colnago, the blogger not the bike

Back in the late 70s, early 80s I hankered after a car that never made it to Oz... the VW Scirocco. A swoopy coupe, it was the better looking alternative to the boxy Golf Gti. Which we also couldn't get here, so I souped up a Golf GLS instead. (Honda ripped the Scirocco styling off for the original Accord, IMHO). Anyway, via the CarConnection.com - the new Scirocco? Maybe. It's looks OK but my heart still says 'Alfa'...

I've been driving. Well, about 800km, give or take. In a Mazda Premacy, which is a 2.o litre inflated hatch sort of thing. With wife and 3 kids on board plus luggage we managed to average about 10l/100km at just under 100kmh. Not too bad. The trip was improved by the standard of the roads, which has improved markedly over the last decade or so, although you'd never know it if you read the local newspapers which go on and on about how bad the infrastructure is. Many of them are toll roads but that's OK with me as it was worth paying for. What I do despair about is the amount of land taken up by roads. What were 2 lanes meandering through the countryside have become 4 or even 6 lanes barging through the bush, plus a 'nature strip' in between. I know it has resulted in improved driving safety but it's also resulted in greatly increased driving boredom. And a fear within me that we have ripped up too much of the country, removed too many trees and diverted too much land from the healthy business of maintaining natural balance to the less healthy business of, well, just business. When do we stop and reflect on what is a good balance?

The Who - Pictures of Lily

It's 1967 and The Who are trying to record Pictures of Lily... it's funny... it's great!

That'll Be The Day

A little something to remember drummer Keith Moon of The Who by...

I've been riding the (push) bike a bit. You see more things than you do in a car and I tend to wonder: "was I like that/did I do that when I was 20?" Sometimes I wonder "am I turning into an old fogey?". I also wonder how long we can do this to ourselves before the environment gives up and collapses.

I have seen/felt:

1. The wind, fresh air and sun (and wondered if car-dwellers realise they are missing out?)
2. The coolness of the forest (we have some tall trees here and when you ride through them the temperature drops 2-3 very noticeable degrees and you wonder about nearly treeless suburbia and all the air con running to cool what could be cooled naturally)
3. The smell of foul exhausts - we really haven't fixed this one, have we? Drivers may be unaware, but walk or ride along a road and take a look and a whiff of what still spews out the exhaust - it can't be improving our environment, can it?
   
4. The idiots on the roads
• the P-plater in the massive V8 tank who overtook me at full throttle doing at least 90 in a kid-filled 50 zone - why?
• the same P-plater who spun and almost smoked the inside real wheel on a tight left hander - showing off to the 6 and 7 year olds playing nearby what his foot can do with an accelerator?
• the Mitsubishi sedan that had rolled (or was just poorly parked?) across 2 driveways, sideways, the unfortunate thing being the brick retaining wall in between - and the front wheels high in the air
• another V8 driver who chose again to do around 90 in a 70 zone and come within a metre of me and another rider (riding legally on the shoulder, single file). Yes, my friend, you are a weak coward, an intimidating bully and a complete loser - or just completely unaware of what you are doing and a danger - in any case - to us all