Catching up Again

I haven't posted to the blog in a while for various reasons. One of them is that I've joined facebook and feel like I'm connecting with lots of friends there.

So let me catch up the Blog a bit:

The last post was from the Atlanta Race. After that, I had a week off and got back on the bike and put in about 75 miles that week. I also cleared out a bunch of dead palm fronds around the house from the late winter freeze we had here.

Then, I went to Bristol for the races there. My longtime friend Rick Jacob drove up from the Sequatche Valley to join me for a couple of days. I hadn't seen him for over a dozen years. He now owns and lives in the house beside launch where Jan and I got married 20 years ago. It was so great to see him. We used to be really close friends and then I moved all over the country and we just lost touch. We reconnected through Facebook.
This is Rick being shown our 'in-car' equipment by Thomas Pepper - the expert who installs and maintains the hi-tech stuff we have in the cars.

Rick and I in the studio with the 'cutaway' car used for showing where stuff is on the car during the show.

Rick and I on the roof where the main cameras are located.

This week, I've been working on some taxes and stuff. Yesterday, I went flying for my first lesson to get my private pilot license. I'm taking lessons from Jim Lee - a guy who've I've mentioned quite a few times on this blog. There's a real 'plus' to me to learn from a fellow hang glider pilot. First of all, they don't look down on hang gliding as a real form of aviation, but also there's just more fun learning from a bud.

Jim and I just before my first lesson.

The airplane we're flying is awesome!. It's the Sportstar and is so well designed. It's very roomy and has a wide speed range - plus no bad habits. I'm having a great time and really enjoying it.
This is the plane I'm flying.

I may be getting back into the air via hang glider tomorrow. It could be windy, so maybe not. We'll see.