May 3, 2008 - NOT BEING ONE TO WASTE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RIDE...

My daughter is on a competitive dance team. Up until a few years ago I had no idea there was even such a thing but let me tell you... it is real and it is real intense! These kids are completely dedicated to it and spend hours upon hours perfecting their routines. The pay off comes when they go and compete with other studios at these HUGE competitions. Well, today was one of those competition days and it took place at the Opryland Hotel and Resort, just north of Nashville. It started at 5:30 but of course the team had to be there much earlier so off went the wife and daughter early this afternoon, leaving me all alone.

Not being one to waste an opportunity to ride... I hopped on the Electra Glide and headed north to Bowling Green, Kentucky. I figured I had just enough time to take the backroads all the way up there, hang at the Harley Dealer for a bit and then zip back down the Interstate to Nashville, just in time to catch my daughters competition. It worked out great... I got a great ride in and my daughters team... well, they took first place in their division... again!

Here's a quick vid of my ride:

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May 1, 2008 - IT SOUNDS CRAZY TO YOU SOUTHERNERS I'M SURE

Four of my riding buddies and I hooked up tonight to do a little riding... and to check out another local Bike Night. The plan was to meet at 5:00 at a specified parking lot and take off from there on a quick ride before heading to the Bike Night. I was the first one to arrive so I took a few goofy shots of the SV while I waited for the others to get there... like the one posted to the right. It's not a great photo but it does serve as a reminder to me that 1) I really need to invest in that Fender Eliminator kit. The SV would look so much better if that hideous license plate bracket were removed... And 2) I really need to clean the thing up. That rear wheel is supposed to be silver... not brake dust gray!

Anyway, despite the the fact that the pollen is so thick in the Middle Tennessee air right now that you can cut it with a knife... we had a good little ride. It was about 40 miles total and a lot of it was over roads that I had either never been on before or not been on in a long time. It was quite fun and a beautiful night to ride... and to top it all off, after our ride we stopped for a bite at a new place in town that I've been wanting to check out. It's called Dugouts and they serve authentic Chicago Style Hotdogs, Italian Beef Sandwiches... and other foods that call Chicago home.

Now for those of you that don't know, I grew up in the Chicago area and let me tell you... although I love the South... one of the things I miss about Chicago is the Hotdogs and Italian Beef Sandwiches. It sounds crazy to you Southerners I'm sure (can a Hotdog really be that good?) but you Chicagoans reading this know exactly what I'm talking about. It's been a long time since I have had a good Chicago Style Dog so throwing the the health food craze to the wind for the night, I indulged myself in one awesome Chicago Style Vienna Hotdog. And it was great... in fact I could have had two but I exhibited restraint and moved on!

From there it was on to one of the newer bike nights in town. It's put on by a local Honda dealership and I think this is the second one they have had this year. There was food (which we all passed on... how can you top Dugouts?), a live band, lot's of people and quite a few bikes. None were really anything out of the ordinary so the camera pretty much stayed in my pocket all night. Here's one shot to the left... but like I said... nothing out of the ordinary.

But... while I'm on the subject of out of the ordinary... check out the pickup truck below. It was in the parking lot when we left Dugouts and was massive. The guy standing in front of it is not a small dude by any means... he's probably 6'-'2" so that gives you an idea how huge this truck really was. I didn't even know Ford made an F650 but here's the proof.

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April 25, 2008 - NO MORE WHEELS THROUGH TIME

I wore my Wheels Through Time T-Shirt today while running a couple of errands and while I was standing in line at one store an older gentleman asked if I had been recently. I explained that I made a trip last summer and he proceeded to tell me that it was a good thing I went when I did. When I asked why he explained that museum curator Dale Walksler has decided to close shop this September! My jaw just about hit the floor.

If you have ever been to Wheels Through Time, you know that it is a National Treasure for any motorcycle enthusiast... and the thought of it closing is heart breaking. What a shame! You can check out the full explanation on the WTT website by clicking here. Apparently there will be an auction September 25th - 27th on the premises where 150 of the collectable rare machines will be sold.

CLICK HERE to see pics of my trip to Wheels Through Time last June... and if you get the chance... go visit them before September.

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April 19, 2008 - I HIP-HOPPED MY REAR STRAIGHT TO THE ELECTRA GLIDE

Today I was on my own. The family was off on an all-day adventure of the competitive nature so I hip-hopped my rear straight to the Electra Glide and took off! The weather was awesome in the morning with bright sunshine and I lead a group of 16 bikes on a great ride through the hills of Middle Tennessee. There is something powerful about 16 bikes in staggered formation, taking each curve as a single unit. Tons of fun!

After that some of us headed down to Bumpus Harley-Davidson in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to check out their Spring Bike Show. I just happened to have a camera with me ;-) and grabbed a few pics. Well, more than a few. Most of my riding partners were gone by the time I got done. On the way back home I rode through a Thunder Shower for about 5 miles... which gave me plenty to do this evening... clean the bike up. It was a pretty good biken' kind of day.

CLICK HERE for more pics of the show.

