March Monthly Update
Ozark Escape - Motorcycle Camping - Spring is Coming - Photo Challenge - Motorcycle Monday - New Mexico Exploration - Listening to Podcast Hate, why do we do it?
Good morning everyone, I hope that this little update finds you all doing well. The weather is starting to show signs of spring here in Northwest Arkansas. I know that some of you are still battling the weather, so our thoughts go out to you. I like doing things in the garage like most of you, however, there is only so much I can do to the motorcycles and Jeep. Plus it gets expensive quickly. haha! So hang in there! Spring is coming and we look forward to seeing you all over the next few months.
Ozark Escape May 5-7, 2023
The Ozark Escape is right around the corner. It looks like we have over 40 riders already signed up and it will only increase. Make sure to get your rooms as quickly as possible as May kicks off the busy season in Eureka Springs. Go to the Ozark Escape website for more details. We have the ADV routes completed.
Special Thanks to Dustin & Kate at So Live So Ride for getting those together and for leading the rides at the event. There is some big news coming soon as they are working on opening their So Live So Ride Moto Ranch, so stay tuned for more information, when it becomes available. Jump over to their social media to learn more straight from them when it happens. Thank you Dustin & Kate for making the Ozark Escape one of the best riding events of the year.
Motorcycle camping - The season is almost here. This year we have made a commitment to do more 2-wheeled camping. I used to motorcycle camp a ton in the past and I don't know why I got away from it, but this riding season we will be doing more camping.
We are having an informal get-together here in Northwest Arkansas over the April 14-16 weekend. This is going to be a test run for our moto camping gear. The campsites are awesome, they have showers and bathrooms and the best news is they are close enough for Jamie to cook a great meal for the gang on Saturday night. I will be posting pictures on social media so stay tuned. If you are in the area, shoot me a note if you would like to participate. We will be doing some pre-runs on the Ozark Escape ADV trails. We are doing a North Carolina camping trip on the bikes in July. Should be a great time. You can learn more about that here. NC Smokey Mountain Summit.
Facebook Photo Challenge
I have started a group on Facebook, that promotes riders to take photos while riding. Each week, there will be a theme and all you have to do is go ride to an area that meets the theme, take a picture of your bike and the item listed as the theme, and then post it in that week's thread. It is easy and fun and the main goal is to get folks out riding and exploring areas, they might not otherwise ride to. If you would like to join, go to the Facebook group and request to join.
Motorcycle Monday
A few weeks back, I was on the MSTA Facebook group and decided to throw up a topic for conversation. 120+ comments later and I thought it would be a good idea to do it every week. I just wanted to generate some conversation and enjoy the riders' stories, pictures, and thoughts. It seems to have become something that the group looks for on Monday so I will keep it going until the participation dwindles. Check out the MSTA Facebook group. It has a ton of good folks who love motorcycles. I am a proud member of the MSTA and really enjoy the group. If you would like more information, go to https://ridemsta.com/
What do you all think of Motorcycle Monday? Have any ideas for a week's topic? Send me a note or leave the idea in the comments below.
Exploring New Mexico
Jamie starts her spring break next week, so we are heading to the Land of Enchantment to visit some family and friends and I will be doing some off-road exploration as well. I will be exploring some of the backcountry routes around Albuquerque, Sante Fe, and Los Alamos. I have found some forest roads that look ready for some exploring, but not too difficult since I will be doing this solo. One of the stops will be the Gilman tunnels. I was born and raised in NM and have never gone to see these, so that will be on my agenda.
I will be posting some of the pictures on my Instagram account so go subscribe to see the images. For all of you that live in NM, do you have any cool spots you would want to share? Shoot me a note or leave it in the comments.
Why do folks listen to hateful, hypocrisy-driven podcasts?
I understand that we live in a world of shocking news, controversial thoughts, and hateful and negative content. There is a reason, that I stay away from mainstream media and the folks who consider themselves the moral compass of America. One of the places I go to get away from all of the above is to listen to motorcycle or overland podcasts. That is one of the things I love about this type of content. I love hearing the thoughts, stories, and recounts of people enjoying life while taking part in our amazing hobbies.
