ADV Cannonball
Chatting with motorcyclists, overland creators, and authors is a key feature of the ADV Cannonball Podcast. Aaron and Taylor speak with adventure travelers from various backgrounds, aiming to inspire listeners to embark on their journeys. The duo often discusses a wide range of motorsports, including motorcycle rallies, TSD rallies, checkpoint events, overlanding, and anything related to adrenaline and horsepower!
ADV Cannonball
CREW SHOW - Book Pre-Release & Europe, Mexico and Americas Rally Talk
Aaron announces the upcoming release of his Adventure Motorcycle Book,
"Chasing Legends: Motorcycle Stories from the Podcast Trail".
We discuss our plans for the Europe route scouting and UK podcasting trip.
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Welcome to the ABV Cannonball Podcast. Where we discuss all things on two wheels, the adventure by Cannonball and other motorcycle-related nonsense.
SPEAKER_03:Season four, episode seven. Welcome to Adventure Cannonball Podcast. I am your host, Taylor Lawson. Today I am joined by the newest author of an amazing nonfiction adventure motorcycle book, better known to you as Aaron Buffon. Welcome. What's up, big guy? Good to see your mug. Yeah, man. So uh you're finally gonna let the cat out of the bag, huh?
SPEAKER_02:The big cat I'm gonna let out of the bag first is this frosty cold IPA, baby. Cheers. What are you drinking?
SPEAKER_03:I got a tumbler, you know. I got my I got my uh half a liter water glass um of uh rum and coke.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. Oh, I left my uh I left my ringer on my phone talking about temperature hour, right?
SPEAKER_03:No, kidding. I did the same thing. I got the same one. Daniel, Daniel, you're on the podcast, baby. That text was from you.
SPEAKER_02:We got a group text. It's a very, very highbrow operation here. Uh highbrow. Yeah. So first of all, before we get to the book, I have to say that I posted an image on Instagram of when I was up in Vancouver Island. I bought I I I essentially went on an IPA scavenger hunt and I bought eight different IPAs. Nice. And I was like, what is going on? They were all terrible. I think there's like a big cultural difference between, you know, Pacific Northwest or West Coast IPA and the West Coast of Canada. But I don't know. I was a little embarrassed of my countrymen and their uh IPA acumen, but you've had better success over there, haven't you?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I have. As you were saying that, I was thinking about, you know, they make this big distinction. So I had, you know, a great part of my life was living on the west coast of the US. And I remember thinking when I got there, I started drinking IPA. And I was like, is it the West Coast IPA or the East Coast IPA that I like? I couldn't, I still can't remember. It's one of those. And when I drink, when I order one, I go, nope, that definitely wasn't it. But yeah, there's a there's a distinction that I get between the east and west. Um, but in Sweden, they have done they have done a really, really good job at the IPAs. Pretty much any microbrew here is just crushing it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I was so disappointed because all the cans looked amazing. They did that cliche, you know, IPA hipster art on them. It seems to be a continuing problem that they are maybe it's just Canadian frugalness. Maybe that they just don't want to put the required amount of hops in the dry hop phase. They are confused between bitter uh portion of the palate for the hoppiness and the aromatic, almost like cannabis, you know, aromatics that you get from a dry hopped IPA. So it starts off on a bitter, low alcohol note, and there's no floral, there's nothing, you know, when you burp, you get none of those like hoppy notes. It's just, it's just, it's just a nightmare, you know? So I I don't know. I just give up.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I was like, damn, we know so much about beer. And then you're like a floral burp. I you lost me at that.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's true. So if you drink a big IPA and you burp a little bit, the the gas that comes backwards through your nose will often have that dry hot floral, almost like cannabis, you know, type of type of uh note. Whereas in this case, it was just it was just bitter. It was like almost like an English bitters. It was, I don't know. I just I guess I just give up for a while, is is what I'm saying. And when I travel to Canada, I'm gonna have to smuggle in actual IPA, is what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_03:You got any good labels to read, though? I mean, there's some fun names, right?
SPEAKER_02:10 out of 10 for the uh for the label. So there's Boneyard IPA, there's uh oh yeah, the real slim hazy. Come on, that's awesome. That's like mic drop territory, right? Yeah, there's Earl Gray IPA, there's uh category 12 brewing, chrome or chroma IPA. There was some there's West Coast Trail IPA, like what a what a name. I've actually hiked the West Coast Trail, and it's just it was that's they were all basically near carbon copies of each other, anyways. No more, uh, no more complaining about the beer in Canada, but uh boy, boy, the tables have turned.
SPEAKER_03:Well, at least uh you know there's room for improvement, really. I guess that's my takeaway.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so today's episode is going to be a short, rambling cruise show. Uh we had some interviews set up, but uh they they kind of fell through, people got busy. So we just wanted to come on and announce the book. We wanted to talk about the planning for Europe, we wanted to talk about the um the G GPS app. We wanted to do some work on the Aaron's write-out segment, and we want to talk about cannonball news. So I suppose let's talk about the book. Yeah, so what's the title of your book? I don't know, I forget. It's uh what is it, Taylor? Chasing Legends. Oh, yeah, chasing legends on the podcast trail. That's it. I was into it so much for so many months I forgot the title. That's hilarious.
