Final Experiments with video making!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x2O0Evkbkg

For the Dragon trip - who has a "tripod" mount where we can mount my little videocam?

Tony's Track Days Sept 29/30

Thinking about this... 1 or 2 track days.... or ARC plus 1 track day in NH Sept 29/30
http://www.tonystrackdays.com/category/3281/register-for-an-event.htm

Money is tight, especially after my trek across country but I've been working a lot out here so I may be able to manage this. [Also credit cards are an amazing thing as well]

Anyone else interested?

Dragon Trip Logistics

GC - I know you're doing all the trip planning and route planning, etc...

On the boring tip... I got the AlimonyMobile(tm) all tuned up, new brakes, new oil, etc. (gotta love stupid service people). I am bringing a laptop and a bunch of computer and camera goodies. I will have chargers for blackberry and iPhone, iPod gadgets, AND I have a 3 ton car jack I've been carrying around in the trunk for the past 3 months. Kinda forgot about it. May not need the rear stand. Will also be packing a hefty first aid kit. No GPS, though - sorry. Cru - talk to me about your tool kit.

I will ask people to pack judiciously. I think there are now 5 riders and me. The AlimonyMobile (tm) is a family sedan, not a FedEx Truck! What I'm saying is - pack for the week and pack well, just don't go nuts!!

I'm probably going to have my car in the city from next weekend onward (street at night, garage during day) to facilitate loading and provisioning. Let me know how you want to work things, and work directly with me to coordinate. I think you all have my cell and work numbers?

I'm at the beach through Monday morning, back in the city Monday night. Call me or email me with questions and requests. For example - I need to snag a gas can at some point. Will prolly get that this week.

Video FINALLY Works

I'm not too happy with the compression, but I have the technology - I can improve,

Remember the email I sent a few of you about time-lapse photography being made into a movie?

I present my own humble first effort!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1tp3Irp3XQ

This version seems to have appeased the YouTube servers.

Just imagine the road trip possibilities!!!!

Now, if I can just figure out a way to do this on a motorcycle I'd be SET!!!

This is what I'm talking about...

Hey dudes.. took little ride yesterday to snap some pics for you. Come out and ride with me! It's not so fun without the mom jokes. Pictures are from an area in Washington near/around the Klickatat River. I was gone about 5 hours and 160 miles [+ 2 gas ups and a tacobell stop].

I'm 90% in for the Dragon. Word up.

New Background Pic

Well, it's been updated. I tried to do the US logo, but do to the amount of contrast I was unable to find a text color that was readable. So, I put up this pic of the Cherohala Skyway. If you have any pics that you think would work for a good background just let me know. Word.

Trip

All - with the latest round of drama happening around here I've decided that for ME, going to the GP race in Indy wouldn't be the best thing for me to do as far as the fun factor goes. While I must admit that this "drama" has definitely played a part in my decision, it's not my only reason for not wanting to go. Mainly, this trip to Indy was all about the riding for me, the race was always secondary. That being the case, I figured why not ride the reputed "best" roads in the country rather than riding "good" roads with a mix of slab...

I stated my case to the guys at the diner last night, and to my surprise and delight, Alan, Diz, and Tommy all want to come along. What does this mean? It means that we're going to sell our tickets to the race, hopefully we'll be able to. It also means that Jake will be going to Indy solo. I'm hoping that his journey will be a positive experience for him and that upon completion of his trip, he will have learned something about himself. I'm also hoping that when we ALL return from our trips that we will once again be able to ride together not only as a group, but as a tight bunch of friends.

Once again for the cheap seats - Tommy, Alan, Cassidy, and myself are going to the Dragon instead of Indy. We'll be leaving town Wednesday evening (9/10) and returning Wednesday (9/17). If anybody else would like to come, or meet us there, please let me know ASAP. We'll be staying in different places throughout trip but once we reach "The Smokies", we'll be setting up a base for a few days, hopefully in a luxury type cabin as seen here (OH SNAP!!!). Once we're settled into a cabin, we'll be doing day rides from there. For Tommy, there'll be plenty of different types of activities for you to do if you're so inclined, like this for instance. Also, at some point along the journey (probably on the way out), we'll be stopping here as I'm a fan and always wanted to go. I'm planning the trip as I type, but will nail everything down as the weeks pass. Rooms will have to be booked, cabins rented, but that all hinges on the route which I will be creating soon enough. Smiles everyone smiles, welcome to the Usual Suspects.



ps - Tommy, I'm really happy that you caught my Airplane reference last night... I knew I was right about you... LOL

Check it out!

