Two Coasts, One Ride: German Santana's Epic 7200 Mile Journey

person to have than Hermann Santana from Barakia,
Colombia, but he lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, Greenpoint, to be exact.
He's got two great motorcycles. He's got great gear, and he just got back from a 7
,280 -mile trip from Brooklyn to California and back,
and he's got great stories about riding and roads and safety and rain and the
challenges and the fun parts of this trip you know we've had some great iron butts
on this show but this one is a good story because it's fresh in his in in his
psyche and in his memory so before we get into that I just want to say a big
thank you to the folks over at the Heyman law firm They are personal injury
attorneys. If you ever need one for any reason, use them. Call 1 -800 -H -A -Y -M -O
-N -D. All their lawyers are riders like you and me. That rhymes. And they actually
represented me. So now,
I believe Hermann is, I see him on the video intercom, buzzing my apartment.
Hopefully my man will let him in. Hold on. Gary? Gary? Yeah, no, you can just buzz
him in. Let him come up. Thank you. Okay, so Hermann is on his way in the
elevator while he's in the elevator. I just want to say thanks for sharing the
show. Please share the show on your social media platforms, Facebook,
Instagram, all that stuff. Please text it to your friends and family who ride. It
really helps us get the word out about motorcycle safety, and I will answer a few
more emails about the last episode. Thank you, everybody, for the emails. You could
always reach me at Arrivealive Podcast at gmail .com.
Okay, all right, I hear Hermann knocking, and we'll let them in. Hermann, welcome.
Welcome your iron butt to episode 95 of the Arrive Alive Podcast.
Great to have you here.
Oh, thank you for having me, Lynn. So Hermann is a Brooklyn resident, and you were
born in Barakia, Colombia. Am I pronouncing that right? That's right, yeah. Okay, and
you came here around, what, 2014? 2014, that's correct. Yeah, those were good times
back then, man. It was like trying to think, what kind of music. Do you remember
what kind of music you were listening to, like 11 years ago? I always listen to
the same kind of stuff, you know, so probably the killers. Okay. You know, same
stuff. Not early Taylor Swift? No, sadly no. I've never got any into Taylor Swift.
I don't even know a song of Taylor Swift, actually. Like, if I hear it, then sure,
I'll recognize it. But if you ask me, oh, you know, this title, I'll be like, I'm
familiar idea. Okay, this is the part of the show My daughter's going to turn it
off because she's a big Taylor Swift fan. I was telling Hermann and a big thank
you. I don't know who the guy was, but, you know, my daughter is 20. You guys
have heard me speak about her in the past. We were in Brooklyn at a stoplight, and
I had my helmet up, and I was talking to my daughter. And this gentleman comes up
to me, he said, hey, are you the podcast guy? I'm like, yeah, and he recognized
both my voice and the bike. So anyway, but you're recognizable for something that
I've always wanted to do. Let's just talk about, before we get into the trip, let's
just talk about your background in writing. Born in Colombia, you spent some time in
France. Did you have a motorcycle either in Colombia or in France, or was it just
you, did you start riding here? Yeah, sadly no, Len. I got into writing in 2019,
and I was right here in the U .S. I had been here for a while, yes. Early 2019.
I mean, I actually bought the bike in December 2018, but it picked it up in March
2019. And what was your first bike that you bought? So it was a BMWGS 310 or 310
G .S. And I made this mistake and I try to tell people that ask me for advice
when they're thinking about their first bike. So I thought, let me start small in
case I don't like. So I went with a very small.
for his first bike in Brooklyn and what's no the other Honda kind of entry level
bike I forgot and then he had it for about eight weeks and he went and did what
you did and he changed it for I think the 500 or the 750 now he's got a Harley
and a triumph that's from the 60s but and he did and he was very happy that he
started on the lower displacement bike so so land do you what would you say to
somebody who comes to you and says hey I'm thinking about a bike I'm thinking
between, let's just say, because they're so popular now. A Royal Enfield, you know,
Himalayan 410, or a, I mean, whatever, you know, Hussvarna 701.
Like, what would you say to these? I love the Royal Enfields because you could also
use them as an earring. They're so small.
No, I tell you, I've had so many friends with them, and they love them. And I
always say, you know, I pay, I don't know what you pay to charge, park your bike.
I pay $260 to park my motorcycle in Manhattan. And if I, you know,
if I had a garage that was mine, I would have a Royal Enfield just to tool
around. But I don't want to pay another 260 parking. What do you pay in Brooklyn
over there? Well, I think I got a deal, air quotes, because I park my two bikes
and my car in the same garage. Oh, okay. And he comes to about $600 a month for
the 300 of $200 a pop. But still, this should be free. Parking should be free for
everybody. What are you, Mandani? The freaking everything. I'm going to race that
part. Just parking. Just parking. Just parking. Think about it. There's a commodity
everywhere. And even if my neighborhood was like this safe as neighborhood.
I'm not saying that where I live is not. I live in Greenpoint. But I just don't
feel comfortable living the bike outside. No way. You know, today, for example, it
rained a lot. I would be very sad for my bike just to have all that rainfall on
it. On her. I agree. You know, and you post really nice videos on Instagram, but I
hate to tell you've probably seen these videos on Instagram and Facebook, videos of
people's bikes getting jacked at night from nest cams, like, you know, Brooklyn,
Queens, they take the bike. So for the peace of mind, and, you know, our garage is
a motorcycle only garage and there's a little desk with Wi -Fi, so sometimes I'll go
in there for a few hours and, you know, I'll do a Zoom call and people be like,
we're all those motorcycles in the background. I'm like, yeah, I'm in the garage and
they're like, oh, that's cool, you know. Well, that's awesome. I'd be like to just
crash there and do work. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. Well, for $260 a month, you
better get a happy ending for Pete's sake, but we'll talk about that.
Damien, Damien, who's the owner of our place. But anyway, so let's get. All right.
So, have you ever been down?
Not on the street. Because I also, because when I got into all these motorcycle
playing, in Colombia, we have a country house and you can go easily ride off -road.
I've gone down many times, many times doing off -road and do a little kind of
riding. But thankfully, never on a street, thank God. So you're not like me that's
been down eight times in 25 years.
well you haven't been down so many times have you oh sure i've i've i've an
episode called amc all my crashes and you know but he wasn't 25 i mean i listened
to it a while ago but i don't remember you saying you had like you no in 25
years of riding i've been down eight times eight times got yeah a few of them were
minor and one of them could have been major and none of them you know but uh i
you know I got lucky on on all of them and a few of them were my fault well I
was riding on you don't remember but there used to be a drive -th through McDonald's
on 33rd and 10th and I was going there and it was I hit some black ice and I
slid my BMW R -1100 R into the back of a UPS truck and that was because I wanted
to get to the McDonald's mama me and I don't think I think and then one was my
fault the bigger than 2012
and he actually trained as a BMW certified mechanic in Austria and as well as a
motorcycle safety instructor in Austria. And one of the things he always tells me is
at the light, they teach you in Austria. Once you're at the light,
bikes should be in first gear and your right foot on the brake getting ready to
go. Because if you see anybody in the back in your mirrors, you've got to be able
to kind of move around type thing, right? Because a lot of people don't, you know,
they're texting, oh, there's a bike. And I can't tell you, a lot of people get
rear -ended because they don't see us. So you've never been down, never been hit.
