It's Getting Addictive...

I have only been dyeing discs a short time. As of today I think I've done about 7 discs including my 2 latest dyes. These will probably be the last two for a while. I'm having a blast doing this but if I'm not careful I'll be dying every bit of plastic I have.

I went with a movie theme on my latest discs. The first one was on my 150 Champion Mamba of Jules Winnfield from "Pulp Fiction"...

 
What sucked about this one was after I cut out the mask and was applying it to the disc the mask ripped by the text and I had to trash it and start it all over again. It took me about 4 hours to cut out this one and I had to do it all over again.

My 166 Champion Mamba I dyed with FBI Agent Pual Smecker from "Boondock Saints".

This one took me about 5 hours to cut out. Even though there are a few bleed outs where the dye went where it wasn't supposed to I'm very happy with how they turned out.

Disc Dyeing: Second Attempt

Since my first tries at dyeing my golf discs turned out pretty good this has become a fun obsession for me. I was challenged by a DGCR member who liked my Eddie disc but posted his own version of Eddie. This guy is a lot better than I am and has way more experience. He has some amazing full color dyes.

But I was up to the challenge and decided to dye my DGCR avatar art I did last year. I basically re-worked The Trooper in to an apocalyptic disc golf world.

This is what I ended up with...

The kicker was I added the Eddie art from my first dye to the beat up disc in this dye. I also did a second Eddie from "Piece of Mind".

I finished up my second batch of dyes with Mr. Spray...

I am having so much fun doing this I am beginning to run out of discs to dye. I have two more I'm working on. The art work has taken me 2 weeks to get ready. Hopefully I'll have them done by the end of the week,

Rolling Thunder 25

Rolling Thunder has been changing over the last few years. It's as it the National Parks Service is doing everything they can to fuck it up for the riders coming in to D.C.

My first year back in '02 I parked on the side of Constitution right next to Thunder Alley. A few years later we parked in the grass next to the Washington Monument. In '09 & '10 Ken & I parked over by the Memorial bridge right next to the Lincoln Memeorial. Last year that area was blocked off and this year everything was blocked off. I didn't see one area for bike parking anywhere near the parade area.

We ended up parking on 5th & Pennsylvania about 3 blocks away which made all the extra walking hell on our feet.

The other thing was in the past it was an actual constant rumbling of thousands of Harleys rolling down Constitution. THis year they were spaced apart in groups and they ended up spreading out making it seem like Kinda Thunder instead of Rolling Thunder.

And as last year we could not find a way in to the parade route so we could ride to the end lot and make it out of D.C. Instead we had to ride an extra 10 miles in 90° snarling traffic to make it out.

I'm seriously considering riding somewhere else next year.

I was the luckiest fucker in D.C. today....

On the way back to where we parked our bikes I realize I don't have my key on me. Either it's still in the ignition or it fell out of my pocket somewhere on the National Mall. Either way I could be totally fucked. I parked on the open end of our space and anyone walking by could easily see the key and my helmet hanging on the bars. My Sporty was just begging anyone to "Please jump on and take me for a ride".

But luckily for me when we get back to our bikes the Sporty is still there with the key in the ignition.

A New Disc Golf Hobby

I was inspired by some of the guys on DGCR that do some amazing disc dyes.

If you haven't heard of this. You cut out a mask with adhesive vinyl and apply it to the disc. Then you heat up some poly dye and float the disc in the dye. Every where there is an opening in the mask the dye stains the disc's plastic.

Step 1 was to cut out the mask. I did this at work on the old light table we used to edit negatives on. It worked great. Some designs were easy and only took about an hour.

Once I removed the cut outs and worked out all the air bubbles I tried my first dye....

My first attempt was my Eddie design that took about 3 hours to cut out. I dyed my 150 Champion Leopard.

The next one was my 150 Star Sidewinder....

I finished up with my Star Dart putter with a little reminder to hit the chains.


For first tries they turned out all right. There are some amazing multi-colored dyes out there. The only limit is your imagination.

