international motorcycle show...

took the opportunity to attend the international motorcycle show in washington this weekend... we usually attend the show in charlotte but they're not having it there this year. so, i dragged the family up to dc for the show.

with the parking situation in dc and the rain, we decided to take metro to the convention center. of course this thrilled my son because he likes train rides. he's been on the metro before but he was so young he doesn't remember. he was really looking forward to the transition from above ground to underground.

when we boarded the metro, i'd say at least seventy five percent of the passengers were heading to the motorcycle show. not hard to tell the ones heading to the show, wearing all sorts of motorcycle clothing, from hats, to shirts, to coats. if you didn't know where the convention center was, all you needed to do was follow the crowd. while on the ride to the convention center, we met a new friend who happens to be from our home town. we talked the whole ride and hung out together for a majority of the morning. looking forward to catching up with him again.

we tried to get to the show early, although we weren't trying to get there before the doors opened. when we did get there, the place was already packed.

as soon as we walked in progressive had a huge display and a slot car track. well, we couldn't pass up the chance to race before getting into the show...

then it was on to the show... seeing the bikes and talking to the people. first stop was the bike collection ad talking to someone from the vintage japanese motorcycle club... one guy had this beautiful restored honda. i spoke to him a while about the restoration and how i was hoping to one day be able to bring one or two back to life...

of course there were a couple vintage english bikes...

the highlight of the show was probably seeing the guys from the xdl championship series. we saw them last year at the show in charlotte and really enjoyed it. my son got a t-shirt and had the riders sign it. when we found out they were going to be at this show, he grabbed his shirt and brought it along. when the guys began their show, he held up the shirt and got a shout out from them. he was so thrilled.

after the show my son got some autographs for his shirt and also got an invitation to sit in the vip section for the next show.

and finally some bikes and other sites from the show...

that's about it. it was a great day and a great way to spend time with my wife and son...

2014 rides...

catching up...

time to do a little catching up from the summer. i had a number of good rides this summer but two really stand out. one i took with my wife to the mountains of north carolina and one with my son to rolling thunder in dc. i'll start with the ride to dc.

my son has been riding with me for a couple years now. most of the trips been short rides around town and around the lake. nothing more than maybe an hour in the seat or a hundred miles. earlier in the year, when i was returning my uncle's bike, he attempted to ride up to northern virginia. he didn't last long on that trip. i think that was mostly due to being a little tired and knowing he could hop in the car and be a little more comfortable.

the trip to northern virginia was considerably longer than any he has experienced before. and there was really no turning back once we hit the road. i talked to him about it, trying to prepare him but not discourage him from going on the trip.

the plan was to leave friday, take backroads and stop every hour. we'd stop long enough to stretch our legs, snack and rehydrate but not so long that we would lose too much time. luckily there were convenient stops along the way.

friday arrive and we started our journey. as planned, we stopped every hour. we played leap-frog with a club heading the same direction. we saw sights that you only see from a motorcycle. we did some smoke chasing. we stopped at 7-11 to get slurpees. we ended up having an awesome trip. and my son has already staked him claim to ride with me next year!!

pictures from our trip...

the end...

well, seemed like i made it tougher than it needed to be, but i finished up the smoke chasing grand tour. barely! only needed twenty stops to qualify for the minimum finishing level - which i did. as mentioned before, i added an extra stop in case one of them didn't count.

as always, i had fun, wish i would have made more stops and wish i would have eaten at a lot more of them. maybe next year...

check out all my stops on my smoke chasing map...

first ride...

my son had a writing assignment at school last week to write about a time he was nervous... i don't know that i would have ever guessed it was his first motorcycle ride. here's his story...