SPEAKER_03:That's all right. You know, you've been you've been you've been needled down in the uh in the deep work. Speaking of deep work, I thought it was really cool. Maybe you could talk a little bit about how you did this because you you're like, I don't write very quickly, I don't type very quickly, um, but you really you're really good at thinking on the fly. So how did you how did you uh write this book using what uh your strong suits are?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so the actual process was I took each chapter essentially is a little treatise on each one of our interviews. So let's say it's I don't know, we'll just randomly pick one, Austin Vince. So I felt like we left or I left a lot on the table. I felt like after the interview there was more analysis to be done. And I also felt like I kind of didn't go into it prepared enough. So each chapter is a uh is a way to prepare again, let's say for a redo of the interview, I was able to bring in the transcript from the interview and then expand on it and talk about uh things that were missed and things that I should have asked, and maybe an unpacking of what each interview should have been, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I thought you explained that really well in the in the um in the introduction. And we actually had a call for transparency. We had a call, Aaron and I had a call last night, and um we talked about that, about the the introduction, and I thought it was really valuable that part that you brought to it as opposed to having it a short introduction. It kind of says, This is why I'm here. This is this is the background that I have that allows me to to to to talk to these people. But at the same time, you have such a self-deprecating sense of humor. Um, so it's it was easy to see that. And just the things you said a moment ago, it's like you left a lot on the table. And I thought that was very um very honest. And uh, you know, uh at the same time as I'm reading that, I'm like, dude, give yourself a break. This was a new venture. So I'm saying that to you right now, Aaron, give yourself a break. This was your new your first in your depth endeavor into it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think you know, being involved in media a few times in my life, you sit down and you listen to what the reporter says or the author says, I'm like, oh my God, it's it's all wrong, or they got this wrong, they got that wrong. And now I understand because it is difficult to conduct an interview, it's difficult to prepare for things like Ted Simon. I overprepared. It was a freaking nightmare. And then, and then there are things like, well, I didn't know that, and I don't know how to respond to that with other interviews. Uh, for instance, when I was with uh Sam Monacham at the Ace Cafe, he introduced me to a guy named Mark, who basically ran the place. And I'm like, oh my God, there's a whole chapter here on Mark. Mark is the reason why the Ace Cafe exists. His own story is amazing. Right. And then before that interview, I was at the 59 Club, and I just happened to talk to a guy named Dick, and I didn't know about it, but he's the chairperson of the 59 Club, and his own story of a lifetime was all in the the Ace Cafe and the cafe racer scene and the 59 club. And then, you know, lo and behold, I didn't realize that all those stories, the Ace Cafe story and the 59 Club story, weave deeply into my next interview, which was with Blood Bikers. So the whole Blood Bikers organization tied directly into those things. I'm like, I didn't see those at the time. So looking back, going like, holy crap, I missed all that. So the book is the opportunity to take those themes and link them together in a way that was not obvious to me at the time and in a way that I don't think uh has been done before. It's uh it's all those things um rolled into one. And as you can tell by by way of not being able to string that together, it's an opportunity to sit down quietly and uh and and put those thoughts on paper correctly and not just stumble into a microphone.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's a good point. Um As you say that I'm thinking about in uh in the preparation for Ellsbeth Beard. And uh like she done she's done like hundreds and hundreds of interviews and answered the same questions. So the first British woman to circumnavigate the world alone on a motorcycle. And it goes on and on. And I was trying to research and find out things about her that uh no one had asked her before. And just as you said, it's it's hard, it's hard to conduct an interview because sometimes you get someone who answers a question just boom, here's my question, here's here's the answer. Then they're like, what's my next question to answer? And then you have to do all the work, right? Whereas somebody like awesome Vince, you just give them a topic and then you have to interrupt to try to get a word in edgewise, because they're just so full of information. They're so good at presenting, and they can just continue the thread all the way through and then hand it back to you.
SPEAKER_02:Actually, you make a really good point, is that, and we've never talked about this before, but the Elizabeth Beard interview was the best interview. And the reason why it was is because we've had a dialogue with Elizabeth for years, and we've spent, I don't know how many nights we spent with Elizabeth in Aspen, just, you know, having drinks and hanging out and talking, riding motorcycles with her. And then you and I prepared for that interview, mainly you, and then you traveled all over there and had another interview with her. Now, look at all that preparation. It's, you know, hours and hours of preparation and pre-interview essentially, because we we hung out for for days and days in that in that one private um uh rally. So that interview was the best interview because it was so prepared. So now translate that into walking in cold to uh a Charlie Borman interview. Right. And I'm like, I just prepared in my underwear in a hotel in Windsor, right? So it nowhere near the level of preparation. So the book is a way to digest that interview, sit down quietly and talk about what I thought about the interview, what I should have asked. And then more importantly, when it comes to the Charlie Borman interview, for example, how his trip directly is pays homage to the Austin Vince, Terra Circa uh trip, and uh Mondo Enduro, and how that ties into the Claudio Van Planta interview with his filmmaking and then his background, his amazing story. Right. So, you know, we could talk for hours and hours about all these interviews and how they all tie together. Uh, and I like, like I said before, I don't think anyone's ever done it before. And it is an amazing amount of work. I think I've alluded to it here in the podcast, but it is a ton of work. You have no idea the hundreds of hours that go into this. And eventually you just gotta let it go into the world. And I have a little bit of work to do on it over the next couple of days, and I've just said, right, it's not perfect, but it's as perfect as it's gonna be. And uh I think it's about time to release it into the world.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And um it's like some of the things that I spend a lot of my time working with. It's like sometimes you just have to say, job finished is better than job perfect, and uh there is never a perfect because anybody else who comes in and looks at it will always looks at it, will always have something you go, eh, we should probably tweak that. So you just have to let it go into the world. So I think that's a good choice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it's tough too, because everyone kind of has a different opinion of what the book should be. The book is, like you said, a little bit of a background on me. And okay, uh starting this, uh, the rally and the podcast was a really crappy time in my life. And, you know, uh, like the editor said, I'm like, this is a diarrhea of bad stuff. I'm like, yeah, but it's interesting and it's it'll it'll be positive eventually. But, you know, I think it's important to be honest with people. And I think people appreciate honesty over, you know, a pithy short little thing about how positive the world is. I say, no, no, the world sometimes is crap, but sometimes out of crap uh can be perspective uh and then positivity from there. Like I think this podcast is a positive thing. I think the rally is a positive thing. Actually, I know all those things are positive things, but sometimes in order to get there, you have to come out of the darkness a little bit.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's true. What's that old expression? Every now and then a rose grows out of a cow patty.
unknown:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know if this is a rose, but maybe it's a little it's a little dandelion uh thus far, anyways.
SPEAKER_03:No, maybe it's just a weed. But it's something whatever.
SPEAKER_02:It's gonna grow in something, anyways, you know.
SPEAKER_03:But uh so just on I wanted to go ahead and finish finish your thought.
SPEAKER_02:It wasn't much of a thought at all. I just said that I was gonna say that um that we'll publish it uh as an ebook. Uh it'll come out in print. I've narrowed it down to two guys uh for the audiobook. And as far as podcast goes and rally goers go, I really need your help to get out those first reviews, as I burp IPA in your ear. Uh, because the only way a book or an audiobook succeeds and doesn't get lost in the noise of all these books in the world is support from our people. So I know I ask a lot all the time, but if you guys can be prepared for the haranguing that is about to happen in the next episode.
SPEAKER_03:I have a funny feeling that someone with the name of Carrie might be haranguing us, just adding this to our list.
SPEAKER_02:You guys ask for too much. You guys.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. All right. So um tell me what are the how can people get this? What are the formats that's gonna come in? What's that gonna look like?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it'll be about a month from now, but uh it'll come out in an ebook, it'll come out um on Amazon essentially is is the the world's biggest bookstore. Uh it'll come out on Audible, and yeah, that's that's basically it.
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SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so you and I have been planning over the course of the last few days. I've been booking ferries and flights and all this stuff. So I'm gonna fly into Europe around May 1st. I'm gonna pick up the bike from um from Kathy at Moto Freight.
