TE Lawrence – born on this day in 1888.
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
Grid – a quick doodle of the Triumph twin engine. I was waiting for the fish to cook, so took the 10 minutes to do this scrappy sketch on graph paper.
’69 & ’72 – the two Bonnie’s looked good at The Lake Cafe in Antioch yesterday. For a nearly combined age of a hundred years they’re holding their own on the highways.
It’s the Real Thing! Not quite a Hilltop of anticipated world peace, or a Pacific sunrise revelation by Don Draper, but smashing weather conditions for a cracking ride deserved an ice cold Coke. Proper stuff with real sugar, glass bottle, straw… Perfect!
The White Saint – in the fifties and sixties the British police utilized a TR6 Triumph for speedy road duty. Standard road bike with wider ratio gearbox, single seat, radio, leg protectors and the ubiquitous blues and twos.
Summer souls – the forecast is anticipated to be perfect this weekend. I’m sure a venture out on the Bonnie will be in the works. This lass needs her legs and arms covered up; as well as a lid on her head.
GoPro ’63
In the olden days if you wanted to film from the riders eyepoint a cameraman holding firmly to a Boulex 16mm whilst standing on the pillion pegs.
Badge – colorfully embroidered patches to adorn your leather garb. These aren’t your usual gang colors but a way of celebrating your Brit ride.
Surfs Up! A golden varnish accenting on a cool 1940 Ford Woodie Station Wagon. Blue sky reflecting on polished hub caps and a long board strapped to the roof. Vintage destination decals adorn the rear windows and a Native American blanket covers the rear seats. So Cal here we come! Parked at a gas station forecourt in Wilmette IL.
Photo Finish – absolute realism is created in this ultra detailed painting from the superlative hand of James Hollingsworth. https://www.neilhollingsworth.com/
Look at his other works of ordinary objects and wartime aircraft. The light on them is perfect.
McCallum – back in the late nineties I lived in London; and it was there I took to motorcycles as a means of transport. Also at that time was a television show where the talented Scottish actor John Hannah played the titular yet unassuming role of a clinical pathologist. Like myself, this character managed to scoot about the Big Smoke on a motorcycle. He on a sharp black Triumph Thunderbird 900; I zinged about on a 125 Cagiva… I felt every bit as cool as our urbane character. I actually saw him in an East End pub about this time too.
I want to ride my bicycle- This 1903 Triumph safety bike has such an elegant shape. With a sinuous open frame to allow women to pedal in their skirts. These old human powered machines just look so perfect in their functional purpose. The advert to the left is a mid-Century model promoting the bike as a form of exercise; though the dropped cross bar seems a tad dated.
Morrie’s Place – the busy workshop at Ed Zenders place is a hive of activity. With all four workstands taken up with motorcycles under repair, a workbench full of engines, parts, tools; and more bikes awaiting attention, there’s a healthy dose of work in this great vintage ‘shop. Overhead the old signs herald days past when more local garages kept owners rides roadworthy.
Cowmark Cafe – another stop-off on the weekend jaunt was this roadside diner. Good cooked breakfast and coffee. Adorned in the black and white Fresian cattle it was a worthy theme for dairyland Wisconsin.
geordiebiker.com 