The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have. "Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Do what you like ~ Like what you do ~ Optimism can take you anywhere!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Bike MS: Venture the Valley 2011
Bike MS:Venture the Valley is a bicycle ride that raises funds for research, patient support and advocacy for those living with MS in our area.
The ride is a two day event, starting and ending each day at Camp Kern. Riders have their choice of 25, 50 or 75 mile routes each day.
The weather was particularly nice as Hurricane Irene sucked all the humidity out of the area and left us with comfortable, dry air.
The lunch stop Saturday was at Stonelick Lake.
John and Mike are contemplating riding the 50 or the 75 mile route.
"Don't those chairs feel good, Boys?"
After lunch, I rode with my friend, Lee. Lee enjoys 'letter boxing.' Letter boxing is a predecessor to geo-caching.
Lee had placed a 'letter box' in the cemetary that was just off the route. Word had it that the 'letter box' was no longer there, so Lee wanted to check it out.
We found what was left of the 'letter box.' Lee took it home to repair before replacing it.
I shared cabin twelve with Carrie and Sue. Team CCC tent.
Sunday morning, my friend Ron and I started out before the 'mass start.' We rode for a quiet hour without seeing another bicycle - or car, for that matter.
Sunday's route went in and out of the Little Miami River Valley and around Caesar's Creek Reservoir. Lunch was at Clinton-Massie High School followed by a snack stop at Hisey Park, before returning to Camp Kern.
A covered bridge after the Hisey Park snack stop.
This is the 17th year I have participated in the MS ride.
Riders who raise more than $1200 receive a 'top banana' jersey.
The OVAM Show this year featured J.I.Case steam engines, tractors, garden tractors and equipment.
The industry giant in the manufacturing of agricultural steam engines was the J.I.Case Threshing Machine company. The biggest year for production of Case steam engines was 1911, and 1912 witnessed the highest sales. Case also built nine legendary 150-horsepower road locomotives.
Case manufactured rock crushers, elevators, stone graders, special plows for breaking up rocky roads, grading plows, road graders, dump wagons, spreader wagons, scrapers, barrows, steam-lift scarifiers pulled by the engine and scarifiers attached to the roller.
Who'd'a guessed?
There were many nice displays of 'red', 'green' and 'orange.' Here is a display of tobacco cutters.
In 193? Zenith, along with Crosley, Winco and maybe others, developed the wincharger to charge 6 volt farm batteries to eliminate the need to take farm radio batteries to town to be charged. This wincharger could be mounted on a tower or on the house roof.
This wincharger might be a 6 volt. Later they were made in 12, 36 and 110 volt models and could power lights in houses, barns and milking parlors.
The steam engine was ready to start sawing logs, when the belt broke!
The belt was fixed with belt fastners and was in operation before we left.
And this might be?
This gal was spinning flax into thread that eventually would be made into linen. The flax plant is on the left side of the picture.
The volunteers of the 41st reunion show are proud to preserve the past for the future generations.
The flying stop sign and the flying cars that race through the air.
The model planes were supposed to break the balloons, not release them!
The 'set' for Pearl Harbor and the Doolittle Raid.
The grass is dry, but not as dry as the year that it caught on fire!
The most unusual model planes we saw this year were the 'swing gliders.' The swing gliders were roughly 5 feet from wing tip to wing tip and were launched by the owner holding onto a wing tip and swinging the glider through the air in a circle, then letting go.
Once in the air, the gliders were radio controlled.
We rode our bicycles around Stonelick Lake before touring the annual Clermont County Antique Machinery Show.
Stonelick Lake is the 'lunch stop' for the MS-150, an annual bicycle ride the last weekend in August, that raises funds for the Southwestern Ohio MS Society.
The CCAMS is one of the smaller shows in the area, but there is always something interesting to see.
