Archive for People
Video: King Rat, a unique Harley Panhead Rat Bike
// February 4th, 2013 // No Comments » // People
King Rat from Glen Abbott on Vimeo. I’ve always been fascinated by Rat Bikes. What to some observers may look like a random collection of junk hanging off an old, falling-apart motorcycle, I see as artistic expression. A true Rat isn’t born overnight. It’s an ever-evolving process that takes years, and is constantly evolving. Every …read more…
“Great American Motorcycle Tours” – an interview with author Gary McKechnie
// August 9th, 2012 // 4 Comments » // People, Places
Like Charles Kurault before him, Gary McKechnie loves being on the road. At the moment, Gary is riding a Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1700 out west. Just before that, he rode a BMW GTL1600 through New York’s Hudson River Valley. When I ran into him last month during a press trip to Door County, Wisconsin, he was …read more…
The Ya-Ka-Mein lady of New Orleans
// March 21st, 2012 // 4 Comments » // Food, People, Places
Everyone in New Orleans knows Miss Linda. If you’ve ever been to a festival, a parade, or a concert in the city – and if you haven’t, you need to get out more, with all due respect – you’ve undoubtedly seen her, selling Ya-Ka-Mein and other delicious recipes from a tent, a table, or from …read more…
Call me “The Mild One:” adventures of a motorcycling television extra
// March 5th, 2012 // 2 Comments » // People, Places, RoadTales
[New Orleans, LA] — Wanted: “Extras with motorcycles – available tomorrow,” read the Craigslist ad. The job was for a television series shooting in the Crescent City. Hmm, I thought. As a freelance writer (read: no real job), and a motorcyclist, this could be something for which I might be qualified. All I had to …read more…
From Picnics to Prison, New Orleans’ Hubig’s Pies has you covered
// January 4th, 2012 // 11 Comments » // Food, People, Places
[New Orleans, LA] – If you’ve been to a parade, picnic, or prison in the Big Easy, chances are you’ve eaten a Hubig’s pie. The delectable dessert has been part of the city’s culinary and cultural fabric since 1922, when Simon Hubig opened his bakery in a small warehouse in the Bywater neighborhood. The diminutive deep-fried …read more…
The Rat King of Flat Lick, Kentucky
// December 10th, 2011 // 4 Comments » // People, Places
[Flat Lick, KY] — To some people, a Rat Bike may look like a two-wheeled, rolling junk pile, an ancient motorcycle with random, added-on bits and pieces in various stages of hanging — or falling — off. But as the cliche goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For Rat riders — a very …read more…
Butts for a Cause — Riding 1000 Miles for Breast Cancer
// August 29th, 2011 // 12 Comments » // Events, People
[Orlando, FL] — Labor Day is rapidly approaching, and it’s a good time to put your money where their butts are. The butts I’m referring to belong to the Ribbon Riders, a group of female motorcycle enthusiasts on a mission to help those fighting breast cancer. This holiday weekend, a group of Ribbon Riders will …read more…
Legends and Heroes of the Cannonball
// March 25th, 2011 // 13 Comments » // Events, People, Places
Daytona Beach, FL — Riding a motorcycle coast-to-coast is challenging enough: long hours on the road, weather, traffic, boredom. Now imagine doing it on a 95-year old motorcycle, at an average speed of 35 miles an hour! Last September, 44 riders did just that, roaring out of Kitty Hawk, NC en route to Santa Monica, …read more…
No Lottery. No Beer. What’s left? (meet a Tennessee original)
// February 18th, 2011 // 10 Comments » // People, Places
Knoxville, TN — Often the best part of travel is the people you meet. When I’m on the road, in addition to spectacular riding and great food, I’m always looking for interesting local characters. Sometimes they’re not too hard to find. I was drawn to Fountain City Exxon by a sign out front. A sign …read more…
The Power of Devils Tower
// February 9th, 2011 // 17 Comments » // People, Places
Devils Tower, WY — If you’re of a certain age — that is to say, “old,” like me — you associate Devils Tower, Wyoming with one thing: UFOs, of course. The 1977 sci-fi blockbuster Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured the tower in a starring role, a secret government landing strip for alien spaceships tucked …read more…
Hack Ayers, a Tennessee Original
// January 25th, 2011 // 14 Comments » // People, Places
Caryville, TN — Each morning, Hack Ayers greets breakfast guests at the Hampton Inn hotel in this tranquil Tennessee town nestled within the Cumberland Mountains. If you didn’t know the story, you’d never guess that this tall, silver-haired, affable Southern gentleman, dressed impeccably in a starched white shirt, bolo tie and white straw hat, harbors …read more…
Moonshine & Vinegar Pie
// January 20th, 2011 // 11 Comments » // Food, People, Places
Thorn Hill, TN — There’s something extremely comforting about stopping at a roadside restaurant for a cup of coffee and slice of pie when you’re on a motorcycle trip; something very Mayberry R.F.D. about the whole thing. Last fall I traveled to eastern Tennessee on my Road King to learn about moonshine. That’s right, White …read more…
Carving the Dream — Crazy Horse Memorial
// January 13th, 2011 // 11 Comments » // People, Places
Crazy Horse, SD – On any given day — weather permitting — the sounds of heavy machinery echo through the Black Hills just outside Custer, South Dakota. Little by little, the spirit of Crazy Horse emerges from atop Thunderhead Mountain, along with his stone likeness. Chief Crazy Horse was a badass—and I mean that with the …read more…
Cheesy Rider–the adventures of Hamburger Harry
// January 1st, 2011 // 13 Comments » // Food, People
Harry Sperl is just wild about hamburgers. “Made short, they taste good, they look good,” he proclaims. “And the hamburger is an icon of the United States of America.” If you’ve been to Bike Week or Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach, Florida, you’ve probably seen Harry, long hair and gray beard streaming in the wind, cruising …read more…
Butts of Iron, Hearts of Gold–Orlando’s Ribbon Riders
// December 23rd, 2010 // 8 Comments » // People
“We’re not a motorcycle club. We’re not ‘biker chicks.’ We’re just women who love to ride,” Pam Klug says modestly. And ride they do—a lot—but they also do much more. Pam and six other women–all career-oriented professionals–formed the Ribbon Riders in 2008. The group shares a common love for two wheels and the open road, …read more…
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