Saturday, September 26, 2009

Hog-Nuts, Diapers, and Parking Tickets


This weekend’s little Harley breakfast jaunt wound up at the Sidewalk Cafe in Venice , California, for coffee and brunch. Not much of a training ride, I’m afraid, but fun nonetheless. We collectively missed the parking restriction and individually received a $50 parking ticket. One parking space; three Hogs; three tickets. But the guy in diaper got away clean. Where’s the justice in that?:-) Life is Wonderful.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Ford a Possible Sponsor?

I’m just finishing three days in Las Vegas at the annual bicycling industry Interbike 2009 trade show, developing support for our bicycling prostate cancer awareness events and getting the word out about our new iPhone Application, MyBikeInfo. I had an opportunity to talk with the very gracious brand manager for the new Ford Transit Connect. This is great little vehicle that is perfect for the bicycling world and would be just the thing to serve as the chase vehicle for next summer’s Tour de USA transAmerica (and back) motorcycle tour. Ford supports a number of charity efforts and we’re hoping that we make the cut for our 2010 project. Visit our main website and join our mailing list for Tour de USA information.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Where's that Pesky Shifting Peg? It was Here Just a Moment Ago.


Just completed a skills training ride with my local HOG chapter, LA#1 HOG, to the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas, California. It was another beautiful southern California day and everyone was zipping along the freeway. Imagine my surprise as I moved the toe of my boot to upshift to fifth gear and my boot went through thin air. I looked down and there was the shift lever with no shift peg! So, just a bit of practice and I was able to shift down by pushing down with the heel of my boot on the top of the lever. Upshifting was doable, but took a bit more contortion to get the toe of my boot under the lever. We stopped for a break and, amazingly, one of the guys had a spare peg in his saddlebag. I stopped at Bartel’s Harley in Venice on the way home and I now have two spare pegs in my saddlebags. My experience as an Army helicopter pilot should have reminded me that unless the bolts on vibrating things are secured with cotter pins or loctite and slippage marks, they will come loose at some point. So, my “pre-flgiht” will be more complete and loctite is now in my bags. 11 months before I launch on the Tour de USA for prostate cancer awareness. Check out our website at TourdeUSA.org.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Join the Tour de USA Email Information List Now

The route is published. We have eleven months to go. Click the following link to subscribe to the email list and be part of the Woodstock of motorcycle charity rides!

Visit the Tour de USA website for additional details.

MyBikeInfo iPhone/iPod Touch Application

If you are a cyclist and use MyBikeInfo for iPhone/iPod Touch, just click the link below to receive infrequent updates about improvements and new functionality to MyBikeInfo iPhone/iPod Touch application. You may unsubscribe at any time. By the way, you can use MyBikeInfo to track information on your motorcycle, as well. Plus, with MyBikeInfo’s RSS functionality, you can have real-time feeds from all of your favorite websites in one handy place on your iPhone. Proceeds go to prostate cancer awareness and prevention.

http://29000men.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=95aaf73102f9fd5323096e57f&id=819e716571

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hot Waitresses and the Tour de USA 2010

Hi Everyone:

I just came across the “Hot Waitress” index and thought I would pass it along, since no one seems to know where we are in the current economic world. If you are watching the Gallup polls on consumer confidence, you will note that a majority of consumers (57%) believe the economy is continuing to worsen. This means that you still have an window of opportunity to improve the internal functioning of your business to be optimally structured to compete when the recovery comes.

OK, So Just What Does “Hot Waitress Economic Index” Mean?


Hot Waitresses is an index that indicates the state of the economy by measuring the number of attractive people working as waiters/waitresses. According to the hot waitress index, the higher the number of good looking servers, the weaker the current state of the economy. It is assumed that attractive individuals do not tend to have trouble finding high-paying jobs during good economics times. During poor economic times, these jobs will be more difficult to find and therefore more attractive people will be forced to work in lower paying jobs such as being waiters/waitresses.

How Many Will We See?

We have just 11 months before we depart Manhattan Beach, California on the inaugural Tour de USA for prostate cancer awareness. This will be the “Woodstock” of Harley rides - just over 7,200 miles in 30 days. Follow us at http://www.tourdeusa.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tourdeusa.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Outfitting my Dyna Low Rider

I’m in the process of evaluating the equipment I need for the trip, which will take about 30 days and cover 7,200 miles. Saddlebags are item number one. I’m reviewing what is available at Harley-Davidson and other vendors. It seems to me that the degree of waterproofing may be more important than capacity.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Help Coordinating the Tour de USA 2010

We now have the general route plan for the trip. It will include two days at the 2010 Sturgis event. We are looking for a work-from-home Mom or someone who is retired to help with event coordination. Contact us at TourdeUSA2010@29000men.org.