No. You live in Brooklyn where traffic is crazy. The BQE should be in, you know,
hell, but, you know, but it's, all right, so that's good. Have you tell you what
kind of training? So when you first bought the bike, did you take, like the regular
training up in the Bronx over there? Yeah, absolutely. The MSS, MFS,
motorcycle safety or whatever it is, yeah. I did, which was amazing because it gave
me the, I guess the confidence, you know, to really go and just go ride the bike.
And it also got refunded by BMW. Yes. Because I think you have,
what is it, 90 days or something like that to, so yeah, I got, I got, actually I
was for free. And then I also got through them, because I passed the test, the
license, the waiver for the license, which was awesome. So you don't really have to
be highly recommended for people that are, they just got a bike and they want to,
they don't have a license, for example. Just go ahead and do it. It is worth every
penny. You know, I had Trudy Hardy, who was the former chief marketing officer for
BMW Motorrad.
course school in Greer, South Carolina, she said it was on her.
All I had to do was get myself there and they would take care of the rest. And I
haven't taken her up on that yet. Now that she's gone, I probably can't, but I
still have the recording so maybe I can play it for that. But have you have you
done that yet? If not, we should like go do it tomorrow. No, no, I haven't. Is it
for like GS bikes. Yeah, well, they have a road and an off road, but they use
both the GS, I think, or maybe an RT for the road. Great, nice. It's two days,
yeah. How much is it? Last year was like $1 ,600 for two days. Not bad.
Oh, but it's all inclusive, I think, right? Yeah, and I think maybe you have to
get the hotel, maybe, or maybe they have like dorms or something. Okay, got it. Oh,
hey, why not? If it's going to make me a better rider? For sure. All right, cool.
All right, so other than getting back to the training, have you done any other
training since then? No, but I should. I absolutely should maybe learn how to cut
corners, not car corners, take corners better.
Just so I can have more confidence. And I know this is not going to happen. But
every time I take a corner and I'm leaning too much, I'm like, oh, the bike is
going to slip, which is going to be the case, you know. But so I just need to
get more comfortable with the idea of leaning. I mean, also, I have a 1250 G .S.
There's not much leaning I can do, especially with the titles on. But I just want
to have more confident when I do this. I'm going to put you on the spot. Name the
biggest parking lot within two miles of where you live.
Oof. I have no. Well, two miles miles is kind of big radios from here but I have
no idea I can Google it I have no idea the reason I asked that is talking about
practice right you know sometimes when I'm coming back from upstate or you know
Harriman State Park I'll stop at Randall's Island if you ever have you ever been
there I have yeah and do you know the big lot that they have there and sometimes
I'll just go there practice figure 8s I'll put my phone sometimes they have cones
there because they have a lot of people like jogging and running around there so I
put my phone on a cone and
tell you something. I felt like I was an idiot. I mean, I did pretty good and
they said it, but I felt like it was tough. Zigzagging and going around. And then
they had the Jim Kana course that was a little bit faster. And I felt so much
better after that. And, you know, because we're in the city, we're just used to
looking out for idiots and cars and textors. But this really kind of had you focus
on the terrain and kind of balance and clutch control, too. On your bike,
so let's tell everybody, so the bike that you just did, the cross -country trip was
what?
GSA, 2024, BMW, R -1250 GSA.
1250, okay, and then you also have another motorcycle yet, which is what? Triumph
Scramble, 1200XE. Okay. Now, when did you, so you came back about a week,
it took you 19 days. It's October 13, 2025. When did you get the idea for this
trip? It all started with my Colombian crew of riders that I have here.
So I ride with three other Colombians. And one of them,
I think in February, he said, well, I'm going to do a cross -country trip in May,
who's in it? And sadly, I couldn't do it in May because I had some business
travel, and it was after a big pursuit at work. And so I just couldn't join them,
but I was left with that in mind. I was like, well, you know what? These guys did
it. It looked awesome. They did it in about a month. I think I can do it in less
if I really commit to schedule and if I plan it the right way.
And then at work, thank goodness I was able to close a deal,
a big deal. And that left me kind of, I mean,
I'm not going to say fully open for the rest of the year, but it definitely took
a lot
from me during, so for the rest of the year. And so I was ready to take,
you know, because it was 19 days. Right. Including weekends. But I think it was
only no two full weeks. Well, two weeks in a day because it came back in a month.
It left on a Saturday, two weeks plus a Monday to literally just. No, it's more
than that. So two weeks, you said it took 19 days. 19 full days, yeah. Right. So
two weeks in a day would be 15. Yeah, but I'm talking about working days. Oh,
business. Okay, got it. Yeah, business is exactly. So, and the reason why I bring
this up, it's because I work is always in my head, you know, and I remember when
I told another writer there was going to do, I was going to do this and it was
going to take me 19 days. She was like, oh, but are you going to, how can you
take 19 days off? I was like, well, you know, maybe, maybe shoot into what I did
is Like I set up and out of office and I just said, look, I'm going to have
limited access to my email, tax me if it's urgent. I knew nothing was urgent
because everything was under control. But I was still going to the hotels at night,
tired as hell after writing, and then just checking email and making sure that
everything was in place. But so that's how it started with my friends and me
finding the time and the courage, honestly,
to do it. because I remember of maybe the day I
oh this is great can't wait to get you out of the house or are you crazy leaving
me alone and you might die in the mojave desert like what what was her kind of
take on this whole thing she's very supportive she's always been very supportive um
and she trusts that i'll do the right thing and i also gave her some um assurances
and i told her look if i'm tired i'll stop if it's raining a But, you know, then
maybe I'll live later or I'll wait or, you know, which, and I did. You know,
during the trip, I remember a few days where it was just super hot in the desert,
for instance, in Zion National Park, for example, that I was like, you know what,
that's it. That was actually a pitched up. I really wanted to do the park at a
certain time, but I had to stop for like an hour. You know, it's funny, I stopped
because I wanted to be inside inside an AC room, and I stop their big gas station.
I go in, you know, start to unwind and whatnot. And then the power goes off. Wow.
They still had some, I think, what is it, the things that make it to keep running.
Oh.
Anyway, so the point is there was a scene. So, yes, she's always very supportive.
Okay. And you texted her during the day and sent pictures and she works a normal
job too so she had like her own stuff to do right right also her mom i i flew
in her mother during those days so so she could help with uh i mean yeah i
thought about everything no but um i also this is important in case some some
people you know want to want to do it in case it gives their partners peace of
mind uh Well, of course, she has my location share, but I also share,
I bought an air tag and put it in the motorcycle. Okay. And so she could also
follow me live. And, you know, I told her, hey, for some reason I stop for too
long, you know, a random place, maybe check with me, you know. Good, good. And I
don't know if, Hermann sent me a PDF and a screenshot of his route i don't know
if we can maybe in the show notes we can i can do you think i could include this
in the show yeah so man this is some you wrote every freaking day every day no
stop every so like when i i went up to niagara falls and uh this past uh last uh
in august and i took a day or two off of right you know like a heavy mileage it
did some and i that was important for me and in the past i've come you know
usually on my trips i'll ride every day but as i you know
Oh, hold on one second. They actually journaled through the whole trip, too.
