not to beat a dead horse...

...and continue on the safety bandwagon, but i'm going to... planning a ride to the smoke out this weekend which i talked about earlier, so maybe after this post, the content will get more exciting!!!

according to a new york dmv press release, they are stepping up their public safety campaign to make motorist more aware of motorcyclists... a friend e-mailed me a link to one of the commercials that's supposed to be airing... startling at first, but i think it gets the message across.

i searched around their web site looking for other commercials but have been unsuccessful so far. i'll keep looking and if/when i find them, i'll post them...

until then, ride safe...

ben and helmet use...

from the latest news it looks like ben is going to make a quick, and hopefully full, recovery. it sounds like it will be a couple weeks before they really know if there will be any long term effects.

i wonder if ben will start wearing a helmet... regarding helmet use, there was a report on the kdka web site about helmet use, or as they put it, "expert opinions vary whether a helmet would have helped ben." the "expert," dr. guy catone, says that the helmet could have changed the mechanical forces in the accident, possibly making it worse. at face value, this is true, it could have made it worse. but there are a lot of other factors, that if thrown into the situation, could have possibly made it worse - weather conditions (what if it was raining), road conditions (what if there was a lot of gravel), speed (what if he was going a lot faster), etc. we could go on forever listing the different possible factors that could have changed the effects of the accident. how about this one?? what if the lady driving the car would have checked for oncoming traffic and waited to make the left hand turn in front of the motorcycle??

but i digress - back to the use of helmets... it's a fact that helmet use does help protect the rider in cases of accidents. sure, there are probably instances where it does attribute to additional injury. but the protection provided by a helmet outweighs the additional risk of injury or wearing the helmet and far exceeds not using a helmet at all.

with that said, it should also be noted that helmet use alone is not enough to prevent injury or save a rider's life. riders should employ a strategy of defensive riding techniques to prevent getting in an accident in the first place...

i guess that's enough about that (for now). i'll get off my soapbox...

ride safe...

serious, but stable condision...

that's the latest on ben roethlisberger, quarterback for the pittsburgh steelers.

ben was in a motorcycle accident this morning that apparently left him in fairly bad shape. it's still early after the accident, so a lot of the details are still being figured out. according to the police report it seems ben was a victim of the dreaded left turn in front of the motorcycle. unfortunately, it also seems ben was not wearing a helmet!!!

best wishes, thoughts and prayers to ben for a speedy and full recovery...

smiles...

one of the biggest enjoyments i get out of riding is seeing kids... the awe in their eyes as you ride by or the smiles on their faces as you wave back to them. it's funny when their parents are trying to nonchalantly get them to look away from the biker and you keep smiling and waving back at the kids.

whenever i get a chance, i smile, wave back or talk to the kids. last night, i had parked in a spot and was putting my helmet and gloves in my tour-pak when a car pulled up in the spot next to me. the dad was driving and mom and little boy were in the back seat. the boy must have been about two - i should know these things because i have a toddler, but i am absolutely terrible at telling ages. so we'll just agree he was in the two year old range. from the time he saw the bike, the little kid couldn't take his eyes off the bike. dad gets out and i give a friendly, hi, how are you, greeting. he says something back. after mom and dad get kid out of the car, the come walking by the bike so kid can get a closer look. about this time i'm starting to walk away. i can see the kid's excitement as he's looking at the bike. so i ask dad if he thinks kid would like to touch the bike. i had thought about offering to sit on the bike, but with the hot pipes and lawsuit happy people in this world, i figured it would be better not to offer the sit. so kid touches the bike and gets a huge smile on his face. then i ask him if he's going to own a bike on days - he shakes his head yes....

okay - so it might be goofy, but seeing the look on a kids face when you smile or wave at them is a really good feeling... and i guess i do it for myself as much as for them.

finally done...

it's finally over... and i passed... have lots to talk about in this post. i may end up breaking it into several posts... or i may just end up giving a quick recap and be done with it...

typical friday - packing at the last minute. debating whether to take the bike or not. wanted to take it, but wasn't sure about the weather. friday and saturday were supposed to be nice, sunday was supposed to be thunderstorms. in the back of my mind, i kept thinking about last weekend when josh and doug rode home in the rain - cold, miserable rain. wasn't sure i was going to be on board for that... well, i decided to take it, which made packing a little easier. i decided this time i'm only packing the minimum amount of stuff i'd need. and packing it all in plastic zip-lock bags to prevent them from getting soaked. i also had a little pressure to pack since we had to be out there an hour early to set up for the real class.

so i get packed up, load everything on the bike and head out. quickly decided to take the interstate because i didn't want to worry about time. i figured i knew about how long it would take me if i drove the interstate - wasn't so sure if i took the more scenic route. ride out was good - weather was nice and traffic wasn't bad. got there a little early and a couple guys were already there. we chatted before heading over to the college.

this weekend we got to teach a real class. this was it, the real thing. i was a little nervous - always the chance i'm going to screw up... but george and i had been working on the material we needed to cover. i felt i knew our stuff pretty well. we get to the college and start setting up the room. once that was out of the way, we waited for the students to show up. and show up they did. i don't know what i was expecting, but the people walking in sure weren't it. and of course you make your first impressions - certain people are going to do well and others are going to struggle and/or fail. one of the things you have to remember is that you can't rely on first impressions - they will prove you wrong. so i just filed them away, hoping everyone would pass.

first night went smoothly. we all did our little presentations and they went well. we did get into a damn-if-you-do / damn-if-you-don't situations... it was time for class to start and one of the students wasn't there. sheila didn't know whether to start class or not. we could see it now - if she started class, she would get dinged for starting class without everyone present. if she waited, she would get dinged for starting late. she started class on time and one student short. of course that student walked in minutes later - but she got dinged... oh well, it was expected.

while we were teaching friday night, it decided to thunderstorm. it was unexpected and only lasted about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. thankfully we were inside and not out riding. and by the time we finished up class that night, it had cleared up. i was prepared to ride in the rain, but thankful i didn't have to.

finishing class friday night was a relief. not really tough or anything, just thankful to have it started and everything going well. and a lot easier than we originally expected. but, it's good to be over-prepared than under-prepared. after class, we went out to eat. late dinner, but it wasn't a late night. most of us were tired and wanted to get some sleep for class the next day.

saturday - nice, beautiful day. got there early, got the bikes out on the range, warmed the bikes up, and got the range set up. again, things were going smoothly. and things would continue to go smoothly all day. our teaching went well and the students were progressing. some had pervious motorcycle experience and some had none. they progressed at different rates, but they all progressed - and it was neat to see.

george and i had two lessons to teach. the first lesson, lesson three for those of you with programs, went okay. it's amazing that no matter how simple you make the instructions and how many times you repeat it, people just don't listen. we had two parts to our exercise. in the first part, once the cone in front of you was clear, you could ride to that cone. explain, explain, and explain... did people ride to the cones when the one in front of them was clear?? no!!! still had to give them signals to proceed. when they got to me, i would explain it again... still didn't do any good. it was amazing - but i guess they're thinking about other things. same thing happened during part two. this time they were to ride to the end of the line once the last cone was free. and once they stopped at the last cone, they were to clear the cone and head to the other line. did they do that?? no!!! they stopped at the last cone and waited there until the line they wanted to get into was open. which meant the other riders had to wait... again, explain, explain, and explain.

