This page is dedicated to following the progress of this adventure. I will share events, my
Ups, and my Downs, in the building on this the biggest adventure I think I have ever embarked upon. I have to admit that I have never been involved in anything so challenging. The first speed bump is in creating “The Plan”.
Ok, so as I mentioned my “mission is to collect as much as possible to donate the proceeds to be of benefit to the families that lost someone during the attacks on September 11, 2001. It is my belief that this breaks into families from the Twin Towers, The Fire Department of New York City, The Pentagon, and the planes that crashed into each of the sites including Flight 93. This was born out of something I caught on the nightly news regarding several motorcyclists that raised some money for Flight 93.
One of my first rides was with a group sponsored by Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson in San Francisco. I introduced myself to one of the principals Tom Perkins at one of our stops. Tom shared that one group rode to the west coast and went by the name of Ride with the 40. This group comprised of 5 friends including Ken Nacke, brother to one of those lost on Flight 93 left Newark Airport on September 3rd at approximately the same time the flight took off. They rode across our country gaining support along the way and ending in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 11th, the destination of the aircraft.
After a few short inquiries through email I was able to contact those planning the same trip this year and was able to explain my goal. We have begun a conversation to work together. This year, 2010 it is my plans to not only provide any help I can, but to meet with the group in Reno Nevada and ride into the Bay Area in support of their cause. Their goal of raising monies to support the families and the memorial in Shanksville Pennsylvania answered the “what charity” for the Flight 93 part.
Tom, if you’re ever reading this, I want to thank you for giving me a great start!
July 2010
Well a lot has taken place since the begiinning of the project and I expect that there will be changes to the overall mission of mine. I after Toms recommendation have been in contact with a group that I believe while focused on just one group, has the same beliefs on what can be done to show support for families that lost someone. Their website www.Ridewiththe40.org explains what is to take place for 2010.
I have been in contact with the principals that include those in the advertising/marketing world, families of Flight 93 and many different motorcycle associations. The plan is to again ride, they did the same ride last year, from the east coast to the west coast approximately traveling the path of that flight.
All I can say is WOW this group has drive! Many have been online with me anywhere from 5AM to 11PST. What makes that amazing in of itself, is the fact that most of these people live on the east coast. Nearly all are volunteering their time after putting in a full day of work.
To back up a bit, I first spoke to Ken Nacke whos brother was on the flight and he put me in touch with a few of those in his area that were early in the planning stage. This was when I was asked to act as the west coast ride leader. Well all I can say is I could find no reason not to. Admittedly I do have a problem with knowing my limits sometimes. Having said this though, as the past few months have played out, I find I get more excited as the plan comes together.
Just as a side comment, my love Lissa, the dogs, cats and bird all give me that look of "you must be crazy!" Hasn't slowed me down and it has been a fun path to travel!
July 17th
Lissa and I have joined with others in my local H.O.G. chapter to travel up the northern California coast ending in Eureka. As we stopped at many Harley dealers, I dropped flyers and picked up cards in a pursuit for support of Ridewiththe40 here in after known as RW40.
Our ride took us through some of the best parts of California. As we crossed from one climate to another you could see lowland grasses and the majestic giant redwoods. 
The best part of the travel up was along the Avenue of the Giants north of Ukiah. Temperatures cooled a bit and by the time we found ourselves on the coast about an hour south of Eureka coats were requred.
The day ended in Eureka, after another Harley dealer stop, at a hotel called the Eagles Nest. Really I had nothing to do with this (my company name is Eagle One Services LLC ). This hotel dating back to the late 1800's has been referbished and each room is uniquely furnished with antique beds, an-noirs and bath tubs.
What really made this part of the trip was parking of the bikes. The inkeeper had told us that parking in the parking lot overnight was not advised for reasons I'll leave out. So he opened the front door and each of us, 23 bikes in all, pushed our bikes into the ballroom. 
What a sight! All the bikes sitting on hardwood floors in front of a stage that was the center of entertainment in its day.
The next day was spent traveling along the coast south to Ft Bragg for lunch and then through the Anderson Valley and back to US101. You almost hate to get back on the freeway but after a few days it's good to know you're heading home.