"One time I was scare was the first time I rode a motorcycle. I was in a ton of gear, a helmet, I had jeans on and a jacket. You couldn't even recognize who I was. My mom had a camera taking video of me. My dad on the bike, he was waiting on me. I got on and my mom smiled. My dad said are you ready. I said yes. Then the bike started. As we went down the drive way and my stomache went in. When we got home my dad said good job. I am no longer nervous about riding a bike."

the mentioned video of the first ride:

we've enjoyed many great adventures since then and are looking forward to more.

getting closer...

took off sunday to finish off my smoke chasing grand tour... only had five, maybe six stops to get, how hard can that be?? well, when i get involved, harder than it needs to be!!

first, i should only have five stops to complete the minimum finishing level of twenty stops. i'm thinking of throwing in an additional stop because i'm not sure if one of the stops will count...

i decide on six stops to complete my mission. heading out the door, i opt to take a route that will keep me a little closer to home so that i'm not gone so long. it also reduces the number of barbecue places available. disadvantage me!!

the first two stops were give-mes. if i had set out on my mission to complete the tour earlier, i would have had another stop between the two. but waiting gave the place a chance to close and remove all the signs. i've never seen signs removed from a building so fast. then again, i've had months. again, my loss.

next stop shane's rib shack, in hopes that it might have the word bbq or smoke somewhere on/in the building. nope. i think it's in one of those socialist places where all the buildings/businesses have to conform. so no additional signage here. third stop a bust.

on to jd's grill and bbq catering... first, the sign on the building only has jd's grill. but, luckily, in a side window, they have a huge bbq sign. unluckily the window is tinted and it's bright outside, so i can't get a picture without a reflection washing out the sign. well, unless i pull my motorcycle up on the sidewalk next to the building. it is sunday, places are closed and there's not many people around. i decide not to because i can see the police wanting something to do and me becoming their object of affection. fourth stop another bust.

next is johnny's barbecue in louisburg. that place has been there as long as we've been living here. it's got to still be there. right? after a few busts, it was nice to get another stop.

before leaving, i punch up bbq on the gps and my phone to see what's closeby. nothing... i decide to call it a day only getting half of what i need. but also getting closer to the end, both in terms of how many i need and in the deadline. i think i have one more free weekend to finish this off. watch it pour down rain that weekend!!!

check out all my smoke chasing stops...

smoke chasing...

had a chance to do some riding this weekend. seems like it's been a while since i've been able to just get out and ride for the fun of it. usually there's a predetermined reason or destination. sunday the calendar was wide open - no where to be, no where to go...

after mulling over a few options, i decided to knock out a few more smoke chasing stops - especially since we're getting near the end. why is it when smoke chasing season starts, there's plenty of time to get all the stops and even do a few side dishes, but i'm always scrambling at the end? last year i think i got my last few stops right before the tour ended. looks like i'm going to be in the same situation this year - unless i squeeze in a few stops on the way to/from classes. i should probably also find out when it actually ends!!

i packed up my son and we headed north up in to virginia. we decided to make this a frugal ride. since we have coupons for free items at sheetz we decided that's where we'd eat. i know it seems odd that we'd be stopping by all these barbecue places and choose to eat at a gas station. but we like the food at sheetz. and with the coupons it's free!

our first stop was henderson to get two barbecue places. actually, it was our second stop after getting holden's barbecue. it'd be a shame to not finish smoke chasing and miss the closest barbecue place to me!!

after the first stop in henderson, my son declares he's hungry! i offer to eat here or wait until we get to virginia and stop at sheetz. he says he can wait until we get to virginia and sheetz. at the second stop, he again says he's hungry but adds the next stop we make, we're eating.

we head up into south hill and stop wilson's b-b-q, at our last smoke chasing stop of the day. i get off the bike and take my gear off. my son asks why we're stopping. i tell him that it was my understanding that we were eating at our next stop. he says yeah, but it's not sheetz. okay, we'll go to sheetz. a quick lookup on my phone and i see the closest sheetz is forty minutes away. and not in south hill as i previously thought. it's doesn't take long to come to a consensus that we're eating here!

we enjoyed a good lunch, some laughs and even picked up some barbecue sauce. what a great afternoon with my son.