i did have one close call. well, not really a close call, but something that raised my awareness. one person had just started riding in the line and they next guy in line was pretty far from the start point. so i signaled him to come up to the start line. i turned my attention to the other line. then i turn my attention to the riding lanes and there's the guy - halfway down the lane, riding up on the first rider. i couldn't believe it - how did he get there so quickly. at least nothing happened - not even a close call. i was kind of surprised i didn't get dinged for it in the debrief. but i guess i handled it well and there was no dangerous situation present.

so saturday went well. wrapped up saturday evening and headed out for dinner. a couple people were ready to cut loose. four weeks of this stuff, pressure was building and people were ready to have a good time. dinner was a lot of fun. lots of laughs, with each other and at each other. here we were, brought together with the common goal of teaching motorcycle safety. we had all made a new set of friends - some friends closer than other. some of us will stay in touch - other won't. we all have good intentions to stay in touch - some will make it work, others will die out. so after dinner, we look for a bar. and find one. it was a small place. main floor with an upper balcony overlooking the lower floor. we opted for the balcony, got our drinks and shouted at each other over the music. we were all having a good time, except george. it wasn't his type of environment. can't really say it was mine - or is my type of environment any more. but i adapted - it's only one night. george couldn't handle it and just stormed out. didn't say a word to anyone, climbed over a couple people and headed out. we couldn't believe it. sheila, who had driven, went out looking for him to make sure he was okay and offer him a ride back to the hotel. about fifteen minutes later she returned - couldn't find george. i'm thinking great... he's my roommate - what will i do when i get back to the room and he's not there?? i'll face that when i get there and he's not there... we stay around for a an hour or so and decide to head back to the hotel. thank god - i was tired.

i get back to the room and george is there - whew... but he is pissed. i can understand - sort of... i can understand him not being comfortable there, but to act the way he did?? he was angry and took his frustrations out on me. we exchanged a few words, talked about it and i think he was starting to feel better. what a night... i was tired and just wanted to go to sleep.

sunday started out beautifully. weather was nice - although they were calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon. we got the bikes out to the range and started to warm them up. then jim starts barking orders out at us. do this and that. i'm thinking what's all this about?? but i do it. then he stops us at the corners - turn your wheel, turn your head, start and make the turn. now i'm thinking this is nuts. we have other bikes to get out and warm up. after the second round of this, i tell him screw it, we have bikes to get out before the students get there. he tells me no, keep riding, others will get the bikes out. right... i stage the bike and head to the shed to get the other bikes. screw him... i don't know what he was trying to pull...

the morning went well. george and i finished our last assignment before lunch. great - we're done. more importantly, i'm done!!! all except for helping the others. but that was easy. right after lunch, as we got started with an exercise, the sky decided to open up. thunder and lightening. time to get off the range. so we head to the class and decide to give the students the written exam. while we're in there, it decided to hail. and my bike is sitting out there getting pounded. three of us with bikes out there. when it stopped hailing, we head out to check our bikes. i was dreading looking at mine. believe it or not, no damage - just wet. boy was i glad.

after the students finished the written test, the weather had cleared so we decided to get them back out on the range. now we took them out there without letting them know the results of the written test. i think i would have told them. i know it was weighing on their minds. now they have to do the skills test, wonder how they did on the written test. i just thought it might put them at ease. so we run them through the rest of the exercises and get them ready for the skills evaluation. i think i was just as nervous for them as they were to take the test. of course they all passed. and it was rewarding to watch them all pass.

my earlier, preconceived notions were blown to hell. but i knew they would be. some of the people i thought would struggle actually did better than some of the people i thought might breeze through. and that's why we can't make judgments about people. they all did well enough to pass. and it was a good feeling to know that we helped them pass this milestone in their lives.

after the range, it was back inside to present them with their certificates. and after they got theirs, we got ours. before we got ours, they were told that we were in training as well, and that we had all passed. i know some of them were wondering why they had twelve instructors. and now they knew. and they got to watch us get our certificates. it was nice getting the certificates - finally done... or is this just the beginning?? i'm thinking it's just the start...

most people beat feet out of there. i didn't necessarily rush out of there, but i didn't hang around either. i was anxious to get home. and i had the weather to contend with. i'll post about my ride home later... for now, just suffice it to say, i'm glad we all graduated - it was rewarding. but now i'm ready to get home.

on a final note... i touched on it in my first post about the class, and i talked about it here again. preconceived notions... if you go back and read, i mentioned that i couldn't figure out why some people were there, that i couldn't see some of them as instructors, that i thought some would wash out. again, i was wrong. at the end, i could see people's motivation to be there. and most of them were there because they believe it motorcycle safety and want to promote safety. i say most - there was one, maybe two that were there for other reasons - but i won't get into that. some of the ones i thought would (or should) wash out, again, turned out to be surprising - and will turn out to be great instructors. although i will say that the couple that i thought would rise to the top, did. again, when you go into an environment like this and form your opinions - crumple them up and throw them away. they'll only lead to problems. more importantly, you'll overlook someone that may have some great potential. i say it at work all the time - everyone has something to learn and everyone has something to teach. we just have to keep ourselves open to learning - from everyone and anyone.

okay - i'm done with this post. thanks for bearing with me.

oh, one final note. many thanks and happy mother's day to my wife. i should have been with her on sunday. but being the unselfish person she is, and knowing how important this was to me, encouraged me to take the class, and even gave up her special day. not only her special day, but four weekends in a row. she is the best and i appreciate her. thanks boo...

peace...

done with week three...

well, i made it through another weekend... the highlight of this weekend is this is the first weekend i didn't seriously consider just walking away. i attribute that to the way the class has bonded over the last two weekends and us just not taking the instructors very seriously anymore. we're all of the belief that once we get out of class, it will get better...

okay, the weekend started as usual - me packing at the last minute. and again, i was in a debate whether to take the bike or not. weather was saying rain friday and sunday, but the morning was sunny and nice... decided to take the cage - mostly because i was last minute packing and i just wanted to throw stuff together. i know, i know, lazy on my part...

took the usual drive out... nothing to note except for the accident on 321 just north of the 40 exit. there were merging everyone to the right lane because the left lane was closed. for whatever reason, i stayed in the left lane as long as i could. i usually try not to be one of the assholes that wait to the last minute to jump in, but this time i did. and i think it saved me at least 45 minutes because traffic was backed up so far. anyway, that was about the most news-worthy item on the trip out there. weather on the trip out was fair - it did rain a little, but nothing that should have stopped me from bringing the bike. bummer...

