Back in July, Novos took the time to share his plans for a week long trip from Southern California to Montana on his Aprilia RSV. Now that the trip is in the books, he is sharing his ride as a series of posts as a guest blogger on my partner site Watermelon18.com. The photos are just awesome!

Day 1 is up and ready to roll:

• California to Montana on an Aprilia RSV – Day 1

Novos' RSV outside of Bodie, California

Read the Original Post:

• Heading off into the sunrise, Southern California to Montana on an Aprilia RSV

This past Sunday, Kenny and I joined the guys over at SuspectsUnlimited.com for their forum’s first anniversary ride. Soth of SteadyOntheHumble put out an APB that this ride would be going down and encouraged members to come along.  These days, I seem to have some issues with group riding. I’m not very good at it. I have become far too skittish, too controlling to surrender to the ebb and flow of the other souls around me. Though excited, I would be lying if I said that I approached this ride without reservations. As the list of names of people who would be participating grew, so did my nervousness.

As riders started to filter in to the morning’s meet point I finally had the chance to put some faces to the names on the forum. Everyone was welcoming and warm. It can be difficult to elbow your way into a group of people that already know each other. These guys transitioned Kenny and me in easily.  Handshakes, coffee and stories exchanged we got underway heading to points northeast.

Managing a group of 14 bikes took a team effort. Soth at the helm, GLantern with a mid-pack lead and Cru Jones for the sweep allowed the riders to naturally segregate themselves into comfortable groupings. There was no issue of egos jockeying for position. What a relief! We’ve all been there. The ride leader says “ride at your own pace,” and it falls on deaf ears. There was none of that here. Once I came to understand that this wouldn’t be like some of the clusterf*cks I’ve been on before, I was able to settle down and just enjoy the day. And enjoy it I did.

The route that Soth put together was excellent. It took us over hill and dale of the Catskill Mountains. He led us through sweeping curves, tight uphill decreasing radius turns and scenic byways. Our wheels hummed under a beautiful canopy of the peak colors of autumn in New York. There was a little something for everyone. It was obvious that he put a lot of care into route planning to give us a safe, scenic and enjoyable day out. As I rode caboose on the Soth train I got to watch an articulated centipede crawl its way through the landscape. It was one person at a time falling in line and into a turn. I had the best seat in the house. Sometimes watching a line of bikes cut along the roadway is like poetry.

The backroad riding for the day came to a close at the Roscoe Diner. How some of the guys managed to ride home with bellies full of deep fried French toast is beyond me. Apparently it can be done without falling asleep on the bike though. Given the fading daylight we opted to depart for home via Route 17. From the vantage of mid-pack the group shuffled down the road like a deck of cards. One lane of the column moving left, the second column filtering in as you do when you bridge the cards. On it went, eating up the last 100 hundred miles before we split off to head our respective ways home. It was an excellent day out on the bike. I’m so glad to have tagged along.

A Big Thank You To Suspects Unlimited:
Tom, Cru Jones, Dizzle, Suspect74, Bones, soth, GLantern, He-Man, Mookie, ArcDeDucati, Univox, and RCPete. You put together a really enjoyable ride. Great roads, great riding and great company. The Riding Trifecta!

What Did I Learn:

• I need to relax and not be such a Nervous Nelly. Give people a chance, sheesh!
• Soth plans a great route.
• Each one of the guys I got a chance to speak with had something interesting or funny to say.
• I’d be happy to go on another Suspect ride. It was big fun.
• There will always be one weirdo in a gas station. If you can’t spot them, it is probably you.

See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil	First Stop of the Day	So then I tweeted... ;o)
ArcDeDucati	ArcDeDucati - the Novos doppelganger	Autumn in the Catskills
GLantern	Wassuuup He-man?	Scenic Overlook

Sort of.

We communicate with each other on a frequent basis here, albeit kind of anonymously. I like to think of us as you know – a little community. No blog can exist without its cast of supporting characters to keep things interesting. The life of a post doesn’t stop when it’s published.  It’s you the readers who breathe life into topics with your wit, quips and anecdotes. This is just a little shout out to some of my motorcycle friends and the frequent commenters here on FG.