SPEAKER_03:And by the way, is it is it already there? I know you shipped it when at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_02:It's on a ship. Uh it's because I'm going the cheap way, the cheap slow way. So it's actually getting there about a month before I get there, and it'll be moved from the port, I think it's Plymouth, by truck over to Moto Freight. And then what they do, the the nice thing about Moto Freight is they're all bikers. So they will take the bike out of the container, they'll throw it on charge. I've already disconnected uh the battery from the bike. I learned I learned that lesson from the last time. So they will throw a little trick or trickle charger on it, and I I guess eventually they'll connect it and start it up for me. Uh, and then I'll fly in. It's about a 10-minute cab ride from the airport, which is fantastic. And then uh you can pick up your bike. I'm gonna leave it there for the night. I just want to check on it because no one wants to park a bike anywhere near London because it won't be there in the morning. So I will uh I will leave it um there for the night and then I'll go to my hotel, um, probably get some rest, visit my favorite pub for some wicked awesome curry, and then and IPA. And IPA, which actually they don't do IPAs well either. The standard one in the you know, in the conglomerate of pubs is called neck oil. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's a pretty cool name. Yeah, but it's you can get that here in Sweden too. Yeah, but if you go get that neck oil, Taylor, it is exactly like the IPAs in Canada. They're they're they're tough.
SPEAKER_03:It doesn't quite get it doesn't quite get the job done.
SPEAKER_02:No, yeah. Anyways, so uh so yeah, that's the plan for picking up the bike in London. And then I will ride down to Plymouth and then hop on the overnight ferry to Bilbao. Bilbo, Bilbao, Spain. That's that's my plan to to get to Spain.
SPEAKER_03:All right, just to be clear, that's Plymouth, UK.
SPEAKER_02:Not Plymouth Rock, no.
SPEAKER_03:Which will be which will be in September.
SPEAKER_02:September of 2026, yeah. And then I'm gonna ride from Bilbao down to Tarifa. I might stop in Portugal. I need to get my tires changed. So I think I'll get the tires that uh Robert and Meetas are sending to Moto Freight, and I'll just tie them to the back of the bike and then I'll take a day on my way to Tarifa. I think that's how you say it, and get the Tires put on because when Robert was finished with the bike, he left me some pretty gnarly uh leftover Mitas tires. So I'll change those tires and uh and then start the route. Uh start the route around May the 7th, heading north for the 2027 ADV European Cannonball pre-run.
SPEAKER_03:So just to back up one second, a big shout out to Robert and uh and thank you very much for for putting new rubber on that beast that he borrowed of yours.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're gonna send uh the tires. Actually, the guy, the representative for Scandinavia, is near London, funnily enough. So he reached out yesterday and mentioned he's gonna send some tires down. So thank you guys.
SPEAKER_03:So um my plan, and I want to ask you about this. This is something I don't know. This is like uh so when I leave when I leave Stockholm, I'll drive, it's gonna be about a seven-hour sorry, yeah, seven or eight-hour ride to the southwest tip of uh Sweden from Malmö. And then from there, I'll take an overnight ferry and I'll end up in Telemunda, Germany. I'm sure I pronounced the German part wrong. And then I'm gonna meet you somewhere around there in Germany, and that's gonna be on the 15th of May.
SPEAKER_02:So I'll meet you. We'll draw a line from you know Skagen, uh, Denmark, and that port in Germany, and where they meet on the way to Rotterdam. We'll hook up and then I'll have to slow down so you can catch up to me and your small little bike.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, thanks for that.
SPEAKER_02:And then uh yeah, and then uh we'll book it down to Rotterdam and we'll hop on that overnight ferry, which I just booked, and we will head over to Hall, England.
SPEAKER_03:And uh Chris Job, who did the who actually just put that video up, the 42-minute video of the uh trip that we did to India. He and I are gonna be riding down to see Robert next weekend at the motorcycle show. And actually, he might be able to do the to do the he might be doing the ride with us. So um I'll chat with him tomorrow night and we'll find out if he's gonna actually join us for that. He has the new F, the uh BMW F-900.
SPEAKER_02:Nice, yeah. Good bike, the F-900 GS. That's a fun bike. The chain drive parallel twin. That's what uh Hunter won the last cannonball on, the beast of a bike.
SPEAKER_03:Great machine. It's the one I wrote around his bike um after the rally, which is also awesome to have that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And then when we're in England, we're gonna do a bunch of podcasting. That's the start of our Island TT special and a few other and a few other um um episodes we have lined up. So hopefully, uh hopefully that's a good uh series we have there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that should be fun. I'm looking forward to learning more about that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So, Aaron, I wanted to let you know that I have made it official and I will see you and everyone who is doing the 2026 Cannonball for the whole cannonball.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, this is big news. I tell you what, to get a week of Taylor's time, let me tell you how hard that is.
SPEAKER_03:But two weeks is more than twice as hard. Wow.
SPEAKER_02:So the amount of payments and IPAs is gonna have to be overwhelming and gratuitous to say the least. But thank you for that.
SPEAKER_03:I'm not taking any neck oil either.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, we'll be in the US. So it is it is IPA heaven, baby. We got all the best beer in the world. Uh, as a matter of fact, we'll have to uh drive the van from beer store to beer store. I'm actually thinking we should install like a mini keg actually in the back of the van. So when riders come in at the end of the night, at the end of the day, sorry, we can we can pour them off a quick IPA from our mini keg. So obviously I have a lot of work to do on the van.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you can hook that up right next to the uh Starlink. Starlink mini keg side by side.
SPEAKER_02:I know. I need to put Starlink on that. And I have a note here because Taylor mentioned before the podcast that he's gonna join us, uh, that I have to get like an inflatable couch or something for the back of the sprinter van because there are no seats back there. But we'll have to figure something out to increase the uh the comfort level, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03:I just walked through what my neighbor calls the divorce store. And it's uh here and in most circles, it's known as IKEA. And and he said, anyway, I was just there recently, and um uh we happened to be in the in the uh couch section, and uh, you know, I was tired, so I figured it was a good time to sit. And I found one that was really comfortable and it was quite uh it'd be perfect for the van.
