Setting goals and smashing them!

 When I first started planning this trip, the dates for the fundraisers started becoming a problem. They put us on a time schedule and didn't leave a lot of room for error. I committed to needing to run back to back 200 mile days to make it work. The problem was, on my last record breaking mini bike ride, our best day ever was 187 and that was with 3 support vehicles. After ending our first day from Daytona at 200 miles, I knew this trip was going to have some personal records. The whole flat thing was even a record since I've never even had a flat on my last ride. We're up to 6 total flats now. We have it down to a science though and only lose about 15 minutes.

   Pushing the limits and setting records also means you have to take chances. Not stopping for gas at every opportunity is one way to save time. I ran out of gas when I was wrong about how for the next gas station was. I was only off by a couple of miles but fortunately this farmer helped us out big time.

  We even took some extra time to get some pictures at his farm and Tim shot a video.

At one gas stop, we met some people that believed in our cause so much that they gave us free gas and free lunch. When it was time to leave, I discovered I had a flat so I fixed it there and used their shade and air compressor.. Thanks James and Karen at MDI ( and your daughter too).

     When we crossed the state line from Alabama into Mississippi, there was a sign that said Natchez 197, I thought there was no way we could get all the way across the state to the Louisiana border town Of Natchez. We had already ridden over 50 miles and it was now and the day was getting long. We started the day though before the sun had came up. Like the Cannonballers, the minute daylight peaked, we were rolling.

As the day went on, Me and Time really go into the groove. We kept going after every gas stop ( about every 2 hours) about a 5 minute break or less. By the end of the day, Even when we saw some friends at a stop, it was only long enough to give out stickers, take a selfie and roll on down the highway.

When I'm rolling, I try not to count the miles. It is a trick I learned young when wheelbarrowing concrete at a construction site. NEVER count the wheelbarrows. I told Tim this every time he asked how far I though we went. Never count the wheelbarrows. Towards the end of the ride, I did start trying to figure out the mileage. I knew it was a good day. It felt surreal. 220 or 240 I though. When we checked our the map at our hotel, we high fived to an unbelievable amount- 265 miles!!!!!!

Now please take a moment to click on this link and help make this a record breaker too. You may just win some amazing prizes too!!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE, BUY RAFFLE TICKETS AND MERCH AND SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE

Party in Dothan then back on the road

  We had a great recpeption in Dothan. Berry and the crew at Accurate Engineering had everything waiting for us. All the BBQ we could eat, lots of photo opps and even got the bikes a full servicing. Plenty of fun and we even raised about 600 dollars for The Aidan Jack Seeger Foundation.

 

We may have had a little too much fun because we didn't take off till about noon the next day. We tried to make up time but had yet another flat. This time it was Tim's rear tire. We are getting better at this for sure. In 15 minutes, we were back on the road.

   Some people are wondering about the flats. We have had 4 already. That is a lot but because our speed is only 29mph ( sometimes 31 when we ride with the wind) and the highways we are on are 55 and 65mph, we have to ride on the shoulder or even the emergency lane at times. This is by far the safest but it is also where all the road debris lies. We picked up 2 nails and even some kind of wire. The third flat was my mistake. We left with no tools hopping for good luck. On the first flat, we bought some screw drivers at a gas station to fix the flats. I pinched the tube with them and had a flat a few miles down the road. I got tire spoons now.
   If you like this blog, Please click on to this web page and support the ride. 100% of this money goes to The Aidan Jack Seeger Foundation, in fact, this is their page, not mine-
                               https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTU2MzY

Special thanks to James Champion in Dothan for these great pictures!

an easy day that never happened

  Our second day was suppose to be an easy one. We were going to do 137 miles to Dothan, Alabama and Accurate Engineering where we were having a fundraiser for The Aidan Foundation. I rolled my bike out of the hotel room only to discover, I had a rear flat. I pushed the bike to a gas station, pumped them tire up and tried to make some miles. Tim informed me that the actual miles to Dothan  was 160 ( an extra hour and a half away). I stopped several times to check the tire. It seemed to be holding air. For a couple hours were rode on. I stopped again to add air but it was ok. We pulled out and about 2 miles away the rear tire lost all air and came off the bead. At 31 mph, it got scary quick. The bike went sideways in both directions before I could get it stopped. Lucky to have avoided an accident, we started to look at our options to fix it on the side of the road. We had a can of fix a flat but that did absolutely nothing. There was a giant nail in the tire and tube. A local police officer stopped and he was a true blessing. He rode time to the bike shop to get a tire then to he private home to get tools. After I fixed it, he even gave us the tools needed to fix another flat. this really proved invaluable. About 5 miles down the road I had another flat at full speed. It resulted in a crash.

The bike went down but luckily on the right side and I was able to air it for the grass. I spun a 360 down a grass ravine and came to a stop with the bike on top of me. That little bike was heavy laying on top of be in a fetal position. I had to crawl out before I could lift it the rest of the way off of me. Tim was in front of me so he hadn't noticed I had crashed yet. So the first thing I did while I was still on the ground was take a selfie. The grass was soft and I was just dirty and not hurt. With all out tools, were were able to pull the tire and try and patch it. This failed so I borrowed Tims bike and found a bike shop with a tube. I even borrowed an air tank to fill the tire with air instead of the messy fix a flat thank I was now wearing all over my Blues Brother suit.
 

