To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

[JackoftheGreen]

Thought maybe you’d grab one of those clam shell helmets you guys reviewed a while back. Lol

Looks sharp though!

The VOZZ? That's a real nice lid, Carrie still has hers. I didn't really care for it myself though. I REALLY like the integrated sun visor, which the VOZZ didn't have, and that clamshell closure makes using comms a real headache, even as innovative as it is.

In other news, Carrie and I have interviews on Sunday to go through the MSF RiderCoach training! How exciting is that?? We're really looking forward to this deeper involvement with the local community. We're both involved in the training culture at our day jobs, so adult education is something we're well versed in. Combining that with bikes, well, that's the grand poomba isn't it? More updates as that progresses, so stay tuned.

It's been snowing here just latey, got a couple inches yesterday and a couple more today, so that's keeping us indoors. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we play D&D as a family and we've got to do a lot of that recently. The kids really enjoy it and it's a fun opportunity to teach problem solving skills, mathematics, and strategy. It's also a great way to learn which of them are too sneaky for their own good.

I think that's all I have for tonight. Thanks so much for reading and feel free to sound off!






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[NorthernPete]

I’ve always wanted to try d&d but never had the opportunity. Played magic TG and world of Warcraft back in the day but always thought I’d enjoy d&d. I enjoy watching some d&d YouTube channels. Puffin forest is a good one.

[JackoftheGreen]

Pete, you should absolutely try D&D if you get the opportunity. The new edition, 5th, is really easy to jump right into and you can get starter kits with pregen characters while you're learning the ropes. If you've watched some YouTube D&D, then you know it's really a lot more imaginative/theater than similar games like MTG and WoW.

We play MTG regularly too, I have a stomp-a-mudhole-is-your-bum Green deck that I like to play with. Carrie primarily uses Red, but she's got a black-and-white that can really be a headache. We've played with the kids too, but so far only one of them seems genuinely interested. They all love D&D though.

My oldest daughter, in fact, just told me a funny story this morning. She plays a halfling (Hobbit) rogue named Verma (the characters third name since we started). In our last session she confronted an orc in a cave. She slid between his legs, climbed up his back and de'capped him from behind while perched on his shoulders. So then, last night, she's working her very first ever dinner rush shift at the pizza place she started working at two weeks ago. She was really nervous about laying pepperonis on pizzas fast enough to keep up with the rush, but she told herself 'if I could take out that orc without a problem, putting meat on pizza will be a breeze.' As I understand it, she acquitted herself very well. I LOVE that she's using her experiences playing the game to inform her real-world challenges.

Okay, let me restrain the inner geek and get on to motorcycles.

Still excited for our interviews tomorrow, Carrie and I have been reviewing the state motorcycle handbook so we're brushed up for any technical questions. I'll post about how it went after we get home tomorrow.

Also, we're laying in the plumbing right now to attend the 2019 Super Hooligan National Championship in San Francisco this fall, presented by Indian Motorcycles. This is sure to be an awesome show and we're excited to rep for TMW while we're there. As always, our ability to cover events like this is greatly enhanced by cash flow, so if you'd like to contribute please consider becoming a Patron. One of our wish-list items for this event is a video drone, we could get some incredible footage!

Well, this has been a long one! As always, much thanks to everyone for keeping up with my blog and tuning in to our articles. The 2019 season is going to be a blow-out and we're gonna meet it head-on!

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[JackoftheGreen]

Just a quick note...

We've been accepted!!

Carrie and I will begin training next month to become MSF certified RiderCoaches! It's gonna be awesome and we couldn't be happier!!

If you've ever taken any MSF courses or are a coach yourself, we'd love to hear something about your experiences. Sound off!



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[NorthernPete]

Congrats!

[JackoftheGreen]

Thanks Pete! We're really happy about it and couldn't be more excited. It's a really good group of people so far and we'll be meeting the rest of the team soon, and we'll be teaching classes by April!

It's been a few days since I've posted, my apologies. We've been busy getting the review of the 2019 Vulcan S completed, that went live a couple days ago on the main page. If you haven't seen it yet, it's HERE. There will also be a companion video to go with it that we're working on this weekend. I'll be honest, most of the prep is getting our office presentable for worldwide dissemination.

There will be more bike reviews to come! There'll be the Kawasaki Z900, and the Springfield and the Scout Bobber from Indian. We'll be rolling those out as through the spring, so watch for them. And as always, I'll try to keep posting updates here so you know what to expect.

Thanks again!








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[JackoftheGreen]

And you thought I was gonna go silent for a couple months again!

Nope, not this time. It's just been a busy week is all.

We finally got around to working through some of the video from our trip to the AIMExpo last October, and compiled a review article and video for the 2019 Vulcan S. Check them out, and on YouTube please remember to Like, Comment and Subscribe!

2019 Vulcan S Article on TMW!

2019 Vulcan S In-Depth Review on YouTube!

And there's more coming! We also rode the Z900, the Indian Springfield and the Indian Scout Bobber. So watch for that material to show up in the next few weeks. We'll be working on them in every spare minute.

We start MSF RiderCoach training this Sunday, and we'll be finished and teaching classes by the second week of April. We'll be journaling our experiences with that as well.

Lastly, I know I said this already, but make sure to SUBSCRIBE TO THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL! We'll be holding a vote in the next few days for the new intro sequence and we'll need everyone's input. Subscribe so you get notified when the vote video goes live and make sure you get a chance to sound off!

Thanks again to all of you who keep coming back here. I appreciate each and every one of you!



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[JackoftheGreen]

Nice to finally get a break! I'm using the time to update the blog!

The MSF classes have been moving at a healthy pace, we've spent time in the classroom and on the range (in the wet and cold no less!) and it's just been an amazing experience. We'll be finishing up the certification through April and then we'll both be fully fledged RiderCoaches! Couldn't be more excited.

We're also excited for the review season here on TMW. I've been buying up all the camera equipment I can lay hands on, so now we have a small legion of GOPRO cameras, SD cards, spare batteries, and the holy of holies, a drone! Well, the drone is on it's way at least. I've got some pretty big plans for the kind of content we'll be able to deliver for the YouTube channel. And no worries if you're not the YouTube type, we'll of course keep writing articles that will live here on TMW.

The last bit of news, we've resurrected our motorhome! I don't know if I mentioned it on here or not, but last spring we picked up a 1986 Itasca Winnebago on the legendary Ford E350 chassis. Unfortunately it had a host of problems and we didn't get much use out of it last season. But we sent the beast to our mechanic for some TLC, and after rerouting some fuel lines and vacuum hoses and a complete rebuild of the carburetor, that monster 460 is purring like a kitten again. Having the motorhome as a travel option greatly expands our capacity for attending media events and tracking down some action. Even at 10mpg and $3.50/g for fuel, it's still cheaper than staying in hotels. So as they say, it's on like bing bong!

Are you aware of any events happening in your neck of the woods?




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[NorthernPete]

Myself and the wife bought a pop up camper last year. Can’t wait for the snow to melt and camping to begin. And biking.

[JackoftheGreen]

Pete, that's awesome news! Carrie and I used to have a little pop-up camper, we pulled in with our Kia Sportage and really had a great time with it. But it started to get too cramped as the kids got older. You're sure to have a ton of fun in it!