So, one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, twenty, ten,
eleven, twelve.
Twenty, give or take. That's pretty good. Twenty give or did you make your route
saying, you know, I really want to see Pittsburgh and have a stop in Pittsburgh? I
would really want to see Riverton, my own, like, how did you decide this route and
the mileage per day? Yeah, that's a good question. And so I used Chagipitin for the
itinerary, and I gave it a few parameters. One of the parameters that at least I
followed at the beginning was I don't want to write more than 400 miles a day.
Right.
And I want to do this trip. And I think at the beginning I said it was going to
be like 15 days. But then that turned out in battle. So Chad GPT kind of correct
me along the way and say, well, they would say, well, sure, here is one for 15
days. But there are days when you're going to have to do, I don't know, a thousand
miles, which is impossible. And so then I started to adjust it. And I also told
Chad GPT what I didn't want to do. So for example, I wanted it to avoid,
especially on the way back, like the Death Valley, because I already seen it. What
else? Oh, what's the name of this national park? Joshua Tree. And so I basically
gave it the parameters and it crafted these this itinerary that I, as you already
know, I try to follow. But as you saw as well, I mean,
it would be great if you could post a picture of the actual. Actually, I'm looking
at the second one right now with all your chicken scratch. God, you should have
been a doctor. Your handwriting sucks so bad.
Well, mind you, my hand was sore from all the throttling. Actually, no, that's true
because I told you. I was, it was journaling and dude. Don't you have, you don't
have cruise control on that freaking thing? I do, I do, but still, you know, you
like to, I mean, I'm a control freak, so I like to always, you know, feel the
throttle, but. Can I text your wife and see if that's accurate right now. So your
husband says he's a control. I'm just kidding. You would a thousand percent agree
with you. And all my friends don't mean like they all would agree with you.
All right. So there's a lot about safety, but I got to, I want to go. Well,
all right. So what time, was there an average or a consistent, since you're a
control free, what time in the morning did you usually get on the bike?
Okay. There's two answers. There were two answers to that question because there was
something.
It's attached to the bike. You better to the bike.
But I made the mistake, and this was a year ago. I don't know why I did this to
myself for so long. The thing is too big. The best is, by the way, I'm trying to
sell it if anybody wants to make an offer. Great condition. But it was too heavy
on my, and then it was really pulling on the right side because the CO2 canister
is on the right side. And I was ending the rights with my back literally killing
me. And so I'm telling you this because I wanted to wake up early.
I mean, I woke, every day I woke up at around six or five a .m. But I started my
rides at maybe nine, you know, 10, because I just really needed to give my back a
break to the point that I think it was day four,
maybe when I got to South Dakota, that I was like, I can't do this. I need to
replace this thing. I need to either stop using this and just write with it on
airbag or find a store and go look for options.
I had already in mind to change the airbag, but this is something that I didn't
want to buy online without wearing it and touching it and feeling it. And I found
cycle gear in Sturgeys. Wow. And so I went there and I bought the latest Alpine
Stars airbag, which is, you know, it was expensive, but that's one thing that I
should have bought a lot earlier. And then when I got that airbag, I started, well,
my back was better. And then I started to ride a lot earlier, you know, the last
day, they started to ride even before 7 a .m. well
Um, and I don't want to stop, you know, but I book this thing and I have to
stop. So about a hundred miles to 80 miles, I would stop, uh, I guess it would be
about five o 'clock for, four, three five o 'clock. Something like that. Sometimes
even early, you know, if I was like, okay, if I think I'm going to end there.
Yeah, because you want to see some of the local area, you know, too, that you're
staying. And you don't just want to get in there at eight o 'clock, go to bed and
say, I haven't seen Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
What's so funny about that? It's a nice city. It's a great city, no, three rivers.
I mean, for baseball fans. And that actually brings me to my next question. I used
to work at the Food Network. I was one of the early people on Food Network .com.
And there's a part of safety, gastrointestinal safety, right? You know, you're eating
different foods in different cities. And let's just say, let's just say, my boss
said, hey, Len, take the corporate card and take Hermann out to whatever restaurant
he wants in the city and get his favorite food. What would that favorite food be
for you? Oh, I like a lot of different things. Name one.
Thai. Okay, so we go to Pots to you. All right. There's definitely no Thai
restaurants in Indiana. I guarantee you that. But anyway, But anyway, so tell me a
little bit about, is there any memorable, you know, 19 days of dinners, right? And
lunches, I'm sure your lunches were probably quick and easy kind of fast foody type
things. But the dinners, like, name some of the most memorable meals from the trip.
Well, Landy, this is such a great point. I have so many thoughts and opinions about
my, well, the food I ate in this trip. But the only memorable dinner,
I think, well, there were two. One was in Indiana,
in South Bend. Well, actually, it wasn't South Bend, but it was a town near South
Bend, where I was I mean, I go to this bar, you know, it was already. And they
had never seen a Hispanic person before in South Bend, Indiana. I guarantee you
that. Well, well, Notre Dame is there, so maybe a few again. But this wasn't, this
was another town like next to it. You know, you cross the river and you're in this
town.
And I'm like, well, thank you. You don't really have to do that. But thank you so
much. I appreciate it. She's like, don't worry. It's on the house. So that's the
first time I think I ever have a free meal like that. Did she say why? No,
she was just nice and she said it's on the house. So what I did was I took, I
don't remember how much it was, but I took a 20 from their ATM. I left it there
and I gave her three stickers on some time of rights. Oh, nice.
You know, so it's such a kind gesture, which leads me to another point that I want
to cover later with people. And then the other memorable dinner or lunch, this was
a lunch, was at the Santa Monica Pier. That was my celebratory,
only good meal in a proper restaurant that
yeah that was that was great it was a hundred bucks but it was like i was
celebrating the fact that i had completed 50 % of my trip um but but other than
that land let's just say that actually one of the things that people kept
recommending for me a slim gym and a diet Pepsi you know what actually that's the
safest thing you can eat but but one of the things that right no carbs said right
so the carbs are not going to like slow you down no not that it's just the fact
that you know you're not going to have an emergency. And so people kept saying buy
those tissues, you know, like those wet tissues. So I got dude wipes.
I'm going to tell you that they were very handy in like two or three times that I
ate some crap, you know, like I stopped in this random town in Nevada, I think, or
you type don't remember. And I just, you know, went in, there was this store, there
was an ice cream store and then they were also selling sandwiches and, you know,
the minute she gave me the sandwiches that I order, I was like, I shouldn't eat
this, but I ate it and it was a bad idea.
Hey, we'll be right back with more of the show, but first I want to tell you
about something very special. We love motorcycles, and for those of us old enough to
remember motorcycle magazines, they were amazing, right? Now, if you liked Cracker
Jacks As a kid, and the prizes that we got, you're going to love MotoVelli
motorcycle magazine. Every month to your mailbox, not email box, but to your regular
mailbox, a pocket -sized magazine is delivered, and you usually get a treat.