smoke chasing stops to date...

smoke chasing update...

over the past few months i've been able to snag a few more smoke chasing stops. not as many as i would like to have at this point. i did have a couple opportunities to really rack up a couple places all in close proximity but didn't take advantage of the situation. well, i'm almost halfway there. my plan was to finish above the minimum qualifying level. i'm not sure that's going to happen this year.

so my latest stops over the past couple months include three on the way to and from rolling thunder...

i love that my son enjoys doing this with me...

one locally when i was riding somewhere and had a few extra minutes.

this was early morning and a guy was carrying chairs and tables outside. he kept looking over at me - i'm sure he was wondering what i was doing!!

one in maggie valley - where i should have scored a lot more!!!

finally, one with my wife!!

that's it for now - more to come soon!!

oh, you can check out all my stops on my 2013 smoke chasing map...

been a while...

...since i've posted!! in spite of all good intentions to keep more up to date, it just hasn't happened. sometimes just because i was busy riding. and sometimes just because i got wrapped up with life. anyway, lots to catch up on so let's get started...

while there have been a lot of great rides this summer, one of my favorites is a short ride i took with my wife right after the fourth of july. it started when some friends, previous neighbors, came in town for the fourth. our sons were best of friends when they lived next door. they were heading home, a few hours away, after the fourth and we offered for their son to stay a couple extra days so the boys could hang out together. as it turned out, our son ended up going with them. that left us a couple days to ourselves - sweeeet!!!!

it got better when my wife suggested we go on a ride. and even better when she suggested we stop at waffle house for breakfast!! after a delicious breakfast, we headed out for the ride.

we headed up the back roads towards oxford. my plan was ride to oxford, through roxboro and end up in yanceyville, where we'd stop for ice cream and my wife could get a break from sitting in the seat too long. the weather was great and we were having a good time.

when we got to roxboro, i scrapped my original plans and decided that would be a good place to stop for ice cream. i was looking for a mom-n-pop type of place but we settled for cook out. by the way, even though cook out has a walk-up window, they don't have any seating - reminder for future reference!!

after ordering some shakes, we found a wall to sit on while we enjoyed our drinks.

our view from the wall...

one of my favorite pictures of us...

once we finished off the shakes, we headed home. took a slightly different route and got to explore some roads i'd never been on. real pretty roads that i'll have to explore again soon.

turned out to be a great day for a ride and an awesome time with my wife.

vollis simpson and whirligig ...

i learned today that vollis simpson died this past friday... vollis' name may or may not ring a bell but he's always kinda held special meaning to me.

almost eight years ago, i was still new to street riding and we went off for a ride. it was one of those rides where you head for one destination and end up at another. something i'd become familiar with in the follow years. and something i'd appreciate more and more each time it happened. usually because you end up finding something you might otherwise never see. also because, to me, it's the essence of motorcycling. not necessarily the destination but getting there.

almost eight years ago is when i stumbled on vollis simpson and his whirligigs. and just like any article you read about him, he stopped to talk to us and invited us into his shop to show us around.

since it was my first exposure to him and his whirligigs, i don't know if he was as well known then. lately though, it seems he was getting more and more exposure. i've seen him name and his artwork show up in more in not just local media but national media too. there's an effort now to restore his whirligigs and move them to a park for everyone to enjoy. since i'm artistically or even creatively inclined, seeing art like this just amazes me.

it's nice to see him getting the recognition. it's also too bad that he won't be alive to see the opening of the new park created in his honor. although now maybe he has a better view of the park. and maybe he'll be up in heaven crafting his magic with the clouds and the stars.

he's famous (almost!!!)...

at the beginning of the month, my son and i went on the ride for kids with our club... at the event, my son got interviewed by greg white from greg's garage tv. today greg posted his report on the ride for kids and my son made the cut!!! i must say, i'm proud of the way he represented himself and the club. his piece is towards the end but the whole video is worth watching...

