Blogger Fatigue

After the wash

I've been doing this for a little over a year and I think fatigue has set in.  I don't think I will continue posting every ride but instead will only post rides or events out of the ordinary.  The daily upkeep has become too much and, frankly, it is not as much fun as it once might have been.

Since I last posted, I took the MG to Gene's and it had to have the rear brakes replaced.  Some spring had broken off on the rear left drum and destroyed the pads.  No wonder the brakes were starting to feel mushy.  We took a handful of rides in the MG since I got it back last Wednesday and everything has been working great.  The repair cost for the brake job and oil change came to a little over $400.

On Friday afternoon I took a ride on the dragon with the Bullet.  Everything went well except that I took a curve to the left a little fast, fixated on the apex, and ran off the road.  Didn't dump or stall the bike but it sure gave me one hell of a scare.  The lesson, keep my eyes on the turn and avoid target fixation.  Simple but easy to forget when fear sets in.  After I got back, I washed off the dirt and everything ended up fine, no damage, and no worries.

Over the weekend we took some rides on the MG and went to the HCCP annual picnic.  We met a lot of nice folks and had a great time.

I refueled the Bullet yesterday, I put 2.36 gallons of Ultra in the tank at the Sunoco on the West Chester Pike and Strasburg.  The odo read 4470.2.  Next refuel should be at around 4620.

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HCCP Spring Show at Linvilla Orchards

Montse at HCCP Spring Show

Sunday was the Historical Car Club of Pennsylvania's Spring Show at Linvilla Orchards.  A little while back I'd gotten a call from one of the club guys, Jim Mooney, asking if I would take pictures at the show for the club.  I agreed on the condition that I might not be able to if it conflicted with Carlisle.  We all know the story of Carlisle so that wasn't a problem.

The show was supposed to start at 08:00 but I was a little confused so I left the house a little late.  Because I left late, I took the more direct route out 252 to 1 and then 352 to the orchard.  It didn't take long and when I got there probably there weren't more than twelve cars in the field.  I picked up my registration from Bill Kinett, with whom Jim Mooney hd asked me to check in, and I headed to my spot at the head of Section 17.

MG TF 1800 number 25 of 25

I spent most of the morning wandering around taking pictures and talking to some people.  I saw Pepe with his 1940 Buick, who I had seen at Downingtown the day before, and a couple of other people I had seen at these shows before.  I also talked to a guy who has a MG TF 1800, the limited edition of 25 made at the end of the British Leyland run, that I had seen at one of these shows a couple of years back.  He has an elaborate setup with a picnic basket and he dresses the part in a suit, bow tie, and boater.  I also ran into a friend from work with her husband and their 1980 'Vette which they were not showing but I took some shots of it anyway.

Spotter's Guide Poster

I didn't stay long at the show but I did take a walk through the flea market and I found two MG related things there.  The first was a gold Micro Machines MG, it looks more like a TF but at 75 cents I wasn't passing it up.  The other was a spotters guide poster to the MG T series.  It looks like a vintage late 70s or early 80s poster and in was in fairly good condition with only some water damage on the lower left corner and pin holes in the upper corners.  As lagniappe, there was a MG TC poster on the back so for 10 bucks it was a hell of a deal.  I got a frame from AC Moore and it's now hanging in my garage. 

By 11:30 I'd had enough of being out in the sun, so I got in the MG and headed home.  Before heading back I made a stop at my gun club to see if I could find a couple of my league guys and see what they were up to with the shooting league since I haven't been in a couple of months.  I ran into Joe N and Bobby V and we chatted for awhile in the club house.   I noticed a dark green Tesla in the parking lot and the guys said that it belongs to one of the pistol guys.

Chrysler on the Corner

From there I went back home via Rose Tree/Bishop Hollow because I wanted to snap a shot of the Chrysler on the corner.  On turning the corner at Rose Hill and Sycamore Mills, where the Chrysler is parked, I came upon a red convertible Ferrari going in the opposite direction, we exchanged waves and kept going.  This route is almost as much fun on the MG as it is on the Bullet.  The twists and hills make it interesting and a little technical in some spots.  I got to remember the stop sign on the turn after Crum Creek because I came around and with the notional breaks on the MG there was no way I was going to stop.  Thankfully there was no one at the intersection so I blew right through but it could have been very very ugly.

After I got home Charlene and I took the MG to go to The Thunderbird for lunch, we like this place because it's an old fashioned place with no pretensions and good food.  We went via Malin were we fell behind a black Maserati making a left onto Bryn Mawr.  On the way back we drove a ways down the Pike and then reversed to go home.

The exotic tally stands at 11 Ferraris, 10 Teslas, 8 Maseratis, 3 Cobras, 2 Bentleys, 2, McLarens,  1 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 1 Rolls Royce, 1 DeLorean, and 1 Unknown.

The rest of the photos from the show are posted on my Flickr page in the HCCP 2015 Spring Show album.

MG Midge Mascot

In the Section 17 Padock

Montse

Pepe's 1940 Buick

Micro Machines T series MG

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Montse in Valley Forge

New Jersey Brigade Memorial

Yesterday it rained on and off all day so there was no riding to be had.  Today the day was beautiful and cool so we decided to take a drive to Valley Forge Park in the Morning to see if the color had come in.  We had a nice ride up to the Park and then through some of its hills.  Great place to run a roadster, nice twists and hills to navigate.  I've done the park on the Bullet and on my old bike and it is always a really fun ride.  On the MG it was just miles of smiles.  We stopped at the New Jersey Brigade Memorial first for some pics.  Then we moved on to the National Memorial Arch and ended up at Mad Anthony Wayne's Monument.

National Memorial Arch

At the Arch, a nice older gentleman came up and chatted with us about the car for a good 10 minutes and at Mad Anthony's a really nice lady offered to take our picture in the car.  This is the first picture I have of me in the MG.  She was with an older couple who had had a 1952 MG back in 1952.  The gentleman told me that he loved his car but had to get rid of it when his wife got pregnant because and MGTD "is not a family car".

On the way back we stopped at the Paoli Wawa on 30 for sandwiches and coffee and went home via the Sugartown/St. Davids/Church Rd.  Loop.

First pic of me in the MG

General "Mad" Anthony Wayne Monument

I took the afternoon to make a pattern to order mats from Coco Mats.  I've been in contact with them and they sent me the materials to make the pattern based on their VW pattern on Friday.  These mats are definitely going to be larger than VW mats.  I also started prepping the car for the Historical Car Club of Pennsylvania car show next Sunday at the Delaware County Community College.  This will be the first car show I've ever participated in.  After finishing the clean up, I took a little ride to the True Value Hardware Store in Newtown Square to get copies of the keys made.  I've been living dangerously with only one key for the MG, now we are covered.

General "Mad" Anthony Wayne Monument

New Jersey Brigade Memorial

See the full Montse album in Flickr.

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