Spyder Ryde Across America
with Fred & Cherrie Rau
BLOG.SPYDERFRED.COM
Rose Parade Floats
Every year at this time, we get together with some of our motorcycling friends for a ride up to Pasadena, to view the Rose Parade Floats. For two days after the annual Tournament Of Roses Parade, the floats are put on display around a park in Pasadena. It gives the public a chance to view these marvels up close and personal - something you just can't do during the parade. The attention to detail, the artistry and craftsmanship are simply amazing.
Thought some of you might like to come along...
Christmas Lights
Cherrie and I had friends from Canada visiting for the holidays (motorcyclists, of course), and thought we would take them out to see some Christmas lights in the area.
Home & Gardens Magazine and HGTV have an annual contest to find the "Best Decorated House In America" every Christmas season, and it just so happens that this year's top prize went to a house in Murrieta, California, just 10 miles from us, so we rode over to have a look at it. It was pretty amazing, so we thought we'd share a little five-minute video with you.
I know Christmas has come and gone already, but we hope you all had as nice a holiday as we did.
Fred & Cherrie
Christmas
Today's video has absolutely nothing to do with the Spyder, or even with motorcycling -- but then again, it is only three minutes long.
We live in a retirement community, built around a golf course, and populated with crazy old people. Tonight, they paraded in front of our house in their golf carts, festooned with Christmas lights. We thought it was kind of cute, so I grabbed the video camera....
Merry Christmas everyone!
Fred & Cherrie
AMA Hall Of Fame
This week's entry really has nothing to do with the Spyder. However, it does concern a Spyder owner and rider, Mr. David L. Hough.
Considered by many to be the Father of Modern-Day Rider Education, David recently sold his sidecar rig and purchased a new Spyder RS. This past week, he was honored by the American Motorcyclist Association at a special ceremony in Las Vegas, where he was officially inducted into the AMA Hall Of Fame.
David flew out to Los Angeles first, from his home in Washington, and BRP was kind enough to arrange to have a Spyder waiting for him here, so that we could ride together across the Mojave to Vegas, for his induction. Following is a 10-minute video of the ceremonies. I hope you enjoy it.
Toys for Tots & Drill Team
This past week, we rode the Spyder down to Oceanside, California, to attend the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots ride. This event is co-sponsored by the Marines, GWRRA Chapter N, and the Gold Angels Motorcycle Drill Team.
We rode from Oceanside to Casino Pauma, where the Angels put on a great show for everyone, and the casino treated us all to lunch. Fabulous weather and nearly 1,000 motorcyclists. Eat your hearts out New Englanders - it was nearly 80 degrees out here!
The video is about 12 minutes long, with most of that being the drill team, because I thought you might like to see them.
Route 66 Iconic Ryde Part II
Well, I tried to keep it short, but this video is even longer than the last - about 20 minutes.
We left you on Old Route 66 near the town of Peach Springs, Arizona, which is just down the road from Seligman. Those two towns combined were the inspiration and model for the fictional town of Radiator Springs, in the movie "Cars."
From there we went over Hoover Dam, around Lake Mead, to Las Vegas, then up to the Valley Of Fire, back to Vegas, and across the Mojave National Preserve back to our home in California.
Hope you enjoy it...
And since a couple of you mentioned being interested in this ride, I should throw in a shameless plug:
I actually run guided tours of Old Route 66, in the wintertime, on rental bikes. If you're interested, see my website at www.fredrau.com, or give me a call or drop me an e-mail. (Group discounts available for clubs!)
Thanks,
Fred
We left you on Old Route 66 near the town of Peach Springs, Arizona, which is just down the road from Seligman. Those two towns combined were the inspiration and model for the fictional town of Radiator Springs, in the movie "Cars."
From there we went over Hoover Dam, around Lake Mead, to Las Vegas, then up to the Valley Of Fire, back to Vegas, and across the Mojave National Preserve back to our home in California.
Hope you enjoy it...
And since a couple of you mentioned being interested in this ride, I should throw in a shameless plug:
I actually run guided tours of Old Route 66, in the wintertime, on rental bikes. If you're interested, see my website at www.fredrau.com, or give me a call or drop me an e-mail. (Group discounts available for clubs!)
Thanks,
Fred
Route 66 Iconic Ryde
The reason you haven't heard from us for a while is because the folks at BRP asked that we take the Spyder out on what they called an "Iconic Ride." The idea was for us to show off not the bike itself, but the reason someone might go out and buy one.
We were allowed to choose our own route, and since it is, after all, November, we opted for a desert ride, encompassing several remaining sections of the original old Route 66 as it passes through California, Arizona and Nevada. We had terrific weather, other than a few days of blustery winds, but with temperatures in the 70s and plenty of sunshine. We rode to several of the old diners and tourist camps along the route, a couple of ghost towns, Hoover Dam, the Valley of Fire, the Mojave National Preserve and Las Vegas, just to name a few spots. We took dozens of photos and recorded about four hours of video.
