Alpacas Not Llamas

I guess now it's Alpaca Farm

Charlene and I went for a short ride on the MG last night shortly before 19:00.  It turned out to be wild life night or something.  We saw at least a total six ground hogs feeding along our route and a herd of deer, probably six or eight, feeding in the back pasture behind the Oreo Cow Farm.  We also saw the Oreo cows, the white goose that chased me by the red barn, and the alpacas at what I used to call Llama farm.

When we were headed out Goshen, we noticed that the herd was out close to fence on Llama Farm.  We made a quick U turn on Providence and came back to Grubbs Mill pulling over and parking across from the farm.  We were able to get up to the fence and the little beasties did not even move an inch.  On closer examination, we both realized that they were not llamas but alpacas.  They are not as large and their ears are much shorter so I guess I will have to call the place Alpaca Farm from now on.

We got some good close ups of the llamas, even the little cria which has gotten pretty big but is still not close being a tui (a yearling).  This time I was able to get his picture without the blur I had last time.  He even posed for a portrait.  From there we headed out Grubbs Mill to Warren, Providence, and Sugartown back to Goshen.  We didn't stay on Goshen long taking the short leg to Garrett Mills.  Charlene wanted to go by the red barn on Garrett Mill because we usually see a couple of little donkeys on the pasture and we wanted to get some shots of them.  Unfortunately, they were not out tonight but that white goose was there and honked at us when we passed by.  We continued across the West Chester Pike and followed 926 to Westtown Rd where we took a right.  We stayed on Westtown until we reached Five Points and followed that to the Pike.  At the Pike we made a right to Strasburg and head back towards home.  However, we did not stay on Strasburg/Goshen all the way but took the left at Duttons Mill.  This is when we saw the herd of deer in the back pasture.  Duttons Mill took us to Sugartown were we took the left for the loop to the Paoli Pike, Devon, Darby, Sugartown, and Church to home.

The moose statue on Sugartown has a garland on flowers on its antlers.  It would have been great to take a shot of that but the one thing about these country roads is that often there is no place to safely pull over and stop.  I guess we could come back with camera ready and slow down on the road if there is no one behind us.  Maybe we'll try that this weekend.

It was a perfect ride at the perfect time of the day.  The MG ran like a top and all is fine with the world.    

Charlene call the guy in the background
White-Faced Simony

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May the Fourth Be with You - Battle of Puebla

Llama Farm

Other than the commute to work I didn't ride on May the Fourth because I am in the mist of grading exams and there was just no time.  However on the way to work, after crossing 30 on Spring Mill Rd, I saw an orange convertible Ghia waiting for the light.  I had to record that for the tally.

On the Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla I did make a little time in the afternoon for a quick loop.  My original flight plan was just to ride out to the end of Strasburg and turn around but after crossing 252 I fell in behind two Pennsylvanians that wanted to crawl on their way home.  I flowed with it until Providence but at that decision point they continued on Goshen so I took the ride on Providence for the free road.  I followed that to Warren and made the right.  I've never gone on Warren in this direction and although it makes no sense the hills are a better ride this way.  At Davis I made the right and followed the road to Grubbs Mill Rd.  Again, going in the opposite direction here made for a better ride.  There was a left twist somewhere with a drive way shooting out from it and for a second I wasn't sure which one was the road so I had to do some quick adjustment there but it was fine.

When I got to Llama Farm the pack was in the front pasture.  I have never seen them this close to the road so I had to pull over and take some pictures.  There was one little black cria running around like the devil was behind her and I tried to get some shots but with low light and movement they all came out blurry.

From there I headed back up Goshen to Sugartown and took the Paoli Pike, Devon Rd, Darby Rd, Sugartown, Church loop back home.

Two issues: on the run up Goshen to Sugartown the bike cut out on acceleration in fifth.  I'm getting used to this quirk so I just heeled the kick stand the light came back on the bike fired right back up.  All of that in motion without pulling over.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment at that but I am going to have that switch disconnected at the 3K check at Kiss Honda.  The other issue happened when pulling out of Llama farm.  I tried to kick start the beast but the kick start lever acted as if it was completely disconnected.  This happened once before at work.  I will need to put that on the list to check.

