren't enough hours in the day or hills within sight !! So when I got to my sister's in Anacortes, I determined to use their local Washington Park to walk and cycle to boost my fitness.  The first couple of days I walked through the picturesque and quite undulating park, and when I realised my legs seemed to be working OK, by the 3rd day decided to graduate to Ted's mountain bike that was sitting in the garage.  After pumping up the tires and trying out his gloves and helmet for size, I set off to the park, trying hard to remember to keep to the right (somehow seems more difficult on a bike than in the car !!).  Once I came to the hills, I was shocked to discover how my legs just weren't working !!  I had to stop about 6 or more times to rest, and by the time I got back to the house an hour or so later I was totally knackered !!!  And very disconsolate that I seemed to have lost all my fitness.
The next day rained heavily, so I had an excuse to allow my body to recover, but last Thursday, I had no excuse not to go out and try again, despite the roads being damp.  I set off through the Park, and by the time I got to the highest point of the loop I had only stopped once to rest, and was feeling really pleased with myself. So as I coasted down the other side of the hills towards home, I was relaxing and happy.

Then I saw this hairpin bend !!!

                                                        

Ah................

Well, to cut what seemed like a very long moment in my life short, I didn't quite make it round the corner, and ended up crashing and burning on the fairly rough graveled tarmac. All I could think of as I went down was "Oh no, how embarrassing - I do hope no one is watching !!!"  After I finally realised I was still alive, I only seemed to have two major problems - A ripped right trouser leg and bloody knee, and a bloody left elbow.  My left wrist was sore because I put out my hand, and would have been badly cut had I not been wearing Ted's nicely padded cycling gloves (Thank you Ted !) - As it was it was just sprained.   So I gathered what little dignity I had left, raised myself off the ground with difficulty, and remounted my steed, and set off home, and just got there before it all started to hurt a lot !!  Anyway, cleaned everything off and put anti-biotics and a bandage on, and that was that.  For now.

Next morning I woke up sore !!  My right knee was the only thing that was really bad, as it was swollen and I couldn't really bend it.  But as I was off to Seattle today to join the Evergreen Lotus Car Club (Washington is the "Evergreen State") on a visit to DeLorean, I had no option but to find a way to get myself into the car !  As I was spending the night down there, I packed my bag and, once eventually in the car, set off to Seattle on a lovely cool but sunny morning - Perfect Elising weather once again !

Based on my 5 weeks on the road, I had some minor adjustments to make to my wardrobe and camping gear in readiness for Alaska, so I first went to REI in Seattle, a big outdoors camping/fishing/hiking type store. The original self inflating mattress I had bought and use in the tent was an "extra wide" one which I originally thought I might need due to my advancing age and being used to a double bed, but it turned out I didn't once roll off it during the night, and as it is about 2 inches too long to fit comfortably into the boot box, I exchanged it for a "Standard" size one, and that fits much better, even leaving me room for other items in the box. (Space has been a major issue over the past 5 weeks, so I have been slowly working out what I don't need and can leave at my sister's.)  I also bought a sleeping bag liner that promises to increase (or should that be decrease ?) the temperature comfort stability of my 40 deg F sleeping bag down to 30 deg F, which should make those cold nights on the trail much more bearable !! (On sub-zero nights so far I have been wearing most of my clothes in bed in order to keep warm !!)  I also bought a merino wool T shirt and long johns as thermals as they are so comfortable, and much more effective than the old Marks and Sparks (non wool)  thermal underwear I had from my Russia days, which just is so bulky and takes up a lot of room. A pair of trousers to replace the ones Mulga Bill ripped the day before (!), and a couple of warm pairs of thick socks as I was finding my regular Marks and Sparks every day socks just don't quite cut it when the weather is cold. And lastly I bought a head-and-shoulder mosquito net in an attempt to beat the insect issue in Alaska !! So now I feel I have everything I need clothing and equipment wise and am ready to head off north in 2 weeks time. 