Whether it's a keychain or stickers, there's always something fun and surprising.
There'll be a link in the show notes or just Google M -O -T -O -V -E -L -I.
And now back to the rest of the show.
Well, you know, what I tell people is, you know, and I've been, you know, I'm born
and raised in this country. I have friends and going to college all over the
country for the most part. And when I went to Niagara Falls, I stopped in
Binghamton. I didn't think I was going to stop there, but I got a late start and
the whole thing. And my friend David Berkowitz, who we were talking about earlier,
he graduated from Binghamton. So I texted him, say, hey, I'm staying and spend the
night in Binghamton. Where should I eat? And he gave me this great rib place.
There was not one electronic thing in this restaurant. The menu was like a peg
thing, you know, like from 1975. And the ribs were great.
The people were so nice and it was right off the Binghamton campus and I wrote
around the big you know how much you know about Binghamton University it's like the
Harvard of state schools like it's so hard to get in and so I'm riding around my
bike just to you know oh and there was there was a girls or women's I should say
a soccer match and it was the first one of the year and there's like 12 people at
the game because it was the first one and I think they were playing Dartmouth or
some Ivy League school and it was great.
And that was dinner with chips. Did you hear what they're doing in Paris now with
the reviews? So the Paris, the Parisians are getting so pissed that their favorite
places are now so crowded because of tourists. So a lot, like hundreds of them have
gotten together and they started giving the worst restaurants in Paris great reviews.
Oh, okay. So the tourists will go there.
and they can go back to their like pubs and bistros that they love well that's
kind of devious though i thought i thought you were going to say they were giving
their favorite restaurants a one -star review no no yeah i guess they couldn't
because they know the people there but they like these like hole in the wall shitty
places oh we loved it the atmosphere wow okay so we got through the food and we
got through the mileage Let's talk about gear, because I know you're... All right,
so we talked about the airbag vest. And so this airbag vest,
now some of them are using a
little bit of AI in their technology to know if you're on or off the bike. Is
this vest, do you use that? Or are they using some type of GPS? And they know,
like, within a split second if you're off the bike. Yes, yes. This one has, well,
I mean, I think you have to always, like, you get it on the first time of the
day and you just go on the app and you tell them, like, hey, it's on. And it has
a magnet. So it tells you, it tells you that it's actually on. And I'm pretty sure
there has to be some AI component to their system where it knows. It has a
gyroscope, I think it's the thing. I think so, yeah. When it detects, there is a
crash or something like that, so it deploys. Because this one is completely wireless.
It's the one the MotoGP writers use. How much is it about $8 ,000,
$7 ,000?
No, it's about it. Just remove a zero from that. It's about it. I paid like less
than $900, which, you know, I was. If it saves you once, it's freaking worth it
for sure. And you have to send it back after like the sixth time it deploys.
So it has multiple uses. I mean, if you have deployed it six times, I mean, maybe
rethink your writing, I guess. But yeah, absolutely. The airbag was a thing that it
was a non -negotiable for me. Let's talk about your helmet. What helmet did you
wear? Because I know you have a few. I think you have at least two. You have like
a retro one that makes you look all cool and everybody wants to talk to you and
meet you, but it's probably not the best for a long distant trip. Good helmet where
you were. The one you're talking about is my belt, bell three, and you're right. If
I had wore that thing, I wouldn't have a face anymore. No, I wore a full face,
LS2 Explorer. I think it is a Explorer, too. It's a carbon fiber.
And lot of this helmet particularly because it was carbon fiber because when I did
my, this is my second or my longest trip that I've ever done. My first one was
last year,
Brooklyn, Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, Brooklyn. And I was wearing a showy GT air
and I had a camera mounted. My neck was killing me because that thing was so
heavy. So I decided to go up with this one because it was so light. Did one
shield last you the whole 70 ,200 miles? Yes, but you know, it's funny that you
mentioned that because I ran out of the liquid where you like to clean the visor.
But yeah, I did. It's not even the cleanliness, right? Because I tell you, I'd
rather have a clean shield than clean underwear because clean shields are safer and
they make you, you know, I have this gentleman, he's going to be disappointed
because I'm forgetting. Mike, I think his name is Mike, at Scorpion, who used to
sponsor my podcast and maybe will in the future, but he just, I was emailing with
him about something. He's like, oh, I'm going to send you a new face shield. So I
kept one with me, and it's not just the dirt, but once, like, you get enough bugs,
you can't wipe that out and you get scratches. And when you put a new shield on,
it's like, you know, the heavens open up. And like, I can see now. And a big
thank you to Scorpion for doing that. But I think you also have a little bit more
wind protection than me, and you're probably not getting bugs. I have a big
windscreen on the, like the one that comes with the bike. So yes, but still, Lynn,
with that and all, I took a fair amount of hits on my visor.
And then how I get it. I remember you texting me while I was in this shape, and
you asked me, how many screens do you take? I was like, well, well, just one.
music. Did you have speakers in the helmet? What were you doing there? No, yeah,
speakers in the helmet. Without that, I don't know how I could have survived. And
actually, I don't know. But you weren't taking calls per se. That was just for the
GPS and music? No, I'm serious. Yeah, no, no. I only had to stop once for a call.
I was in the middle of nowhere. And thankfully, it was the only spot with the
reception. But no, no. Just, just music, not even podcasts,
actually, Because except for my podcast, this podcast. Well, you have such a nice
voice land to leave very quickly, you know, it's so tender. But I needed the energy
of, I listened to metal music, the whole trip and rock music.
You know, Ramstein was a big part of it. Oh, man, I dated this girl years ago.
She was such a Ramstein fan. Ali Zapata. Oh, man, she was so amazing. Anyway,
keep going. It gets you going, you know, and you are there, and, you know, some
great metal track hits the helm, and you're like, yeah, I can't keep going for
hours. Did you take a lot of, out of the 7 ,400 or 7 ,200 miles?
What percent would you say we're on, like, three -lane kind of interstates? Oh,
good point, Len. Not too many, actually. And the three -lane highways, at least,
you know, the memory doesn't fail me. it's when you're
I didn't, I mean, I was going in a different direction. But yes, mostly two -lane
highways because I needed to finish this in 19 days. Otherwise, oh,
man, there were so many, like Utah had so many. I run into, I was, and by the
way, I want your thoughts on this, because you know Buckees, right? This is like
gas station. Do you know it? Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so I didn't stop at one.
You didn't? No, I didn't because it was, it wasn't, I think it's mostly, I mean,
and correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's mostly a Texas thing or like, well,
anyway, and so I stopped, I just, I stopped at Loves, you know, these gas stations
called Loves, and I'm just obsessed with them, you know. Loves, L -O -V -E -S,
yes. I haven't heard of that one. It's, I'm pretty sure you've seen it. I mean, if
you're right through Pennsylvania, it's like a big yellow thing. It has a few
restaurants inside. And I'm saying this because I was in, where was I? I think in
Utah, I think. And I stopped at one. And there was this other writer on a 1250 as
well that came to me and he asked me where it was going. And I told him and he's
like, oh, man, I have so many routes here of, you know, gravel. This can here,
this can in there. And I was like, wow, I really wish I had more time to do all
this stuff. This guy's telling me, because it looked amazing.