This brings me to this week's question. Why do people listen to negative, hateful, hypocrisy-driven podcasts? I listen to one podcast, that a couple of years ago or so, was a good listen. They spoke about the TREAD lightly philosophy and most of the episodes were driven by overland content. Then something happened. Something changed and this individual thought it best to course correct his podcast, to become somewhat the "Jerry Springer" of overland podcasts. He started calling himself the Overland curmudgeon, attacking a number of content creators and trying to convenience anyone that is listening that he is all about the safety of the forest and public lands and that he is concerned about how content creators are a bad influence on new people who might be interested in our great hobby. Maybe it is to get a larger audience? We all know that some people love listening to negativity. Just look at today's mainstream media. My question is why is that? Here is an example. He mentions that everyone overreacts to the Moore Expo. He talks about how it was not worth his time and he left after an hour or so after arriving the one time he attended. He also mentions that he would not be back, not his thing.
Well, what do you know? Now he wants to attend to antagonize folks that do attend. Sounds very Jerry Springer-like to me.
In the past year or so, this podcast has become very nasty in content regarding content creators, tour companies, and just about everyone else that he disagrees with. I am okay with people having different thoughts on issues, and I also understand that we can all agree to disagree on certain issues. There is plenty of room in the overland community for all of us to enjoy.
Where you lose people's respect is when you attack people personally. You use hateful terms, attacking individuals and their families. You lose all of the credibility you might have had when you do that. It is uncalled for and downright disrespectful. He talks about how he dislikes Keyboard Bullies... You sir are a keyboard bully. This person also goes on rants about not supporting content creators via Patreon. He tries to insinuate that the content creator is taking advantage of people by offering Patreon memberships. The last time I looked, my supporting content creators were all controlled by me. Not the other way around. Also, why would anyone care who is using Patreon to support or be supported? On a side note this podcast used to have a Patreon account and would ask for support. He also admits to supporting content creators that he now attacks weekly on his podcast. Strange I know.
His rants against people leading guided tours to the Ozark are laughable. Yes, anyone can go out and explore trails and find campgrounds on their own. However, a lot of folks have jobs with limited time available and do not mind paying to save some time and take advantage of the limited time they might have. They might just be looking for a good experience. Why should he care who pays for these tours? It's almost laughable. Sponsorship also comes up a lot as of late on this podcast. He can't understand why anyone would listen to or work with other companies to help support their content-creator endeavors. He tries to demean folks for doing reviews, offering discount codes, and talking about sponsorship. Again, the ultimate person in charge of my spending is me. Yes, I like to listen to folks that use the items I am looking at, to get their thoughts and to take advantage of a discount code if possible. Why should he care? Also another quick note, he denounces folks who speak and promote discount codes but then takes part in a campaign for coffee, you guessed it offering a discount code. For those of you that remember Arsenio Hall, things that make you go Huuummm!
He talks about how content creators purge their comments to get rid of negative comments. The last time I looked that is the prerogative of the creator. I know that I sent this person an email about a homophobic comment he posted on Instagram only to have that comment deleted. I pointed out his hypocrisy. I am not mad about it, why? Because it is his Instagram account he can do what he wants with it. Just strange that he would call out others for doing that. I have wasted enough time on this subject. I guess I needed to vent and I genuinely would like to know if folks think this is a positive for the overlanding community. Do we need podcasts like this? Shoot me a note in the comments section. Please be respectful or you will be blocked and the comment deleted. I want to leave this with you all. The world is full of hate. I was just hoping that hate would stay out of the hobbies I like to take part in. I have met some great people in this community. I follow and support a few content creators and do not apologize for that at all. I take advantage of discount codes when it is beneficial for me. I am a proud owner of a tour company. I enjoy my Youtube page and playing at the podcast thing from time to time. If folks want to support us that is GREAT! If they don't, that is GREAT as well. We all get to make our choices.
Be kind to everyone, and be safe on the trails and on the road. We are so excited that spring is right around the corner. Say hi if our paths cross we would love to chat with you all.
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