Inspiration

June 8th, 2008 Cliff

Are you having a bad day? Is your bike not quite what you want? Did your sig/other piss you off last night? Can’t get your life on-track? 

Well meet Dave Hunt of Atlanta, Ga who visited The Spot last night. Dave rode motorcycles from the 80’s until a serious accident left him paralyzed, from mid-torso down, in 1990. He spent several years in recovery and learning to live without the use of his legs. Then he grew tired of watching his friends ride around on sport bikes and set about to find a way to get back aboard a Kawasaki. 

After finding some designs for stabilization devices online, Dave built his own servo-activated device and installed a thumb shifter. He retracts the legs once he is moving and if he needs to stop, the legs can be fully deployed in 3 seconds. They are stable at positions in between full up/down just in-case a panic stop is needed. 

His initial test ride, last November, around a parking lot brought a hugh smile and instead of stopping, he rode around the block then headed for a riding buddies house. 

He hasn’t stopped riding  

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Curious Afternoon

April 26th, 2008 Cliff

I spotted this tree the way to watch my youngest daughter play softball in Burtonsville, Md and knew a photo was in order on the way back. It was standing all by itself surrounded by greenery and the tall grass.

I was enjoying a late lunch at an outdoor cafe at Reston’s Lake Anne when all of a sudden a wedding party spilled out of a church at the plaza. No one in the party looked happy so I didn’t make any photos other than the one below.

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I Just had to Stop

April 11th, 2008 Cliff

Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD Fri 4/11 morning. I was riding back from covering an event at Walter Reed Army Hospital for the Paralyzed Veterans of America when I see this guy with a smile on his face doing a dance. He was too good to pass-by.

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Good Times

April 2nd, 2008 Cliff

Every Monday evening I slide over to Jamie’s General Bean for a sandwich, cup of coffee and fellowship with like-minded bikers. Our numbers had been small due to the winter weather but this past Monday brought our core group together again. We had so much fun we repeated ourselves Tuesday evening and the warm weather allowed us to resume our rightful positions outside.

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Lunar Eclipse

February 21st, 2008 Cliff

I was sitting on the couch editing images when a fellow photo editor pinged me on IM to ask if I had seen the lunar eclipse. I thought it was cloudy with snow/ice/whatever falling from the heavens. “No” she wrote, “the moon looks incredible.”

So I grabbed the nearest camera, 300mm/f4 lens, tripod and rushed to the parking lot. I was surprised to see a crystal clear sky.

The motorbike’s sidecase provided back support as I sat on the asphalt to make a few photos of this celestial ballet. Wish I had witnessed the complete blackout of the moon - perhaps I’ll be more awake for the next one in 2010.

*that little white dot at the top left of the image is a star.

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