SPEAKER_02:Some assembly required. We'll like throw you in the back with the Allen key and one of those really bad diagrams with the guy shaped like a ghost and tell you how to do it, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Good luck. Actually, that that'd be a fun video. Throw you in the back with an Ikea couch and an Allen key.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, knock down furniture. Fix that, Taylor. Give me some bunk beds while you're at it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so you're gonna help with uh with rally check-in. So that'll be fun. I'll appreciate that help. And uh we'll do daily podcasting. We're gonna do basically field notes throughout the rally when when you know mayhem happens and hopefully no major mishaps. And then we'll obviously have writer interviews at the rally hotel at the finish line each night. And then obviously we'll have the big grand finale, which is what Taylor hosts is the awards banquet in um in California.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that was fun. And I used to live in Monterey, California, so that'll be um that'll be especially fun, a bit of a homecoming for me because I was here for four years. That's where I met my wife, actually.
SPEAKER_02:And really big news, speaking of Monterey, is there was a press release by the governor that they have reopened the Pacific Coast Highway.
SPEAKER_03:No, really, we talked about that yesterday and they hadn't opened it. And they really fantastic.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they just released uh yesterday morning and they said at lunchtime they're going to uh reopen it. It's officially open. However, everyone calm down. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna change the route until we survive the spring melt. Because as you guys know, every year we all get excited that uh, you know, these civil engineers have cracked the problem of you know the wet season in the spring and the winter melt. But I'm not counting that chicken. I'm not gonna dedicate the time either, because it's days worth of work to reroute. Right. So I'm not doing anything until summer. And then, and this is why checkpoints and official GPX files are not released till 30 days prior. But I will I will reroute it, but only when it's dry and and and we've survived the spring runoff will I reroute the 2026 America's rally through the Pacific Coast Highway. And I think you used to ride the one famous ADV trail there in Monterey, didn't you?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, when I lived there, I had a DR650. Yeah, I had the DR650 then. And I used to go down the coast, I think it took me, I don't know, 30, 40 minutes out of Monterey. And then at the Bixby Bridge, which is a really famous bridge like Big Sur Water and all of these. Um it's just a beautiful, beautiful bridge, spam bridge. That actually, when the bridges came in, they made the coast highway. But before that, you used to ride the old coast highway, which is an a maintained uh it's actually access to many people's ranches up and in the in the old coast. So you used to have to go all the way in this ravine, which is where the the bridge is, and ride this. I think it's about 19 miles of road. And there's everything in there from torrid, seemingly high desert, dry, dry grasslands down where you drop into uh the the big red woods uh down by the rivers. You can smell the peat and the moss. It's amazing. You see so many different uh microclimate through that whole area. Beautiful, beautiful place to go and ride.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, hopefully it survives the spring melt because the last optional off-road section in 2026 was an in and out to the hot springs and this yoga center down this dirt road along the ridgeline of that mountain range. And it was kind of disappointing, but I just kind of had to come up with something. So I hope to incorporate the mornings off-road, optional off-road section with that crescent uh old coast highway, and then bring you into Monterey. That's the hope. We'll see how it works out with mileage. One of the challenges that day, surprisingly, is getting riders into the hotel in an appropriate amount of time because the awards banquet is that night, and I put it into the rally schedule that it starts at six. So, according to the rules, the rally ends one hour before the banquet and the advertised time is six. So the rally officially ends. You can stop um stop gathering points by 5 p.m. And that allows in the this is tongue-in-cheek, in the highly uh unlikely event of a tie, yeah, and then if there is a tie for first to arrive bonuses, uh the the people that are tied have to have a slow speed, full contact, slow race in front of the banquet hall. Uh, this will never happen, but it's there for fun, which has to happen 30 minutes prior to the awards banquet. So, anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I hope I can fit all of the new routing in and get people to the awards banquet in time with a little time to clean up, obviously, make it to the awards banquet.
SPEAKER_03:And put on your ugly jacket.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. The the cat is out of the bag, and we expect everyone to have their ugly blazer for the awards banquet.
SPEAKER_03:Ugly Blazers purchased from a secondhand thrift shop.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I've actually seen some people have their ugly blazer already, and they've gotten they've gotten a little creative. So I feel like I need to up my game a bit. And you know, I've lost so much weight being on the Ozempic that uh I have to buy all new clothes anyway. I have to buy a new ugly blazer, so I'm looking forward to maybe going over the top.
SPEAKER_03:Uh, you know, I remember I was in the uh well, I was in a goodwill and I was on like Wilshire Boulevard in some fancy place in in LA, and I was thrift shopping and I sent you a picture, and you're like, not ugly enough. And I said, I this is it, this is all I got. And then you just sent me that video of the guy, the the video of the guys in the secondhand store at the thrift shop.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, the Seattle guys, uh Matt Macklore.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I was like, it's like it's like, of course there's thrift shops there. You're in LA.
SPEAKER_02:And by the way, the best thrift shop, because you could pick up like a full Armani suit from the 70s for 20 bucks, right? So uh hopefully there's something in Monterey or people can plan. And actually, keep in mind, um, rally goers, it's perfectly within the rules to pre-ship things to hotels. Obviously, don't be a bother and don't be a pain in the ass. You know, you can pre-ship a box to the finish line and have you know clean clothes because you don't need to stink at the awards banquet or when you go see your family, and you can ship your ugly blazer or a new set of tires. Good thinking, uh, so on and so forth. So, yeah, so you know, you don't have to drag these things around with you during the rally, but you know, it is cool. Like the ADV Cannonball rally in my mind was the cliche ADV rider on his Big GS or his uh with all the bags and top box and all those funny things. Or maybe it was the guy on the KLR 650 with the milk crate on the back held down by bungee cords. And to me, that's what the the look of the rider should be as they pull in Hagar to the to the finish line.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um, I just it just maybe flashback to a conversation we had in the chat, which was in I say the chat, it's like the group chat from 2025. And you you um you put up these really nice jerseys, which are for participants that can be purchased, and there was a lot of conversation about what bike should be on there. What are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, the proper bike is on there, which is the GS 1250 G, you know, GSA. Tanner A700. But there will be other bikes that are on there each year as I change the artwork. Actually, that's the pain in the butt of those jerseys, uh, is having the art artwork commission. So you spend hundreds of dollars commissioning the artwork, and then I can only amortize the recuperation of that cost across, you know, 50 jerseys or something. So right, and you're only gonna sell 10, right? Yeah, right. So I'm like, okay, well, hopefully this works out. But anyways, I'm happy to do it because it is um it is fun to uh to harass people with their poor choices in motorcycles.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, fair enough. Well, I'll do my best. You know, I I do hold on, let me just back up just one second here. When we were in Norway and we switched motorcycles, I gave you the Tenore 700 fully loaded with tools. I had the uh the suspension setting totally cranked to tight so it wouldn't squat down with all the weight on it with the bags. And I was on your 1250. And what did you say about the Tenore 700?