Yeah, there's a guy that comes to our two old Tuesdays that he's got a Buckees
overall that he got it. And I've seen the videos of it on YouTube.
And Pennsylvania, yeah, I'm trying to think because I go to the Poconos a lot. No,
no, but like the Buckees is, I think, so I don't know where this is, but they're,
their advertising is crazy, you are, I don't know, I was far. And then there was a
billboard that said, Buckees, it's only 345 miles away. And I'm like, wow, okay,
I wonder how many people actually get to go.
But yeah, no, Loves is better than Buckees. I'm going to cause some controversy
here. So I'm pulling out my calculator now real quick. So 19 days, 19 times 24,
456 hours. Give me Um
Mark, it could be a route, it could be a road, like a, you know, but yeah.
I think for me it was, because I took these as a challenge to myself.
You know, I love writing. It's a challenging sport, as you know, and I wanted to
prove that I could do hard things. And I think it was when I did for the first
time, I think, something like, I don't know, it was like 300 miles without stopping.
I just, I stopped for gas, but, you know, it was in such a great mood.
I was really in the zone and I did this 300 or something, I mean, maybe lessened,
maybe 280 or whatever it was, in one go and it felt really,
really good.
You know, now that you ask me this and that I think about it, I know, maybe some
people would say,
And then yes, you know, there was a beautiful sunset, too. And I was like, okay,
great, he's so great. But the whole point was not to get here. The whole point was
to do the round trip.
And maybe the second one was Yosemite National Park in the park,
not the climb to the park. We can talk about it if you want. But the park in
itself is gorgeous. Like, no wonder why foreigners are so proud of their state.
Yosemite is probably one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Okay,
so now the most challenging part where you're saying what the F is going on here.
I'll tell you mine from my trip to Canada. I was on a road called Route 85.
It was August. It was about 90 degrees, and I'm going due west to get into Canada,
you know, because and, and, and, um, my, my shield was okay.
It wasn't totally filthy, but it was okay, but there was no clouds in the sky,
which should normally be good, except when you're riding west at 6 .30 at night, the
sun is like right in your face. So I'm riding like 80 miles, and I still had like
the drop -down little, uh, sunglass thing but even that was not much so I'm riding
like 80 miles with my left hand in front of trying to shape and and I stopped I
have a photo I stopped just to kind of catch my have a drink of water and kind
of hydrate a little bit a few people pulled over you're okay because like in the
middle of nowhere and I said yeah I'm I think I'm okay but I'm just going to hang
out here for a little bit and and then I made it the last you know 60 miles into
Canada and the GPS took me via side streets basically into Canada because I don't
know if you heard there was that bus accident unfortunately right that same day of
tourists so the I remember that oh that was horrible yeah so I remember getting
into into going across the border and you hear so many bad things about going into
the border just as far as the time it takes, and I just took me 10 minutes to
get into Canada. They're like, hey, come in here and spend your money, spend your
American money. And the good thing about that was, man, I was in this hotel. I had
a beautiful view of the falls. And it was like $250, but it was Canadian money,
which is like Monopoly. I'm just kidding. Sorry, Canadians. I know you hate us right
now. Anyway, no, but it was like 31 % price difference, you know, off the dollar.
So that was good. But what was your kind of
So I remember seeing the mountains from afar, and then I keep going,
you know, towards them. And I was like, okay, where is the entrance to this park?
You know, as a national park, I thought, oh, it's like Yellowstone, you know, like
it's, it's sea level or whatever, you know, or Acadia, you know,
whatever. But then I start a climb, you know, I start a climb, start a climb,
start a climb. And then I go, and this is a, I mean, it's a two -lane highway on
each side, but you know there's this big cliff on the left and I'm like first of
all I'm not a big fan of heights and then you're on a motorcycle and you
experience things 10 times more than in a car because you're exposed to it and then
you know what they say like oh you don't don't look at the brown when you're
riding you know look where you want to go yeah and what I have in front is like
a freaking mountain in a cliff and I'm like Jesus Christ, it was it was tough and
then there was the way down the way down was also tough but the other thing and
it's related to what you said was the heat in certain places the heat was brutal
brutal brutal in some places. Thankfully I learned from my experience in May and now
I were proper what I called proper heat gear, which is like a,
there is this company, you've probably seen it, it's called Golden Burstey Day or
something like, I might have pronounced it right, but they sell these awesome, it's
actually called G -Tech, it reminds me of a team that it's at Google, the G -Tech
team, and it's essentially an underlayer, a mesh thing. I wear it as an overlayer
and a t -shirt underneath. And that's my heat kind of gear. And it helped me a
lot. But to the point, to your point, sometimes you just have to stop because
you're overheating, literally. And I don't know if that's a sign of dehydration. But
I'm kind of curious. Oh, I'm sorry, Land, one more thing. I really want your
thoughts. There's something I wanted to ask you.
Well, it wasn't a me thing, but It was like more of a general WTF.
So many writers without a helmet.
Live and let live. The Beatles said it best, right? Or that was live and let die.
Yeah, you know, we've had, you got a Giselle Bryden, one of the best human beings
on the planet. They live in, she lives in Toronto with her partner, Tom,
And, you know, so Pennsylvania is the closest place in the United States where they
can ride to where they don't have to wear a helmet. And they come to Pennsylvania,
I go riding with them. And they wear helmets like around Harrisburg and in the
metro areas, but we'll go in the whatever of Pennsylvania and they'll ride without
their helmets. And it's fine. You know, the sponsor of our show is the Heyman law
firm. And John Heyman, he's like late 60s, early 70s and he looks like he's early
50s and I'm not just saying that because I want him to sponsor the podcast next
year but but you know he looks great you're absolutely he really does and we just
had a meet up with his social media team and you know what he told me he's and
he's you know he lives in Connecticut his whole life where they don't have a helmet
law and he said and he said you know what a lot of the accidents I see are from
the waist down and and the problems you know people's legs or whatever not to get
too morbid but he didn't you know even with the people without the helmets he
doesn't see a lot of it now i always wear helmet even just for the wind protection
and all that stuff but you know what um and we've talked about this i think a few
times you know the new york time story about the california helmet law do you ever
tell you that story no So in 1991 or two, helmets were not required in California
for many years. And in 91 or 92, they enacted the helmet law. And the LA time,
no, the New York Times were, you know, were interviewing people at hospitals like
doctors and nurses. And they asked them what they thought of the law. And they
said, well, it's probably a pretty good law. But man, didn't those 25 -year -old
motorcycle guys, they gave us great organs that didn't wear the helmets because, you
know, they were organ donors. You know, so if you have an accident with the helmet,
you live, you can't donate your kidney and your spleen, you know. And but that was,
that's exactly what they said, man. Those 25 -year -olds had some good organs that we
could harvest. Oh, my God.
But speaking of fatigue, so you got the big, so we're talking about gas, how many
gallons does that beheemeth hold in your tank? I want to play seven or so.
I mean, and you're probably getting, what, forward.
Two hours? Yeah, maybe every two hours, an hour and 45. It'll depend on where it'll
depend on where it was. And what I saw, like if I saw a lobs and I wanted to
eat, you know, some fresh fruit because they had really good fresh fruit. I would
just stop there and eat something.
