Road Kill Diaries

The 2009 Virginia State Harley Owners Group rally in Roanoke this year succeeded in spite of itself. Organization became a problem as schedules changed, staging areas moved without notice and those who were supposed to know what they were doing too often didn't.

Group rides were apparently mapped out with MapQuest because the routes often showed little imagination or appreciation of the many scenic roads in the area. For example, the proposed route for the ride to Natural Bridge was up I-81 to the venue and then back on I-81.

I-81 is not only a boring ride, it can be dangerous one with trucks whizzing by at 85-miles-per-hour when rally rules call for not exceeding the 65-mph speed limit with bikes.

As one of the road captains for Natural Bridge, we scrapped the proposed route and took the more scenic route up U.S. 11.

I also served as one of the road captains on the parade from the Sheraton Roanoke to the Market in downtown Roanoke. FUBAR was the order of the day as bikes were told to stage on frontage road but then some were directed to the Holiday Inn parking lot by an event staffer who didn't know where the bikes should stage.

Registration turned into a nightmare for some. Those not pre-registered had to look for the registration area because information for on-site registration was missing from the web site (even though one part of the web site said the registration information could be found on the schedule page).

Still, the parade went off pretty much without incident, those on group rides enjoyed themselves and most seemed to have a good time -- proving that the desire to have fun can overcome most problems.

Jerry "Motorman" Palladino (above with associate Mary Ann Hamilton) puts on a hell of a show, demonstrating the low-speed handling techniques used by motorcycle police officers. His "Ride Like a Pro" DVDs are best sellers and have taught many riders how to handle their bikes at low speed.

He does, however, need to work on his geography. This past weekend, while appearing at the Virginia State Harley Owners Group rally in Roanoke, Palladino repeatedly told audiences that his wife Donna, who usually appears with him in shows, was in Texas because "our son is graduating this weekend from the Air Force Academy."

The Air Force Academy is in Colorado, not Texas, and graduation for the Class of 2009, was May 27, not this past weekend. The Air Force's Basic Military Training school (boot camp) is at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio but there is a big difference between going through the eight-and-a-half week BMT course as an enlisted man and four years at the Academy in Colorado Springs.

I tried to talk to Palladino after his show to ask him about moving the Air Force Academy from Colorado to Texas but there was a long line waiting to get his autograph and I had to sprint over to another part of the Sheraton Hotel parking lot help stage a ride.

Last year, a Motorcycle Safety Foundation trainer, who was one of the instructors at a Rider's Edge Course that my wife took at Shenandoah Valley Harley-Davidson, claimed Palladino had never been a motorcycle officer. She was from Florida, where Palladino's "Ride Like a Pro" operation is based.

I searched the 'Net to see if any others had questioned Palladino's credentials but found nothing to collaborate the MSF trainer's claim so I dismissed it as possible jealously on her part. I did find a St. Petersburg Times story from 2004 that identied Palladino, at that time, as a deputy with the Pasco County Sheriff's Department and his police motorcycle is visible in the photo that goes with the story so that proves he was a cop as claimed and did ride a police bike. A July 4, 2004, Tampa Tribune story about a new female motorcycle officer with the Pasco County Sheriff's Department notes she filled the vacancy left by Palladino's retirement from the department to he could devote more time to his "Ride Like a Pro" business.

A good showman sometime embellishes and I suspect Jerry was on a roll when he said his son was graduating from "The Air Force Academy" instead of basic training. Either way, his kid is serving his country. 

I'm also glad to discover the MSF instructor was lying about Palladino's credentials. Jerry's videos and classes do help many become better riders and he has done a lot to promote motorcycle safety and awareness.

(Updated June 23, 2009)

Put 565 miles on the Super Glide over the weekend with Saturday's ride to Paint Bank and a Sunday ride that began with breakfast with fellow riders at the North Star Restaurant in Buchanan and then a hop up U.S. 11 to Harrisonburg to check out a place where Amy thought II might find a three piece lawn sculpture to replace one that was stolen earlier this year.