SPEAKER_02:No, it's good, like it gets up and and goes, right? But it's not there is no perfect bike. Let's let let's be clear. Yeah. But for this particular mission of the rally that we're talking about, you know, your mission is different. I was surprised of how much power that that Tenera has. And the truth of the matter is when you took off from me, you know, I have to give it the beans to to keep up. But you know, you you could tell after a day, like there isn't cruise control, that you know, there's all these, you know, comforts that you get with a with a fully loaded GSA. Heated seat, heated seats, and I actually don't like the heated snow. I actually don't like the heated seat because you know, I don't want swamp ass, right? Swamp ass. Can't have a swamp ass. The fun of organizing the cannonball rally is like in 2027, it's gonna start in in Baja, and it's gonna do parts like proper sandy parts, it's gonna do proper, you know, desert racing. Uh, and then that's gonna happen for four solid days, maybe even five. And then, and you know, the guys who have the rally bikes and the tenerays and the six fifties and the four fiftys are gonna like tear that up. But then when we poke our heads into Arizona, and more importantly, when we rip across Texas, the guys that are on the 1300s and the super tenorase and you know the big board bikes, they're just gonna smash it across the inner states, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but they'll be still pulling them out of the sand and all the ten rays will be crushing it.
SPEAKER_02:Right. But if you have a serious skill set, yeah, you know, you can handle it. Yeah. So I think that's what makes the concept of ADV cannonball rally so exciting and creates such great conversation about what's the right bike because there is no right bike. It depends on your skill set, depends on the rally, it depends on so much. And even just organizing, I was just deep into maps and in YouTube videos and and and other resources of even planning the European rally. You know, it's the first European rally in 2027, so it's not gonna be very difficult. I want to be clear. I just want to bring people in, right? Like a like an old man in a in a van with candy. I'm like, come on in, it's not gonna be that difficult. It's okay. Yeah, it's okay.
SPEAKER_03:Like your mama said it was okay.
SPEAKER_02:Shh, it's gonna be okay. And then just like the ADV cannonball in America's, we're gonna turn it up a little bit. It's gonna be a little more difficult. Now we're talking about Baja and sand, and we're talking about dunes and things like that. But then, you know, ripping across interstates. So, anyways, uh this fun conversation, may it be academic, it is still fun to have. And I think a lot of it comes down to your personal skill set, your budget, what you feel comfortable in. But believe me, I I think the Tenerae is a great bike, but I'm not doing seven days on the back of a Tenerae. Fair enough.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, I just want to I just want to say, um, we talked about this earlier, but we skipped this bit. It's like when you you and I are in the in the van driving across, doing podcasting, there's what uh what's gonna be in the back of the van besides the couch that I've maybe poorly assembled.
SPEAKER_02:Right. I need to beg, steal, and borrow, but I need to figure out a bike because I don't have a bike here in the US anymore. So I need to stick a bike in the back of the van. So the plan is, the plan, the plan is we do rally check-in and we load a bike into the back of the van, and then we can take shifts ripping around the bike. So that's also fun, but it also opens up an opportunity for photography. So during the rally, my real job, because you know, scoring is all automated, right? So there's really not a lot for me to do, and you know, the core tenant of the ADV cannonball is self-reliance, and you know, there's nothing really for me for me to do. So photography and social media is my mission. So I'm kind of excited about dropping a bike at a cool spot, going for a rip into a unique location in Moab or at a mountain pass in Colorado and setting up for picture taking. And you can meet me at a natural juncture where you come off the trail, and vice versa. You can go for a rip and uh grab your phone, do some social media, hang out with the riders and see what's going on, and maybe even do some podcasting when someone has a flat tire. I'm sure they're gonna love getting a microphone in the face uh while they're click, click, click, click, click, click.
SPEAKER_03:It's like I like the best picture, one of the best pictures from last year was when Jay was laying under his bike at a clutch challenge or something, and he's laying under the uh under the Indian bagger, and he's like, I'm just gonna lay here and have a cigarette, and then I'll continue this in a minute.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Brian took that picture, and that's exactly it is meeting these guys out there and uh you know, taking those pictures and having those interactions. And actually, more to the point, this is one of the reasons why rally goers must have cell phone service, may it be through an e-sim or a proper service, is so we can see where everyone is in real time. And uh, it was so great to be able to use our own app and see where everyone is in real time. Granted, whenever they had cell phone service, but at the same time, it was so effective. You were able to meet people in uh, you know, set up cameras and you know, that person hasn't moved in a while. And actually, so let's talk about the app a little bit. So, one of the improvements that we are making, and it's not perfected yet, but when you're on the public leaderboard, when you see the icon of a rider, I believe it's in red. A red dot. Yeah. And then one of the challenges I had was well, I wonder what the age is of that GPS. So we've written some code. If the fix is aged by one or two minutes, it will turn to uh yellow. And then when it's five minutes older or greater than that, I think it turns gray. So the benefit is if I'm sitting somewhere and that dot hasn't moved in a while and it goes yellow, then gray, well, that just means that the phone has likely, yeah, lost reception. Or could it be that they're having lunch or sitting or so if the writer has it will still report the age of the reporting is what shows up on the color. Correct. But if the writer loses cell phone reception temporarily, then the age will change. So I'm not thinking they haven't moved. Got it. Now, if the writer has driven into the Colorado River, it will just disappear after a while. And I can't help you with that. You're on your own. Hopefully you can swim. Uh, but we can tell whether or not that writer is moving or not. And just to make everyone calm down, the app works without cell phone reception. You can score checkpoints, and then the next time it connects to the internet, it will report accurately when you achieve those checkpoints. Everyone calm down. Okay, okay, thank you. I'm just getting a little bit a little bit upset there. So the app is still free for other rallies to use. So one of the things I did was, you know, for the foreseeable future, the app is free. So if you run a rally, you can sign up for the app. It's free. Uh, and that helps us with development with your feedback, plus to give back to the community a little bit. Um, some other improvements that we made was the public leaderboard. So if you're a tracker junkie and you're watching the rally, you can see people's scores, and now you can click at the end of the name and view all of the checkpoints each rider has achieved and when they achieve them in universal coordinated time. So that's a big improvement. So, and actually, nice, you know, pro tip here, writers. If you're in the rally, yeah, that is a resource that's available to everyone. So it's in the rules. You could presumably spy on the other competitors and see what they're doing. You can see where they are in real time. You can see if maybe, I don't know, someone is skipping an extreme checkpoint and maybe racing for the first to arrive bonus, or maybe uh someone in the lead of the rally on one day is not going for the first to arrive. And maybe that's an opportunity for you to go for. So, anyways, it helps with that. Plus, you can see if a rider maybe has missed a checkpoint, and then you can maybe relax a little bit on your pace and you can go and grind out and get all the checkpoints. So there it is a usable resource and seeing being able to see where riders are and also the checkpoints that they have achieved in real time. So that's another improvement that we've done.