July 29
I have decided that I need to test drive the route I want to take for the RW40 group in September. So I took a few days to explore. First stop was in the town of Folsom. I chose Folsom because of its history in the discovery of gold and a rememberance of Old Town. Also there is a Harley dealer and I need to drop some flyers. That day ended with a stay with some friends from high school. Phil and Jenny put me up for the night and as it always is, getting caught up on what we had been doing on our own was full of laughs and even a few unknown facts. It turns out Phil, always the good cook, has been becoming a regular on a local morning show sharing recipes.
The next day I visited a few of the restaurants in town to find a good location for RW40 to stop for a lunch break. My favorite is Sudwerk Restaurant and Brewery. I enjoyed a vegetarian "wrap" and a lot of water before getting on the bike to explore further. The trip found me traveling Auburn-Folsom Road up the Interstate 80 and I got on the path for Reno.
Near the end of this day I stopped in at the Reno Harley dealer and left more flyers, bought a few t-shirts and after a little smoozing headed for me mudders (moms house). Mom is 90 years young and it is always good to catch up on what moms do. Good thing about moms they ALWAYS support their boys! Well enough of that sarcasym.
Next day it took me a little while getting out of Reno. I needed to stop in at the local police station to ask about any concerns for our group traveling through town. After a few different detectives asking about who we were and what our plan was, I managed to get their support and offer of escort if we needed.
The rest of the day was spent looking for gas stops and timing between stops.
So as of this point, we will travel from Reno, down through the east side of Lake Tahoe for our first stop. 
Next we will run to Folsom for lunch and then onto the visit Vallejo Harley. The remain drive will be down through the Walnut Creek/Concord area to Sunol.
With a turn off onto Hwy 84 in Sunol the ride will continue through Niles Canyon. You might ask, why Niles Canyon? Glad you asked! This was a primary route during the late 1800's and into the 1900's for families like the Hearst family to travel to their "getaway" homes. In addition around 1915 Charlie Chaplin made the area famous by using it as a film location for well known "The Tramp". Many other films were filmed there afterwards. The road travels also past a historic railway museum and park. The railway was used as part of the transportation during the latter parts of the California Gold Rush and to transfer families between the bay area, Pleasanton, Livermore and onto Sacramento.
August 8
This past week has been a flurry of emails between all the parties in Rw40. We're looking for road help from not just local businesses but some of the many motorcycle groups. More to come soon.....
August 16th
Well over the weekend I have received word that the San Mateo Chapter of H.O.G will have some of the members in attendance. My own chapter, now that makes me feel great since Lissa and I are only about a year into being a part of the chapter.
So for updates,
We now are firmed up that Reno Harley will be the meeting point for Friday Sept 10. Sudwerks in Folsom should be recieving our confirmation and deposit very soon for the lunch that day and I am beginning to do a weather dance each morning. Reason being that for some reason summer seems to have moved to the other parts of the country and left us here in the San Francisco Bay Area, somewhat cooler. Still 70-80 degrees is not bad. It's just those Samuel Clemens summer days of fog until afternoon that kind make you want to wear heavy coats and stand near a fire.
I heard on Monday that the Ridewiththe40 group now has a sign up page on the website, http://www.ridewiththe40.org for those wanting to join in with the ride. Looks as if 5 will be the core riders leaving Newark NJ for the entire journey across the states. Their plan is to gather riders along the way and the site will give you a schedule of where to meet the group along the way. Additionally on September 11th at approximately noon PST, a cerimony will be held through video link between Shanksville PA and Union CIty.
We now have SFO on board with providing us a place to gather for a small cerimony. Hope I don't have to give a speech, its hard to get my good side on film. (do I have a good side Mr De Mille).
All that seems to be left is where we will end up at the end of the day, September 11th. We do know its in San Francisco, but heh that's a big city to cover. Mr. Mayor do you have any suggestions? I hope that at the next update, I can share what that will be. So if your reading this, have a large eating AND adult beverage supply, please contact the head of this farm of follies, Christine Cattano at ccatano@ridewiththe40.org
Hope in reading these updates you are now making the decision to donate as well. Whether 10 cents or more, all donations will help with the project to build a memorial for the families of Flight 93. Can't wait till we put next year together........
