Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 I know there lots of stories to be told on this ride. Post away. Here are some teaser pictures. Taken on Glendora Mountain Road (model=Shaynej). (model=Dave) (model=Jerry) (model=Greg) (model=Scott) (model=Don) (model=Bob) 11 Riders michaelf3 (Michael) shaynej (Shayne) SGVridgerunner (Dave) Wheatie (Scott) VFR Capt. Bob (Bob) JBAXX (Jerry) Redneck7769 (Greg) Birdman (Fred) L8asusul (Don) Tooslow (Patrick) Dmarq (Dave) Should have known the ride wasn’t going to be short. First of all VFRCapt.Bob missed the turn-off to the ride by a good 30-40 miles. We finally got going at about 8:45am. Half way up the Glendora Ridge Road, L8ASUSUL low-sided. His bike has a broken windshield and rashes on the fairings. L8ASUSUL took the low side pretty well, just small cuts and scratches on his hand. Birdman stopping to help L8ASUSUL dropped is beloved VFR on its right side. The right mirror is scratched, but not broken, small scratches on the lower right fairing, and dented right muffler shield. Birdman’s frame slider took much of the impact. In this instance, the slider saved the fairing from further damage. A few miles more on Glendora Ridge Road (GRR) a Harley guy crashed and had to be air lifted. The road was closed on both sides for about 30 to 45 minutes. We lost three riders after the air lift, no they didn’t go over the edge on GRR. With all the delays Birdman, Dmarq and Tooslow decided to call it a day. That left 8 riders to do the loop on Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) to Hwy 39 back to GMR. After having made the loop, halfway down GMR towards Glendora side, the group stopped to take some action shots. 7 riders went around a 180 degree turn and I took over 700 shots at more than 4.4GB of memory. As there were some interests in Wheatie’s ’86 VFR. I made sure to take a few. Also showing is L8ASUSUL's. Crash site for L8ASUSL. L8ASUSL's VFR after the low side. Harley Guy Crash. Here's VFRCapt.Bob and Wheatie getting arrested for Obstruction of Rescue down biker. The Group. Shots of Hwy 39 leading to the East Fork. Action Shots of the Group (remaining 7 riders minus the photographer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JBAXX Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Wow!! Awesome pics. Great job, Michael!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Great picture! I hope to join you guys next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShayneJack Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 That kinda puts a damper on any additional photos... Now I feel like pondscum being the first to post pics after that one. What an awesome model. Nice lines through the turn too... ok, enough self indulgence... shaynej, L8asusul, Wheatie group bike pic prior to VFR Capt Bob's arrival departure... Birdman, L8asusul and tooslow VFR Capt Bob trying to quietly walk away from an impressive blacktop display just as 5-0 pulled up... too bad the tire smoke was still lingering in the air... And finally... Full Size Apparently VFR Capt Bob was SO EXCITED about riding today, that he threw in an extra 88 miles JUST FOR FUN!!! WAY TO GO BOB! WHAT A TROOPER!! MAP KEY: A - VFR capt Bob's initial starting point B - "hey Shayne, how do I get there from Beaumont? Geez Bob, what are you doing in Beaumont? " C - Our meetup spot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShayneJack Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 gotta give Don credit on this one, he lowsided into the side of a mountain! Then after dusting himself off continued on the rest of the 9 hour trip and STILL went out on the road for the action shots... This guy is a TANK! L8asusul? MORE LIKE TANKBOY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFR Capt.Bob Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 That kinda puts a damper on any additional photos... Now I feel like pondscum being the first to post pics after that one. What an awesome model. Nice lines through the turn too...ok, enough self indulgence... shaynej, L8asusul, Wheatie group bike pic prior to VFR Capt Bob's arrival departure... Birdman, L8asusul and tooslow VFR Capt Bob trying to quietly walk away from an impressive blacktop display just as 5-0 pulled up... too bad the tire smoke was still lingering in the air... And finally... Full Size Apparently VFR Capt Bob was SO EXCITED about riding today, that he threw in an extra 88 miles JUST FOR FUN!!! WAY TO GO BOB! WHAT A TROOPER!! MAP KEY: A - VFR capt Bob's initial starting point B - "hey Shayne, how do I get there from Beaumont? Geez Bob, what are you doing in Beaumont? " C - Our meetup spot... And the scariest part is looking at that map I would have had to enter a worm hole to get to Beaumont and the 10. I took the 57 N. toward 210 when my carpool lane grew concrete wall put me on my own bridge to the 60 east. To my great disappointment I thought I was heading west and could pick up the 605 to the 210 and all would be right in the world. I now despise the 60 as every motorist on the fwy was speeding with blood lust in their eyes. I'd given up on the ride when I saw Hemet and then Beaumont. Pulled into a Denny's for a conciliatory breakfast and a call to Wheatie to say I wouldn't make it. I humbly apologize to all the VFRD riders who I delayed. This was new and uncharted riding territory for me. Thanks Shayne for giving me directions from Beaumont and all the others for their friendly welcome when I finally got there. I was weak from dehydration when I got home. Too many unplanned stops in the heat and no meal break. I think a breakfast or lunch stop should be planned into every ride. I commend all the riders who went way beyond the call to keep the group together on this ride. Who knew a freaking rescue helicopter would land between two groups of riders delaying our ride indefinitely. Don's little disagreement with a turn. Got up dusted himself off, got the bike started and finished the entire ride with style. Then Birdmans bike fell off it's stand just as we were getting over Dons crash. A lot of little dark moments on that little undivided dirty road who's name I shall not speak. Funnest moment of the ride was Michealf3 taking