Mayan Prophecy Countdown

So, I was just about to ride away to the shops for some stuff after brekky when one of the chaps from the BMW club turned up and presented me with a club Tshirt AND a head scarf to cover my nude nut when I take my helmet off, thanks a million 🙂

Then it was off for a look at the electronic shop as I wanted to modify the connectors on my SPOT power supply and also a problem I noticed after the install yesterday. When the bike is turned off and the SPOT left connected to the cables, the batteries will discharge back into the bike, which is not good! I needed to place a diode in line to stop this happening. The problem with that is that the diode would take 0.6V away from the 3V available, which meant the SPOT would only have 2.4V and would be underpowered, not the way to go. I could add a Zenor diode of 3.6V to compensate for that, but it looks like I would need to do some more thinking as I then had to apply a bigger power source, hmmm! So, I opted for the simple procedure of a switch, I would disconnect the cables when I stopped for a long time, and usually the SPOT would be taken off the bike at night anyway, so it may not be a big issue. I also bought two new rechargeable batteries, as I had left mine and the charger up at David’s place last week. This all went to plan although I could not find the connectors I wanted, which were waterproof bullet in line connectors. In the end I left with just the batteries and used some normal bullet connectors that I had with me anyway.

So, that all got done before lunch, and as soon as another great meal was finished, it was time to ride, but once again I had a time schedule, we were going to a cooking night tonight, I have no idea what it is about but I guess I will find out later 🙂 So, off I went following a route Simon had drawn up and it took me for starters around the lake shore, where I tried to find a cache, but failed, but here I also noted something with the SPOT device. It seemed to be flashing a red LED, which usually means low power, I figured the store bought rechargeable batteries were taking some of the power as they charged to full power and after a while it went green and seemed to be fine from then on. I also was checking the chain oiler as I went and it seemed to be performing correctly and when I tried them again, so did the heated grips. So, I started to enjoy the ride. 🙂

Not long after this I stopped to text Simon, he was going to try and finish early and shoot fast along the highway and meet up as I was riding slow along the scenic tour. Where I stopped happened to be in the town where William Tell and the apple boy were made famous and they had a big statue here in the square for them.

Not long after this town I was starting to circle around the mountains a bit, as the route was just a big circle tour with some scenery and some twisties. The weather was great, hot when stopped and OK when riding. I had this new gear on and I was also trying to work out where to put things, like my camera so I can access it quickly, also my wallet, which used to live in my knee pocket, well these new daks have no pockets except behind, which is not ideal. Anyway, I was having fun and finally after many days of rain I could see the mountains and the roads were dry, what a combination. Although I bitch about the rain, it could have been worse, it could have been fine and sunny while working on the bike then started to rain when it was finished, so this is the best result all round 🙂

As you can see, I was now amongst the skyline and a great view it was out there. And check out all them waterfalls, many of the major river systems in Europe start in these mountains.

Only a short time later and I was riding above the snow line, it was a tad cooler up here but nor that much really and no need to add or remove any gear, it seems that so far the gear is comfortable enough. The real test will be the rain which I hope not to have to test any time soon 😉

Then it was off down the other side of Klausen Pass and down into the valley beyond.

Down there I had a choice of more mountains and a couple of hours back to Simons, or the fast way. He had not been able to make it for the ride as a problem had cropped up at work, and as it was now nearly 6pm I decided to take the fast way, so I would not be too late for this evenings happenings 😉 As it turned out I got back in time and we arrived at his friends place for beer and food. This is where I found out what the night was about. It seems this group of friends had been going out to dinners on a regular basis for years, then they decided to try something different. They would all chip in, and would take turns to host the night, but basically a menu would be drawn up, the ingredients bought then each person would join a section and produce the entree, the main and the desert. I was in left in charge of the beer and being foreman 😉 I was also keeping an eye on Simon, because his group were in charge of the strawberry dessert and they have a habit of disappearing when he is around 🙂 Anyway, the evening was a great success even though it went very late. The menu was prawn and avocado salad for entrée, Tuna fish meatballs and pasta for the mains, and the strawberry and cream for afters, I was given the task of adding the cream topping 😉 These photos were taken with the iPhone, but will suffice for this time.

It was a late night and tomorrow I had a long day ahead of me. I was planning on leaving around 7.30 or so to head to Geneva to get my passport.

Cheers from Lucerne
TravellingStrom