50 States The Great Unveiling!

We stood and peered at the bike, side by side, our arms crossed. Like guys do. Me and the wrap installer.

He shuffled his feet. "You a veteran?"

"No. I just love this country." 

I never thought about that. You see an American flag motif and think, 'vet.' But I designed this for a number of reasons. First, because we're touring the USA, and the American flag seemed a fitting theme. Second, a bit of a tribute and retro look, inspired by 'Captain America,' Wyatt from Easy Rider. Good bad or indifferent, he and Billy stirred something in me in 1969. Third, I wanted an eye catcher. The bike draws people, the trailer too, and the wrap will bring them like bees to honey. I love red, white and blue colors too. And I thought the eagle on the front looked bad ass.

 

Each saddlebag bears a map of the country, with Alaska and Hawaii included. We can draw our completed route with a Sharpie. Fun.

Another advantage of the wrap is it protects the paint job during the trip. Aftewards, grab a hair drier and voila! A fresh new look.

There isn't a shot yet, but my helmet is blue with white stars and Quilter Girl's is red with white stripes. 

Isn't that deep green grass an awesome background? The city of Henderson makes great parks and takes excellent care of them. I rode around the perimeter of the park and found a spot where the maintenance crew just finished. I eased the bike across the field, grabbed the camera and shot rapidly. Sure enough, here comes the maintenance guy on a Mule.

"Hey, you need to get your bike off here."

He was cool actually, and I asked for forgiveness after 'failing' to ask permission. He just asked me not to spin and tear up the grass. With a thousand pound bike dragging a trailer through the grass, I just wanted to stay upright. I took a lazy half circle and tiptoed out

of there.

Hats off to Warrior Wraps. They did a great job, albeit rather slowly. I'll take a bit of responsibility for that one, opening our negotiations with, "I'm in no hurry." Not good. But she's ready for the long trip. There you have it, the '50 States in 50 Weeks'express!