IMD3 goes stealth
I had a good chance to test out my stealthy jacket in the field over the weekend. The Marshes were fairly depressing, but our research is moving along nicely. I also managed to tick 8 new bird species. More photos can be found here.
I have also put together a fixed-gear bike over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been riding it to uni and back, but it needs a real test.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Really, this lurking has gone on long enough…
Things in Darwin are, surprise surprise, sunny and hot. Not only that, Timtim is up to 10,576 push-ups. Or at least that’s how it seems. He’s become a herculean mass of rippling muscles in the process, so I hope you southern boys and girls have been keeping apace. He’s also ticked off some 597 new species of bird (or was that 63?)
I for one have been dominating the “throwing oneself over one’s handlebars and skinning one’s face and knee” category. Believe it. And I have a mad tan (not bad for a pasty Canadian…)
And as for documented evidence of our exploits… may I present our music video/slideshow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-QMmO5SU0
In it you will see photos of all kinds of stuff from the past week, including the very swanky bower that I found (we have pics of the bower bird himself making it), my bloody knee, some nice artwork in the botanic gardens and a bunch of birds, too. Oh, and Timtim busting out some push-ups. Again.
Enjoy! (if the link doesn’t work, search youtube under ‘competitive birdwatching’)
Chris.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Hey there Tom & Zoe et al
IMD is nearing an end and my main achievement has been getting (almost) over dengue fever! Yay for mosquito-borne tropical diseases!!!
I also negotiated my contract for more time in Aust! So I’ll be in Aust for maybe 5 months/year!
Take care everyone!
jodi
August 25th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Specs on the bike please
(particularly the frame)
Are you riding clipless? How does it feel compared to standard pedals?
August 25th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Hi Christine, glad you’re having a ball in Darwin! hi Jodi! Tim, I’ll leave tom to answer your query in further detail, although I can tell you it is GREEN. ok?
August 26th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
the bike is actually sparkly green with a chrome road/touring fork. reynolds 531 steel. i drilled the original fork (i know), but the clearance was still too tight for peace-of-mind.
components are a bit of a mix: shimano 600 seatpost, 105 headset, giant saddle, campy front brake, ofmega cranks, suzue rear hub laced to velocity aeroheads and generic bars/stem/front hub.
pedals are either 105 clipless, which are great and provide much more control than clips, or campy pedals with galli double steel clips and sprint straps.
I have a nitto bar and stem combo to put on there, but need a brake lever with a larger diameter attachment ring…
August 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I like nitto bars. so crunchy!