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World Wide Web where you will find my rants and ravings. I'm an average,
every-day guy who has some very strong opinions about life, God and motorcycles.
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Rant Archive - September 2006
September 30, 2006 - MOTOX RACING IN
THE BALLANCE...
 About
100 miles north of Nashville and just outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky
is the small town of Oakland, Kentucky, home to
Ballance MotoX Park.
I first heard of Ballance a few weeks ago from a new acquaintance who sometimes
races there and today I decided to ride the Electra Glide up and check
it out first hand. Despite the poor weather conditions which pelted me with
rain off-and-on all day long, I had a great ride and was completely
impressed with the facilities and operations at Ballance.
Ballance Motocross Park is a very professionally
run facility and offers an immaculately groomed track complete with jumps,
table-tops, whoops and everything else to get a riders heart pumping. Races
were run today for both bikes and quads and included a ton of different classes
including everything from 50cc/4 Stroke machines (4-8 year olds) right on
up to and including a 250cc "A" Pro class.
If you live in the area I would highly recommend
checking out Ballance. It's a nice family-friendly place to watch some great
2-wheeled and 4-wheeled competition with bleachers strategically set up around
the track, clean restroom facilities and a food vendor on site. I will definitely
be back as a spectator and who knows... maybe one day I'll make my way into
that 250cc "C" Novice class... Lord help me!
CLICK HERE to
check out pics of my day at Ballance MotoX Park.
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September 26, 2006 - AN AWESOME RIDE...
BUT I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF BEEFS
The weather here in Middle Tennessee was terrific
this evening and that combined with my ever increasing feelings of panic
over the days getting shorter prompted me to hop on the Electra Glide without
hesitation tonight and take a little spin. After riding the CR off-road all
weekend I have to say that the Electra Glide felt awesome! Man this bike
is made for cruising and I absolutely love it! It was an awesome ride…
but I do have a couple of beefs I'd like to get off of my chest.
BEEF #1: Why is it that car drivers think
it's OK to squeeze between you and the car next to you at the gas pump. Common
sense would dictate that if there are two spaces... and a motorcycle and
car occupy them... you should go around. But there's always the one that
has to try and squeeze through. It happens to me all the time and again tonight
somebody pulled between me and the car next to me, narrowly missing my bike
by about twelve inches. Everything in me wanted to scream GO THE CRAP AROUND
MORON but I didn't. Instead I gave the driver "the look" to which he shrugged
his shoulders as if to say he was sorry. Maybe he got the message and won't
do it again. I hate that!
BEEF #2: Later I was tooling down the Parkway
at about 45mph when out of nowhere a guy on an Ultra Classic pulls up beside
me... and I mean beside me... in the same lane. Not only is this illegal
in Tennessee but how about some courtesy? I didn't know this guys riding
skills from Adam's and here he is two feet from me at 45mph... grinning
ear-to-ear. Now I appreciate his enthusiasm for seeing another biker but
I think it's pretty common knowledge that you don't enter formation with
another rider on the road unless invited... and you certainly never pull
side by side with another rider without being invited!
Ok… I feel better now.
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September 23-24, 2006 - EATIN' DIRT
ALL WEEKEND LONG
Wide open on a deserted
roadway.
I've been eatin' dirt all weekend long! On Saturday
twelve of my friends and I got up early and headed to Westpoint, Tennessee
for a day of riding. There are about 5,000 acres of trails down there and
I have to say that it was more fun than I've had on two wheels in a long
time. Riding trails is so much different than riding the street that in some
ways it doesn't even seem like motorcycling. There's much more "sport" involved
and you are totally consumed with the terrain and negotiating it. This proved
to be quite a challenge for me but I did pretty good considering I haven't
done any serious trail riding in a long, long time. One thing that helped
a lot was having my buddy Randy along. He is a serious dirt guy and does
some amazing things on his YZ250. I spent much of the day watching him and
following his lines and because of it I was able to do some things that I
wouldn't have tried otherwise. In particular, I scaled a pretty impressive
hill on one trail and it was actually much easier than I thought when I followed
Randy's lead up it. Even in the dirt you can learn so much from other experienced
riders. Of course there were some things he did that I didn't even try! The
split picture below shows Randy (left) on the ridge of a basin literally
flying through the air with a huge drop-off just to his right. I (right)
on the other hand stayed firmly planted on the ground, going around the jump
that Randy just launched from...hahahaha. One day I'll be able to do that
again!