The Supporting Cast

• Crudmop: Former beer guzzling frat boy turned impatient motorcyclist. Blondie here is too pretty for his own good. Has a vicious hate of fender breaking disc locks and squids in white sneakers. Thinks everyone is a douchebag.
• Novos: Conspiracy theorist who is convinced that the utility company is watching him through his thermostat. Able to take photos, knit a sweater and do long division on an abacus all while riding his motorcycle.
• OG: Currently building a margarine powered full scale working model of a lunar lander in his basement. Might have a touch of the “Charlie Brown” but that’s part of his charm.
• Duc748: Deep thinker. Could write a 35 page dissertation on the weight savings benefits of riding your motorcycle sans undergarments. An accomplished mime and comes with his own leather thong!
• Pimmie: The Dutch Menace. Former captain of his high school’s downhill clog-sledding team. He can make fun of you in 5 languages after he stuffs you in a corner. Don’t ask him about the “oven”.
• Soth: The best thing outta Brooklyn since the BK Broiler. He’s probably ridden his RC to Saskatchewan and back for a grilled cheese before you even had your first mocha-choca-latte of the day.

Without Further Ado

It’s always nice to put a face or in this case helmet to those internet nicknames we become familiar with. As motorcyclists with our faces covered all of the time our helmets become our calling cards. They become the face that we show to the world and how we most often see each other. Here are a few motorcycle faces I’ve met so far. I’m looking forward to meeting some more of you and getting a few more helmet shots. See you on the road!

Crudmop!	Duc748!	Novos!
OG!	Pimmie!	Soth!

Gravatars

Oh and hey! While we’re putting faces to names – If you haven’t already, why not mosey on over to gravatar.com and get one of those fancy little comment avatars of your own?

Every time that I read the word gravatar I immediately think of Grover. Grovertar.  Everyone using the many faces of Grover. Definitely a better idea, right? No? Fine.

Today I waved goodbye to an old friend. After 11 years together my ZX6R has finally gone off to dance with another partner.  It’s hard to believe that I’d had that particular bike for so long. It was with me before my dog, before getting married, before my daughter. We sure had a lot of fun together. There have been so many good memories over the years.

I rode her for the last 100 miles to meet up with her new owner. I thought I would feel a little more tugging at the heartstrings than I did. Though I have a tendency to become emotionally attached to the idea of things, I felt good letting the bike go to someone else who will enjoy and actually use it. I hope they have many happy times and safe miles together. So long, old friend.

Catfish Results from Checkpoint 2

Catfish sounded less than excited about his ranking after scoring in yesterday. He’s currently in 85th place. I understand that maybe that isn’t where he’d like to be in the standings but you know he really is working hard. Everyone I know is still proud of him and the rally isn’t over yet. The key here is to finish and do it safely.  Win, lose or draw, everyone around these parts is still in awe.

Is second place always first loser?

Let me start by saying I don’t generally subscribe to the If you had fun you won mentality. I am totally down with being competitive. But the deeper I get in to reading what these competitors in the IBR go through; my point of view here may be altered a little.

Sure it’s great to ‘win’, to be number 1. Who wouldn’t love that? Those folks work really hard to earn that. But I also think that its important to remember that with the amount of hours on the road, each of these folks ups the odds for mishap or mechanical breakdown. Every person that makes it to the end of the rally picking up points along the way really needs to be applauded for their stamina alone. Yes, yes, yes, I understand there has to be some level of points here. I get it. Riding directly from one checkpoint to the next would absolutely not be sporting.

The guys and girls who have been at this game a few times are hardcore. But, everyone has to start as a rookie. I applaud anyone who thinks they’ve got the stones to do this. I mean, really do it – belly up to the bar and put their money where their mouth is. It’s really an impressive task.

Onward They Go

Catfish was last spotted around Vegas today. He said that it was only 110 degrees out and that it felt like winter compared to the previous day. I wonder if it’s cooler in say… Canada?

Checkpoint 3 – Rally Finish
Spokane Washington, 7am-9am PST
Scoring opens at 4am

Around the Web:

• Catfish’s zip tied brake – Its apparently not returning to its normal position. Its gunked up.
• Official Iron Butt Rally – Day 7 pdf

*Curtis* – Sorry, I didn’t capture your email address to respond to you~ Thanks for helping with the fuel cell! You’re a life saver