New Mtn. Bike Race Loop

Back on Feb. 21, I posted some pictures from a new trail that Miguel made on the East side of Bonaire, out by Lagoon. Well, we've added some more trail sections and some connecting dirt roads and now have a 9km race loop that Miguel and Bonaire Wellness Conexxions are going to use for a race this Sunday. It is actually more of a figure 8 configuration with loops both to the north and to the south of the start/finish area on the Lagoon road.

I've posted helmet cam video of the whole thing on YouTube. It is in five parts, shot over two days to get good sun angles. The first part is called Bonaire LagoonLoop A. Once you have the first one called up in YouTube, links to parts B, C, D and E are also visible. The videos were shot while riding at a friendly fun ride pace. Riding multiple laps of the course at a competitive pace will prove to be quite an undertaking.

Even if you are not a mtn. biker, this route would make a great hike, because of the unusual terrain and gorgeous views, some of which show nicely in the videos.

Church Construction Update

Walt and some local guys have been busy working on the section that houses the kitchen, nursery and bathrooms. Once this wing is finished, we can use the facility for some types of events, even without walls on the main auditorium. Larry Wright and Kevin Baker, who are here on Bonaire doing volunteer work for Trans World Radio, also found time to pull the wires for most of the building. Larry has just sold his electrical contracting business and "retired", so he is the right man, at the right time, for this project.

Here is the view looking back from the front of the auditorium towards the entrance area. Donations for this building project have been coming in slowly but steadily. So the construction has also been able to keep advancing steadily.

By they way, if you are on Bonaire right now, the IBC will have a Good Friday service at the High School (SGB) auditorium at 7pm. There will also be the traditional sunrise service up on Seru Largu at 6:15 on Easter morning. After the Sunrise Service, there will be a potluck breakfast back at the High School, and then the usual morning church service at 9am. Everyone is invited and welcome to these Easter season activities.

Dog Days

Here are a couple pictures of the dogs doing what they do best. They certainly do like hanging out with Sandra.

Yes Sandra is working on her Farmtown farm.

Buggy is Back

The front brakes on the dune buggy got all gunked up from our not driving the car for like a year, and from decomposing hoses between the fluid reservoir and the master cylinder. Sandra brought some new parts back with her, our local NAPA store turned the front disks and now the brakes are as good as new.

Next project will be installing the new exhaust system that I've had kicking around here for a couple years. There is one broken exhaust stud already, so I'm expecting this to be an arduous process. I'm planning on pulling the engine so I can get at the exhaust ports more easily, and I've got lots of original and over-sized studs ready to install.

A new rear bumper-cage will go on with the new exhaust, and that will require moving the tail lights. Then I'll have to start doing some serious thinking about the cracked and pealing paint on the body.

English News is Back

After an absence of many years, English news is back on TWR Bonaire's 89.5 FM station, The Voice of Hope.  Bill Early is heading up the news team, which so far, includes Greg Shaw and Denny Milgate, all familiar voices to long time listeners to TWR. Each two minute report airs week days at 5pm and then again the next morning at 7am. I'm attaching a sample of the report from March 26.

Happy Dogs

Our dogs are happy to have Sandra back.  They are settling into a well ordered existance again, after having gotten kind of excentric during the time she was away.
The two older dogs got to go to the vet for their annual shots last week. yippie! I think it cost us about $20 per dog.  Low doggie care costs are one of the fringe benefits of living here on Bonaire.

The third dog got to go on an outing to Washikimba yesterday afternoon, definately a red letter day in the canine scheme of things.

Sunset at Washikimba

Sandra and I were out by Lagoon and Washikimba Sunday afternoon, doing some bush cutting along the new race loop trails.  We had previously noticed how cool the sun looked as it set behind the hills, so I brought a camera along yesterday.  Here are a few setting-sun shots.

If you look along the top edge of the sun in the photo below, you can see hints of green.  I saw a slight green flash, visually, as the sun dipped below the ridge, but the pictures I snapped were somewhat overexposed, and the color was washed out, so no green was to be seen.

Tower Crew

Work continues on replacing all the cross braces on our four antenna towers.  Here is a picture of the team that I took a couple weeks ago.  Since then, Marty (center) has been replaced by Denny.

Marty owns a hydro seeding business in Vermont.  Since he can't exactly do seeding when the ground is covered with snow, he came to Bonaire for three weeks to volunteer his services on the tower project.

When he wasn't up on the towers, Marty was able to get in six lionfish hunting dives and three challenging mountain bike rides.

Sandra's Back

Sandra returned to Bonaire on Sunday, after three months in New Jersey for medical testing.  The testing was inconclusive and more tests are scheduled for this summer, but she is feeling quite a bit better than she felt last fall, and it is sure good to have her back.

Right now, all horizontal surfaces in the living room and dining room are covered with the contents of her suitcases,  but I can't complain.  While she was away, I had turned those same areas into a bike shop, as the accompanying picture will illustrate.

Tower Work Continues

Work on the towers continues.  Here we see Denny Hogan and Kevin Baker half way up tower 4.  Can you spot them in the middle of the middle white section on the left hand tower?

Denny is inside the tower. Kevin is on the outside.

Denny and Kevin close up.  They look nice and comfy way up there.