Summit Point, WV NESBA Track Day

Went to Summit Point Raceway again and decided it was time for me to get out on the track.

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What an absolute blast! Props to Andy Forian in Syracuse for convincing me that it was the thing to do. Andy spent a bunch of time racing bikes and had some real good advice so I didn't wad my bike and hurt myself the first time out.

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The pictures make it look like I am just out for a nice Sunday ride but the reality is that you are blasting around the track at speeds up to 135 mph in some places.

I suppose it's time to buy a real racebike.

All pics can be found here.


Jeff Stevenson
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Meetup.com Group Ride to Thurmont and Vicinity

Jeff
Went riding with the The Rockville MD/VA/DC Motorcycle Riders Meetup Group Saturday.



We rode the backroads east of 270 north to Thurmont, MD, stopping to eat at the Cozy Inn & Restaurant before proceeding west across Cacoctin Mountain on Rt. 77. From there we ended up at High Rock, near Camp David.

Check out this panoramic view from High Rock, looking out on Great Valley:

http://www.potomacwatershed.net/resource/antimono/hirkasse.html

Here's a shot of me at High Rock, standing as close to the edge as I am going to get when the dropoff is several hundred feet.

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All the pictures from the ride can be found here.


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Jeff Stevenson
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Seeing The Broader Picture

Jeff
Former UN Sectretary-General Kofi Annan recalled that when he was in school in Ghana, the headmaster Francis Bartels had once “put a broad sheet of white paper on the wall, with a little black dot in the right-hand corner, and asked, ‘Boys, what do you see?’” The boys shouted in unison, “A black dot.”

Bartels then admonished them, “So not a single one of you saw the broad white sheet of paper. You only saw the black dot. This is the awful thing about human nature. People never see the goodness of things and the broader picture. Don’t go through life with that attitude.”


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Jeff Stevenson
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Motorcycle Trip to Berkeley Springs, WV

Mackenzie and I decided to go motorcycle riding today and headed for Berkeley Springs, WV.



After getting to Martinsburg, WV just fine we kinda lost our way and ended up lost, out in the "holler" on, of all places, Siler Rd. near Cross Junction, VA. The lack of traffic was nice on the hillbilly roads but I was hoping our gas held out and the banjo music didn't start playing the Deliverance tune.

We finally made our way to Berkeley Springs and enjoyed lunch at Tari's Cafe.



We then walked around Berkeley Springs and learned a bit about the history of the place.



On the way back from Berkeley Springs I learned a valuable driving lesson: When passing in a no passing zone, ensure that the car immediately behind you is not a State Police Officer. I had been following some West Virginia Pop-Pop in his pickup truck going fifteen miles an hour below the speed limit for five miles when I decided enough was enough and passed the girl behind him and then Pop-Pop himself. Those solid yellow lines apparently mean "Thou Shalt Not Pass". The cop was really cool and decided to give me only a warning for, uhhh... "Improper Passing".



He told me: "Don't do that again, especially when I am right behind you". Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. The way I drive the Honda 919 I am surprised I haven't gotten pulled over before this.

All the pics are here.


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Jeff Stevenson
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Mackenzie Throws the Discus and Puts the Shot

In addition to doing some running events Mackenzie is throwing the discus and doing the shot put event. Here she is in action at a recent meet against Northwest HS.




All pictures here.


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My Brother the Firefighter - Continuing a Proud Stevenson Tradition

And you folks think I am the stupid crazy one in the family:


This is my brother Chip (center), getting ready to go 40 feet in the air over the fire pictured below.





The whole story of this fire in Lewes, DE is available here.

My family has been involved in volunteer firefighting organizations for generations. My father, at 69 still puts on the bunker gear, jumps on a fire truck and rushes into burning buildings when others are running out. He has been a fireman for over forty years as have his two brothers- Jean and Jim. Chip's son Stevie joined the Georgetown Volunteer Fire Company last year at age 18. While others talk about "doing something" for the community, my family in Delaware does it.

I am proud of them all.


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Jeff Stevenson
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Summit Point With Luis

This past Friday I went to Summit Point, WV to watch my buddy Luis Bruder take his car onto the track at Summit.



BSR Inc. is a company that provides High Performance, Security and Recreational Driving Schools. Think driver training for cops.

Similar to NESBA track days, BSR also holds Friday at the Track days for the car nuts to get instruction from sport car driving experts and to get some track time.

By the way, the little red car above is not Luis' car. Here he is next to his Mitsubishi EVO:



All the pictures are here.


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March 25th Meetup.com Motorcycle Ride

Jeff
Spent today riding with a great group of guys (and a girl) from The Rockville MD / VA / DC Motorcycle Riders Meetup Group. One group started in Olney, VA and we all met on Dock Street in Annapolis.

From there our group of ten rode to Tilghman Island, MD where we ate lunch at The Bridge Restaurant. Then it was back to DC in the Ocean City traffic.



All the pictures from the ride can be found here.

The quality may seem a little off since they were taken with the cell phone camera. Don't even ask how I got the moving, on-the-road pics.....it's probably not legal.


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Mackenzie Runs Track

Mackenzie is on the track team this year at Quince Orchard High School. She is running the 800, throwing the discus and doing the shot put.


Here's Mackenzie in the stretch run of the 800m.




Mackenzie and Stephanie in the "Two Person Cross Infield Cold Weather Blanket Run"



A few more pics can be found here.


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Gathering of Eagles

Mackenzie and I went to the Gathering of Eagles in Washington, DC on March 17th.






This was the day American veterans found their voice - 30,000 veterans and supporters turned out vs. an estimated 10,000 anti-Americans. Never before have so many turned out to say to the anti-American crowd: "Never Again."










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