February 2011
Now that the holidays are over a flurry of emails between those planning this years routes has begun. Now we must decide where our short comings were last year, make changes and look to any new ideas.
I will propose and am hoping that I can convince everyone to have to groups travel across our nation, meeting somewhere in the midwest before riding on to Shanksville Pa.
Feb 28
I had a brief informal conversation today with some of the key players and it is likely that a group will travel from San Francisco across to Shanksville in support of the Ridewiththe40.org, but that my desired addition will be a project I need to run on my own until meeting with the group in the midwest. Certainly I am fine with this and am in full support of the overall event.
Mar 2
Our first meeting has gone well with support for the meeting of the two rides as it looks currently in Indianapolis. I have been given the responsibilty to oversee planning of both routes and with the help of several others believe that by the end of the week we will have the basic plan together.
Others in the overall group will soon be send out requests for support from the corporate world and I need to do the same for that portion of the trip that is solely my responsiblity.
My drive/cause is to ride from the Los Angeles area carrying two identical flags. I have already arranged to have them made up and they will be for the purpose of signing at each of my stops this year. As for what the purpose of my leg is, it is to show support for the "First Responders" to all the sites that were impacted on that day. Those of you who know me, know that I have strong beliefs were personal and public safety are concerned and these guys that responded that day did so with only one thing on their mind, do the best they can to prevent the loss of life. Unfortunately, some of them were taken away while working to that effort and I hope that my efforts will show that they are never to be forgotten.
Perhaps you're wondering why 2 flags?
My intent here is that once I have completed the ride to Shanksville and participated in the ceremony is to then ride down to Washington DC and meet with those involved with the Pentagon memorial to present one of the flags. From there the travels will take us up to New York and to Ground Zero where I hope to donate the second flag.
This certainly is something I am looking for some help with. I don't currently have contacts at either of these sites and should anyone reading this know of whom I should contact, please, please forward that information to me.
If you see me I am hoping that you'll sign one of the flags, buy one of the smaller ones or the patches that I am using to gather money not only for the trip but to also donate the profits to The Families of Flight 93 Memorial Fund.
More to come soon so please check back to my site and as I always say, if you have an idea that you believe will help our cause, please send an email.
Mar 15
The past few weeks have brought us some progress overall. We now have vest patches, stickers and 6"x9" flags for sale. This took some time to put together but I want to thank my local Office Max for printing, RumblingPride, http://www.rumblingpride.com/Support_Cause_Program.htm for producing the flags for sale and that will be carried across the nation, and American Patch & Emblem http://www.americanpatch.com/ for the vest patches. If your interested in purchasing any of these please send an email to Ride2NewYork@gmail.com and include your mailing address and a telephone number.
Last week I met with Mickey Noake of the Redwood City Fire Department to discuss our cause for the trip. Mickey showed me a short video of their tribute from last year. They brought in firefighters from all over the San Francisco Bay Area to participate in a stair climb and follow up ceremonies on September 11 2010. This year they are coming up on a major anniversary for the department 105 years serving the folks of our town. Celebration will take place on July 4th with the annual pancake breakfast. During the breakfast and during the parade a table will be set up in front of the firehouse to not only raise awareness for fire prevention, but they have gratiously offered to allow us to set up a table to find support for our trip this year. THIS IS HUGE! We can't thank Mickey enough. You really should check out the website http://www.redwood-city911stairclimb.com/ . If you're near our town for the Fourth of July we hope you will stop by and show your support or sign the one of the flags that will be carried back east.
Additionally, if you're within the SF Bay Area, and would like Jeff to speak to your group about what www.Ride2NewYorkCity.com is all about, drop me an email.
RideWithThe40 Update:
The other portion of the ride is working as we have said, in support of the Families of Flight 93. There have been a number of meetings to get that ball rolling. Jeff will be the National Road Captain in charge of the ride itself. In meetings Jeff has been working on the logistics and we can't say enough about the difficulties put such a trip together might be, but it's the most fun-hard work project ever. The route for San Francisco across to Shanksville Pennsylvania is nearly completed as to direction and the towns that the group will visit. Now it's a matter of informing everyone along the way to garner their support and participation. It is hoped that the site with that information will be updated soon.