got to the hotel and a few people were already there. after getting my stuff into the room, we all hung outside the rooms talking about how this weekend was going to unfold... some people studied the course material during the week and others didn't. i probably fell on the didn't study side - i did review some of the material, but probably not in the depth i needed to... i'm thinking the multiple guess will be on my side. after hanging out for a bit, we headed towards class.

friday night class was the usual peer teaching, running through the class room lessons. we, as a class, seemed to be more organized and smooth on our presentation - like things are finally starting to fall into place. it seems silly, but in some places i am only responsible for three or four questions. i get up for about ten minutes and then i'm done. i'm wondering how this is going to come across to the students we teach next week. it seems like it could be rather disjointed. i hope they're getting a discount on the class - not so much because i think we'll be doing a terrible job, i just don't think they will be getting the continuity or having only two instructors. oh well, we'll do our best. anyway, friday night went pretty well, with daniel and bob slinging mud at each other whenever they had an opportunity. fun to watch, but unprofessional in my opinion. then again, these doods are definitely leading by the do as i say, not as i do credo.

saturday was going to be spent on the range - a looooooong day on the range. we were going until ten o'clock!!! we got the bikes out to the range and warmed them up. of course we got them warmed up before laurel and hardy got out there, taking away any reason for them to start jumping on our cases. the morning was cool, but i think i'd rather have it cool than hot. can always put on more clothes, kind of hard to get comfortable in jeans and long sleeve shirts on a ninety-five degree day!! anyway, it was cool and overcast - if the day stayed like this, then it would make it a little easier.

the morning was the usual run through of the range exercises. just like the class room, you could tell we were starting to put things together. we had an additional ridercoach that was acting like a student - this gave us a little different perspective on things. overall things ran smoothly. except for daniel having to jump in and take over all the time. bob, on the other hand, would let the instructor speak/demo and provide feedback when they were done. daniel just wants to take over and show how he would do it. what he doesn't realize is this throws off the rhythm of the person trying to speak - and it really doesn't give them a chance to learn. oh well...

my partner george and i discussed our first exercise and decided who was going to talk and who was going to demo. we decided to switch it up from the previous week. we were wrapping up our discussion and george had his helmet on when daniel looked over and said that i was going to demo and george was going to talk. obviously he did this thinking he was going to throw us off, but what he really did was take away our opportunity to reverse roles for the exercise. oh well, we handled it and things went well. as did most of the day. george and i had two more exercises, which we did with little problem.

after the range, we finished up the day in the classroom. we went over some materials and discussed the written (knowledge) test. after going over the sample test, i felt a lot better about it. as the tests are written, if you think about it, the correct answer makes sense. then again, when you have the whole class answering the tests, all the answers seem easy. i figured studying the range cards a little more would really help with the test.

sunday started out overcast and threatening rain. we also decided to start an hour later since we had stayed so late saturday night. we started the day with the knowledge test. i was off to a good start, most of the questions seemed easy. they i got to the range questions... not so easy anymore. and i didn't think some of the questions really pertained to the objective of the particular exercise. but i guess they weren't supposed to... for example, the answer to one of the questions was that the students power walk their bikes between the riding lanes. now to me, this doesn't really pertain to the objective of the exercise. although it is part of how the exercise is conducted. luckily for me, it was one of the exercises i have, so i knew that answer. i don't know that i would have gotten that one if i wasn't familiar with the details of the exercise. of course i did struggle on some of the other exercise questions - and on those i guessed at what i thought was the best answer. overall, i figured there were about five questions i wasn't sure about. worse case, if i missed all of those, i would still pass... and pass i did - with 100%!!! i don't think i can take full credit because, as mentioned above, i did guess at a couple of those...

so now it was out to the range... surprisingly six ridercoaches showed up to be our students, including my friend susan. it was good to have other people there - a change of pace instead of always teaching each other. of course they did things to see what we might catch, and to raise our awareness of some of the things we might need to look out for. i think they had fun with it... we got through the first three exercises and started the fourth when the sky opened up. we didn't get too far into the exercise when they decided to take us inside. after some classroom work, they decided it wasn't going to let up, so they let the ridercoaches go and we got ready to wrap up for the weekend.

before leaving, we had to check out the room we were going to be teaching in next weekend. although we had been in there before, we needed to decide how we were going to set up the classroom and, more importantly, how to operate the dvd player and overhead projector. we fumbled around with the equipment for a while. it got pretty crowded around the equipment when several people thought they had to get in there to help. i just walked away and sat at the other side of the room, figuring once they get it working, they'll show the rest of the class. and they did. so now we were familiar with our lessons, familiar with the room... all that was left was to put it to practice - and that would come next weekend.

oooohhhh... daniel did tell us he was going to make it easy on us and we would use the same assignments next weekend as we did this weekend. i'm not really convinced he did it to make it easier on us - why would he make it easier on us now?? he hasn't done that at any other point in the class... no, i think he did it for the benefit of the students next week. it's only fair to give them the best opportunity for success. and having us as prepared as possible does that. since we were/are most familiar with the exercises we have, it makes sense for us to continue teaching those. i think that's the real reason he did it... at least that's what i would do...

before class broke for the day, we had to put the bikes away. lucky for us, the rain had stopped. a couple of the people that rode this weekend volunteered to take the bikes back since they had to put their gear on anyway... i decided to take one around. because i didn't have my gear on, i decided to push it around. it sounded like we have enough people to put the bikes away - we only had six bikes... as we get the fifth bike in, someone says there's still one bike left on the range. and, it doesn't appear anyone is getting it. i walk around to the front to get it and here comes wally, all geared up. i guess it took him a while to get geared up. then he starts mumbling something, and waffling about getting the bike. i'm thinking to myself, i just want to get out of here for the weekend. i decide to just walk it around - it'll be easier than trying to figure out if wally is really going to do it or not... so i push it around and put it away. after closing up, we gather everything out of the classroom and head home. yeah!!!

the ride home was long and miserable. we'll it wasn't really miserable - it just wasn't fun. i had decided to take a different way home, route 64 instead or interstate 40. my luck would have me getting stuck behind someone going slow on a two lane road with no opportunity to pass. damn... that combined with the rain didn't make it a fun drive. but, i kept thinking it could be worse - i could be on my bike like josh and doug. at this point, i think i was glad i wasn't on my bike. the first time this weekend i didn't regret not bringing my bike...

sooooo, that was the weekend. one more to go... i thought this past weekend was going to be the tough one - after this one, i thought it was all downhill. now i'm thinking this final weekend will be the toughest. just because this time it's for real. and we still have things to consider that we've never been concerned with - like the timing of the exercises. well, i'm sure we'll be okay...

guess that's it for now - been tying long enough...

peace...

week two down...

