Getting it done

Trying to get everything done before my GTS and Marc's GT ship out via forward air from JFK...

That happens on Sept 4th. Just a few more days. Trying to get the graphics for my sponsors installed on the scoot. 

Having scheduling issues...

I fly out on the 8th, and will be visiting some pals there.. M.Bossi, C. Kihlstedt, J. Vanderslice... The real pals. 

It will be nice to see them before heading out. 

See you all soon. 

-Joel

Every journey begins ...

... with a single blog post? Why not?

This may be my last post prior to flying out to San Francisco for the start of the race, as I will be out and about and therefore out of convenient Interweb range for a while.

So I'd like to remind everyone that we still need donations to make this all work for Scotty and for the Future of Music Coalition. That will still be true after the Cannonball starts, and even after it ends, so please give what you can by clicking on the Vespa photo at the top of the left column or visiting Joel's site and clicking on the Donate button.

Thanks, and see you on the road,

-dan

Gowanus

Down by the gowanus canal. Brooklyn.

crazy sky

Crazy sky over the beach...

Ptown

Off the coast of Provincetown, MA.
Photo by Rachel D.
Reppin' Brooklynbretta all over the globe...;)
This 10 horse motor sounded a lot like my GTS...

Upstate ride today

Somewhere upstate. John on his LX150 and my GTS250 sitting on some
random bridge somewhere.
It was a really nice ride today. Rte 21 is really cool. I hadnt
ridden that one yet somehow.
We rode from 10am to 5pm, starting in Brooklyn, ending in Brooklyn..
by way of wingdale, NY, lots of towns in CT on rt 7, lots of towns on
rte NY22, 55,44,21,the taconic, the west side highway, 9A, Henry
Hudson pkway, saw mill pkway...etc...etc...I was finally in "full
uniform" that I will be wearing for the cannonball. Aside from a
chattering clutch, everything felt great today. Even carrying a spare
liter of fuel that I didnt use.... almost. Gas light came on while
cruising on the taconic...

Test rides upstate

About to leave on a good test ride with my pal John Davis. Upstate NY. We rode NY Rt 22 yesterday and it was awesome. Going up that way again today, maybe just follow the hudson river way north. Riding with spare gas today, to check out the usage of the camping gas bottles, and to avoid the "uh oh" feeling I had yesterday after a very long stretch without seeing anything like a gas station. Mostly for convenience today though.
I am psyched that John is so into these rides, because I would be going by myself if he wasnt. Thanks John!!! ..and thank goodness for our completely random lifestyles and career choices that facilitate weekday goofing off at the drop of the hat.
I will post some pictures tomorrow, as I have yet to take any... ;)

(re-) Gearing up

We had  a little (?) setback this week as some presumably under-evolved people broke into my house and stole a bunch of GPS and computer equipment, but we are recovering from this nastiness and re-doing many hours of route coding. It's a brute force way to learn the route, that's for sure.

In the meantime, Joel's fame is spreading, as evidenced by the following blog post at Future of Music Coalition, complete with a link to a podcast interview with Joel.

And be sure to see Ann Powers' music blog in the L.A. Times.

-dan

Secret

My Gts, in a secret location in bed stuy. Covered while I am out of  town. Not long before I hop on that thing in San fran and head east.

Cyclone

By the cyclone. Coney island. John on his LX 150. Brand new. Really
nice.

coney island

Cruised down to coney with my pal john Davis. He rides a 2009 lx150
these days. It is a cool ride. I tried it out. We saw some sick huge
jellyfish in the east river today as well.

South Orleans, MA trip.

Orleans,MA. rode up from NYC.