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April 17, 2008 - FIRST BIKE NIGHT OF THE YEAR

Another cool thing about Spring in Middle Tennessee is the fact that all the local bike nights kick off. You can usually find one on any given Thursday night... and some even on Wednesday and Friday. I made my way to one of the better known ones this evening and got there early enough to get a couple of pics. (That's one bad thing about having bike nights at night... rarely get good pics... too dark!) By the time I left there were so many bikes that I seriously thought I would not get out of the parking lot. Everybody had the same idea I guess. I saw a couple of friends and chatted for a bit but then got out of there when I saw a break in the incoming traffic.

There were tons of cool bikes but these two here were the most interesting to me. The first one is an MV Agusta. It's one of the Brutale models but I'm not sure which one. All I know is that it is BAD! The second bike is a Ducati but again I have no idea what model it is. Could be a 916 Strada. One thing I can tell you for sure though... Italy has it GOING ON with motorcycles. Both of these bikes made my heart race... or maybe it was the the scorching Hot Wings I ate! No... it was definitely the bikes... way cool!

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April 17, 2008 - THUNDER ROADS TENNESSEE - MAY 2008

The May 2008 issue of Thunder Roads Tennessee will be in the stores next week. If you are in Tennessee, be sure to pick up your FREE copy at just about any shop in the state. Others can check it out on-line at www.thunderroadstennessee.com. This month my column is about the Spring Thaw Bike Show... and I also did the photography and layout for the monthly calendar image.

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April 17, 2008 - 45 SECONDS OF SV650S COMMUTING IN NASHVILLE, TN.

Today was one of those perfect days to commute. The weather was beautiful as witnessed by the still image above that I shot just outside my office this afternoon. Check out how blue the sky was... and those aren't clouds but rather vapor trails from passing airliners. Of course no commute in Nashville would be complete without a traffic jam. Check out the 45 second video below for a glimpse into my commuting world. (Sorry about the wind noise.)

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April 14, 2008 - I WOULD FEEL GUILTY IF I DIDN'T SHARE IT

OK... so I have to admit... most of the bikes I'm hired to shoot are pretty "run-of-the-mill" fare. It's usually a pretty stock machine, and while I thoroughly enjoy those "everyday" kind of shoots, every once in a while I get to shoot a bike that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Such was the case this past weekend when I got to shoot a bike for a guy here in the Middle Tennessee area. Talk about a kid in a candy store! His '58 Panhead is the kind of bike that I dream about... and like I told him... it would be next to impossible to take a bad picture of it.  This bike is just so totally BADDDD that I would feel guilty if I didn't share it with others here on my RANT. So enjoy... here ya go!

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April 11, 2008 - ALL IN ALL I THINK IT CAME OUT  PRETTY GOOD

The guys over at Both Barrels Promotions recently commissioned me to do a new print ad for them. They are looking to get the word out about their parts business so I came up with this concept, shot the image and did the layout.

The photography was done on location... on the floor of their shop, and I even got the owner Scooter in on the fun (that's him wrenching on the bike). The layout utilizes a  quazi monochrome technique designed to draw your eye to specific parts of the ad. All in all I think it came out pretty good.

So hey... if you're looking for Harley-Davidson or other American V-Twin parts check out www.BothBarrelsPromotions.com. Pricing is really good, product is delivered right to your door, and they now have a really cool ad... hahaha! Look for it in various publications around the Mid-South in the coming months.

And oh... BTW, the Sportster on the lift in the picture is one of Both Barrels current project bikes and it is going to Slammin' Sweet when they get it done. Very cool!

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April 8, 2008 - SOMEONE JUST GOT A BRAND NEW 2008 HONDA CBR600RR

No... it wasn't me... but a guy I know. I was checking it out today and got a quick camera phone image seen to the left here. He got the Metallic Silver version and it looks SICK! I've always been a CBR fan (despite the fact that Suzuki continues to kick their rears in AMA Superbike) and the new 600 is pretty sweet.

I love the way they have "hidden" the lower fairing this year. Check the factory photo below and note how the lower fairing is painted the same color as the frame. It gives it an awesome swept-back look and sort of a knife-edge vibe.

Makes you want to jump on and ride doesn't't it? It just looks like it was made to go fast...

 

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April 6, 2008 - A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE

What a difference a couple of days makes. After having massive amounts of rain over the past 72 hours, today was one of those awesome riding days with temps in the lower 70's and lot's of sunshine. I got in a little over 100 miles and re-discovered why I love riding the backroads of Middle Tennessee. Man... what a fantastic state to ride in! Smalltown Tennessee is the picture-perfect example of Americana... and I love it. For example, today I saw a one-room post office, passed a family out for an afternoon ride on their horses and found this cool old service station in one town. It looked like it had been there for a while and I couldn't help but stop and just take it in for a few minutes. Check out the video of my ride below.

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April 2, 2008 - A QUICK JAUNT BEFORE THE DOWNPOURS BEGIN

The forecast for the next 3 days is calling for something like an 80% chance of precipitation. Looks like the next shot at good riding weather will be Sunday so tonight my much-better-half and I hopped on the Electra Glide to get in a quick jaunt before the downpours begin. We made our way to a local establishment for dinner and though it was just a short distance and the skies were quite overcast... we still had a great ride.

I didn't get any pics of the bike but I did get a bunch of others as I enjoyed dinner with the love of my life. These were taken with my little point-and-shoot Canon. I cranked the ISO all the way up to 1600, disabled the flash and did my best to hold still enough to eliminate camera shake. I don't know... there is something about low-light, grainy images that I really like. They seem to have character... or something. See what I mean?

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