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well done. So before you jump onto that, I wanted to touch it, maybe think about in terms of testing this and making sure it works. Obviously, you have other people using it, you'll be using it. Um, but I also wanted to make a comment about a volunteer that we had to run the first two days. So we had um Simon Alway, a buddy of mine from the yachting industry years ago, and um he said he would run the first couple of days for us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so anyone who has not entered in the rally and wants to run any of our routes, they're welcome to, and we'll give them a token and they can help check checkpoints. Uh although I'm fairly confident that uh that it that it works because we stress tested it a bunch of times, but it is helpful and just to make sure. So, you know, you sleep better at night. Uh, when I run the European cannonball this May, I will have all the checkpoints done and I'm going to run them. I hope I haven't had a commitment yet, but I hope to have someone run with me who can do the off-road, optional off-road checkpoints. So simultaneously, I can run the paved route with, you know, the old man GS. And then someone who's more spry on a better bike can run and do all the off-road checkpoints, and we can meet at the hotel each night. So hopefully that happens. Yeah. So we depart May 7th. And actually, maybe if someone else listening wants to uh run the route with me who's not entering the cannonball. Or uh let's let's be clear. I don't mind people helping as long as they're not trying for the first two rive bonuses and the overall winner. I, you know, I don't think it's uh I don't think it would behoove you to to to be running checkpoints. You could run the route. I think anyone can run the route. Uh that's publicly available, but I don't think it would be cool to know where the checkpoints are. But anyways, so I hope to have someone help me.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. The you know, in um in uh time speed distance rallies to know the checkpoints in advance would be a huge advantage. Granted, this is a GPS checkpoint. But if you're like, oh my god, I gotta slow down for this turn or speed up for this turn, that'd be great.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, but you know, that's that's the beauty of it, is that generally the route is out there for every rally well in advance. So if you had the time, you could go do it. Now, I don't think there's a big advantage to it because the route kind of disappears and then you're chasing checkpoints. So I don't think it's a big advantage, right? Like, you know, let's face it, the guy who's gonna win overall is, you know, the one with the biggest screw loose, right? And the most skill, and you know, the person who knows how to navigate and and and all those things. I, you know, I don't think running thousands of miles, you'll really learn anything, right? It's not like going on the Nurberg ring and learning every single turn. Okay, there's an advantage to that. Like an F1 driver has to know every single bump in the pavement. Whereas this, I don't think there's much advantage. Anyways, I digress. Uh, let's go back to the app. Uh, so some of the things we fixed, we found a bug, or someone else found a bug, which was that if you lost your phone, let's say, and you needed a new token issued, the security system was too strict and it wouldn't allow the new token to be registered. So I'm able now, or anyone's able now who's running the rally to issue a new token and it will dissolve the old token where it is not able to be ever used again. And that sounds complicated, but one of my concerns was if someone had given their token to someone else to go get checkpoints, that wouldn't be cool. Or if they lied and said, I lost my phone, I need a new token, and they had two phones running, that wouldn't be cool either. So, anyways, we found that bug and and and we solved it and we plugged, well, there wasn't really a security hole, there was just too much of a security wall in place.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I hadn't the the the other one you didn't mention that was because you're mentioning that I was that came to my mind, I was like, or if you were really out to be sneaky, you could have somebody else with your token leave an hour before the the the official start time and start picking up checkpoints along the way.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, or even the even the day before, it would be obvious on the scoreboard, like how are you able to do that? But anyways, I just sit around thinking of how people could be sneaky. But anyways, uh the app also now, if it's open in in the foreground, it will prevent the phone from dimming or going into lock. So we figured out how to do that. So um once it's open and in the foreground, it will keep your phone open and on, which is helpful because before you had to go into settings and then keep the screen on and prevent it from locking, but now it just automatically does that. Is that for iPhone and Android? It's for both. I haven't got it to work on Android, actually, but it uh we just need to do an update. But that's my intention, but it does work on iPhone for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean to be to be transparent as well, it's like you did state, and you've stated many times on this podcast, as you've told everyone very clearly, is that the preferred platform to run this on is the iOS.
SPEAKER_02:Because it's just more stable. Uh it's as simple as that. I don't care about the politics of it. It's just it is simply more stable. And if you're out to win or out to get an award, just get a goddamn iPhone. And if you don't like it, you can throw it in the garbage after or sell it when you're done. Just if you're serious about the rally, get the best thing, right? Get the equipment. Yeah, get the right equipment. Um, and then another thing I actually discovered when I was watching Robert's movie was it was unclear sometimes to riders when they achieve the checkpoint, if they actually achieved it, if they don't have the phone connected to their comms. So if you have the phone connected to your comms, it makes a cool sound. You know, checkpoint achieved. Hold on, hold second. Did did you design that sound? I did. It's it's as you know, Star Trek as possible. Uh so if you don't have it connected to your comms, you're like, did I achieve that checkpoint? And you kind of have to look carefully at the screen to read the checkpoint name.
SPEAKER_03:There's a possibility that your phone just might be faking it.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Yeah. No, but listen, we've all suffered the uh the lack of achievement in your checkpoint in your private life. Sorry, go ahead. As I have a quick beer there. Carry on. Carry on. Moving on. So when you achieve a checkpoint, it kind of flashes, it kind of strobes for 10 seconds. So it's obvious that you've achieved it, and then you can just quickly move on to the next checkpoint. So that's one of the improvements we did. Uh what else here? Oh, yeah. At the on the home screen, underneath the writer's name, it shows your current point standing. So you don't have to go to the scoreboard anymore. I don't know why that was such an oversight.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but Aaron, you got to give yourself a break. Like that was the first time you built the app for it. You ran it, you learned about all these different things, and all of this additional stuff are fantastic additions, which give you the data you need to ensure you're standing, ensure that it has, yeah. These are changes you make along the way. So give yourself a break. Great job with the edits.
SPEAKER_02:So uh so yeah, you can see your current point standing on your home screen. It's uh like Taylor says, it's actually not important. Like who cares while you're in the middle of the rally how many points you have? I will do. Some people do say that the points displayed on that screen are the actual points that are reported to the server and reported to the leaderboard. So if your phone is offline and you're like in the mountains or the desert, you achieve a checkpoint. It will flash and that checkpoint will move to the top of the list and say you've achieved a checkpoint, but it won't reflect in the score until your phone gets reception next time, because it pulls that data from the database through the cell phone connection. So, um, anyways, don't rely on it. But when you're in the middle of the desert, who cares how many points you have anyway? So that's why I never really put it on the first iteration of the app, is because it wasn't really that important.