But, but yes, two hours on the bike. Also, you know, you need to do bike breaks.
So, oh, especially, and you know this, because you have to be hydrating all the
time. And it was running on two or three Red Bulls a day and a bunch of iced
tea. So I just, you know, needed to stop. Sometimes I'll get so fatigued that I
find myself not dozing off, but kind of like getting lulled, you know. And one of
the things I read on chat GPT said, you know, try to pick out like Chevy cars or
like make your mind work a little bit, you know, so instead of just like, oh,
there's a Chevy or there's a blue car, you know, kind of, you know, until you can
pull over. But it's, yeah, and sometimes you feel like a pansy, you know, oh, it's
only been riding an hour and a half and I got to take a break. But you know
what? Take a five minute. And a five minute break will do a lot. Do it. Yes.
Because the funny thing is, it's like, you know, when I'm riding, you know, I'm
riding at an indicated 84 -ish miles an hour on some roads.
But then when you look at.
So it's a 2004, so it was a year old. How many miles did the bike have on it
before you started the trip? Oh, so I bought it this year, though. It's a 2024
because I think BMW, for some reason, decided to make R1250s in favor of the 1300s.
Okay. Big mistake, if I may say, but anyway. And it had, no, it was new. It had
eight miles on it. And I can tell you exactly how many miles it had before because
I documented this whole thing, man. It had 29, sorry, 2 ,986 miles before I went.
I mean, actually, I put a lot of miles like the first few months. I actually went
to Canada, too.
And, yes, and then it ended on, you know, whatever it ended. Got it. So you're
almost ready for the 12 ,000 mile service. Almost ready for the 12 -case. Yeah, which
Constantine can do for it. Now, all right, so are your tires basically,
did you take a, oh, man, that would have been cool if you would have took a
picture of the tires before and after it, but you probably didn't. Or did you,
you're such a control -free, maybe you did. No, I didn't because I knew I was going
to have to change them. Right, okay. And I did, and I did. Oh, my God, that they
spent so much money.
So I started the trip with the stock tires which whatever it was great tires by
the way I love those tires and in in Salt Lake City I was already getting close
to the 6 ,000 is it 6 ,000 every 6 ,000 miles right? For tires? No every service oh
well I think the first one but then I think it goes a little bit longer once as
the bike gets older yeah okay so I was Closing the first service mileage, and
because I was going to stop in some random places, I was like, you know what, I
need to do it in a big place. And I found this, which was great, by the way, I
found these plays in Salt Lake City. I called them the day off and I asked him,
hey, I said, hey, I'm traveling. I know I don't have, I don't have an appointment,
but we would be able to type me until they and the guy said, yes, absolutely. We
give priority to travelers. You'll always have a bench here. It was a BMW service
center.
has a thousand miles on i mean i'm going to do a thousand miles in two and a
half days yeah two and a half days i don't know where i'll be you know i'll be
changing in oak horse california and so i changed it and i got any one year maybe
your opinion if you know about these tires i got don't love trail max it's a 50
-50 tire he told me that it can last about 12 000 miles which is great but i
don't No, man. I feel like the tires, for some reason, feel more slippery than the
previous ones. I've read a lot of reviews. Nobody's ever said that. It's probably in
my mind, but... Could be. You know, we had a Ken and from eight -ball tires.
I'll have to ask him, but he's like the tire expert, and he's the fine, you know,
quick, funny story. I won't say the name of the repair place,
but the day before I left, I went to get an inspection.
it and I sent it to Ken from April tires and I like I use like the magnify he's
like dude you got at least 1 ,200 miles left on these times at least you're fine
so I went without the inspection and so if you get pulled over for you just have
to go get it but yeah tires are important so this guy wouldn't do the inspection
he wouldn't do the inspection he said they were you know and the back tire was a
little cuppy i mean it gets cupby all the time in the city because of the roads
and all that stuff i have a i had and i have to fix it but i had a tire
pressure monitoring system uh did you bring like any type of flat repair what kind
of tools did you bring if any i mean i know it comes with that standard set of
like plastic uh what do they give you chopsticks and a screwdriver
well it's a good Toolkit, right? Might as well, because the bike worked like a
charm. It's a perfect bike on his leave home. And I know that your bike's name is
also Betty. So, Betty, Betty squared. He performed like the champ she is.
What I brought was a tire repair kit just in case. Thankfully,
not a flat. That's, yeah. And I also brought, what bring um uh a tire a compressor
like a little compressor that i had to use only ones um and just like some random
tools that i have you know i bought a toolkit from cross cruise tools i love that
i have that kit the bmw kit a bmdw kid that i've used maybe twice in my life um
and that's it yeah i had a few things just in case but i can't remember what else
you know you know what i want to do because i'm so afraid not a well about you
know doing the patch kit and i've done it once like 10 years ago like putting the
thing in and then cutting it off so i went to constantine and he changed my tire
i said could i take my tire home and i just want to use it like to practice on
and i thought you know this would be a good thing to sell on amazon not a tire
but let's pretend that we like take like a six inch area of a tire like so it's
still curved a little bit right and you sell it to people so they can practice
because you last time you want to know if you're doing that right where you have
to plug it and then you know go in and out and then with the with the so i was
thinking of like that might be a good thing to put on amazon like probably you
practice everything you should practice repairing a tire well but it has to be big
enough for you to actually because whole tire. I'm talking a section of a tie. So
pretend a pizza, right? So one slice.
which is fine. The next time we do the safety thing, I'll definitely let you know
that Karen organizes. And we had a... What do you think of track days?
Do you think those could help a writer get just better in general? Yeah, yeah,
Keith Code. I'd love to take his course. And, you know,
there's a famous line. This one guy took the course, the Keith Code course, And he
said, man, I had 25 years of riding experience. And when I took this course,
I realized I had one year of riding experience multiplied 25 times. That's how much
I learned, right? I would not want to do it with my bike. I'd like to do it with
somebody else's bike. So I think that's good. I think the BMD, any type of advanced
training. And that's why I asked you about the parking lot is, you know, my parents
live on Long Island. And not too far from them is the Long Island Railroad Station.
And on Sundays, when I go, nobody's in there. So I'll practice. You know, when I
leave there, I'll practice there. Practice the braking. Practice my wheelies. Just
kidding, Mom. I don't do that. I can't do that. I've never done a wheelie. Last
time I did a wheelie was on a Schwinn 10 speed bike, I think, back in the 80s.
But that's another. So anyway, I was going to say we have a,
we used We used to have a show. I Dream of Jeannie. Do you know that show? No, I
don't think so. You're kidding me.
Somebody get this guy a Hulu account. No, I'm kidding. So I Dream of Jeannie was a
show in the 60s and 70s. It's been run reruns. You know, people my age know it
very well. But you know what a genie is, obviously. Of course, yes. Okay. So let's
say we had a genie here, and she rubs her magic oil bottle and she can grant you
one wish but that wish has to be related to improving one aspect of your motorcycle
riding and with a blink of her eye all of a sudden that aspect or that skill set
is improved by five times what would you wish for i improve my ability to take
corners faster and uh lean more okay Okay, that's good. Are you more comfortable
with, I love right -hand turns. I suck at left -hand turns. Are you -good point.