Still with all the adversity, we made it to Dothan only 15 minutes late. It was rush hour traffic and our little bikes were looking like an arcade game of Frogger zipping in and out at intersections. A block from our destination, we were pulled over again. He told us to ride on the sidewalks. I chuckled and rode away with Tim still talking to him.

So that was our day. 3 flats, Tim ran out of gas and 3 states with an all night fundraising party after we arrived at Berry's Accurate Engineering. Even had time for a TV and newspaper interview.
I wonder what today will bring..........

The coast to coast ride has begun

    Got to Daytona pre dawn for a press meet and greet and then packed our mini bikes up and headed out for California.

We even had some young fans get up early to ride with us.

We started on Main Street in Daytona

rolling down Main Street on Sunday morning when Bike Week is over is the BEST time to ride down it!

"We're on a mission from God" Quite taken from The Blues Brothers and that's what we are doing too. Helping spread the word about ALD and also raise money for The Aidan Jack Seeger Foundation by raffling some really cool stuff like a David Uhl painting, a hand painted Biltwell helmet by Darren Mckeag, a 500 dollar gift certificate from Biltwell, 8 separate oil and bike wash product packages from Spectro Oil and a set of Metzeler tires. Click on this link to get your tickets today and keep watching our travels.
                                                GET YOUR TICKETS HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Special thanks to Horst for use of these pictures!

Next weekend- and you can come too

   Last week I asked for suggestions on where to go. I had a lot of suggestions but one that grabbed me was an invitation to go sky diving. I was already in Georgia on my way to Florida when I got it so I turned around and went north to North Carolina. Chasing my destiny, I made it up to the jump zone in Reaford, NC just in time for high winds to prevent any skydiving that day. I was so bummed about it all that I turned around the same day and rode back to Charleston. In the morning I had a clear head and came up with a new plan.
    You see, in 1982, I jumped from a plane in Paris, California. It was the biggest rush I have ever got. I did it with a bunch of Marines I was stationed with at 29 Palms. I've always wanted to do it again but like so many of us, life just got too busy. Well, now I've decided to not wait any longer. I'm going to take the time and make it happen.
    There is another detail that I want to stay true with. In 1982, they had no tandem jumps. You jumped alone. I wanted to do the same now but I got a lot of mixed information. This weekend I learned of a couple different options but it is possible to jump without being hooked up to another person. To me, that is like going on an amusement ride. It might be scary but you are depending on others so it is a controlled situation. I want to be on my own.
   I called around some drop zones closer to Charleston, SC. and found just the place. There is a drop zone in Walterboro, SC called Skidive Walterboro ( 843-549-6660) . I'll be going this Saturday, March 4th. Now the fun part-
   I've always said that I am an ordinary man living an extraordinary life. So I'm wondering if there are any ordinary men or women that would like to jump with me Saturday? I think it would be fun to share the experience with some of my friends . Give them a call, get the details and make your reservation. It will be a day to remember!

Tell Bean're where to go!

   Now is your chance. Tell me where to go. It's going to be 80 degrees here in Charleston, SC this weekend and I feel the need to getaway and take a little ride. My "little" rides have sometimes been a little on the long side. Tell me.  Where? Maybe it's to see an old friend. Maybe a new one. Maybe a national landmark. Maybe it's a party or rally. Beach? Mountains? I don't know, that's why I'm asking you.
   Now the good part. Some one will win a Bean're gift package- both my books ( signed of course ), a Team Bean're patch and plenty of stickers. Already got them? well then I'll send them to a friend or family member for you. You make the call. And all for just telling me where to go.............

Latest update on the coast to coast mini bike world record attempt for Aidan

    The biggest news is that David Uhl has graciously donated one of his signed prints of "The Iron Horse Heist". These are selling for over 3000 dollars now and only a few left before they will sell out and no longer available. You can win this one in a raffle that we will be doing with 100% of the proceeds going to The Aidan Foundation.  There are more prizes to like a Biltwell helmet hand painted by Darren McKeag. There are more prizes soon to be announced. Get you raffle tickets today at The Aidan Jack Seeger Foundation Website.
   Next, we have 3 of the stops worked out as well as the starting point.
   at 8am Sunday, March 19th, we will take off from the end of Main Street at the Beach in Daytona.
   on March 20th at 5;30pm we will have a fundraiser party at Accurate Engineering host by Berry Wardlaw in Dolthan, Alabama.
 On March 23rd at 5:30pm we will have a fundraiser at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum in Minden, Louisiana.
  And on Sunday, March 26, we will be at Rick Fairless' Strokers in Dallas Texas all day long raising money for Aidan.

    Now that we will back track and talk about the BEFORE we leave Daytona. I will be arriving Daytona for bike week and will be doing some fundraising as well as selling raffle tickets at several of the events. You can look for me Wednesday at Bill Dodge's, Thursday at Willie's Tropical Chopper Show and Friday at Robison's at The Biltwell booth.
     I now want to thank all my wonderful sponsors who not only are helping out with some of the costs of this world record attempt, but are also donating to The Aidan Foundation.

AND THE BUDDY JOHNSON GANG

Now what are you waiting for? Click on this link and support The Aidan Jack Seeger Foundation