SPEAKER_03:I can totally see this. So one of us gets on the bike from the back, slides it out past the poorly assembled couch, rides out to the top of one of these eccentric checkpoints that you have to do some crazy stuff to get to. And we put a microphone in someone's mouth, in someone's face, and you know, in their in their helmet, and we say, So how what do you think about that? And I'm like, oh, it's amazing. I got up this hill and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I gotta say, the score that's reflected above my name is not the same. This is not, I did get that checkpoint. My phone flashed. You're gonna hear it. You're gonna hear it for sure.
SPEAKER_02:And you're gonna tell them refer to rule two before you get demerit points for complaining about anything.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna say refer to podcast season four, episode seven, about 30 minutes in.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, exactly. Thou shalt not complain. Wow, you're smashing that. That's impressive.
SPEAKER_03:You know, um, this this is uh I was just thinking we better hurry up before I fall down because I've just had a tumbler full of this. It's actually rum, it's not rum and coke, it's a um it's a dark and stormy. So it's a goslings and ginger beer with a splash of lime. So it's a bit fruity.
SPEAKER_02:It's a little bit fruity. So I just looked at the timer here. We were gonna make a short 15-minute podcast. We've rambled on here. So uh I also wanted to mention that how much time?
SPEAKER_03:Where are we? Where are we on the time? We're at an hour, 56 minutes. Oh my god, you can talk.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. This one's on you. This this one's on you, buddy. Yeah, I apologize. So I wanted to mention that I've wasted an inordinate amount of time uh publishing our music, our biker music, and there is absolutely no reason to do this except for a vanity, and some people are asking. So, on virtually every streaming platform or for purchase on Apple, I priced it at the lowest amount possible. Uh, you can get all of our music that you hear on the podcast. So you just search for my name Aaron Puffow, P-U-F-A-L, on any streaming platform, or you can just yell, hey Suri, play Aaron Puffal. Oh, now my now my machines are going off. Why'd you do that? Hold on. Hey Alexa, play Aaron Puffal on repeat for infinity. Sorry about that. So, anyways, if you wanted some cool biker music or very bad biker music, that's how you get it.
SPEAKER_03:All right, very cool. So, just to be clear, you are the genius behind the music that's been appearing in these episodes. Is that my understanding?
SPEAKER_02:Anyways, more to come. But it's actually harder than you think to come up and write all these lyrics and everything. So uh I'm a bit stumped this week. So maybe when I get off the podcast, I'll come up with something I don't think so. Uh so the the music will come back next week. Or maybe I'll just play uh one of our one of our greatest hits. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see if the inspiration strikes me.
SPEAKER_03:You know, maybe some of the genius that we have expounded upon here will come forth and be your inspiration.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. The genius. Uh let's talk about Aaron's ride outs, more uh pontification. Um, so we started a new segment last week of places to go ride, of places that I've ridden, and the map looked scant. Fleak. Yeah. I would just happen to be planning the UK portion of our May trip. And I'm like, why don't I just put all the places that I love in the UK? So that's what I did. So I put a bunch of them. Maybe you could read some of those for people because you know, people know that I can't read.
SPEAKER_03:Fair enough. Here we go. I mean, obviously you can read when assisted by AI, but I'll get this one for you, okay? Right. Please read them for us. Please read them. Ace Cafe, London, number one. Uh the The Bike Shed, number two, London. The Man Cave Upstairs. I'm not sure what downstairs is, but uh maybe I prefer that one. Listen, man, we're all inclusive here, buddy.
SPEAKER_02:You like upstairs or downstairs? You're welcome on the ADV Cannonball Podcast. Thanks, man. I appreciate the acceptance. You're welcome here. This is a safe place. There's no one listening. So we're only number two.
SPEAKER_03:So you know what? This there's the reason we're gonna stay at number two. The um the Baffle House. That's good. Caffeine and machine. The super this is gonna take a second to get this one out. Hang on. Sorry. The super sausage cafeteria. It's a real place, trust me. It's a great baiting me.
SPEAKER_02:It's a real place, trust me. It's not, it's just okay super sausage cafeteria.
SPEAKER_03:Here we go. Super soft, super sausage cafeteria. Thanks. Ah, thank you. Um Pen and Garth Cafe. The checkered flag spelled incorrectly. Yonderman Cafe.
SPEAKER_02:Spell correctly. I'll have you know. That is spelled correctly, you yank. That is spelled the checkered flag with a Q.
SPEAKER_03:I bet you spell correctly different as well, don't you? Q U O R C K E D L Y. I don't know. I gotta go check now.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, go on, read on while I chat.
SPEAKER_03:Yonderman Cafe and the Peak District, in the Peak District and the Victoria Bikers Club. I have to say those are all a little bit tame compared to the one five above it. I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Sorry. In a lot of these places, like Baffle House and Caffeine and Machine, since I've been there, the Baffle House I think has two location locations, and Caffeine and Machine has three. So, you know, the the UK bike culture is second to none. There is nowhere in the world that has such a massive uh positive culture. And they have all these places to ride out to. And that's only some of them. I think I have 20 entries of the places that I've been. Nice. So if I'm missing some, go ahead and check the list. Please check the list first. And if it's not on the list, please send me an email at podcast at advcannonball.com and I'd be happy to add it to the Aaron's rideouts.
SPEAKER_03:To your point, um, the Ace Cafe London. Isn't there one in LA as well?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's, I think it's actually in the book. That I think there's four locations now in I could refer to the chapter, but I won't. But uh I mentioned that in the book, how that guy, Mark, has taken something that was literally a tire shop. They literally were using it to store tires. And he and his friends did a major campaign. Actually, the story is interesting because it's fresh in my mind. They never really started that project, the rebirth of the Ace Cafe. They never really started that project in with the goal of reopening the Ace Cafe. They actually started that journey by having a reunion ride. And he thought he would have, you know, 100, 200 people showed up. Thousands of bikers showed up. Wow. And it was so much support that Mark said, right, let's keep doing this. And that's how the Ace Cafe in London on that famous ring road, where they would pop a coin in the jukebox and try to make it back before it ended. That's how a ton-up boy got their name. They would ride a ton, they would ride really fast. But yeah, that's how the Ace Cafe uh came back to life was through Mark and that one reunion ride. And it was so positive that it turned into a book and it turned into locations all around the world. An amazing story.