I'm pretty sure I'm better at one than the other. Are you a right -ie or a lefty?
I'm a righty. Maybe that's why, but you know what, Lynn? I'm going to pay attention
to it next time. One thing I can tell you for sure is that I hate going downhill.
It's just so annoying it's tougher right it's tougher it's tougher because you have
to modulate the brake and and and just the terrain and it's like gravity's you know
going uphill is a lot better because it's the same thing with putting on a golf
course right if you're a golfer but you know uphill puts are a lot easier than
downhill puts so I agree with you there let's just talk a little bit about the
rain how many miles um did you ride through like inclement weather of rain?
I would say, I don't know, maybe all in all, like 300 miles. It really just rained
on me. It was in downpour day four when it was in South Dakota approaching the
badlands. I actually did the badlands when the weather was crappy. Which gave it,
you know, now I knew the way they were called the badlands. But other than that,
just a couple of, You know, little showers here and there. When did you put on
your, so did you look at the forecast and say, okay, it's going to rain today. I'm
going to put on the rain suit, or did you wait until the cloud started kind of
hovering and pull over and put on the rain suit? Oh, okay. So in South Dakota,
I just could see there was a massive black cloud in front of me. I pulled
ecuweather and, you know, you could see the radar and the thing was just coming. So
then I stopped and I put the pants and the jacket. And the reason why I say this
is because sometimes I would just wear the jacket and on the hand.
I think I wore it maybe twice. And once, I think it wasn't in the morning because
it was just cold. And a rain jacket makes a great windbreaker too.
It does. But yeah, a couple of just a couple of days. How come we can send people
to the moon, supposedly, but nobody can make a freaking wiper blade for a motorcycle
help? True, yeah. Yeah, that's a, that's, I always do my left, you know, index
finger, and it works good for the first one or two. And then, and then you start
getting the slop that was on your glove. It gets worse. Yeah. And,
and I mean, I'm wearing glasses, as you can see, and I, I, I, one of the things
is that I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't,
My helmet is reflective enough. But,
yeah, that's a, you know, they're kind of safety tip. I don't know why I brought
it up, but... No, no, no. Well, you make a good point there. And so the rain
suit, the boots, I've seen you, you got good boots. I was going to say something
about the trucks. Well, you weren't on too many three -lane highways, so you really
have a problem there. Well, Well, but then, one thing, and this is,
actually, this should have been another, what, WTF moment, a lot of people told me,
oh, crosswinds, South Dakota, the worst. Not really. I mean, it was okay.
Nobody told me the highway or interstate four going north because I was going to go
to Zion in Nevada. Those were crosswinds, dude. And I remember this,
I was trying to take over a truck, past the truck, and crap, you know, that, that
between the truck and the crosswind, it really made move my bike a lot. Look,
to the point that I took, I overtook the truck, I went on the right lane, and I
was like, you know what, I'm not going to overtake anybody else, because it's so
freaking windy right now. That was the only time where I said, maybe like, Jesus.
I mean, actually, it was actually kind of cool, but then I was like, okay, this
is, this could be a situation that could end.
I was like, actually, no. I feel more comfortable around trucks than a bunch of
sedans or, you know. That are texting, right? Because the truckers are professional
drivers. Yeah. And Maxine, in the left lane, going 52 miles an hour,
texting her girlfriend about where they're going to have mojitos that night is really
what you have to worry about. And it used to be, stay off the roads at night,
that's when the drunk drivers are. Now with Uber and the awareness for DWI, do
people still do it? Yes, but certainly much less. But the real distracted driving is
people, men and women, but I think it's mostly women, quite frankly.
Because they're on their Instagram. Now we're going to get, we're going to get
emails. But yeah, you really have to watch out for that. And one of the things I
tell people is, And Gasper Trauma, who taught me the ERC,
advanced writer, or experience writer's course, is look at somebody's front tire. So
that will tell you, because nobody uses turn signals. There was this one woman in
Miami that we had a guy on, and she didn't use turn signals for like 40 miles,
and she's changing lanes. And this guy happened to get off at the same exit, and
they were going to the same like Walmart or something. And he said to her, hey, I
noticed that you didn't use any turn signals when you're changing lanes for about 40
miles. She said oh, I was told that using turn signals is a sign of weakness.
I don't know if she was joking her, but that's exactly what she said.
That's so stupid. And she was like Hispanic. I think she was like Hispanic or Cuban
or from, no Dominican Republic. She was from DR. I don't know if that means
anything or not but anyway
that's insane but that makes that a lot of sense so i guess you're saying look at
the front tires if you're kind of writing if you're like to in back of that maybe
to the yeah right that'll tell you or also look at their heads like you can tell
you know here's my problem and this is what i would say and one of the reasons
why i started this podcast because i used to have road rage a lot worse than i do
now but one of the things that i do and And I really need to stop on a highway
doing this is when I
The car ahead of me, I was doing that. I was like, I waved to where I said, no
texting, thinking that I'm going to be the hero and I'm going to save the next guy
because this woman or man or whoever is going to all of a sudden see me do thumbs
down and all of a sudden they're going to change their habits. And I ain't going
to happen. But in my mind at that time, I think it's going to happen. And so
while I don't road rage and curse them out or anything like I used to do, I will
find myself saying, you know, I'll give them, like, the thumbs down. I'm saying,
what are you doing? And they get shamed for a second. They continue. It's like an
alcoholic. Like, it's tough to get an alcoholic. You know, the only time these
people stop is when they have an accident because of it, unfortunately. And,
yeah. So, I mean, it can't wait, just put it down, you know. Unless your car has
self -driving capabilities, you know. But other than that,
just don't do it. Yeah. No, I hear.
The tank is not that big.
That bike, Marina is her name, is because it's like blue. I have it for the city
and for, quite frankly, you land for like collaborations with brands. Because I work
from home now and so I don't get to commute. Sometimes I go here and there on
that bike. But yeah, definitely always day one, day one,
it was always a BMW. In fact, that's why I traded my 750. The bike I told you
about, I traded my 750 for the 1250 because with the sidebags,
the saddle bags, the 750 was already too heavy. And you load them with all the
stuff and then the bike. I mean, you were saying that you went on average, but 84
miles an hour on a highway. I was averaging maybe 70 on the 750.
What a pansy you are. It was too heavy. It was just too heavy. And also the fact
that the tank was maybe four gallons or maybe three and a half gallons, you have
to stop all the time.