pictures as we buzzed and strafed at the same 1/4 mile. I think the cloud had lifted at that point and everyone started having some fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Birdman Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Great group of riders today. Thanks, Michael, for organizing and photographing. Shayne and Dave helped keep things together. L8's (Don?) spill looked worse than it was, although maybe that's cuz he hopped back on the bike like Brett Favre jumping up after getting sacked by Lawrence Taylor. I'm both embarrassed and sickened by dropping my viffer. That was sure stupid. And sorry for my "early" departure. I needed to get home timely to celebrate my 9 year-old's birthday. That would've been unforgiveable to miss. :wheel: We lucked out with the fantastic weather. Many awesome photos there, Michael. And that '86 VFR is incredibly clean. Those photos honestly do not do it justice. When somebody said CaptBob was running late, I said, "Oh, he's from Long Beach." Then somebody told me, "No, he's from Beaumont!" Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I agree with JBaxx about GMR once we got away from Day Camperville it was awesome. My thoughts on GRR is Gonna Ride again Reluctantly, The prob is it's single lane w/two way traffic and I had just been surprised by the Yellow BMW rider as I came around the blind left leading to the right hander. Still no excuse for standing it up in the turn with 1/8 mile visibility. All tolled, I was still a fun if not long ride. And contrary to a few comments..I have no plans continue my Dual Sport career :wheel: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 My thoughts on GRR is Gonna Ride again Reluctantly, There's better roads around, and some of them connect to other great roads. :musik20: Unlike GMR or GRR, which connect to.... Um... Each other! I call incest! Avoid these roads. GRR! :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SGVridgerunner Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 GMR = Greatest Mountian Road EVER!!!!! OK, OK, so there were a few unexpected incidents, so what. That could happen anywhere. Sure, the road isn't racetrack smooth, but think of it as a challenge, we're all better riders now :musik20: We encountered blind hairpins with no centerline, oncomng traffic in our lane, sand and rocks on the road, police presence, and scorching heat, but look on the bright side - there were no rattlesnakes in the road this time :fing02:. Great pictures Michael! I hope to see more. I like the top picture. Any chance you got shots like that of other riders (wink, wink). Seriously though, Michael commanded presence at our "Phototurn." A few other riders were passing through, and when they saw the cameraman, they proceeded to do multiple runs on the turn hoping to get a picture or two. I'm telling you, Michael could have made some cash today, just at that turn. That guy on the scooter had me in stiches. He was just cruising down the hill when he saw Michael with his camera. He decided to do a little showboating and then target-fixated on the huge berm exiting the corner. At first I thought he was just messing around, but when he almost took the big plunge, and saw the look on his face, well...it could have ended very badly. He ended up just taking off down the road and didn't look back at us. HA HA HA, scootersquid. Did you get any pictures of him Michael? All in all, I had a great time. The weather was fantastic, we made some new friends (CBR guy and the LEOs), the Busa ran great (considering how tight the road was), and we got some great photos. We just might want to start earlier next time (that's right Shayne, I said NEXT TIME) :goofy: . I hear it helps if you close the road at each gate and send a few scouts with brooms to clear the corners. :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Wheatie Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 GMR = Greatest Mountian Road EVER!!!!!OK, OK, so there were a few unexpected incidents, so what. That could happen anywhere. Sure, the road isn't racetrack smooth, but think of it as a challenge, we're all better riders now :musik20: We encountered blind hairpins with no centerline, oncomng traffic in our lane, sand and rocks on the road, police presence, and scorching heat, but look on the bright side - there were no rattlesnakes in the road this time :goofy:. Great pictures Michael! I hope to see more. I like the top picture. Any chance you got shots like that of other riders (wink, wink). Seriously though, Michael commanded presence at our "Phototurn." A few other riders were passing through, and when they saw the cameraman, they proceeded to do multiple runs on the turn hoping to get a picture or two. I'm telling you, Michael could have made some cash today, just at that turn. That guy on the scooter had me in stiches. He was just cruising down the hill when he saw Michael with his camera. He decided to do a little showboating and then target-fixated on the huge berm exiting the corner. At first I thought he was just messing around, but when he almost took the big plunge, and saw the look on his face, well...it could have ended very badly. He ended up just taking off down the road and didn't look back at us. HA HA HA, scootersquid. Did you get any pictures of him Michael? All in all, I had a great time. The weather was fantastic, we made some new friends (CBR guy and the LEOs), the Busa ran great (considering how tight the road was), and we got some great photos. We just might want to start earlier next time (that's right Shayne, I said NEXT TIME) :goofy: . I hear it helps if you close the road at each gate and send a few scouts with brooms to clear the corners. :goofy: It's a great ride DURING THE WEEK with the exception of the stretch of unlined road. GMR is good riding; GRR pretty much sucks, especially on weekends - I'd still ride it all again. Hypocrite? Naah. Just want to do some twisties and get more comfortable with them....... Thanks to Michaelf3 for putting this all together and doin' the photo shoots..... the latter part of the ride was super! A little warm, but hey, it's August ! ! ! :fing02: :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted August 11, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Here's another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sailcycle Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Here's another one. I love these sequence shots. Please share how you did them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JTG Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Here's another one. Michael, I'm sure you're doing fine with your day job, especially in SoCal :ph34r: But you should start selling these photos I'm sure you would have an instant following, they are really cool :lurk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer redneck7769 Posted August 11, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 11, 2008 Well even with the few incidents and the many many stops it was still alot of fun. Thanks Michaelf3 for putting this together and also thanks for all the great photos. I think I took the same photos as Shayne so I'll leave the photo posting to Michaelf3 the master photographer. Great ride and ready for the next one. Don hope your not to sore today. :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Awesome pics Michael, thanks for posting! Get a watermark on those in a hurry! Glad to hear you guys had a good ride, and that no one was hurt(badly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JBAXX Posted August 12, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Here's another one. And the award for best lean angle goes to....................REDNECK!!!! Good job buddy! Seriously, this pic should be the new VFRD banner. And He was behind ME all day??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Michael - website idea for you - "beyourownMotoGPgrid.com" :beer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted August 12, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Any chance you got shots like that of other riders (wink, wink). If it's not a crime it should be for me to be posting a busa photo on VFRD. Having said that, Dave consider this a pre-move present. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer redneck7769 Posted August 12, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Here's another one. And the award for best lean angle goes to....................REDNECK!!!! Good job buddy! Seriously, this pic should be the new VFRD banner. And He was behind ME all day??? Thanks for the award :goofy: I'll wear it with pride till our next group ride when I can pass it on to someone else. :beer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SGVridgerunner Posted August 12, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Here's another one. And the award for best lean angle goes to....................REDNECK!!!! Good job buddy! Seriously, this pic should be the new VFRD banner. And He was behind ME all day??? And can you believe his pucks are still clean????? Thanks for the sequence shot Michael, I will cherish it with pride and show it braggingly around my office :beer: :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted August 12, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Here's another one. I love these sequence shots. Please share how you did them. Nothing too complicated, it's just time consuming. Basically, it's just working with multi-layers in PS3. For each rider image in the sequence compilation, it's a different layer. So if the sequence has five rider images, it has at least six layers (including the blank background layer). From there it's just cropping, stitching, erasing, cloning, feathering and a lot fixing, like making sure the double yellow lines are properly connected and align at each stitch point. The only beef I have is to do a really good photo stitch, it takes a long time. Even just putting 5 shots together with Greg's picture, it took about 1.5 - 2 hours and I wasn't too concern about the little details and blemishes. There's much easier way to stitch multiple photos, the photographer has to know what type of products he/she wants to put out (deliver) before taking the picture. A little up front setup before taking any photos can go a long way and would have saved me a lot of time on the post processing (which I didn't do on this photo session). I should mention having the right equipment for post processing will help. The last thing you want to do is to have to wait 30 seconds or several minutes for the photo to render. I'm running a quad Intel with 3GB ram and a 24" wide monitor. For large files like these a large workspace is a must. Many times you have to work at full magnification in order to remove/add details to the stitched photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SGVridgerunner Posted August 12, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 The only beef I have is to do a really good photo stitch, it takes a long time. Even just putting 5 shots together with Greg's picture, it took about 1.5 - 2 hours and I wasn't too concern about the little details and blemishes. There's much easier way to stitch multiply photos, the photographer has to know what type of products he/she wants to put out (deliver) before taking the picture. A little up front setup before taking any photos can go a long way and would have saved me a lot of time on the post processing (which I didn't do on this photo session). Wow, I had no idea it was so involved. We really appreciate your time on this Michael. The sequences look great, and I think the one of Greg should be submitted for this year's calendar. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Wheatie Posted August 12, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2008 Here's another one. Michael, I'm sure you're doing fine with your day job, especially in SoCal :rolleyes: But you should start selling these photos I'm sure you would have an instant following, they are really cool :fing02: I wholeheartedly agree ! ! Flaunt your talent, dude ! :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JBAXX Posted August 13, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 13, 2008 Thanks for all your hard work on these photos Michael!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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