Better Late than Never....

I finally got the chance to ride Skyline Drive today with Ken. Usually by this time I've hit Skyline several times by now.

It was cool thos morning on the way up to meet Ken but warmed up enough to keep it from getting too hot. Up in the mountains the AC kicked in nicely.

We met Daniel from New York in Front Royal. He was going to ride all the way down Skyline & the BRP to Asheville N.C. so he joined up until the 211 interchange.

We didin't ride as long as we usually do but it was a great ride and I finished it off wiht my usuall Robert E. Lee at The Stable in Culpeper.

Disc Golf Chicks...

My friend Jennifer asked me if I would come down to New Quarter DGC to photographer her first tourney. The worldwide 1st Annual Women's Global Event. I figure I need all the practice I can get before going to Charlotte for the World's.

It was a perfect day for some disc golf. Jennifer put on a great event and it was a complete success. Spotsy DGC top dog Russell won the open and his lady Marla place in her division.

If you play disc golf and are in the Yorktown/Newport News area New Quarter is a must. It's a great park and a really beautiful course.

New Quarter Park 1st Annual Women's Global Event Slide Show

Growing the Sport....

I've enjoyed disc golf since '86. Nine times out of ten I'm playing a solo round. So I was very surprised when my friends Danielle & Corey wanted to play a round. They both had never played before or even threw beach frisbees much. (they saw my Facebook posts on DG)

I set up the time and place and went through my discs to find a good starter disc for them. I picked my 2 lightest weight ROCs I had. Before the round I gave them a 20 minute coaching on how to throw a disc and off we went. I guaranteed them that they would be trowing 100' or more by the end of the round. (they scoffed at that claim)

I started them off with a standing throw and after a few holes they were learning a 3 step - x step throw.

At the start of the round they were throwing about 50'. By the 5th hole they were getting the hang of it and then the thunderclouds began to roll in with some lightening in the distance so we just threw a few safari holes back to the parking lot.

As we were heading to the cars Danielle put it all together and ripped a good 100' throw that went straight at the basket and almost went in. I think that hooked her on disc golf.

They already are looking forward to the next time so they can play an entire 18 hole round.

Sherando Spartan

I entered the Sherando Spartan and headed up to Winchester with Jeff, Bob & Austin.

This tourney I entered the Rec division and as usual my goal was not to finish last since I have never played this course.

My goal for the first round was to throw 10 over par or less. I started off on the tight wooded holes so it took me a few to get settled down. But I felt I was throwing good and my putter was not acting up. I wan't keeping track of my score. On the last hole I was thinking to myself "I haven't gacked any putts today",  which I immediately donked a 12' to take a four to end the round. Ten pars and 10 bogeys, no double bogeys or pars.

I finished the first round at +10. I hit my goal but that last missed putt...

I thought I did good but as usual when I check the standings I'm at the bottom of my division.

The second round we started on the the open holes and the three of us started off hot. Jerry hit a 45' putt for a birdie. I even hit a birdie early on. By the tenth hole I was only 4 over par.

Then came hole 11. This is where my gas tank hit empty. I ended up taking a 6. I missed a 3' putt when two gnats flew in to my eyes as I was releasing the disc. The final 10 holes were a blur of shorter than usual tee shots. Or when I do get a good tee shot I end up 2 putting for a bogey and on the last hole going from putting for birdie on a Discraft Traveler basket watching my disc hit it then bounce out and roll about 45' down a hill for a final score of 5.

My goal for the second round was 15 over since most hole were longer than the first round. I ended up +17. If I could have prevented the extra strokes on 11 & 18 I could have ended at +11.

Anyway there were 9 in Rec and I finished 7th. The guy that won Rec would have finishe 3rd in intermediate.

Bob place 3rd in Masters, Austin finished 3rd in Advanced, & Jeff won the Grand Masters.

Well, at least I didn't finish last. Of the 72 players I think I had the 66th total score for the day.