Randy left and me right
showing different techniques on the same ridge. He hit the jump... I went
around it!
On Sunday I headed out to Honda Hills in Williamsport,
Tennessee. It's a nice little place with about 85 acres of trails and a Motocross
track right in the middle of it. I took my camera so I could get some pictures
and realized when I got there that I had left my memory card sitting at home!
Below is one of their website shots so you can at least see what the track
looks like.
All in all it was a great weekend of off-road riding
and I can't wait to go again! And... for those wondering how many times I
wiped out... it was three. Twice on Saturday and once on
Sunday!
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September 21, 2006 - THUNDER ROADS TENNESSEE
- OCTOBER 2006 ISSUE
Be sure and check out the October 2006 Thunder
Roads Tennessee Magazine. I contributed two articles to the issue... one
on the Discovery Channels "BIG" Chopper that visited Nashville last month
and another on the August Music City Bike Night. For those who live in Tennessee,
you can pick up Thunder Roads at just about any shop in the state... If you
live elsewhere, you can check it out on-line at
www.thunderroadstennessee.com.
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September 18, 2006 - THE NEWEST HORSE
IN THE STABLE
I started riding dirt bikes when I was eight years
old and they remained my steed until I got my first street bike at the age
of eighteen. Since then it's been strictly pavement for this cowboy but through
the years I've often thought that I'd love to have another dirt bike in the
stable. Then last winter my re-interest really peaked when I started watching
the 2006 Supercross series on SPEED channel. Ricky Carmichael and Bubba Stewart
had such an incredible dual throughout the season that I found myself being
pulled stronger and stronger into the dirt lifestyle as the season progressed.
Well, it took a while but this weekend I finally gave into the urge and after
looking at just about every used dirt bike in the Mid-South, I roped in a
Honda CR250 that runs strong and should serve me well as a stepping stone
back into the dirt life. My plan is to hit the trails over the next few weeks
in an effort to get my stride back and then enter some of the local Hare
Scrambles this winter. More on that later... for now I just need to get
comfortable in the saddle... it's been a while!
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September 16, 2006 - A PRETTY "COOL"
VINTAGE KIND OF DAY
It was one of those "picture-perfect" days in Middle
Tennessee today with lots of sunshine, the kind of day where you MUST go
for a ride! If you live here and didn't get out... shame on you! I got
up early and put in close to 100 miles with a few friends and it was absolutely
gorgeous. With just a hint of Fall in the morning air, it started out pretty
"cool" but soon gave way to a calm 80 degrees. To be honest with you, riding
on the edge of requiring a jacket was kind of a nice break from the heat
saturated rides (90+) I've been making over the past few months. Don't get
me wrong, I'm not to keen on the fact that Summer is starting to fade (boo,
hiss) but we sure are reaping the benefits right now.
On the way back home I stopped by the local airport.
One of my other passions in life is aviation and today the Experimental Aircraft
Association (EAA) were visiting the area with their 1927 Ford Tri-Motor.
There are only a few of these classic beauties left flying in the world so
I wanted to get a shot or two of it while I had the opportunity. The airplane
is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin at EAA headquarters and as you can tell by
the picture above is nicely restored. I had actually seen the airplane a
few years back in Oshkosh but wasn't able to get any pictures at the time.
I'm glad I did today and one will soon be printed in 8x10 format and hanging
on my garage wall.
While I was at the airport, I met a nice gentleman
named Tony who shared my interests in Bikes and planes. We had a nice chat
and he was riding one of the nicest 1978 GL1000 Gold Wings you'll see anywhere.
He purchased the bike new in Texas and has been the sole owner since... and
with 138,000 miles on it, the bike is still in "near-new" condition. He was
gracious enough to let me snap a pic of it and post for you to check out.
What a great bike! It turned out to be a pretty cool vintage kind of day
for me!
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September 13, 2006 - MX OF NATIONS;
NEXT WEEKEND
Wedged nicely between the Motocross and Supercross
seasons in the US is the 60th annual MX OF NATIONS to be held in Matterley
Basin, Winchester UK on September 23rd and 24th. Often described as "The
Olympics of Motocross", thirty-three countries will participate this year
with each entering a three man team to compete in MX1, MX2 and MX Open classes.
