A Whole Lot of Activity!

Man, what a month! In the span of 30 days I've been to California twice, Las Vegas and traveled across the valley a good 20 times.

I've gained a lot more knowledge about Twitter, seen Pink in concert and even taught a female Marine how to be a better rider. It has been a rewarding month, but a very tiring one as well. Now I'm look to finally drop into more of a standard schedule, which means of course I'll probably pick up speed. One thing I've certainly learned is that just when you think you've found the perfect way to do something a new process or product will come along and change things up for ya!

First up was the most recent event in which I participated which was the Grand Opening of GOAZ in Scottsdale. If you haven't heard by now Bob Parsons of Go Daddy fame is getting into the motorcycle business and he is doing so by buying up property after property in Scottsdale. Currently he has opened locations in the old Hacienda Customs building and the old Hyundai dealership, but there is more to come! The event hosted Chris "Teach" McNeil an award winning stunter as the main attraction and also had a few other motorcycle riding displays including Tealdo Teal and myself showing off the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic. It was very cool to work with Teach and getting kudos on riding from a guy that really takes things to the limit sort of made my month. It will be interesting to see how things progress as GOAZ, and certainly interesting that there has been no leveraging of the Go Daddy celebrities...

Before that event I was in Vegas at a party for Interbike that was hosted by Argon, Thule and Oakley. It was interesting to be in a crowd completely outside of anyone I know, that was until I ran into an editor from my journalism days that tied things all up nicely. Running the schedule that I've been running sort of showed itself in Vegas and was a nice reminder that we all get to our limits, regardless of who we are. No harm no foul, I just go to bed much earlier than I used to 10 to 20 years ago.

In the training realm I've graduated over 40 Marines now through Level 1 and 2 of the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic. The process has made me master the curriculum at a level that would have taken months in a very short time. There is nothing like constant practice and proper re-enforcement of the incorrect and correct way of doing something to firmly train your muscle memory and brain to get the exact result you expect.




Now, on the funnier side of things I've got a new addition in the realm of hydration. I am an admitted bag and bottle freak, so my new military CamelBak (with USMC Digital Desert pattern) is no real surprise, but in the process of getting my new pack I was give a new water bottle. It came with a marketing piece that stated that some University did a study and with this bottle users drank 24% more water?!? Anyway, it was free and I tried it.

Well, I am addicted and it is kinda odd, once I realized what the bottle really is and the evil plan that makes me OK with drinking from it constantly.

Yes, the Camelbak Better Bottle is an Adult Sippy Cup!! And, I LOVE it!

So have fun, keep hydrated and I'll see ya on the road!

Boy Scouts and Riding (The fuel dilemma)

"Always be prepared" it is the motto of the Boy Scouts and also a very smart way to ride. With that I show you a coffee traveler from Starbucks?

Well, a little while ago a friend of mine told me about a cool way to be be able to carry fuel back to a bike, just in case you happen to run out somewhere. In the past I've run out of fuel before and the hardest part was always getting a container to use to get the fuel from the station to the vehicle. If you run out you don't need a lot and on a bike even a one-gallon container is hard to carry, so when I was shown this work around I ran out to get one for myself.

Here I give you the Starbucks' Emergency Fuel container! Follow along and you'll understand.

First you need to get a Coffee Traveler from Starbucks. If you get one with coffee it is useable, you'll just need to clean the bladder afterwards.

But, if you're like me and visit Starbucks quite often you can ask for any empty one, which not put together looks like this.



You'll see that the container holds 96 Fluid Ounces, just under a Gallon. Certainly enough to get you to a station, or you can even get two bladder, just in case.



When you look inside the cardboard you'll see the shiny bladder.



The bladder is held in place with 2 glue spots and the hole is held in place by the cardboard. It comes out rather easiliy, simply with a slight pull.




After getting the bladder out of the cardboard you'll want to remove the glue spots, the one at the bottom is very thin and the one at the top is more sticky. Both come off simply by using your fingers to get it off the bladder.



After that you are left with a bladder and a lid.



Roll the bladder up and screw on the lid and you have an emergency fuel bladder.



Now, I would not store fuel in this and I would make sure to protect the bladder from getting poked or torn wherever you carry it. Other than that it is perfectly suited for the need and fills the purpose very efficiently and effectively.

Have Fun!