SPEAKER_03:Great story. Maybe when we're in uh we won't be in LA again, but for sure London. Maybe we'll get we get that we can actually have an interview with him again.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I never interviewed him, and that was part of the book was saying, oh my God, this guy was sitting here. I actually have a picture with him that I have on social media. So me and Mark, I'm like, you look familiar. like and Sam's like let's take your picture and then while I was writing the book I'm like ah you freaking bonehead I'm like why didn't you talk to Mark? This is a whole podcast so anyways it's on our list of podcasting to go have a proper episode with Mark and actually I didn't make that mistake once I made it twice as a matter of fact when I sat down with Austin Vince his wife is Lewis Price and she is a three time author she's basically written around the world and they live together and it I never even brought it up in the interview. I didn't like how freaking rude by the way to talk to Austin and not even mention his wife or not even get her on mic. So I'm like you moron. Yeah so I talked about her in the book I talked about their relationship you know basically make a public apology of saying I was so focused on preparing for the legend that is Austin that I overlooked their relationship and her story. So I've got her book sitting on my bookshelf behind me and I will prepare for that and hopefully she will forgive me for that transgression and give us some time to have an interview in the same studio in Windsor that we interviewed Austin. So we'll come full circle it'll be it'll be good.
SPEAKER_03:Nice that's uh Lois on the loose was one of her books, right?
SPEAKER_02:Correct. It's exactly right sitting right here by me.
SPEAKER_03:Nice. Very cool.
SPEAKER_06:Ladies and gentlemen can I please have your attention I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. And I need all of you to stop what you're doing and listen.
SPEAKER_01:Cannonball Hey Cannonballers thanks for subscribing to our podcast we appreciate it. If you're not a cheap Canadian and want to buy us a coffee head on over to buymeacoffee.com or better yet buy us a case of sweet ass craft IPA or list it on patreon.com. Links are in the show notes.
SPEAKER_02:Now back to the riveting podcast in progress all right let's um let's talk about some AD cannibal news yeah so I have published on the website the master points standings. So granted there's only one rally but every time there's a rally people's names will get populated and their points will get tabulated.
SPEAKER_03:Why is that significant?
SPEAKER_02:It's significant A for bragging rights. This is the most important reason. And the tertiary reason is your starting grid position is assigned according to how many points you have. So it is uh always at my discretion but you know the first few starting grid positions will obviously go to the people with the most points.
SPEAKER_03:So in this case the winner of last year started off as number what 42?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah so he was 42 or 43 and now he's number one. Just to clarify that meant that he for those who who aren't aware or just a reminder that meant that he started at 842 if it's the time if the official start time wasn't eight he started 42 minutes after the correct and I've had a few emails about that and but just please read the rules because it's about elapsed time and we just do the math and it's about the elapsed time for the first to arrive bonus, which most people aren't going for anyway. So that's a topic for another day. Yeah so that's I've posted that and it will be updated every year and it'll be kind of cool over the years to watch the points um the points accumulate. And I also want to mention that in the 2027 European rally I will be riding from our partners in London down to the beginning of the rally and I'll be riding back to there to drop off the bike. So any alumni who are shipping their bikes over, let's ride together. So I just putting it out there, put it in your mind that if you weren't sure how to get from you know the shipping depot to the start and back, have no fear. We can ride as a group uh we can talk about the rally on the way there and we can complain about the rally after after the rally's done and of course I'll I'll have my GS there. It's just it's just gonna live there essentially.
SPEAKER_03:So is the is the are you going to rent a van during this as well or is it going to be on a bike?
SPEAKER_02:No, it's just a bike. It's gonna be the original you know mission of the rally which is fully independent. It's just gonna be me on the back of my bike. I'll obviously have to drop ship awards and things like that. I'll have to figure it out uh or we'll have to hire someone to to drive out but I'm really excited about the European rally because I mean working with some people where we're gonna have an official after party really cool biker spot. I'm not just guessing I'm talking with people where to do the awards banquet and I found some cool spots and I'm negotiating with it's forming up to be this you know community based thing and not just me looking at uh you know maps and things like that, which I am still doing. Uh I mean reading a lot of books and and things like that. So but it is cool to get this feedback from people and you know have an event that's really community based.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah that's important as well. It also will hopefully lead to more turnout.
SPEAKER_02:I'm kind of working on a schedule for 2027 Europe which is it's looking like day zero in Tarifa will be September 1st 2027. And I'm not sure if it's gonna be seven days or eight days. I try to want to be a little bit maniacal and bring it down to seven uh in true cannonball spirit, which is crushing a lot of miles every day. But I'm a little worried about how much off-road I can do. Uh you know it's the first year. So like I said it's gonna be a little easier than than other years. So I would like to make it difficult. I think people are supposed to be a little bit haggard when they you know in day three when they arrive in the hotel in France. Uh I by the way I've got a really cool hotel idea in uh in Le Mans, France. But anyways, I'm getting all excited about it.
SPEAKER_03:I don't want to let all the things it's gonna be cool.
SPEAKER_02:But uh but yeah that's about the day. So put in your calendar September 1st for day zero. So you probably want to arrive the day before but day zero is check-in day and that will be in Tarifa Spain.
SPEAKER_03:Sweet All right let's um what do you say we talk about some new signups?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah this is basically some housekeeping so um I missed these people on the list but if you don't mind uh getting those uh those people on the air that'd be great.
SPEAKER_03:I'll do the cleanup for you Aaron I'm used to this this is this is normal. Alright new signups this is a bit of a pick we didn't pick up previously Jeff from Westminster Maryland that is uh Maryland my home state has joined Tony and Frank on Team De Luca Bryson and Jason from Utah have joined Team Skidmore.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah they're all from Utah and they sound like a pretty pretty cool group of guys.
SPEAKER_03:Fantastic all right anything else you'd like to pack into those 15 minutes?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah we've uh really stretched the 15 minutes out to an hour and 10 minutes. So uh good job keeping it compact and concise I I I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_03:You know it's what said Mark Twain said I'm gonna write you a long letter because I don't have time to write you a short one. More work. It's more work to get it all into a short one. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:All right listener thanks for sharing a beer with us Taylor thanks for sharing a darker storm with me.
SPEAKER_04:All right brother have a great day and with that let's scroll the outro riders line up and gym screaming down for the riders down the wind chasing ghost and gasoline song From the Carolina store line to the red of the west put the road inside the rest of the day for the bottle to redondo where the Pacific meets the sky we didn't come to live forever we just came to ride to five We gave it all wrong a five star review really helps the podcast and satisfies the algorithm gods all hell the algorithm gods a special thanks to our Patreon supporters you're keeping this sink and chip afloat thanks for listening to the ADV Cannonball podcast keep your right hand cranked and your feet on the pegs
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