...and what a rough weekend it was!!! where do i start?? at the beginning i guess...

while i was packing, i made a last minute decision to take the bike. i checked the weather and it looked good, so i decided to take the bike. now i had to pack everything in smaller bags instead of my one big bag. since i'm riding, i also like to pack my clothes in zip lock bags in case it does rain. so there i was, stuffing clothes into zip lock bags and stuffing those into my saddlebag bag. the other "problem" with taking the bike was i needed (wanted) more time for stops. now i needed to leave sooner that i was planning. turned out not to be too bad - i was able to get packed and loaded up in time to hit my earlier ais time... and no time to spare.

the ride out was good. all interstate. okay, maybe not all, but at least 200 mile out of 220 miles... it went quicker than i thought it would - not sure why, but it did. i stopped once to stretch my legs and get a drink. probably only stopped for 15 minutes before hitting the road again. made it to the hotel earlier that i expected. that's a lot better than getting there later!!

i got my stuff into the room, hung out for a bit and then decided to head to class. on my way out to the bike, here comes wally... after exchanging pleasantries, we decide to ride to class together. he's familiar with the area and knows a shorter route. that's good with me!! as we're getting on our bikes, wally tells me he has after-market pipes and they're probably louder than mine. i look at him and just say, "probably." after we get on and start the bikes, i jokingly say, don't go too fast and lose me. he says that if he took off on the twisty roads, i wouldn't be able to keep up with him. again, i look at him and say, "probably."

we finally take off and it becomes obvious quickly that wally doesn't do much, if any, group riding. we get on the interstate and the first thing he does it start switching lanes to pass traffic. of course he's doing this in such a manner that i can't stay with him!!! i make an effort to catch him. at one point, we're jockeying around two cement mixers. finally, wally's in the left lane, the two cement mixers move to the right lane and all i have to do is gun it by the two trucks to catch wally. just as i get to the rear tire of the second cement mixer, i see wally zip into the right lane. he's still got his right turn signal on and now he's giving hand signals (something he hasn't done yet) that he's making a right turn. i scan down the road further and see the exit, which i now presume we're taking... great!!! i don't have time to pass both trucks, and i don't have space to get between them. so now i have to slow down and get behind them. of course i have cage on my butt!! here i am, in the left lane, hitting my brakes trying to get back into the right lane. i'm sure the cage was thinking - asshole biker. and i really can't blame them... well, i manage to get behind the truck just in time to take the exit.

so now we're on back / residential roads the rest of the way. believe it or not, wally was able to lose me three more times. well, maybe only two. the first one, we're riding along about 45 mph. all of a sudden, no signal or anything, he pulls over to the right into a parking lot. not being prepared, i missed the turn. thankfully, there was another turn into the parking lot about 100 yards down the road. so, technically, i guess he didn't lose me that time. we conferred in the parking lot and he told me he missed the earlier turn, so now we have to go back. he pulls out of the parking lot between two cars, not leaving me enough room to follow. damn - separated again. now i was able to catch up to him when he had to wait to make a left turn at a light. but there was a car between us. in true wally fashion, when he gets a chance, he motors out of there, leaving me sitting behind a car, waiting to turn. now i would have expected him to pull over in a parking lot to wait for me - but this is wally... a couple of miles down the road, i see him at an intersection. he had already made his left turn and was waiting for me to make the turn. yeah, i can finally catch up with him... the light turns red, so i can't make my turn yet. as i come to a stop at the intersection, i see wally taking off into the distance. damn, damn, damn... i am finally able to catch up to him at another light - thankfully onto the road that the college is on. so even if he takes off, i know how to get to my destination now. somehow, we manage to pull into the parking lot together. as we dismount, i look at wally and say, "don't do much group riding, do you??"

there would be two more trips between the hotel and college with wally. each one an adventure in itself - wally always looking for the ultimate cut through. it turns out saturday night, when i didn't have to ride with wally, that i found an easier way, which seemed to be quicker. i would have tried to tell wally about it, but since he didn't "discover" it, there would have been something wrong with it... oh well...

so where was i?? oh yeah, class friday night. i got to lead off presenting unit 1, the introduction. i asked if there was anything specific i should know before i got started - nope, just get up there and do it... so i do... and as i'm presenting the material, they have me skip sections. this throws off my presentation because i wasn't expecting it. when i asked earlier, i would have at least expected them to say that they're not going to have me do everything in its entirety. oh well. this was only the beginning. and they did this to everyone. of course the final result was all the presentations looking disjointed, like we weren't prepared and didn't know what we were doing. it's like they had expectations for us, but didn't tell us what those were until we didn't meet them.

so saturday after lunch all hell breaks loose. and i think it was because two guys from the "state" office were observing us friday night and saturday morning. they left shortly after lunch. after they left, we were told how frustrating it was for them to watch us performing so poorly. they may have even said we were the worse class they've ever had. now i can go and get all defensive, but it may just sound like excuses. i have these thoughts - when you're in a class and one or two students are struggling/failing, it's probably the student. when the whole class is failing, it's the instructor. however, our instructors weren't willing to accept any responsibility.

saturday afternoon they pulled us off the range and back into the classroom. one of the instructors wouldn't even return to the classroom. the other one was saying that the reason we weren't learning may have been because when they were trying to teach us out on the range, there were always side conversations going on. this is true. however, what they failed to realize that most of the side conversations were because the instructor not teaching the lesson would start conversations with the students. in addition, the instructors would give the students conflicting instructions. we would ask one instructor how we should present something and he would advise us. after completing it the way we were told, the other instructor would say we shouldn't do it that way. of course neither instructor would stand up and say they told us how to do it.

another example that comes to mind... now the instructors have "preferences" of what color cones to use in certain exercises. bill and i were setting up cones. we had them set up and we were getting ready to walk away when bill suggested we change a set or orange cones to red. i was hesitant. and i told him that if we made them green, they'd tell us they wanted them orange. but if we left them, then they would want them green. bill laughingly agreed. i told him we could switch them if he wanted - but he said we would leave them orange. so we headed back to the staging area. not twenty feet away from the cones, here comes bob. "now this is only a bob thing, but i like to have green cones at the entrance point." i looked at bill, smiled and said "weren't damned if we do, we're damned if we don't." bill just laughed. we couldn't win... no one in class could win...

so i mentioned that one of the instructors wouldn't come back into the classroom. well that was up until about five minutes before class ended. at exactly 6:00 he announces that class is over - we should go home. one of the students asked a question. he said that he's been given a hard time for keeping classes longer than the designated time, it's 6:00, class is over. he wouldn't even answer the student’s question. i can't recall that last time i saw such unprofessional behavior from an instructor.

so saturday night we, the students, went out and bonded over a bitch session. i think we all needed it...

sunday morning didn't start out much better - we picked up pretty much where we left on saturday... we got the bikes out to the range and the instructor tells us to warm ourselves and the bikes up by riding the perimeter and doing weaves on the long side. so we're all out there, riding in circles doing our weaves - round and round we go... we stage after getting the signal and here it comes - the lecture... i expected it to be run this way, you guys weren't doing this, you weren't doing that, blah, blah, blah. as i was sitting on the bike, i started looking over to the parking lot, thinking, i should just walk over to my bike, hop on and ride off without saying a word to them... i honestly don't know what kept me there.