I am condensing the videos, but it still looks like it will be 30-45 minutes long, so I am breaking it up into parts for the blog. Part One is below, running about 17 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.
Fred
BRP Webcast
I told you a couple of weeks ago that BRP had sent a video crew out to my house to interview me about the Spyder, for their dealer webcast. Well, I have been given a copy of that finished video, and thought I would share it with you.
It runs a bit long -- over 13 minutes of me talking -- so, you've been warned. There are, however, some pretty good shots of the bike being ridden on the streets around my house, and a terrific view of my driveway!
If it looks like I'm sweating, it's not from the pressure -- though it was late October, at my home here on the edge of the Mojave Desert, it was 93 degrees that day.
Fred
It runs a bit long -- over 13 minutes of me talking -- so, you've been warned. There are, however, some pretty good shots of the bike being ridden on the streets around my house, and a terrific view of my driveway!
If it looks like I'm sweating, it's not from the pressure -- though it was late October, at my home here on the edge of the Mojave Desert, it was 93 degrees that day.
Fred
SoCal Winter Weekend
Suddenly, on Friday night, Cherrie and I realized that we
actually had no commitments for the Halloween weekend – no place we had
promised to be, and no one we had promised to see. That almost never happens,
so we decided to take advantage of the free time to ride around to some of our
favorite old haunts, and show off the new RT to a bunch of
We hit the road at
On Sunday morning, we were off again by 6:00, riding down to
Orange County to the Chapter R annual bake sale, then on down to Laguna Beach,
and up the Ortega Highway to the famous Lookout Roadhouse. We got home just in
time to see the full moon coming up over the Pines to
All in all, I believe we rode about 650 miles this weekend, and met up with over 500 motorcyclists along the way. A great way to spend a November weekend…
Halloween Run & Griffith Park
It's been a busy week for the Spyder and us. After going down to LA to tape the "Cyberguy" segment for TV, another video crew came out to the house to video a webcast for BRP. We did several interviews and two sets of riding videos, around our neighborhood and out on some country roads. I've been promised a copy of the finished product, and will post it here when it arrives.
On Saturday, we got up early and rode the RT down to El Cajon, to join a group of Gold Wing Chapters on the Halloween Poker Run up to Santa Ysabel, in the mountains near Julian.
On Sunday, we hit the road at 5:00 AM so we could ride to the 38th Annual Griffith Park Sidecar Rally in Los Angeles. As usual, there was a great crowd, and hundreds of really, really interesting machines. I think you'll like the video.
We rode down with our old friends Walt Fulton and Nancy Foote, owners of the Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshop (www.streetmasters.info). Some of you old-timers might remember Walt as one of the riders featured in the iconic motorcycle movie "On Any Sunday," as well as a four-time Daytona winner. While there, we also ran into old friend Perry King, a movie and TV actor who is also a total motorcycle nut. I won't say Perry is a "movie star," but he was in such famous movies as "The Lords Of Flatbush," "Slaughterhouse Five," and "The Choirboys," as well as dozens of TV shows, such as "Will & Grace," "The Outer Limits," and "Cold Case." Perry will also be the MC at this year's AMA Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, December 5, when I will be honored to present David Hough as the latest inductee into the Hall Of Fame.
And by the way - David and I will be riding to Vegas for the ceremonies aboard two new Spyders!
If you like some of what you see in the video, I will be posting photos on the album of this website a little later today.
Fred
On Saturday, we got up early and rode the RT down to El Cajon, to join a group of Gold Wing Chapters on the Halloween Poker Run up to Santa Ysabel, in the mountains near Julian.
On Sunday, we hit the road at 5:00 AM so we could ride to the 38th Annual Griffith Park Sidecar Rally in Los Angeles. As usual, there was a great crowd, and hundreds of really, really interesting machines. I think you'll like the video.
We rode down with our old friends Walt Fulton and Nancy Foote, owners of the Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshop (www.streetmasters.info). Some of you old-timers might remember Walt as one of the riders featured in the iconic motorcycle movie "On Any Sunday," as well as a four-time Daytona winner. While there, we also ran into old friend Perry King, a movie and TV actor who is also a total motorcycle nut. I won't say Perry is a "movie star," but he was in such famous movies as "The Lords Of Flatbush," "Slaughterhouse Five," and "The Choirboys," as well as dozens of TV shows, such as "Will & Grace," "The Outer Limits," and "Cold Case." Perry will also be the MC at this year's AMA Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, December 5, when I will be honored to present David Hough as the latest inductee into the Hall Of Fame.
And by the way - David and I will be riding to Vegas for the ceremonies aboard two new Spyders!
If you like some of what you see in the video, I will be posting photos on the album of this website a little later today.
Fred