Mar 21
Everyone should be happy to hear that the stickers, patches and flags have arrived and are now available for sale.
I will have them ready for mailing either individually or as packages. The monies collected will (1) help defer the costs of the trip and (2) any profits will then be donated to the Families of Flight 93 memorial funds which the Ridewiththe40 ride is supporting.
April 10
As I now have the flags the next step is to travel to various firehouses asking whom wants to be recognized on the flag. One set of flags is being signed only by firefighters as I travel around the state and country. First stop was Redwood City Fire Station #20 to visit my friend Mickey Noake.
Mickey making history!
Over the next few weekends I have traveled around the San Francisco Bay Area. This has taken so far to Livermore, Niles Canyon, Stanford, Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Fire Station #6 in Livermore was one of the more "different" stops along the way so far. It is here that the Centenial Bulb is located. This bulb recorded in the Guiness Book of World records has been lit for 110 years as of June 2011. First installed at the fire department hose cart house on L Street in 1901. Shortly after it moved to the main firehouse on Second. In 1903 it was moved to the new Station 1 on First and McLeod, and survived the renovation of the Firehouse in 1937, when it was off for about a week. During it's first 75 years it was connected directly to the 110 Volt city power, (subject to the power outages) , and not to the back-up generator for fear of a power surge. In 1976 it was moved with a full police and fire truck escort, under the watch of Captain Kirby Slate, to its present site in 1976 at Fire Station 6, 4550 East Ave., Livermore, California. It was then hooked to a seperate power source at 120V according to Frank Maul, Retired City Electrician, with no interuptions since. More information is provided at http://www.centennialbulb.org/facts.htm.
As a side note, one of the fireman pointed out that if you stand below it, the configuration of the filament actually reads "On", Believe it or Not!
Downtown Livermore Station
California Dept of Foresty Station in Sunol California
As to what has been happening with the Ridewththe40 group, we're making a lot of progress. In our last meeting we discussed the need lock the Northern Route, get a web presence and print flyers to be handed out to all. I here to report that Northern Route is now locked as to the route and days.
Basics of the route are to leave the San Francisco area on August 29th and end that day in the Yosemite Valley. Ken Nacke is working to set up accomidations. From there, day 2 travels out of the park and over the Tioga Pass, lots of twistees and beautiful scenery. One part of Day 2 will be "out of this world" so to speak as they are going down the "Extraterestial Hwy" near Area 51. Perhaps E.T. will be there to wave as they go by..... Days 3 & 4 takes the group through Utah and Colorado. Most of the color change of fall should be in its early stages. One of the more intresting part of this segment will be running through the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70 where they will be at 10,000 feet. Hope they have good weather here as anything is possible, even snow! Over the next few days the travel is across the plains which will take them through Nebraska for a brief PR event in Omaha, past south of Chicago before turning south to meet the Southern Route group in Indianapolis. We're working on what to do with the groups meeting here. Then it's a short 400 miles to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania before the next few days are to be spent around the Shanksville events. As we get closer to our travel dates, I hope to share some of what is expected in Shanksville.
For those of you who may be in the Southwestern part of the United States, I am working on that route as we speak. Looks like we will be following parts of Route 66 after a brief visit to Phoenix. So you too will have a way of joining our fun on this honorous occasion.
More to follow soon.....
April 26
Traveling this week to Southern California for some business. However I will be including stops to promote the rides this year.
April 27
Well although you can plan for most everything there are those occasional "bumps" in the road. I packed the promotional products and few close onto the bike and left out around 6AM from Redwood City. About 70 miles south the front end began to shake and I just thought it must be the road surface materials. As I got nearer to the Salinas area it just didn't go away so I pulled into Monterey Harley Davidson and waited till they opened.
Two and a half hours later the problem was solved. Turned out that the front wheel bearing dissintegrated. This would not have been one of those things you typically would catch in pre ride inspections. Thanks to the service department I was back on the road and headed for two scheduled stops. One being at Gary Bang HD in Atascadero the other was Bartels HD in Marina Del Rey.