later in the morning and into the afternoon, we ran through all the exercises in order. we broke them down, showing where the bikes would be at the start of each exercise. we talked about the objectives, the instructions, how the demo was to be run, how the simulated exercise was to be run. after that we moved the bikes to the transition point between exercises. then we set up the range for the next exercise. as we were doing this, i kept thinking to myself, here it is, sunday afternoon of the second week and we're doing this. we should have been doing this the saturday of the first week!!! i talked to a couple of the other students and they agreed. i know if i would have said something to the instructors, they would have said that we did do that the first saturday. and i guess in a way, they're probably right - the only problem was it was so choppy and we kept doing in different directions that it never seemed that way!! either way, we know it wasn't the fault of the instructors...

actually, running through the exercises in the manner we did help. i think the instructors were pleased with what they were seeing and it helped boost our spirits. after we were done running through the exercises, it was time for the skills evaluation. by chance, i got to be first. they run all the students through each evaluation, i just got to be the first in line... i didn't do as well as i should have. and i could make up a bunch of excuses, but i'm not going to - i just didn't perform as well as i could have. however, i did pass. everyone passed - so that was great. there wouldn't be any retests!!!

the rest of the afternoon was spent in the classroom, reviewing the pre-course questions and preparing for the knowledge test. i'm a bit nervous about the knowledge test, but i'm figuring at a minimum i can guess my way through the test.

so after class i hopped on the bike and headed home. the ride home was good. i was concerned that after the class i would be tired and the ride home would be long. it didn't turn out that way... the ride home, actually, seemed rather quick. and i enjoyed being on the bike more than in the cage. after one stop, for about twenty minutes, to fuel up and grab something to eat and drink. then back on the road for the rest of the trip. traffic was good, so i didn't have to worry about any idiots... ended up putting over 500 miles on the bike this weekend. after one more trip like that, it'll be time to take it in for its 10k service.

so, weekend was good and bad. or more like bad and good. while the class definitely had it's down moments, overall i think it turned out to be a good weekend. i got to ride the bike - finally. if the weather holds, i'll do that for the remaining weekends. and as a class, we really bonded saturday night. the instructor's behavior gave us a real reason to come together more as a team. and i think we've become stronger. now, as long as the rest of the weekends aren't like that!!!

okay - enough for now... another update to follow...

ride safe

one down...

...three more to go...

just completed my first weekend of ridercoach training... whew!! a recap and some of my observations...

well, it started friday... as i think i mentioned in an earlier post, i was totally unprepared - at least packing wise. as far as the course materials, i was pretty much set there. so i was rushing around on friday, juggling work related phone calls, packing and trying to make sure i didn't forget anything. i think i was done packing about the time i needed to load up the cage and take off. yes, i took the cage because of the forecasted weather.

expecting the trip to take anywhere from three and a half to four and a half hours, i left about 12:45pm. i figured worse case that would put me there are 5:15pm leaving me enough time to check into the hotel and get to class for the 6:00pm start.

i pulled into the hotel around 4:30pm. the place reminded me of a motel you'd see along a not so traveled road. not to say the building wasn't in good shape and didn't look nice, it did - for whatever reason, it just wasn't what i was expecting. so i check in, unload my stuff into the room and hang out until it time to leave for the class. as i'm transferring stuff to the room, a guy pulls up on his ultra classic. we eventually pass each other, so i ask him if he's taking the class - kind of a no-brainer as we're all staying at the same hotel and he's riding a motorcycle. he is indeed taking the class - introduces himself as skip. he tells me he rides the bike everywhere, he doesn't own a cage. his wife does and the only time he uses the cage is when it's snowy or there's ice on the road - can't say i blame him. i forget how long skip says he's had the bike, four or five years, and it's got 88,000 mile on it. now that's some riding.

so i head back to the room to kill some time... before long my roommate, wally, shows up. now wally can hold a conversation - we talked about all sorts of things. turns out wally writes for southern motorcycle times, won a 2005 883 sporty and is a warranty administrator for rockwell automation. we chat for a bit and then head to the community college for class...

we arrive at the college and realize there weren't any clear directions/instructions of where the class would be help. wally seemed to know the building we were supposed to be in. we walk in the building and start poking around the rooms. with the amount of heavy equipment and machines in the classrooms, they definitely teach mechanics around here. now i'm thinking to myself, i need to take some classes to learn to weld so that when i decide to build my own bike, i can do some welding on it. well, that's another day and most likely far, far away. right now i'm here for a motorcycle instructor class.

we finally find the classroom - of course it's the last one on the hall. a couple people we already in the room and it looked like the instructors were scrambling around to get things ready. after the rest of the students arrived, they started class. the instructors seemed a little unorganized, like they were winging it. i don't know if they wanted to come off that way or not, but they did. it seemed to start when they couldn't decide if they were supposed to have twelve or thirteen students in the class. this was a discussion they would hold on and off through the first night and into the next morning.

the rest of the night was spent as it would have been for a "normal" class, with the instructors adding advice on how you would teach the course. while there was some structure to what they were presenting, they seemed to be referring to the manual a lot. it just wasn't as polished as i would expect it to be. i don't know if it was intended or not. anyway, friday night was spent doing the first three lessons of the book.

saturday started with the range exercises. actually, it started with us having to get the bikes from storage to the range. not necessarily a big deal, but everyone wants certain bikes. and of course no one wants the bikes at the front. which makes it hard to get the rest of the bikes out. it's amazing to watch the amount of effort people will put into maneuvering a bike around another one in a confined space as opposed to just taking the other one!! so we get the bikes out of the storage area and start firing them up to take them to the range. let me just say they weren't the best bikes around. i don't think any of them have been spared from dropping. so we get them on the range, ride around a bit and then park them in the staging area.

the instructors start talking about how to teach the range exercises, stressing, obviously, safety and coordination between the two coaches on the range. then they tell us to set up the cones for exercise one. it must have looked like a comedy of errors watching us try to figure out which were the right markings and where to put the cones. only being somewhat familiar with the range set up, it took us a while to get them all set up correctly. this would be repeated for almost every range exercise on saturday. but as the day went on, we got better at figuring out where the cones should go.

we start the first exercise, covering the controls on a bike and the differences between the bikes. something that is probably very important to know when you're actually teaching the class. we go all the way through exercise one and two. through the rest of the day, we would partially complete other exercises. we always performed the demo portion of the exercise and sometimes the actual exercise itself. of course we all know we can do the riding portion of the class, otherwise we wouldn't be here. however, when you have to perform the actual demo, it's a lot harder than it seems. i guess because you are showing how to perform an exercise, you want it to be the best it can, so you concentrate a lot harder, which actually makes it hard to perform the demo.

rain really only affected us once on saturday. it rained right after we broke for lunch, but since we were done, that wasn't much of a problem. in the afternoon, it rained again and we ended up leaving the range. i think if this had been a real class, we would have stayed on the range. but we went inside and finished all the book work. in the afternoon, we took turns teaching portions of the course. needless to say, we were unprepared so we did a lot hemming and hawing presenting the materials...

sunday was pretty much spent on the range with the exercises... we wrapped up in the classroom where they gave us assignments for the following week. this should be a lot of fun - now i have to try to find time to get the studying done...