Show 7 - Part 6 - "Ride For Kids" from Greg's Garage on Vimeo.

protect your privacy...

a new bill being introduced by representatives capuano and sensenbrenner to help protect our privacy from black box recorders... i'm not sure if this is an attempt by the government to strip away more of our privacy or just heading them off at the pass... either way, head over to the ama action alert web site and take action!!!

btw, this doesn't only pertain to motorcycles, it includes your automobiles...

ride for kids...

this weekend was a busy 'giving' weekend... saturday we participated in the arthritis foundation's triangle area walk in support of my wife. it was colder than we expected and the sun never quite came out. we had the option of a one-mile or three-mile route and my wife chose the longer route - she's so awesome! we had a lot of fun.

yesterday my son and i took part in the triangle area ride for kids with our club...

the day started early, overcast and cold. what better way to kick off the day than with a hearty breakfast from waffle house?? we even talked my wife into joining us - which was even a better start to the day.

after breakfast it was time to head to jordan lake for the ride. we were meeting up with the rest of the club outside the park and had about an hour ahead of us. luckily it was early enough so we didn't have to deal with traffic. and although we were prepared for colder weather, it didn't feel as cold as we were expecting.

we met up with the rest of the club, topped off tanks, emptied bladders and headed to the park. i'm not sure how many years they've been doing they ride but they are very organized. as we pulled into the lot, they lined us up to make exiting for the ride much easier. as we got off the bikes, volunteers were nearby to have us sign waivers and get wristbands. then it was to the top of the hill to register for the event, get another wristband, a t-shirt and register for prizes - which we didn't win!

then it was time to enjoy some breakfast of donuts, biscuits, coffee and hot chocolate while visiting vendors. of course the geico gecko was there. geico was also giving out fake one hundred dollar bills. alex and i took the opportunity to drop a couple on the ground and watch unsuspecting people go from excitement to disappointed as they discovered the bills weren't real.

we milled around while we waited for the ride to begin.

listened to a story from a mom about her thirteen year old son about their battle with a brain tumor. i don't think anyone in the crowd had dry eyes as she told of their trials.

then it was time to head out for the ride...

we went on a nice fifty mile ride around chatham country. of all the group rides i've been on, this was the latest outside of rolling thunder. and probably one of the most impressive moments of the ride was making the round-about in pittsboro. as we approached the courthouse, the lead bikes had already looped around and were heading towards us. we were surrounded by bikes. then we went around the courthouse and started heading away from the courthouse. as far as we could see in front of us were bikes on both lanes - those heading towards the courthouse and those that had already been around. it was quite a site!

after riding around the beautiful countryside, it was back to jordan lake to celebrate with the 'stars.' the 'stars' are the kids that have battled and/or are currently battling brain tumors. it very touching to hear their stories in their own words.

to top things off, greg white, from greg's garage tv, was on-hand to document the event. and he asked alex if he would mind being interviewed. of course he didn't mind. now we'll have to be on the lookout to see if he actually makes the cut!!

it was quite a day and quite a ride! i wasn't sure what to expect but it blew my expectations away. so much so that i'm already looking forward to next year. what really impressed me about the ride for kids is how the 'stars' are an integral part of the event. most of the other charity rides i've been on, money is raised for a cause and donated to the cause. but the people that we're benefiting aren't part of the event. at ride for kids, the 'stars' are there and involved in the ride. it's nice to have them there and know who you're helping. i was talking to one of the organizers and she was saying the ride also gives the 'stars' strength to know there is a large community there to support them. so it's not just about giving money to help fund research, it's also being there to show support.

i can't wait for next year...

ride to wilmington...

finally catching up on my ride to wilmington for the cape fear 1000 rally. had a great time on during the rally but had fun on the ride down to wilmington too. on the way, i was able to snag a couple more stops for my smoke chasing tour.

probably the biggest thing was hitting 50k on the bike!! which reminds me, it's time for an oil change!

you can head over here to see the route to wilmington...