The classic car tally is now three Nash Metropolitans, three 1950s Jag, one MGA, one Hot Rod, one 1950s Chrysler, one 1950's Plymouth, one Karmann Ghia, and one Ford Model A.

Little blurry black cria

More llamas

On departure 3253.9 at 18:35

On return 3278.9 at 19:15

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K&N Air Filter After Action Report

I see you! (At Llama Farm)

Winter has been with us for all of last week and there was not even a nice weather window to commute to work all week due to the cold.  However, yesterday the day was fairly clear and in the mid 50s so it was time to test out the K&N air filter.  I layered up and doubled up against the elements and headed up for a short run up Goshen/Strasburg to the Wawa at 3 and 352.  The Bullet did not need gas but it was a good target for a short run and nothing inhibits rust like a full tank so that was that.  Layering up and doubling up worked well except for my hands that got rather cold on the run but nothing to bad.

The K&N air filter seems to have helped with increasing power, it hasn't added much but there definitely is a noticeable improvement.  At some point before Providence Rd, the Bullet was clocking 80 mph on the speedo.  I know that the speedo is ambitious but before the change in filters it would not pass 70 mph, so there is some measurable gain there beyond my feeling of improved performance.  After crossing Providence on Goshen, I noticed what I thought was another biker in the distance in front of me and gave chase.  I didn't close the gap until Duttons Mill, where he turned left towards Rt. 3, but I did catch up to him.

From Duttons Mill is just a short run to the Wawa where I stopped for gas.  Two guys on Harleys pulled up to the pumps while I was there and one of them came over to ask how old was my bike.  He had a tremendous look of surprise on his face when I told him that it was built in 2012.  I probably told him more than he ever wanted to know about REs but he was nice enough to listen and compliment the Bullet.

Clock still on DST!

I left the house at around 12:25 with approximately 2513 miles on the odo.  I say approximately because I don't remember checking the mileage but I figure 10 miles between the house and the gas station.  At the Wawa the odo had 2523 miles and the tank took 1.906 gallons.  That's a total of 105.9 miles since the last fill up for a mileage of 55.56 mpg.  Most of that 100+ miles were commuting miles to and from work.

From there it was an easy shot across 3 on 352 to 926 and then a long loop back home via Garrett Mill and Goshen to a left on 252 to Newtown Street Rd and the Sugartown - Church Rd loop.  It was a great ride.  Nice to be out moving on country roads after a good couple of weeks with very little riding.  I would have liked to stay out longer a ride some more but my hands were staring to really feel it and it there's no joy in that.  The K&N filter has made a difference in my opinion and I'm glad that I made that change.  I am thinking, for next season, of adding the Nfield Gear Stage 1 EFI performance kit to the Bullet.  Supposedly this will increase power by 20% and improve the exhaust sound to make it more like the originals.  That will probably be good thing, we'll see.

When I got back to the house the weather was still great so I decided to take the MG for a spin as well.  I had some errands to run at the grocery store so that was the first stop.  I had noticed that the llamas were out in Llama Farm so after the grocery store I headed out that way and took some pictures from the car.  The llamas were in the back pasture but there were sheep in the front pasture.  I had never seen sheep there before but I am not surprised that they keep them together.  I came back via White Horse and got a little lost back there when I took a wrong turn onto Wayland Rd.  Ended up at the end of Wyland by the Melmark school that looks like a French chateau.  On the way home I took Sawmill Rd to avoid the steel plates on Earles Lane and I saw another Tesla, this one charcoal grey, merging from Martins Rd unto Sawmill.

The MG ran like a clock despite being in the garage for over two weeks.  I had not lost a lot of oil but I filled it up none the less.  I love taking it on those back country roads as much as I love riding them on the Bullet.

Snow expected for next Wednesday with a Nor'easter on the way so who knows when I might be able to ride again.  This afternoon, I took advantage of the good, clear, warm weather and took the Bullet to work after lunch.  Didn't do it in the morning because the roads were pretty wet from the rain last night and I had a ton of things to bring to work.

The exotic car tally now stands at 8 Ferraris, 4 Teslas, 2 Lambos, 2 Maseratis, 2 Cobras, 2 Unknowns, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, and 1 MGA.

Llama Farm

Llama Farm

Llama Farm

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Ellis Preserve, Old Cameras, and Llamas!