Gary Bang HD as with most dealers, they have a riders lounge and these are welcomed sites for long distance travels. I made contact with the clothing department, left a few flyers, vest patches and flags as a sample so they could discuss privately if they could support our cause. It was agreed that I would stop by on the way home to meet with Jenny and get an answer.
Did I mention that I was supposed to be in Marina Del Rey by 3:30PM? Well it was 1PM when I got to Gary Bang HD and still had 200+ miles ahead. Called to Bartels HD and left a message that I would be late.
I finally got to Bartels HD at 5:15PM. So much for being on time. Fortunately I met with Forest, one of the owners. We discussed the two rides and made agreements for them to set up a table in August that we would have our flags and merchandise available for. On top of that, Forest agreed to leave flyers out at the store and push through the local H.O.G. chapter a request to assist us on the day of the ride. This is a huge deal and one of the first successes in the ride planning. Thanks Forest!
April 29
I have had business meeting all morning and in the afternoon took off to visit the city of Temecula California. One of my best friends Steve Eldred from much younger days, lives in the town and helped me setting up a meeting at Station 12 downtown. Unknown to me Steve also connected with freelance newsperson Andrew Foulk who shot a short video. I am working to upload the video to the site.
We caught the guys working on dinner, (hope it wasn't over done guys!). After a short discussion on the mission of the trip, they moved their truck out for a great photo opportunity. Thanks to Captain Carniglia and all the guys!
Just a little about Temecula,
This town south of San Bernadino has history dating back to when indians were first believed to settle around 900 AD. A little more recently in the late 1700's as part of the spreading of Christianity, the town was first visited by Father Juan Norberto de Santiago from the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Through the 1800's it was a slow process, but slowly became the city of Temecula. It was in April of 1859 that the first official Southern Califonia Post office was opened. Known for great golfing, antiques, street fairs and did I mention some wonderful local wines, it's a great day visit if you're in the area.
May 6
Bobby Boucher, he'll be riding the Southern Route with me, and met up to do some PR for our rides. It has been a desire to shoot video of our ride. In doing some reseach on mounts I am experimenting with an articulated arm. We mounted it to the bike and off we went to the eastbay for some additional PR work.
Lunchtime found us in Walnut Creek where we met up with John "Kiks" Kikol a retired attorney and real estate investor. John also has been successful with managing many tribute rides in Northern Ohio. It was our hope as well that the group John is leading for September to the Pentagon, could join us when we were done in Shanksville September 12th. Unfortunately his group will be already on their way so it is not to be. Having said that though I want to thank John for the wealth of advice he gave us on managing our event.
Having finished lunch and saying good bye to our new friend, we headed over the the local Harley Dealer where we met not only the staff at McGuire Harley Davidson but they purchased a number of our patches in support of our ride. Thank YOU!
I wanted to interject some "equipment" failures I have been having. Over the past two years I had installed a communication system on my bike made and sold under the name of StarCom. Why you ask am I bringing this up? Because nearly from the beginning I had problems with the helmet-helmet and the bike-bike systems. While on this short adventure the system just faded out completely. I must acknowledge that the people at StarCom did send me replacement parts and they worked for a while. Not sure what the actually causes were. I made the decision after Bobby and I spent this day not being able to talk bike-bike to go back to the Harley system and it works great.
May 14
Lissa, Bobby and I are riding in support of a local cause. The Police Athletic League or PAL. The expected event should draw 250+ bikes. It's 7AM and off we go.......
Bobby was in charge of organizing the bikes for the ride and as is his custom as the greeter, he passed around the jar to raise a little cash for our cause as well. Truely Bobby is the Ambassador of fun and the occasional......let's just say he knows a few jokes.
Ok so I said 250+. Well it went big, over 300 particpated and a little north of $35g's were raised. We traveled from Dudley Perkins over to the coast and then down to Dunes Beach for our first stop. This beinging a Poker Run there is a mad scramble to not only get your next card, but visit the "lou". Looked like a NASCAR event with the long lines!
Next was down a little further to Pescadero. Now for those of you who never have been to Pescadero it's a small coastal community of mostly farms. However, what I believe to be some of the best pies can be had at Duarte's, the local restaurant/tavern. My personal favorite after a bowl fo chili, is the loganberry pie. This is a must stop if your in the area.
