i keep a diary

a thing in 51 photos in 2003

scooter

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Not completely happy with the shaky, hand-held quality of the previous "Scootering" footage we'd shot a few days earlier, Chris strapped the camera to the back of my bike so we could film our mountainous ascent on the coastal backroads. (I'll get around to posting clips of this someday. Don't worry, with the exception of Grant trying to brain we while I'm squatting down and talking to the bike-mounted cam, you're really not missing much).
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Back in Bali, we stopped to take pics.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Back in the village, we stopped for gas and debated if we had time to do any more sightseeing and still be able to make it back to the condo before nightfall.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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And me. Someone call your high school photo teacher, I think what we've got here is a "work of art! " I call this one "Self-Reflections of a Helmeted Scooterteer."
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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More dangerous, high speed scooter hijinx for the benefit of the camera.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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In the end we decided that we probably had time to do some more sightseeing and decided to head back to the coastal town of Bali and ride around some more on the roads that overlooked the water.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Here's us heading down the mountain the caves are on back into the village of Melidoni.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Me and Dave.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Once quick CHiPs-inspired coldlamp with the scooter...
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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...and we continued on our way. Here's Chris' pic of him about to pass me on the open road.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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And from there it was only a quick 2km ride to the nearby Melidoni Caves! Woooo!
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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After another (goddamned freezing) 15 minutes, we made it to the village of Melidoni.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Same with tha Grizza.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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I totally forgot to mention that the temperature had dropped sharply from the previous day and was in the low 50s, which might not sound too cold, but when you're riding a scooter at 50mph with no gloves, it's almost unbearable. Here's me using the exaust to defrost my frozen lil' phalanges.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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"Easy Rider Goes to Crete." Click here for the hi-res version
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Twenty minutes later, and down at the bottom of the mountain we just ridden over, we stopped again to warm our hands.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Another one. Check out the way the clouds are being dragged over the mountain top on the right. Click here for the hi-res version
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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These tiny pics really don't do the mountains in the background justice. Click here to open a hi-res version in a new window.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Grant in front of the entrance to the cloisters.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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After a few kilometers of dirt roads, we hit another beautifully paved backroad.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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After a long climb up a steep road, we paused to admire the view.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Which proved to be the perfect place to see just how fast our scooters could go when maxed out. Here's me risking certain death by taking a photo of my bike overtaking Grant's at 90+ km (approx. 55mph).
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Worried about losing daylight, we decided to hit the road again and head for the Melidoni Caves. Here's us stopping to let a herd of goats cross the road.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Me in front of a Venitian arch.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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The backroad route we took was amazing. There were all these tiny towns that with the exception of cars and electricty, seemed otherwise untouched by the 20th century. Check out the donkeys saddled with bags in the background.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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It was a tiny little village with modern houses and buildings mixed in with structures that dated back to Venitian occupation in the 1200s!
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Our bellies full of warm doughnut, we hit the open road. We decided to take a 45 km backroads trip to check out the bad-ass Arkadi Monastery and then from there, if we had enough light, ride another 25 km and check out the Melidoni Caves.
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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We saddled back up on our HOGGZ and hit the road. We only managed to get about 1/4 mile when Grant, who was leading the pack, slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road hysterically laughing and pointing...
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
Check out the SPECIAL BONUS VIDEO!
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Which led to us getting hopelessly lost. With all the narrow, windy roads it took us a good 25 minutes to find our way out of town and back to the road that led home.
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
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...took a few more "look at us...ON SCOOTERS!" pictures, and then returned them back to the rental place. We grabbed our rental car and drove into town looking for a place to grab a nice dinner.
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
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After taking naps and showering, we all got back on our scooters, gassed them up...
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
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Here's us riding down a sidestreet clearly not meant for scooter traffic. Doh!
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
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And now here's our Quadrophenia inspired SCOOTERGANG shots.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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How tough is the Fatty in this pic? See that drop off behind Fatty in the pic? That's actually a steep road that leads down to this little tiny part of the penninsula that goes out into the water. We drove down to explore and take a closer look.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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...quickly digressed into another Sears' Catalog-inspired photo shoot. "Look! Over there!" "No! Look over there!"
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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What started out as a quick stop to snap some pics of the view...
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Fatty elected to kick it old school with a famous standby: "JC Penny Catalog Coldlamp #427."
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Uhhhhh....I don't even know what to write here. Please feel free to use the "Comments" section below to name this pose for me. Thanks.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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And here's "Stone Cold Player."
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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First up is Chris. Here he is demonstrating the pose called "Care Free Cowboy."
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Next up: Tha Grizza. This one's called "Howdjoo know I was looking atchoo if you weren't looking at me? Oh!"
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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And my personal fave: "Kiss me, I'm Greek."
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Grant and Fatty took a quick ride to pick up some snacks and drinks at a nearby store.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Biiiiiiig guuuuuuuuy on a liiiiiiiiiitle biiiiiiiiike!
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Turns out, the highway was way less scary than the little road we'd been riding through town. On the little road, we were forced to ride in the sketchy, pothole ridden shoulder, where we constantly had to worry about cars pulling out in front of us and dogs that were running around in the street. But on the highway there was hardly any traffic and the shoulder was wide and smoothly paved. (By the way, you know you totally love my wind-styled Farrah Fawcett wings. They're the latest in cycling fashion.)
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Grant was pretty spooked about the broken gas line. His grandmother had once told him "Whatever you do, DON'T ride a moped in Greece! Promise me, ok?" and he felt like it was a sign that he shouldn't get back on the bike. But we told him, "Stop being silly. She said MOPED in GREECE! You're on a SCOOTER in CRETE! Apples and oranges, my friend! It's totally different! Stop being such a pussy!"
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Our cajoling managed to get him down the coastal road for the first ten kilometers of our trip - but when the small country lane we were riding on ended and it became apparent that we'd have to ride on the big, four-lane highway for the remainder of our trip, he was decidedly unhappy. We gave him another pep talk ("You're on a SCOOTER, remember? Scooter! Not moped!") and hit the big, bad highway.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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We hit the road and were headed for Balí when about three minutes into the trip Grant's bike stalled out and wouldn't restart. We all pulled over and a quick examination revealed that the liquid puddling underneath his bike was, in fact, gasoline. Yep, blown gas line. No big deal we figured. We'd all ride back and get Grant a new bike. Chris hopped on his bike to come with us, and his bike wouldn't restart either. FUCK! So Fatty and Chris agreed to wait 1/2 mile down the road while Grant and I went back to talk to the scooter guy.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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After we finished eating (around 11:30am) we walked back over to the scooter rental place next to our resort only to find this sign on the door "Be Back at 16:00!" The place had opened at 10am and by 11:30 (or maybe 11?) the guy working there needed to take a SIX AND A HALF HOUR BREAK. Greek people hate work like a fat kid hates running. After driving around in a car for awhile (and finding that most of the rental places were closed for the season) we finally found a local guy who was nice enough to have us follow him to a small rental shop he knew of down by the water. We plunked down 14 Euros each and BAM! we all got scooters. Here's Chris posing with his.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Marco jacking a scooter on the way home.
coney island then plaid
June 27, 2003