Photo lifted from the Commemorative Air Force
We had a blast from the past yesterday in The Duck! City.
As I was out riding trails on the Bianchi Zurigo Disc I heard a low-flying aircraft overhead. Glancing up I saw the unmistakable shape of a B-25 medium bomber rumbling northward.
The Auld Fella, Col. Harold J. O’Grady (USAF), got some time in the B-25 when he wasn’t working his day job flying C-47 Skytrains out of New Guinea during World War II (“The Big One”).
Introduced in 1941, the North American B-25 Mitchell was named in honor of Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell, as was the Bibleburg high school Your Humble Narrator attended without distinction during 1969-71.
This particular model, a B-25J dubbed “Maid in the Shade,” was based out of Serraggia Airbase in Corsica during 1944 and saw service over Italy, which was appropriate, as I was riding a Bianchi.
Happily, the Maid was unarmed, and I escaped unscathed to tell the story.
Mad Blog Media 
Cool old airplane. When I was in NROTC, I once got to tour a B-17. Not flying, just sitting on the ground at a military base. And for part of a summer cruise, they flew the U of R midshipman detachment between bases on an old C-47 (yep, it was that long ago) and through a thunderstorm, to boot.
And speaking of “incoming”, while reading the papers this morning, I sure am glad to be riding a bikey-bike around Fanta Se this weekend rather than taking the motorcycle on a trip up to Taos or Red River.
We got to scope out a bunch of classic warbirds during Armed Forces Days at various USAF bases. It was amazing to set foot inside the real deal after a steady diet of movies and TV shows. Gave you a feel for just how spartan and cramped these spaces were. And mind you, we were kids on a lark, not adults getting shot at.
I see Burque made the news.
https://www.krqe.com/news/vandals-alter-albuquerque-pedestrian-crosswalk-signals-to-give-the-middle-finger/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co&utm_campaign=socialflow
Huh. That may be the first time anybody in The Duck! City ever paid any attention to a pedestrian crosswalk.
The news video actually had to black out the flipped bird image? Wow. I think I just felt George Carlin chuckling in his grave mumbling something about words in public.
I’m glad that Italy recovered after the war to make good stuff like your Bianchi, the Vespa, or something that may interest Khal. You only live once buddy; you might as well have something that let’s you laugh at all the Beemers and Japanese crotch rockets.
https://i1.wp.com/www.asphaltandrubber.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2017-Ducati-1299-Superleggera-feature.jpg?fit=2000%2C1334&ssl=1
Beautiful beast. Now, imagine a spindly old man with rickety joints attempting to bend himself onto that stately crotch machine. A not-so “Vargas-esqe” image eh? No, I wasn’t talking about one of you fine physique specimens, I was talking about myself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Vargas
I test rode a Ducati Monster a friend of mine was selling before I bought the BMW sport touring rig that I eventually brought home (and I can’t recall Meena’s exact words, but they would not be printable in a family newspaper). The Ducati gave me The Fear, because I knew what I would be tempted to do if I bought it, and “auger in” comes to mind. It was too one-dimensional and raw, and I don’t do crazy shit on motorcycles any more.
A beautiful sport touring machine. Pack the trunks and take a week touring the Rocky mountains.