We left Pescadero riding up through the hills past Memorial Park and Sam Macdonald camp grounds to Hwy 84 where we turned east. At the junction of Hwy 84 and Skyline is Alice's Restaurant. Here the San Mateo County Sheriff closed the intersection so the group could head back north on Skyline.
While riding in the mid pack along with Brent Bosin the ride goes through the twists and turns of Skyline. Here it got a little interesting when I looked in the mirror and saw to my surprise, the sheriff car coming down the left side of the highway. Now if this was a four lane road no one would be concerned right? Well it's two lanes! I found myself thinking boy I hope the communication with the guys in front is working. No problems were created and we made it to the intersection of Hwy 92.
With the journey now heading east down Hwy 92, past Crystal Springs Resevoir we traveled the approximately 6 miles to our final highway turn onto US 101 south and then onto Sparky's in San Carlos. Lunch, music and some real entertainment was waiting for us. The entertainment was a stunt rider , Jason Pullen. This guy does things with a Harley that should not be possible. Google him and to see what I mean.
May 28
Today, Saturday, finds me in Pescadero California. Tom Perkins invited me to share a booth at a local event. For years this small community has been fighting to restore their wetlands and this festival was organized to raise awareness for the cause. The days weather was a little threatening but as it turned out, nothing more than a few sprinkles. By 11AM people starting to flooding in, the music warmed us up and food filled the stomach.
I really want to again thank Tom Perkins for asking me to join him. Without this I would have missed meeting the local Firefighters and having the NYC flag signed.
A second event drew me away and around 3:30PM I packed up my wears and headed back to Redwood City to pick up Lissa. We were to meet with the Diablo H.O.G. Chapter in Concord California for North meets South. This event drew riders from as far away as Denver Colorado and Phoenix Arizona. Given the weather this spring these groups deserve a real At-A-Boy!
Lissa and I as I said made the trek. Now did I mention it was a wet trip. As we left Redwood City, it was partly cloudy and a little breezy. By the time we got onto the San Mateo Bridge, it was a light drizzle and as we got onto the "nasty Nimitz" it was flat out raining! Rained all the way to Concord and just as we pulled into the parking lot at the hotel, it quit. Lissa now is a real trooper and after checking in and changing clothes, down the stairs and into the hall to meet our new friends. Well all I can say is that between Lissa, Bobby B and I we managed to get flyers out, raise a few dollars. BOOYA!
May 29
Sun is out and after saying our good byes to many we met, Lissa and I decided to head back towards home, but to visit a few more fire stations. A short trip down I-680 and we got off in the town of San Ramon. It took a little while but we did find a fire house and stopped in to find the group watching the Indy 500 while doing some chores. I explained about the flag and we laid it out for the group to sign.
Back on the bike we traveled down through the canyons towards Castro Valley where we stopped at Alameda County Station #6. The guys took a few moments out of their excercise training to sign the flag. One of the firefighters has just bought his new Harley and we invited him to join our ride!
Our last stop was at the Hayward Main FireHouse. This station has the original bell placed at the front corner of the property. Nice Work Hayward!
This next week brings should be busy and I hope that we get more interest in the two rides. On Thursday I will be returning to the San Francisco Motorcycle Club. They have been anxious to see the plan for 2011....
June 7th
The short message here is that after much pleading, Dale Nacke has gotten the www.Ridewiththe40.org site up. Dale Great work and now we can really begin the push to contribute to this years events.
June 30
The past week has found me back on the road again. This trip is again back to the Southern California. Part of the trip was with an overnight stay in Mojave Ca. Now Mojave besides being home to Edwards Air Force Base also is the location for test flights of SpaceShipOne. The concept
vehicle designed to act as a powered winged vehicle for the purpose of taking passengers from earth into low earth orbit with private enterprise money. Two famous names, Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines and Dick Rutan are the key persons in this endeavor. I did not see the vehicle on this trip but would have been more than willing to act as a ginea pig test subject if asked.
I did stop by the towns one and only fire house to have the guys sign the flag. Kern County FD Station 14 handles mostly medical calls locally and on the nearby highways and should be commended on their committment to the community given the tight budget restraints of a small town. They shared with me a small plague in honor of their friend and fellow firefighter Thomas Hoffman. He too loved his job and family, but most of all found time to ride his Harley.