You know, so I'm good at a lot of things and I'm not good at a lot of things. I
suck at doing expense reports and i'm probably in the bottom 20 % of motorcyclists
that travel in the world at my packing skills oh so yeah i wanted to touch on
this earlier but 19 days how many pairs of under no but literally what's like what
did you got like you i mean you know They always say take half the clothes and
twice the money, right? That's like of saying in America. I don't know if you ever
heard of that. Have you heard of that phrase? No, but even if I wanted to do
that, where the hell am I going to buy good underwear, you know, like. Yeah, no,
take half the clothes and twice the money. But so what, so you had 19 days, you
had your rain suit, you had some, you know, you had your tools. You had, you know,
other stuff like how much, how many shirts did you bring? How many, you know,
underwear socks? Like, socks like what did you do any laundry did you do some you
know in the sink uh at night that type of thing no not in the sink i mean most
of the hotels had like a laundry room but all of them were quarters you need
quarters and jesus the last time i had so many quarters in my life was i don't
know 10 year maybe more than 10 years ago and so uh yes i did laundry twice i
brought i think seven purse of underwear right um maybe six or seven purse of socks
i did run out because I would, you know,
It was terrible and expensive and just, you know, something like,
I don't know, five. I didn't get to use all my T -shirts, by the way. Really?
Okay. And not that, not because I was repeating, is because I did laundry maybe
twice every six days, you know, or something like that. What about souvenirs? Like
when I, you know, I, I ended up taking a duffel bag that I didn't think I needed
to take. But you know what? I strapped it on. I was going solo, so I had a
little extra room when I realized that my side cases and everything were not going
to fit. So I took it, so I had, so I actually bought some souvenirs from Niagara
Falls and I'm sure you didn't come home with nothing for your wife, right?
Like you didn't get a t -shirt or a key chain from you know, but seriously,
did you? And I love to buy, I mean, I have this Niagara Falls shirt that I
freaking love because it reminds me of your trip of a great freaking trip like did
you buy any souvenirs what does it to me is stickers or magnet okay because this i
i got this top case that it is relatively new um and my my rule is to put
stickers on it that are from national parks or really cool places that that have
been on the bike. So I bought a bunch of stickers from, you know, Yosemite, arches,
Moab, I mean, all of that. But normally, I didn't actually have a lot of room to
bring a gift to my wife because at same, I have the same configuration as you,
two saddlebags. You have a top case too, right? I do. So a top case. It's not as
big as yours, though. It's a textile one, but it actually expands. I tell you, they
did it. BMW does a great freaking job with luggage, man. I mean, they should make,
like, planes out of the luggage that, you know, those side cases, right? They really
are, you know, they really, you need like a, like a doctorate's degree to get them
open sometimes, you know? I've had people go over my case, like, how the fuck do I
open this? Well, it's pretty easy. Like, dude, dude, it's like, you know, disarming
a bomb, basically. Well, you're basically you won't have any problems getting robbed
they latch once they once they're closed they are freaking closed they will say that
yeah no mine are not BMW minor loan loan writer by the way whom by the way are
my sponsors now so that was one of the side cases uh the side cases yeah and the
top case you didn't get the stock cases you cheap skate no i didn't you know why
because they open i don't how i explain this they open to the decide and not up,
you know, you know what I mean? Like, and that's just not, uh, I guess a big
trouble, but so, no, what I was going to say is I, I, and then I also have a
kind of a duffel bag. It's called an overlander bag. And that, that's where I had
my clothes because I wanted to optimize. And you know this. Like one of the most
kind of annoying thing is like, oh, you get off, to go at the hotel. You have to
take everything up the bike. Oh, it's a pain. And so I wanted to just take one
bag of the bike and maybe the inner, the stuff I had in the top case.
And that's it. You know, I didn't want to open. I did have to open the side cases
because I had my backpack with my laptop and iPad in it. But that was it, you
know, and then, and that's why I didn't minimize, bring And that's why I could have
bringing in souvenirs because my bag was full. I brought a bunch of stickers, which,
by the way, are not cheap. Each sticker was like $4. And I know how much it costs
to make a fucking, sorry, a freaking sticker. Like 80 cents, right? Maybe, maybe,
maybe 80 cents. Yeah, I'm trying to actually, we're getting stickers for the Arrival
Live podcast that I'm going to send in the mail. But for you, I'll give it in
person to everybody that's been on the show. I'm going to send a few out so look
out for that and this has been really great so we'll link to your instagram if
that's cool right absolutely on the show notes okay we'll put the uh the chicken
scratch version of your uh i can't i mean it was a great trip herman you did
really good i'm going to give you like an a in many of these i'm just going to
give you a c minus on food If it was me, I would have planned out the food a
little bit better. Especially, you're from, you guys love food, right? What the, I
mean, I'm Italian, but you should have picked a little bit better on the food. I'm
going to give you an A for getting the tire changed. I think you should have
brought an extra face shield. So I'm going to give you a B minus there. Well, make
a offense, I didn't know there was a thing. I know. I'm going to give you an A
for all the gear.
And, you know, I don't know, like, you know, our grandkids, I think, are going to
be riding.
those epic we're all getting skinnier right so we're not going to need we're not
going to need a gs 2100 okay keep it at 1250 maybe 1300 and that's it right keep
making the 1250s yeah the 1250s i have a 1200 it goes 134 miles an hour with me
on it i'm not a i'm not a small kid you know um not that i would know that it
does that mom in case you're listening and she listens to all these shows so I'm
going to maybe delete that part out.
Actually, top speed for me on this trip was 1 .10, sorry, 110, maybe.
What a pansy. You're a pansy. I don't like to write fast. No, I'm kidding. I'm
totally kidding. I know on a straight line. But I tell you, my bike's happy point,
like a kitten purring, is like 88 indicated, which is like 86, you know.
I mean, it just feels so it's like a kitten pairing it's just like oh i'm happy
i'm happy and you could do that you know all day on that freaking bike i love it
how big is your tank uh it's four and a half you know i get like 40 40 miles
and uh and i have you know the the the wind is i got the good helmet the modular
helmet um you know i'm listening to that horn that freaking horn that you love my
horn i got a new GPS i love uh i'm listening to like to let me about that yeah
tell me about that yeah
This is Hermann Santana from Barakia, Columbia, and Greenpoint,
Brooklyn. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow at our meetup, right, if you can get on
the bike. We don't know where it is yet, but we'll find out. I'm going to take it
for a war trip, so I won't be there. And I admonish anybody thinking about, you
know, you see his Instagram. I'm sure you can connect with him on Instagram. He'll
be happy to do it, and this is a great show. Thank you. Well, thank you for
having you, Lynn. see you on the road. Well, what a fun episode that was with
Hermann. I want to thank him again. Check the show notes. We'll have a link to the
route he took. We'll have another photo or two from his travels. We're not going to
have the menu of the food he ate because the food he ate wasn't, you know, it was
an averager, I guess. But you can connect with him on Instagram if you need more
tips about long distance riding, or even looking good while riding, because he does
both very, very well. And maybe next year he'll get his wife to okay him to take
another 19 -day trip. We'll see. But I also want to thank everyone who listens and
shares the show with everyone. I also want to thank Mr. Rob McLaughlin of the West
Coast Hearts. You know, Taylor Swift is not the only one who has a new album out.
The West Coast Hearts does go to Apple Music or Spotify and search West Coast
Hearts. I think you'll really like the new album. And if you have a question for
me, you want to be on the show? Shoot me an email at Arrivealivepodcast at gmail
.com. We still got a lot of riding left in the year. Make sure your gear is good.
Make sure your bike is in tip -top shape. and keep your attention and focus on the
road. Until next time, my name is Len Belello. So happy to have you as listeners,
and we'll talk to you soon.