Afterwards, took U.S. 33 to Shenandoah National Park to pick up the Skyline Drive for a 50 mile hop down to Waynesboro and the northend end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Skyline Drive is a good, twisty, scenic route where the emphasis is on a leisurely ride (mandated by a 35 miles-per-hour speed limit.  Lots of turnouts to stop and enjoy the view and chat with fellow riders.

Another nice day and another great ride.

Left Floyd Saturday morning with no particular place to go. Rode up Virginia Rte. 8 to Tuggles Gap for breakfast and then back down 8 to Christiansburg where New River Valley Harley Davidson was holding a classic car and bike show.

Not much to see at the show so I headed West on U.S. 460 to Virginia Rte. 42 for a ride over the mountains to New Castle, then left on U.S. 311 for another ride through the twisties to Paint Bank.

Paint Bank, home of a Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Trout Hatchery, lies at the intersection of U.S. 311 and County Road 600. The hamlet is built pretty much around the Paint Bank General Store which has the Swinging Bridge Restaurant in the back. The Depot Lodge across the road -- a rennovated train station -- features four rooms for guests.

As with any stop along twisting mountain roads, Paint Bank is a popular stopping point for motorcyclists. Bikes line the parking lot and along side the road on weekends and many of those eating at the restaurant.

From Paint Bank you can continue on U.S. 311 to Crows and eventually end up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, home of the Greenbriar, or you can head up Rte. 300 along Potts Creek and into Monroe County, West Virginia, where the road turns into County Road 17 and winds through the Jefferson National Forest before venturing back into Virginia and intersecting with U.S. 460 West of Pembroke.

I opted for the ride up 300 and through the national forest. Good ride most of the way along some of the road was covered with gravel from recent rains.

By the time I pulled into the garage at the end of the day I had logged just over 200 miles.

All in all, a good ride.

Harley-Davidson may have scrapped its "Screw it...let's ride" ad campaign but after two days of drenching rain, I'm ready to wheel the SuperGlide out of the garage and spend what is forecast as a nice weekend for riding.

I was supposed to photograph a tractor pull today but mud from the last two days of wet stuff has left the ground to muddy for even tractors so the day is free.

A buddy needs to ride down to North Carolina to pick up an oxygen sensor for his Buell. Maybe I'll go with him.

Or I might head down into deep Southwestern Virginia towards Abingdon and Bristol.

Or I just might hit the Parkway and cruise.

So many roads, so little time.

Harley-Davidson has put the screws to its "Screw it...Let's ride" ad campaign.

Seems the company has second thoughts about the image the campaign projects.

Image? Harley-Davison is second-guessing its image?

For years the company has cultivated an image that pushes the edge. A tv ad called "respect" (above) showed a rough-looking Harley rider showing up at a trailer while a young couple is in bed. When the woman looks out the window, she tells her bed-mate "it's him!"  The man in bed hides in the closet while the Harley rider comes into the bedroom and climbs into bed with the attractive blond. The camera zooms into a wedding photo on the night stand. The husband is the one hiding in the closet.

So the company that put that ad on the air now wants to clean up its image by cancelling the "screw it...let's ride" campaign?

When Harley goes politically correct we know times are tough.

Even with the rain, eight bikers arrived at the Roanoke River Wayside on U.S. 11 near Dixie Caverns Sunday afternoon for a poker ride to benefit Dalmatian Rescue of Southwestern Virginia.

For me, the route looked familiar. Up U.S. 11 to Christiansburg for the first stop at Duncan Honda, on through Christiansburg to Virginia Rte. 8 to Riner Food Market, then on to Floyd to X-Press Mart followed by north on U.S. 221, down Bent Mountain, to Back Creek Rescue Squad and then on to the final stop at Green Hill Park near Salem.

I ended the ride with three 9s and that was good enough to win the grand prize: A $300 tattoo from Asylum Studios in Salem.

Which leaves three questions:

• What design?
• Where to put it?
• And when to have it done.