I think the el cheapo video cam is a keeper!!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u7xu3RAwh2c

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JSNE7R3uGzU&feature=user

What a nice dinner

GC, Dizz, Cru, Tommy and Pak all sat down tonight, had some food (everyone except Pak) and had a gooooood, loooooong chat.

Kumbaya bitches!

Thinking about a paint job...

The stock graphics on my bike are pretty wack.
I'm thinking of a paint job... thoughts?

Some final thoughts

Guys, I'm really disappointed with all this.

I really thought that you two could come to an amicable settlement. I had a hunch that the whole idea of "The Usual Suspects" would suffer because of a monstrous clash of personalities, but I really didn't think it would resolve (devolve) like this.

Eric and Jake, your public sparring and sniping went too far, and the pettiness of the last few comments of the "Jake" post truly bear this out.

The sharp comments I have for you are this:

Eric - you need to be far more open about how you feel and why. Please! To the untrained observer this all looks like you are just harboring a grudge. Your silence on things is a bit too enigmatic. Chicks may dig it, but being a leader... no.

Jake - you need to have more presence of mind and sensitivity to others. That's a general, overall observation. While your snarkiness and (occasionally) abrasive wit aren't going to change - you should learn to modulate it for the circumstance. Please!

There. None of that should be news to either of you.

..........

There have been a lot of emails, text messages and blog posts these last few days.

Let's all just chill for a while.

Right now, 11pm on Tuesday - I'm on the fence about Indy. I'm a little too upset by all this.

I will - however - be at the diner on Cadman Plaza on Thursday regardless if anyone wants to talk.


PS - I'm not above criticism by any stretch.

Thursday - August 21st - 8:00pm

Ignore what I originally posted.

Here's a replacement.

Carry on!

Jake

First and foremost - you're my friend, and you always will be. Don't lose sight of that fact.

I'm posting this here as opposed to a personal email because this involves everybody. I'm the one typing this out but unfortunately for you, I'm not the only one that feels this way about some of your behavior and riding habitats, it's NOT just me. What am I talking about? In short -

The asinine way you ride. You're not safe, your unpredictable and I don't trust you. As far as I know, nobody else does either but I can't speak for everyone. YOU were the real reason for the "safety meeting". While it's true there were other things I wanted to talk about, you were/are the main problem and playing sweeper does not make anything better. The time of sugar coating things is over. Riding is supposed to be FUN. When we're out riding we're free from "reality" and all of life's commitments. Riding should not be stressful, your riding partners should not piss you off, otherwise, what's the point?

Your constant lateness and your constant issues. You may think it's funny but everyone is or has already started to recent you for it. YOU ARE WASTING OUR TIME.

The fact that something ALWAYS happens to you or your bike. Always. It holds us up, it ruins our days. I can see the odd mechanical or event to make you late, but EVERY SINGLE TIME?

The idiotic jokes that you make when things are going bad. Your jokes and comments are not appreciated and they only make things worse. I thought I already made that clear. You need to grow the fuck up already.

The fact of the matter is, you're my friend. I do enjoy riding with you but you are making push come to shove and if my other friends lives/driving records are stake, then I figure it's time to say something.

You fail to see the bigger picture of what's going on. I don't know if you just don't "get it", or are just too immature or ignorant to recognize it.

You've shown no remorse for anything - the Adirondacks trip, and all the times you make us wait. Nothing other than another stupid joke. Saying sorry does not make it better. You need to start acting like an adult and stand by your actions. To throw "Well you didn't have to wait for me" in my face after the fact is absolutely no help. You don't get that we're waiting for you because we CHOOSE to, not because we have to. That's what friendship is about but instead of you raising it a level, you somehow manage to bring it down a level.