More to come on our July events in the next few weeks...
July 2011
Well let's see it's actually the 2nd weekend in August and I have fallen behind with the updates. So....
July 2nd Bobby B and I traveled to Holister California and the set up a booth at the open house for Corbins. Now if you don't know of Corbins they are a premier supplier of custom seats for all types of bikes. All day over 5000 attendees were there and many came by, asked about the rides, made a donation and signed the flag going to the Pentagon. The day was a success and we made lots of new friends.
Fourth of July was full of fun and lots to do. The day started out with me meeting Bobby downtown. If I haven't mentioned it, we lead the Redwood City Fourth of July Parade.youtu.be/XSER73BylnA
Hope that you were able to open the video. It's short and no I didn't pick the music. My stepdaughter has a class mate that wanted to assist and this well.....is what we have.
Anyway the parade was a small part of the day. We also were visiting the downtown Fire Station and placed the flags out for signature and had some funds raising success. I want to personally thank Micki Noacke of the RWFD for allowing us to be there.
We're now a few weeks past and traveled to Monterey to a three day event. This was the Red Bull Moto GP where they generously gave us a booth to set the flags out. If you have never been to one of these races it's a must see event. I am not sure about the actual speeds but to do over 150 mph on two wheels, IS CRAZY! Over the three days we managed to raise some more donations and if you stopped by our booth thank you so much. Bobby helped on Thursday with the set up and then again running the booth on Friday. You can't do this type of event without help and thanks to Bobby on Friday, Francesca and her friend Nick on Saturday and then the closer Frank C (my NASCAR bud) these three days were fun and fruitful.
All of these events were a major part of our fund raising and ride awareness. July went by all too fast and as I said we're now into August.
August 12
So this day has me filled with much anticipation as it will be our last major event in preparation for the trip across the US. Long story short, I have been working on gaining Road Captain status within my H.O.G. chapter and one of the requirements was to lead a ride. I put together what I beleive a great plan. Since one of the main purposes of our national ride is to honor firefighters lost on 9/11 I set up a dinner ride to the Firehouse Grill and Brewery in East Palo Alto. In addition after a visit to the local fire station we also set up an invite of fire fighters to have a last chance at signing one of the flags.
At 6:30PM we the H.O.G. chapter left Dudley Perkins for about an hour ride down to the brewery. We road down I-280 south and detoured onto Canada Road. Nothing better than to get off the freeway and travel the more rural roads of our local areas. The ride made its way through Woodside, Portola Valley before turning east down through Palo Alto and eventually ending at the Brewery. Tim the manager had set us up a great local in the restaurant and firefighters from Menlo Park and East Palo Alto areas joined us for about an hour before they headed back to their respective stations. A special thanks to Captain Holt for getting the word out. Let's also not forget Firefighter "Hoss". This guy makes a great impression and I can tell keeps everyone on their toes in a fun way.
August 13
I received a call from Bob Fritch a firefighter up at the Vacaville state prison that many of his force were hoping to sign the flag as well. How can I say no? I can't! So after about an hour ride up to Vacaville we set up a table rolled out the flag.
GENERAL
So as to the ride itself we have so far Bobby and I committed to representing the cause and I expect that along the way we will meet up with some of you. I have set up a few stops that should be a blast.
LEG 1 August 28
We leave the Bay Area at 5AM. If you wish to join us send me an email at Ride2NewYork@gmail.com
0730 breakfast with the King City Fire Department
1000 we will be at Gary Bang Harley Davidson for about an hour with the Flags for signing
1530 we are to be at Bartels Harley Davidson in Marina Del Rey till they close and again w/flags
Leg 2 August 29
0800 Meet at Bartels, KSU at 0820
Stops for this day are going to be fluid but we are hoping to be in Blythe Ca around 1PM to visit their main FireHouse. Will then continue on to the end of the day in Goodyear AZ
Leg 3 August 30
0900 Arrive at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Jct. Wlll leave out around 10-1030 for the end of this day in Springerville.
More to follow.....