okay - some of my observations from the weekend. the instructors seem very disorganized. they do seem to know their material, but it seems like they are just throwing it at us as they remember it or as questions are asked. as they are presenting the material, they jump and skip around a lot, so it makes it very hard to find continuity in what they are presenting. it would have been nice for them to provide a little more hands on guidance instead of letting us fumble around so much. i believe their thinking is we'll learn more by doing - which is true. but we're making so many mistakes and wasting too much time correcting the mistakes. if they would provide more guidance, we could learn a lot faster.

i can see some people already rising to the top and some sinking. i'm probably floating somewhere near the middle, closer to the top. i can't figure out why some of these people are in the class - money, ego?? i don't know, but they just don't seem to fit. and there are just some natural leaders in the class who will make good instructors. now we'll wait to the end and see how dead wrong i was about the observations i've made about the people.

seems i had some other stuff to add, but i guess this is long enough for now, huh??

ride on...

long rides...

my wife and i went for a walk tonight. after our walk, we were in the front yard discussing what we wanted to do with the flower beds. along came one of our neighbors, out on his walk. we exchanged pleasantries and then he says to me i should be out riding the bike. of course it was a beautiful evening, a perfect one for a ride. just with everything going on and me wanting to spend time with the family, i wasn't going out for a ride tonight. then he says that if i don't get out riding, i'll never be in shape or prepared for the ride to sturgis. i took a little, okay, maybe a lot of offense to this. i know it's going to be a long ride and there are going to be some rough days, but he doesn't know anything about me or my riding habits. of course he's been to sturgis and ridden his bike all everywhere else - just ask him, he'll tell you. now i'm sure he's done his share of riding, but he's one of those guys that will ride his bike somewhere. or at least ride it until he gets tried. then he'll pull over and load his bike onto the trailer that his wife's been following him in. or he'll trailer his bike to the edge of some bike rally, unload it and ride in like he owns the place.

now i'm not going to get in big discussion about people trailering their bikes. i understand people do this and they have their reasons - i'm not against people trailering. what i don't like it people trailering their bikes, unloading then at the edge of town and riding in like they've been riding for days. if you're going to trailer - then trailer, fine. but trailer all the way in...

now i know i haven't made any all day, eight, nine, ten hour trips yet. but i think i've been on some longer rides and i don't think i've felt utterly exhausted when i was done. in fact, i can't remember really being too tired after a trip. i enjoy riding - i find it relaxing. i'm looking forward to the sturgis trip. i think the toughest part of the trip is going to be being away from my family.

how far would you go...

...to buy cheaper gas??

i was out riding the other day, passing gas stations and looking at the rising cost of gas... of course different stations had different prices, which got me to wondering how far people would drive to save money on gas...

now i'm all for saving money on gas. and i'll usually drive a little further to save a couple cents on the gallon. but there is a break point - a point at which it's just too far to drive to justify the savings. and everyone has a break point...

on my way back, i passed a station that was selling gas for $2.839 per gallon. less than a mile away, i passed another station selling gas for $2.819 per gallon - a two cent savings. would you drive the extra mile, possibly out of your way, to save two cents per gallon?? i think i would... about another mile away, two miles from the original station, another station was selling gas for $2.759 per gallon. now, would you drive an extra two miles to save eight cents a gallon?? again, i would. luckily for me, the station selling the cheapest gas is closest to my house...

soooo, how far would someone drive out of their way to save money on gas?? how far would you drive?? i realize it's dependent on a combination of the distance and the savings, but i wonder what the average break point is for people...

another hog meeting...

so i went to the local hog meeting last night. pretty good meeting - i like the events we do to raise money for the local charities...

but tonight, as i was looking around the room, i was noticing the way people dressed. typical harley wear - harley t-shirts, most for the local dealership, jeans, do-rags. that's not to say there weren't some people there that were dressed "nicely," there were. i'm just looking and thinking about the general clothing... then i started to wonder if these people dress this way all the time or do they get dressed up (or maybe down) for the meetings?? me, i pretty much dress the same way all the time - t-shirts or casual button shirts. about the only change in attire i'll make when i ride is to put jeans on instead of shorts. but i don't throw on my harley shirt just because i'm going to a meeting. if i have it on, i have it on. if not, i wear whatever to the meeting...

so now i'm left wondering what these people wear normally, when they're not at the meeting, or riding or hanging out at scooters... i can tell you think much - i won't be loosing any sleep over it!!!

ride on...

priorities...

i was on the phone with my wife, getting ready for a bike ride. well, not really a full blown ride, just taking my daughter to the doctor... my wife tells me she had talked to said daughter the night before and she didn't want to ride the bike. i thought that was odd as she always seemed to enjoy the ride before. anyway, i decide i'm taking the bike anyway.

as we're leaving the house, i ask her if she doesn't like riding the bike anymore. she said she does - she just didn't want to mess her hair up!!! of course i respond with a smart-ass comment saying "oh yeah, i forgot, we're going to the hair doctor..." she gives me this funny smirk...

we ride to the doctor's office - and what a beautiful day for a ride... as we're checking in, the receptionist asks if i rode and brought daughter on the bike. i say of course. the receptionist says it's a nice day for a ride and she likes motorcycles. i told her i enjoyed the ride in but my daughter didn't because of her hair. looking over to daughter, the receptionist tells her not to worry about her hair - riding a bike is worth having messy hair...

i guess people's priorities are different. i'd take a bike ride over messy hair any day... but i guess there are others that don't feel that way... it's all in your priorities...

is it any wonder the nra has a bad name??

as i mentioned in an previous post, i was going to tell you about my run-in with the nra. okay, maybe not so much the nra itself, but some dood who's on a power-trip.

now let me start off by saying that i'm not against the nra. to be honest, i'm probably ambivalent about them - and it's probably my ignorance that makes me ambivalent about them. sure, i think people have the right to keep and bear arms. but i also believe a private individual doesn't need some high powered, automatic military weapon capable of wiping out six hundred people stashed under their bed.