This years U.S.A. team, which is partially selected by fan votes, includes
Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto but Carmichael has been
listed as questionable due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the final
race of the Motocross season last week. Should he not be able to ride, another
rider will be selected in his place. In either case, if the U.S. trio can
bring home the title they will make U.S.A. the winingest team in the history
of the event with 17 wins. The U.S.A. is currently tied with Great Britain
at 16 wins each.
For more information you can check out
www.mxofnations.com.
UPDATE:
On Thursday 09/14 the AMA Team USA announced that
Ivan Tedesco will make the trip to the UK and act as a backup to Ricky
Carmichael, should he not be able to race. Read the full story
HERE.
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September 7, 2006 - JUST IN TIME FOR
SEASON KICKOFF, GOT MY CUSTOM PAINT JOB
Wow... just in time for the season kickoff... I
got my bike back from the custom painters! OK... not really, but if I were
to paint it in my favorite teams colors it might look something like the
fake pic above. (Whew... pretty gaudy huh.) Football season is sort of a
love hate thing for me. On one hand, I love the sport and could watch it
for hours on end. On the other hand, it kind of represents the end of summer
which is not so good for my riding habit. At any rate, I'm looking forward
to another NFL season... but the Electra Glide will stay black. Go
Chiefs!
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September 4, 2006 - AN EARLY SEPTEMBER
"MORNING RUN"
 About
once a month I like to get up early and go on what I call a "morning run".
I started doing this about a year ago and these rides have been so much fun
that I continue to fight my "Night Owl" nature on a regular basis, all for
the sake of the ride! If you've not experienced an early morning ride, I
highly recommend it. You have to be a little careful, keeping an eye out
for dew soaked roads and meandering wildlife but it's an awesome time to
ride. Traffic is at a minimum and all of nature seems to come to life right
before your eyes... and the cool thing is, you can get some awesome
rides in and return home before the family has even started their
day.
This morning I got up at 5:45am, headed East and
began to enjoy the gorgeous Middle Tennessee scenery on my way to destinations
unknown. In case you're wondering, cows and horses are already awake at this
time. Most of them gave me a look of "what are you doing up so early" as
I rode past them but one horse in particular decided to kick up his heals
as the Electra Glide passed. I either scared him or he was glad to have some
morning company! I also saw a few wild turkeys and one peacock. I didn't
get pictures of any of them but I did stop for a few other pics along the
way.
At one point, I found this cool church with a domed
roof on it. The sign on the front said it was built in 1928. It looked pretty
good for being 78 years old and had a lot of character as you can see in
the Black & White photo above. Later I stopped for breakfast at a small
diner and had a nice chat with a young lady of 82 years old who was working
the register. She was very sharp and had all kinds of questions about my
"bike" as she called it. She kept saying that she wished her grandson was
there because he is crazy about "bikes". Talking a little longer, Miss Amelia
shared how she lived through the great depression and how her daddy worked
for ten cents a day to support her mom, her brother and her. According to
Amelia, even though they were in her words, dirt poor, those were much better
times when people weren't so angry. Somehow I can't help but wonder if she
isn't right. As I walked out the door she hollered for me to be careful on
that bike.
I didn't get a picture of Amelia either but just
around the corner I found an old abandoned gas station that had some interesting
colors so I snapped a shot of the Electra Glide in front of it. (See below)
There are a few more pics of my ride that you can check out
HERE as well. All in all, it was another
great Morning Run filled with great roads, some cool sights and a conversation
with a very nice lady.
CLICK HERE to check
out pics from my early September "Morning Run".
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September 2, 2006 - A QUICK THANK YOU
AND A SALES PITCH
Most of you know that I started this site
as a hobby and a means to enhance my riding experiences. I love to ride,
I love to write about it and I love to document my experiences with photos...
thus BikerSwag.com. The cool part is that many of you enjoy my writing and
photos as well. Honestly, I really didn't expect this site to grow like it
has but in the past few months I have again seen incredible increases in
traffic which makes it even more fun for me. Thank you for visiting BikerSwag.com
and I hope you will continue to enjoy my RANTS and ramblings.
The downside is that it takes some money to do
this so a few months back I opened a STORE to try
and offset some of the cost. Many of you have purchased items and I thank
you very much for that. If you haven't or haven't in a while I'd like to
invite you to check out the new line of T-Shirts I am offering for sale.
They are all original Photoshop creations of mine and have an "Old School"
theme... and they're only $16.99! If you like the site, please consider a
purchase. All monies made from the sale of these items goes directly back
into BikerSwag.com. Thanks!
CLICK HERE to check out
the BikerSwag.com store!
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