Behold - The BSA Airborne Bicycle !!

We visited the Darwin Military Museum on the last day of our trip to Darwin and discovered this unique bicycle used by glider pilots in WWII.

The BSA Aiborne Bicycle is often called a "parabike" by collectors, but it seems that this is an erroneous term. This appears to be a post-war nickname applied to a commercial variant. The only war time manual references found so far clearly call it the "airborne bicycle".

The bike was designed to be folded in half and carried on board an aircraft. It could be landed by glider, thrown out of the aircraft with its own small parachute, or carried by a paratrooper as he jumped out of his aircraft.

The Moon Occults Jupiter over Melbourne Tonight

Tonight over Melbourne the moon occults Jupiter. That is the planet passes behind the moon for a short period, about an hour, and you can see it easily with the naked eye.

Pretty neat, & I took this photo with a simple digital camera and then framed it up a bit for clarity.

More info online at NightSkyOnline.

Mt Donna Buang Ride

Halfway up the climb...

Yesterday I rode with two mates and we did Donna the back way, a 95 km loop from Mt Evelyn that takes in some gravel climbing up Don Valley Rd and then Ben Cairn Rd (C505) from the Warby Trail at Launching Place followed by the rapid descent down to Warburton and the weary trundle back along the Trail to Mt Evelyn.

Kangaroo Ground & St Andrews Ride

How long since I'd been out to the Memorial Tower at Kangaroo Ground? Oh, maybe 37 or 38 years .....

But it was worth the ride out through Warrandyte today - the views are fantastic in all directions but especially to the south east and the Dandenongs. You get a different perspective from this vantage point and the climb up the tower is well worth it.

Simon's Refurbished 80s Apollo Road Bike

Simon got hold of an old Apollo Clipper roadbike from a mate for $150 .... it was rideable but after a few months of being parked at home the old tyres were stuffed and the front one failed when some air was added !!

Time to get it home to Dad's place for a bit of a refurb. Some newer spare wheels from my old roadie, newer tyres and some new brakes, along with a general clean-up and adjusting the downtube shifters and the old girl is mobile again, and ready for the retro-scene of the inner suburbs. ;)

New Year's Apparition in my gaspacho .... !?

We had a lovely gaspacho on New Years Eve and this is what appeared in my bowl.

You be the judge.... let me know what you make of this image. I have about 4 different ideas myself ... :)

Happy New Year for 2013 !

Surplus quietly achieved anyway......

I passed my yearly target on today's last ride for 2012 with 10005.62 kms on the clock  and nearly 1100km coming in the last 30 days to meet that bloody target, including 5 rides up the 1:20 in the Dandenongs, Mt Donna Buang, a rare RingwoodRoadRide yesterday morning and a Beach Rd blast today on the old Raceline Peloton for the last 80kms.

In fact I've had to do over 3000 in the last 3 months to get there. No wonder my back gets a bit sore ....

Surplus Pledge Dumped ... !!

Press Release from the Office of SLOBSportCycling - Directeur Sportif:

"SLOBSportCycling Management have proactively determined to revise plans for a km surplus beyond 10,000 for the 2012 calendar year. Opinions from a multitude of cycling and relationship experts, gurus and naysayers, the best in the field, suggest it would be irresponsible to mindlessly pursue a surplus at this time. 

..........

CAADX 105 Gets New Fulcrum Quattro CX Wheels

I guess this counts as an early Xmas present .... new Fulcrum Quattro CX wheels for the CAADX 105 :)

Another 3 Day Tour: Tallarook>Alexandra>Warburton>Home

Spring has sprung and it's time to tour !

This time Justin and I decided to tackle part of the new rail trail from Tallarook east to Alexandra and then head south to Marysville and Warvurton, incorporating our all=time favourite ride, the Acheron Way....