I didn't want to write this as I think we need to "talk" but to be honest, I just don't have the energy anymore and I'm caring less and less everyday. It's time for you step up.

The Indy trip... I'm up in the air. I feel like all the time and energy I've already spent on it for research and such is already wasted. I may not go even though I would truly love to. If anything, feel free to mail me ticket that I bartered you for and perhaps I'll see you there. Or not, I may just decide to do a trip to the dragon instead.

So what's it gonna be, are we gonna sit down and go over your behavior and what you can do to change it, as well as come up with strict rules for you to abide by, or are we going to dissolve this? Are you going to able to listen to all of our criticisms and change them like an adult AND like a friend? Again, this is not only me talking, whether you know it or not, you've pissed off most if not all of us. I'm no saint, but I'm not the problem either. What's it gonna be?

520 Conversion Kit

Hey guys.. it's about time to replace my sprockets/chain. Should I go 520 or stay with the 530?

The Suspects...

I'm not sure why, but I've been told that we're "the cool kids" around our local interwebs... I find that to be very funny as we just started out as a buncha doods that liked to ride for long periods of time. Now we've evolved into some sort of celebrity - even if it's only in a miniscule part of the world. We've also formed a tight riding crew that can and will tackle anything throw at us. And to top it all off, I've managed to make some great friends.

You guys are tits. I mean it. The kind of tits that if I were a lady for a day, I wouldn't leave the house cause I'd be playing with them all day. You know the kind, firm yet forgiving, perky without being too "in your face", areola sized just right - not too big as to look like a flapjake, not so small that they remind you of your dad's nipples...

But I digress... you guys are tops. Just wanted to say it.

Portland Report

Hey guys... so I finally made it in about 4 days and about $600 in gas plus tolls and hotels. - I kind of underestimated how thirsty my car would be while towing the bike. I left Brooklyn around 2 PM on Monday and arrived at 2 PM on Thursday But when all is said and done I made it just fine with very little incident. At one point one of my fenders decided to try to leave my trailer somewhere in Wyoming but I got and and will be reattached soon. I really didn't see much on the way, just blazed 80 straight across and then headed northeast from Salt Lake City. I would drive for about 14 hours and get a hotel when I felt like crashing -Holiday Inn Express is the jam and Super 8 sucked ass. For me, the most scenic parts of the drive were western Nebraska and Wyoming. It's pretty awesome to see the landscape change as you cross the country. Though I've seen it before, I'm still amazed with the scale of the mountains out here.


So yesterday [Sunday].. I went on my first ride with some peeps from pnwriders.com. We left at 12pm and got back at 6. It was just my first day riding out here but I have to say THESE ROADS ARE SIIIICK. The best part is that they are so close - like 20min away. As far as skill level I would compare it to Ohao and PA. We must have hit at least 10 switch backs. We didn't hit any high speed sweepers, it was more turn after turn after turn after turn. I was psyched but also a little intimidated as there was a definite lack of road signs. I definitely had it on mellow mode and wasn't pushing it. - That also might have had something to do with a guy going down into a 15 foot ditch on a double switchback/s-turn. He throttled out of the first one and the second one caught him by surprise. He's lucky he was ok with the exception of a broken ankle and probably a totalled bike. That being said... everyone I rode with was pretty ok and responsible. Next ride is on Tuesday to this area called Fossil. It's about 2 hours away in the middle of nowhere, with super hot, sticky pavement and amazing roads with no cops. I was warned that I will need new tires when I get home. woo hoo!

Stay good. Wish the US were out here with me.
-P

Suspects!

Dino BBQ - Syracuse

I went out riding with Klink, Chipazzo, Aris and jack and met up with a bunch of Desmoites up in syracuse. A Lil over 500 miles 14 hours and I need new tires. We did our usual catskill routes and more going north. We hit a few rainshowers but most of the ride is dry. The BBQ is delicious we should schedule a meet up on the in the city. Btw, when are we going to have the US meeting/ distribution of US shirts? Let's do it this week before the pj meet on Sunday.

Sunday the 10th????

Full leathers - or more casual protective apparel? ie GCR...

Just asking because from all appearances, that ride is gonna be large! 10+

BTW - did any of you ride this weekend?

Report?

Pics?