Saturday we had a friend visiting so the Bullet stayed in storage and the MG stayed in the garage for most of the day.  Early Saturday evening I took our friend for a short spin around the neighborhood.  He took some video on his phone which he promised to send to me so when I have that I will post it here.  It was a cool evening so we didn't go very far or stay out very long.

On Sunday morning, after I took our friend to the train station in Philly, we took a little spin up Goshen/Strasburg.  It was really cold and despite having the heater running full blast we decided to come back home without going any further.  

In the mid-afternoon, I took the MG to Ellis Preserve to try out an old Minolta XD-5 camera that I've had laying around for a while.  The pictures in this post are the result of that shoot.  The camera is over-exposing by at least one stop so I adjusted the levels in Photoshop to get the results you see here.  I like the camera so I will adjust the exposure settings and test it out again.  On the way out to the Preserve, I ran across a blue Maserati on Goshen for the exotic car tally.

The exotic car tally now stands at 6 Ferraris, 2 Lambos, 3 Maseratis, 1 unknown, 1 Cobra, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, 1 Tesla, and 1 MGA.

Later that afternoon, after 18:00, my wife drove me out to the storage area so I could bring the Bullet home to have for the week's commute.  I was rather cold by then, so I just rode straight back home with out any side trips.  On Monday morning the temps were down to the mid 40s so the Bullet stayed home until the afternoon when I used it to go back home.

Llamas!

Today the temps were much higher, in the low 60s in the morning and up to the mid 70s in the afternoon, so the Bullet did the whole commute.  After supper, my wife and I took a ride on the MG down Church Rd to Sugartown and 252 to pick up the developed film at Ritz Camera.  On the way back on 252 we took a detour through Grubbs Mill out to Goshen.  It was early evening, the light was beginning to fade and the Harvest Moon was low and golden in the sky.  The ride was beautiful through those country roads.  We stopped in front of the llama farm because they were out feeding and I took a phone camera shot since I never seem to have a good camera handy when they are out.  

Tomorrow, I'm taking the MG in to Gene's.  I've fooled around with the horn, trying to get it fixed, but I haven't been too successful.  I hope they can get it fixed quickly.

To see the Montse Flickr set, click here.

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Llama Farm

No, that's not a real llama.

Just a short early evening ride to get the wheels moving on a beautiful Sunday.  The ride took me out Goshen across 252 to Grubbs Mill Road for a hard right before the llama farm.

Taking advantage of light traffic and a little bit of grassy shoulder to pull over on I was able to get a couple of photos before continuing on up Grubbs Mill.  Earlier in the day there would have been several llamas milling about the pasture but by the later part of the day they must be inside because the pasture was completely empty.  Well, there was one wooden cutout of llama in the middle pasture so it was not a complete loss by all accounts.

Llama Farm

Grubbs Mill is a good twisty run that, if you keep left, eventually leads to Davis Rd for a nice and fairly straight shot to a T at Warren Rd.  Continuing to push the Bullet for speed gave good performance on the straight on Davis and almost reached 70 mph there.  A hard left at the T with Warren gave me another straightaway to push getting the same results before reaching Providence.  I intended to go left on Providence to make the block on Goshen-Sugartown and back to Providence but the call of the dirt road on Warren was stronger than my intentions.

Warren between Providence and Goshen is a straight packed dirt country road that is mostly covered with some loose gravel and shaded by an avenue of tall trees.  The hard pack was washed out in some areas and the loose gravel was a little alarming but keeping the Bullet to no more than 35 mph proved to be the workable answer.  At the Goshen end Warren meets up with the parking lot of the Willistown Friends Meeting House.  I stopped there considering on taking a photo but there was one lonely SUV in the lot, right in front of the meeting house, that just ruined the shot.  That shot will have to be saved for another time.

From that stop at Warren and Goshen, I made the big blog of Goshen-Sugartown-Providence and a left at Goshen.  At the intersection with 252 I took a left to Newtown Street Road to Waterloo and Church for home.

It was a nice relaxing ride with the possibility of working the twists on Grubbs Mill now that it is no longer a first time on that route.  There was a light overcast which kept the sun out of my eyes and made for good visibility.  The ride totaled a little over 28 miles for an odo reading of 1392.2 at the end.  Getting close to scheduling time for the 1500 mile maintenance.

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