The Practice Loop

Traveling with a band limits my ride time, especially weekend ride time when all my buddies go riding, so I cut this loop on 10 acres of land just a few minutes from the house so whenever I’m home during the week I can hit this for some saddle time. This is one lap around my “close to the house” woods loop, right at one mile long. It may look like there isn’t a trail but it’s there, just haven’t ridden it in a while : (
Maybe one day I’ll be able to carry my bike with me on the road (like Craig Morgan does)! Maybe…
The music bed is some instrumental stuff that I recorded for fun, enjoy!

A GREAT Day In The Saddle

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to join a few moto buddies for the 6th Annual Armenia Dual Sport Ride, an all day ride fund-raiser to benefit the Armenia United Methodist Church.
For those unfamiliar with “Dual Sporting”, a dual sport ride (at least the ones I favor) is a self-guided off-road event consisting of mostly trail sections with paved roads connecting these off-road sections. The event coordinators provide you with a roll-chart that has turn-by-turn directions, estimated mileage between turns, gas stops, hazard warnings, etc. It’s not a race, just a great day of riding. Most dual sport events require a “street-legal” motorcycle, meaning lights and a tag. I’ve seen all sorts of bikes at these events, from a BMW 1200 which was way to large for most of the off-road sections, to a motocross bike with a flashlight for a headlight and a tag taped on the rear fender.
The Armenia Dual Sport Ride is located just a few miles northwest of Chester, SC, is limited to 100 riders and consist of some of the best trail I’ve ever ridden through tightly wooded sections of privately owned land, places you would never get to ride otherwise. The event is organized by Marvin Grant, a long time Cross Country Racer who works as a trail consultant building trails when he’s not riding.
The day starts with a country breakfast and riders meeting where Marvin explains the schedule for the day, the use of the roll-chart, the warning signs, arrows, etc. After breakfast it’s on! A quick tech inspection to make sure your bike will pass for street-legal, that the exhaust is not too loud and you are wearing the required minimum of protective gear and your off. We rode for about 3-4 hours before making it back to the campsite where we were served a fantastic BBQ lunch, and then back on the trail again for another 3-4 hours. By the end of the day we had logged close to 90 miles, which may not sound like a lot to the uninitiated, but once you see the type of riding you’ll understand why it takes all day to travel that 90 miles!
Many thanks to Marvin Grant and the community of Armenia for putting on such a great event. I’ve attended two years in a row and don’t plan to miss any in the future.
This video is in two parts, so if you dig the first one go to my YouTube page and watch the second half.

Ridin’ Brushy Mountain

Too few and far between are the days I can make time to do some ridin’!

I got the word on March 25 that our drummer (David Lee) would be going in for surgery on March 31 to have some work done on some nerve damage/problems he was having (at the time of this writing Dave is back home recuperating and doing well. He’ll be out of commission for a while and we have starting working in his fill-in, Steve Arnold). So knowing we had no time to find his replacement and work him in before our scheduled show at Miss Kitty’s on April 2, we had to cancel.

This sudden cancellation created one of those few and far between days I was talking about. I had already gotten a call a week before from Jeff McDonald (moto-buddy) about a group going to Brushy Mountain Motor Sports Park on April 2 and at that time I told him I would have to miss out. So now with that day off I called Jeff and said “I’m in!”.

We had a total of seven that made it to Brushy for a perfect day of riding. I recorded the majority of the ride with my helmet-cam and have started posting the footage to my YouTube channel so check ‘em out when you get a chance. Some of the footage didn’t record the audio so there is some self-generated music added from my editing software that isn’t the greatest but better than silence. And not having or wanting to take the time to do any fancy edits, I’m posting all the footage in 10min episodes. The video below is from later in the afternoon while Jeff was wearing the helmet-cam following me. By this time some dust had made its way behind the lens cover and with the afternoon sun, things are a little hazy. But most of the others are crisp and clear. Hope you enjoy…

Hufstuf Media Productions

Hufstuf Media Productions was established in ’96 as a private business servicing a select group of clients, providing services ranging from song development to producing to web design. The current economic situation has got us all (you and me) tightening our belts and looking for additional ways to make ends meet. With this in mind Hufstuf Media Productions is now accepting inquiries for new clients on a limited basis. Whether you need audio production (all aspects from tracking to mastering), video production and editing, website design and maintenance, graphic design for all media (print and web), Hufstuf Media Productions could be the solution you’ve been looking for. Visit our website @ www.hufstuf.com to email us your inquiry.

‘There is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings’

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt6

Today was our fourth and final show on the Jagermeister Country Tour 2010. Mavericks Rock ‘n Honky Tonk was packed and rockin’! Another small stage (for three bands to setup on) but we made it work and rocked the house. I even remembered to take my camera on stage with me, so you get a bird’s eye view (from the top of my amp). We didn’t stay for Eric’s set, wanted to get back to the room and get some rest for the long drive home tomorrow.

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt5

Didn’t have much to do today. After brunch I came back to the room and worked on some websites that I manage, watched Scooby shave and started work on this video. We headed down to the civic center around 5:30 for sound check.

We had a great show in Panama City tonight. AND I FORGOT TO SHOOT OUR SET?!?! (!@#$%).  But plenty of good footage to get a feel for what the night was like. Panama City Rocks!

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt4

We woke up to a rain storm! Headed through the flood to Midnight Rodeo for load in. As it turns out the stage wasn’t big enough for three bands so we weren’t able to perform. It’s all good though. Jager was real nice about it and is giving us more stage time the next two shows. We hung out and watched part of Josh’s set and then headed off into the night, Panama City bound….

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt3

Stopped at a store to ‘grab’ a few things and off to The Barn we go. Here’s some snippets of soundcheck and the evenings performances. More to follow….

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt2

We Leave the Salt Air Motel in Jacksonville, stop for ‘breakfast’ and head to Sanford, FL and “The Barn” for our first show on the Jagermeister Country Tour with Josh Thompson and - Church. Arriving in our pickup with U-haul in tow followed by Mom’s Taxi we pass by the tour busses !@#$%.

FromTheRoad – Jagermeister Country Tour – pt1

It’s Wednesday morning and we’re in Jacksonville, FL. We drove down from Charlotte yesterday so we would be fresh for the show tonight at “The Barn” in Sanford, FL with Josh Thompson and Eric Church. To save some bucks, half the band stayed at a friends condo and the rest of us got to experience the Salt Air Motel. Just a few blocks (walking distance) from the beach and a trip back in time. The place is clean, don’t get me wrong, but it looks as though it was built in the ’70s and never updated. Check out the video and I’ll keep you posted : )