now that we have that out of the way, let me explain how i came upon my encounter with ego-trip man. just for clarification, the dulles expo center has (at least) two buildings. this particular day, a bike show was going on in one building while a gun show was going on in the other. while i was at the bike show, i had to hit the atm machine. the atm in the building i was at was out of order. so i headed over to the other building - where the gun show was going on. i get to the other building and see they're selling tickets to get in. instead of just walking up to the entrance doors, i get in line to talk to the ticket guy. as i'm waiting my turn, i read a sign full of rules - no loaded weapons, no this, no that, no cameras. guess what?? i have my camera. it's finally my turn to talk to ticket guy. i explain that i just want to go in to use the atm, i don't plan on attending the show. he says no problem, just tell that to the people guarding the door. then i explain i have my camera and ask if he thinks that will be a problem. he says no, it won't be, just tell the people guarding the door. (btw, guarding the door is my phrase, not his.) so i head for the door. as i walk in, i scan the room for the atm. it's to the right, about 20 yards away. i tell someone that i just want to use the atm, i talked to ticket guy and he said it would be no problem. they say sure, go ahead. i then tell them that i have my camera and just wanted to let them know so that there wasn't any problem. oops... they say i have to talk to one of the other guys guarding the door. you guessed it, i have to talk to ego-trip man. he's busy flexing his power rifling through someone's gun. i'm sure he's making sure it's not loaded, that it meets the necessary requirements to be brought into the building. after he's done with the guy, i approach him, tell him i i'm only there to use the atm, i've talked to ticket guy, junior guard on the other side and was told to talk to him. i finish up by saying i have my camera. mistake. this puts his powers into overdrive. immediately he says i can't bring a camera into the building. i told him i was aware of that, but i just wanted to use the atm, i would be happy to remove the memory chip, the battery, leave the camera with him, whatever. i said i wasn’t there to attend the show, i just wanted to use the atm. like the dolt that he was, he just repeats i can't bring the camera into the building. i said i realized that. he responds by asking why we're having this conversation?? i said that i was thinking he might be reasonable and we might work out a compromise so that i could use the atm. nope, ego-trip man was too busy flexing his power. he tells me he's too busy to watch my camera and that cameras aren't allowed in. well, i wouldn't let it go, i just stood there "discussing" it with him. after a couple minutes, he finally decided it would be okay if i left my camera on the table where he was standing while i used the atm. the only thing i can figure is he realized i wasn't going away and there was probably a line of victims forming behind me. of course before i set my camera down, i removed the memory chip. i don't know why, probably a gesture to show that i was sincere in trying to be honest. i headed over to the atm, took out my money, picked up my camera and was out of there in less than two minutes - once i got past ego-trip man.

as i was walking away, all i could think about was how this incident just reinforces the notion that the nra are just a bunch of gun toting boneheads. here i was trying to be upfront and honest. ego-trip man had a bad attitude and he was only there to enforce the rules. i know, i know, rules are in place for a reason. but i wasn't interested in breaking the rules, i was interested in a compromise so that i could use the atm without breaking the rules. i could have just as easily, no, more easily walked into the building with my camera, not saying anything and gotten away with it. i was tempted to walk back to ego-trip man and tell him that i saw a couple people stuffing cameras in the pockets, trying to sneak them in. i'm sure they would have put the place in lock down. but, i had better things to do; i had a bike show to get back to.

8092

so, i'm beginning the year with 8092 miles on my bike... not as many miles as i thought; although i'm not sure how many miles i was expecting to put on...

my plans for riding this year include the usual brunch rides, a few trips to motorcycle shows and at least one rally. i also plan on becoming a motorcycle safety instructor, if i'm accepted (which i should learn later this month). i don't know how/why, but i'm thinking becoming an instructor will provide me more opportunity to ride. i'm not sure how much instructing i'll actually do - it probably won't be more than once a month, if that much.

i am planning on riding to sturgis or myrtle beach this year. right now, two factors will influence my ride to sturgis: 1) cost; 2) if someone can talk my wife into going to myrtle beach. if i don't make it to sturgis, i'll be at myrtle. i can't go to both myrtle beach and sturgis - too much time away from the family and time off work. so if my wife decides to go to myrtle, then that's where i'll be!! if not, and it doesn't cost too much, then i'll be riding out to sturgis.

i would really like to make the trip to sturgis - not so much to be at sturgis but for the ride back... my bro and his group are planning to beat feet to sturgis, stay a couple days and then spend the next week and a half riding back - hitting twenty two states in two weeks. sure, it'd be great to be able to look back on day and say i was at sturgis, but being on the road, riding through different states and towns is was gets me going. that's what i really look forward to... it would be even more awesome if i could take my wife along... it will be a few years before we'll be able to take a trip like that. i'm sure we will one day - and it will be more than worth the wait.

my wife has also talked about taking a vacation in the mountains this year. if we do that, which i really hope we manage to swing this year, i'd like to take my bike along. i've dropped hints to her but we'll have to see how that goes...

this year i also plan on doing some self teaching/learning. a guy in colorado developed a self-study course based on the harley davidson police motor course. it was pretty cool that he put it together and is willing to share it for the asking. when i get some free time on the weekends, i plan on running through the exercises. i've looked over the first couple of exercises and am mixed. i want the exercises to be easy. but if they were easy, i wouldn't learn and improve my skills. for example, part of the first lesson consists of only putting one foot down when stopping. one of my fears is dropping the bike when i only have one foot down. but i know it will only benefit me to be able to put one foot down when stopping. so, i'll have to work at it - and work at it quite a bit. with work, reward will follow...

so, those are some of my plans for this year. we'll see how things shape up...

ride safe...

finally, a true "outlaw" motorcycyle...

came across this article about a real "outlaw" bike. of course they are calling themselves bighouse choppers. motto: bikes built with convictions. should have figured someone would come up with the bright idea of having inmates build choppers...

props to the dude with the ingenuity to put something like this together... they're charging $40K per bike, with a $15K licensing fee to start building. seems like a bit much to me, but then again, i'm not much into the new style choppers.

i've been wondering about the price tag. my first instinct is to think that's too much for a bike built by criminals. but should the cost really be driven by who builds the bike?? i realize that the builder of the bike will drive the cost of the bike somewhat. face it, people will pay more for a bike built by russell mitchell than the same bike built by someone like me. so, if they can sell a bike for $40K, why not?? just because they're criminals doesn't mean they shouldn't charge that price. so what the heck?? if someone will pay that much, go for it...

okay, that's it for now...

what's there to say??

well, i haven't ridden since my last post but i thought i would share something i experienced yesterday...

we were driving home from our weekend visit in virginia when we decide to take the "bumpy" road. my daughter dubbed it the "bumpy" road several years ago, probably because that's how it felt to her when we drive on this road. basically it's a two lane, twisty and hilly stretch of road maybe ten miles long. although most of the twists and hills are in the first quarter of the road (in the direction we normally take it). there is a gas station on the opposite side of the road where we turn onto the "bumpy" road. as i make the right turn onto the road, i notice about seven or eight bikes, crotch rockets, at the gas station waiting to pull out. about 100 yards on the "bumpy" road, there are three more bikes, obviously waiting for the rest of the crew. we pass the bikes and continue on our way...

shortly after we're on this road, the three bikes come up behind us. before i know it, one of them is passing me. again, this is a two lane, twisty road, with double yellow lines in the center. you're lucky if you can see 50 yards in front of you - most of the times you can't see but 20 yards in front. no regard for traffic in the other direction, he (maybe it was she - there was at least one female in the group) went whipping by me. as the other two behind me are jockeying to get around, another bike joins them. another bikes attempts to go around me when we reach a sharp turn. i guess he decided to back off and stay behind me. as i look in my rearview mirror, the three bikes are slowing down as one of them is now riding on the shoulder trying to maintain control of his bike. he manages to slow maintain control of the bikes, slowing it down enough to bring it back onto the road. do you think that deterred them?? of course not!!! in short order, two of the three bikes went zipping past us. the third guy, the one who ran off the road, was a little leery about passing - i don't blame him. okay - so now there are two bikes sandwiched in front of me and the cage in from of me and one behind. one of the two yahoos between me and the cage in front of me decides to pass on a curve. i don't know how he managed to do it, but just as he was pulling back into the lane in front of the cage, a cage in the opposite direction passes. i'm really surprised he didn't get wiped out by one of the cages... jeez... after being behind me for about six or seven miles, the bike behind me finally had a clear stretch where he passed me - still had the double yellow lines on the road, though.