After leaving REI I went off to the home of Doug Jackson, the president of the Evergreen Lotus Car Club in Seattle, and his wife Carol, who had invited me to spend the night at their home prior to the club get-together.  We had a wonderful evening, and Carol cooked a delicious meal, although I think I managed to spill most of mine on the table (sorry Carol !). It was a great evening and I think we tried to solve all the world's problems before we headed off to sleep. Thank you both very much for your wonderful hospitality - I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Next morning, I followed Doug up to Starbucks in his mid 70's Lotus Elite, and after getting coffee for all the other club members, we set off east across Seattle towards Bellevue and the DMC Northwest facility. To get there we had to cross the 2nd longest floating bridge on earth, which carries I 90 across Lake Washington which was interesting - More information here if you are interested :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_V._Murrow_Memorial_Bridge

We soon arrived at the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) Northwest, Toby Peterson's business, which was to be the focus of this ELCC meeting.  I won't go into details here, but as someone who knew the basic story but has never even seen a DeLorean on the roads before, it was an incredible experience to see 5 immaculate examples lined up, and then see 7 more customer vehicles inside in various stages of repair or restoration. Toby explained to us all the input of Colin Chapman and Lotus into the DeLorean story, and the similarities between the Lotus Esprit of the time, and the DeLorean.

He even had a Delorean and an Esprit up on hoists in his worshop so we could see the many similarities in suspension and chassis design between the cars.  He also pointed out very carefully that the DeLorean is some 300 pounds lighter than the Esprit as well, while the 150 hp PRV (Peugeot/Renault/Volvo) power plant is also an extremely bullet proof engine, strangled only by US emissions laws.    See http://delorean.com/
A fascinating experience about a car most of us only know about through the Back to the Future series, but which, thanks to people like Toby Peterson, is in fact alive and well and a very viable daily driver.
Also in the workshop was a customer Studebaker Avanti - Another relatively rare vehicle which is not something you see every day !  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studebaker_Avanti
http://www.avantisource.com/history.html
As is usual at most Lotus meetings, we also spent a lot of time out in the car park talking about things Lotus in general and our cars in partcular. Obviously there was some interest in my S1, and although there is a registered K series engined S1 in Seattle, it was not able to be there today - A shame as, having heard some of the incredible stories about how other S1's managed to get registered in the USA, I would love to hear from the owner how this one made it through ! 

And as has been the case at everyone one of the Lotus meetings I have attended in the US over the past few weeks, a great group of people, with interesting and diverse vehicles, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.
Eventually about 12 of us remained, and we all then went off for lunch at the Red Robin restaurant in Bellevue - Just round the corner from Miscrosoft if any of you are interested !  After lunch, 4 of us ended up in the car park, on a beautiful warm sunny afternoon (rare for Seattle at this time of year ?) chatting about cars, and talking to the many people who came over to inspect our Delorean, Elite, and S1 Elise that were lined up. 

It was about 4.30 pm before I felt I needed to make a move as I had a 90 minute ride back to Anacortes - And yet again an interesting drive, with at least 30 or 40 "thumbs up", "waves" or "photos on mobile phones" as I drove home.  That works out at about one wave or smile being required every 2 or 3 minutes as I drove back, which is about right !!  Certainly one can't afford to doze off or pick one's nose when driving the S1 on the freeways in America, because someone ALWAYS seems to be looking at you or photographing you !!!  ROFL.
So, a wonderful meeting with everyone from Evergreen Lotus Car Club - I won't even try to remember everyone's name or try to name them, but a special thanks to Doug (and Carol) Jackson for inviting me in the first place, and also putting me up (or should that be "putting up with me" ? !!) over night, to John Scheidt for wearing a Moody Blues T shirt and then introducing me to 2 Justin Hayward albums I haven't got (who said Lotus meetings were all about cars !!), Toby and Mark for their detailed insights on DeLorean, and to Joe Terrell from Anchorage who I have been talking to online about my visit, and who was coincidentally in Seattle on business and came along and said G'Day and warmly invited me to look him up when I get to Alaska. Thank you all - It was a great day, topped off by perfect weather.

As a follow up to my Mulga Bill incident, I woke up this morning (14th) and made an inspection of my knee, and found something that didn't appear to be a part of me.  It turned out to be a small rock from the road that was still embedded in my knee, which I eventually pried loose, and my knee already feels better !  I have christened it "Gibraltar" (for obvious reasons), and attach a photo of it compared to a match and a US 1 cent coin - for those who have the stomach and are interested !!!
Photos here. https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/AnacortesAndSeattle?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-ypp_Di5rDzQE#5731724967998134946
PS.  And unlike Mulga Bill, I will NOT give that "two-wheeled outlaw best", nor has it "shaken all my nerve to feel it whistle through the air and plunge and buck and swerve". And I have not left it "safe at rest in Dead Man's Creek" and a Lotus seat is not "good enough henceforth for Mulga Bill." Rest assured, I will be back on my two-wheeled outlaw soon !!!