i don't know what happened to the other bikes, i'm sure there were more in the pack. maybe they were a little smarter... well, when we got to the highway where the road opens up, wouldn't you know it?? here's the group of bikers, getting ready to head back in the opposite direction!!!

now, i will be one of the first to say i love the thrill of riding fast on a twisty, hilly road - heck read back a couple posts. but, to me, there has to be some semblance of common sense... it seemed like these riders knew their limitations. but what i didn't like was the way they were riding with cages around. not only were they putting themselves in danger, they were putting the cages around them in danger too. why not wait on the side of the road for a bit?? let the traffic get far enough in front of you. they go hauling ass down the road!!!

i told my wife as this was going on that these are the riders that give us bad names... which is something i've been thinking about for a bit and will be the subject of a future post. i will say that i'm glad none of them got hurt and didn't hurt any one else - as far as i know...

ride safe...

oh yeah, russell marlowe...

in an earlier post i mentioned that i would tell you about my experience meeting russell marlowe...

it started as i was looking at some of the bikes russell had on display at the rally in raleigh. as i'm looking at one of the bikes i hear someone say, "if you knew what i knew, you wouldn't be wearing that shirt." the comment caught my attention, so i look around to see who was talking. it was russell marlowe... and he was talking to me as i was the only one standing around. (if you read my earlier post, you will remember i was wearing my exile cycles shirt.) so i asked him what he meant by that - and he just repeated his comment. after making his comment, it was like i had to pry information out of him. he was being cryptic but his basic message was russell mitchell was not a very nice person. i told him i met russell mitchell at myrtle beach this summer and he seemed like a very nice guy - not that i thought i would convince russell marlowe. he said that a lot of the bike builders don't like russell mitchell - when they're all at an event, most of the bikers go out to eat together and russell mitchell is eating by himself.

so i turn the conversation to bike building, asking more about his bike without the down tube. as we talk, he tells me that he's turned down all these bike building shows; biker build-off, build-or-bust, etc. he said they were too commercialized for him. then he starts getting cryptic again and tells me about a tv show he's done that will be airing soon. he did this one because it's more educational. i asked him what he meant by more educational - more about actual bike building, the mechanics of a motorcycle, the history of motorcycles. he wouldn't elaborate. so again i was left feeling like a dentist, trying to pry information from him. after a couple more minutes of chit-chat, i moved on...

i guess i have mixed impressions of russell marlowe. he does some good bike building - several of his bikes have won competitions, including his latest without the down tube. while these new choppers aren't necessarily my style of bike, i can appreciate the creativity and effort that goes into building one of these bikes. props to anyone who can build a motorcycle - i hope to one day... i'm impressed by russell's ability to build a motorcycle. but as a person, i'm not so sure. i walked away wondering if his feelings have been hurt because he hasn't been on one of these national bike building shows and therefore isn't as well known... i don't know... and i guess it doesn't really matter to me...

contrary to what russell marlowe tried to tell me, when (or should it be if??) i finally get ready to build my own bike, i'll probably end up with one from russell mitchell/exile cycles. i like russell mitchell's style in bike building and for the brief time i talked to him, i like him...

Gary Woodford

i was watching an episode of Southern Steel last night and learned that Gary Woodford, of Milwaukee Iron, passed away.



when i saw the credit last night dedicating the show to him, i felt a sense of loss. i don't really know much about him, pretty much that he's one of the three primary builders at milwaukee iron. i've been watching southern steel for about a year and really only know him from what they show on the program. but i liked what i was able to learn about gary, as well as lee and randy. i liked the interaction they had with each other. i liked the way gary never seemed to let things get to him - he always took things in stride. he really seemed to enjoy life, knowing what was important and what wasn't.

i'm assuming the above is a picture of gary in younger years - i think you can see his sense of humor in the photo...

i got to see gary, lee and randy earlier this year at the easyrider show in charlotte, nc. i didn't know much about them and didn't really take the opportunity to talk to them other than to say hi and i liked the bikes they build. i wish i would have talked to them more. in case you don't know, from the very left (to right) it's gary, lee and randy. the others in the picture are just spectators.

this is the build they were building in the show they dedicated to gary.



there's a memorial service for gary on october 29 and 30 in lynchburg, va. the memorial will be held at rubs restaurunt in lynchburg. i'm going to try to be there the 30th.

Peace Gary...

fall is approaching...

took my usual sunday morning ride to pick up the paper... i knew it would be a bit cool out, so i threw a long sleeve thermal shirt over my t-shirt. took off and noticed it was a bit chillier than i expected!! if i was going for a longer ride, i would have turned around and got my coat. maybe even my chaps... ahhhhh, the days of riding in hot, humid weather is over - at least for a while. as i'm riding i can fell the cold on my arms and the chill in my chest, making me shiver slightly every now and then.

on the ride home, i got to thinking about riding in winter, when the temps are in the 30s... i know i'll be wishing to be only as cold as i think i am right now. if i can get/stay as warm (or as cold) as i think i am right now - i'll have it made.

at least the good news is that i have a couple weeks, hopefully months, or nice riding weather...

does anybody know what time it is??

...does anybody really care?? apparently i do...

one of the things i noticed and i like about being on the bike is that mileage and time don't really seem to matter... when i'm taking a longer trip in a cage, it seems i'm always looking at the mile markers on the side of the road, the odometer and the clock in the cage and calculating how much longer i have until i get to my destination... when i'm on the bike, i don't do this. about the only time i really pay attention to the odometer on my bike is for maintenance and sometimes to calculate gas mileage, although three quarters of the time i forget to do that!! i think it's rooted in the "journey" concept and i'll get there when i get there...

but yesterday, having a harley certificate waiting to be spent, i bought a clock for my bike... i've toyed with the idea of buying a clock for a while and since it was about the only thing within the price range of the certificate that i could get, i decided to get it...

after mulling over three locations for the clock, i finally decided to mount it to the underside of the left grip.

i haven't had a chance to take a longer ride with it yet, but i'm not sure i really like it... i guess it's okay - it looks nice on the bike. as my wife reminded me after seeing it mounted - it's more stuff for me to keep clean on the bike... great, i already spend enough time cleaning the bike... so now i'm wondering if i'm going to become more concerned with time while i'm riding... will it pressure me to push a little harder to get there if i'm running late?? even when i don't have to be there on time, will i start watching it more, missing out on some of the scenery while i'm riding?? maybe if i'm running early, it will encourage me to take a little more time, take a different, longer road home...

guess i'll just have to get out on the road and find out...