I’m back sorry its been a while but the recent chaos that has dominated the headlines over the last few days has led to quite a bit of new activity for the Institute so I have gotten side tracked from the Blog but time to fix that! After arriving at LJS we enjoyed the festivities the CAF organized and then got picked up by The Dom and Nathan and headed north.  It was quite a reunion with many people asking to take pictures with us because well we are quite popular as you all know.  Nathan and I were happy to oblige but the line of people wanting our photos was just too great-

so we had our PR department prepare a photo of us which we then autographed and handed out en masse-it was much easier for us. For the photo shoot I wore my fanciest duds with Nathan going a bit more classical for the photo -and despite the FAKE NEWS making the rounds, we were together during the photo shoot!!  I did NOT use my high tech Photography knowledge (as you all know I did matriculate at Stanford in the Graduate School of Photographic Arts Department)  to splice them into one seamless image so IGNORE the FAKE NEWS.  Nathan looks dashing, of course, while I ROCK my Puffy Shirt Military Prince Uniform.

From then on it was all about getting back to Del Mar, cleaning up/organizing and going to Robertos! Many of you probably wonder how many Robertos tacos I consumed while we were there–I think I did a solid job consuming 7 Robertos Tacos in 24 hours and keep in mind only 3 of those were an actual meal (lunch!) with the rest being snacks in between meals.  After arriving at L’Auberge the entire STR met us to watch game 6 of the Dodgers game vs Milwaukee and yes even our incredibly busy rock star friend Mr. Maust made the journey down south which was fantastic and greatly appreciated by Team Rylo.  We never expected Maust and Dom to be able to make it so a heart felt thank you from Team Rylo! Here we have the group at the bar and robertos–You can see Maust carefully studying the menu before walking up to the window and declaring: “I will have ONE OF EVERYTHING DAMMET!”  Well done Mr. Maust.

and of course Dave and I congratulating ourselves on a JOB WELL DONE!

Yes, here we have Dave and I enjoying a lovely Drakes beer at a place SO fancy they give it to you in a chilled glass….ummmm doesn’t that sound good an ice cold Drakes (blatant product placement for our sponsor)? I think so…….(sorry the angle makes us look like we have freaky large hands…man hands?)…

Since the Dodgers lost there was a momentary moment of sadness but then we realized this meant we could watch game 7 and drink more Drakes the next night–I like beer-I drink beer-do you drink beer?– why is that stuck in my head? So in no time we were happy as could be! Shred and I spent the next day doing all of our favorite things in Del Mar and I must share…

Isn’t Del Mar beautiful! Although I could go on and on I think everybody gets the point and I have captured the main themes of the ride-charity/inclusion/understanding/love/friends having fun and doing a great thing/coolness etc.  I still have one more post where I will discuss the specifics of how much Team Rylo and the CAF raised along with lessons learned/new responsibilities for members of the Ryles Institute and whatever else I feel like discussing its my blog I can do what I want. BUT before I sign off lets get a few questions from one of our favorite people Mr. Tom Tierney!

“Hey Rylo how was the CAF vs the normal Ryloride?” Great question Tom and before I answer I have a quick question for you–I assume that your family knew at a young age that you would be dashingly handsome and quite studly but at what age did they discover that you were one of the 10 smartest people in the world? I look fwd to the answer TT but for my question–Both are fantastic and we REALLY liked doing something great for a wonderful cause and the CAF people couldn’t have been nicer (and the rooms/food/support were FANTASTIC) but we did miss just having the normal Ryloride team for the whole trip…well I guess in the end we did get everybody to join but Bobby…hold on major crying situation……almost…hold on….oh wait another wave of tears….BUT Bobby PINKY SWORE he would attend Ryloride 6!

AND Bobby is ALWAYS on our mind as we ride for some reason…

Wait, TT has another question–“Rylo–why not more of a focus on Mr. Walton?” Another great question TT we love you! The reason I took the Walton focus down a notch was because we have already focused a lot on Bill. Don’t get me wrong we love him and he is our inspirational leader (I assume everybody has read his book…) but with 165 riders and 31 of them joining in RPV the demands on his time were high. We did chill with him and have some great chats at breakfasts/dinners etc but I refrained from trying to capture it all this year. We did get invited to his house for dinner again BUT we didn’t go because we all wanted to watch the Dodgers game/its over an hour each way AND we had just spent 3 days with him.

One more post is coming I better make it good!

 

 

Howdy! After a fairly mellow evening at Dana Pt we were up EARLY again to get day 2 rolling as people were very anxious to get to the end and OFF the bike although for Shred and I this was the best part of the ride so we tried NOT to get caught up in the HURRY UP mentality that was prevalent amongst the riders who had been at it for over a week at this point. To accomplish this, Shred and I headed out on our own a bit before the official ride groups so we could take in a little more of the scenery on the route as this part of the coast is really what the ride is all about and it was a GLORIOUS day.  It was literally 75 degrees and sunny all day which made me so happy I wept off and on throughout the ride.  The ride begins with a straight shot along the PCH until you head inland to ride through Camp Pendleton which is always a highlight for us cause we are just guys who wished we were tough enough to be Marines…but, we weren’t….look away we are hideous..

Sidenote–to make up for our lack of toughness in our youth ALL of the members of The Executive Committee of The Ryles Institute got their TOP SECRET security clearance last year. We did it for a few reasons: 1) We really wanted to hear Dom tell stories from HIS days in the Special Forces (yeah he WAS tough enough to take this path-see below)

but all of those discussions are classified so The Ryles Institute required all members of the Executive Committee to get their security clearances so we could hear all Dom’s stories and it was WELL worth the effort let me tell you 2) The Ryles Institute has expanded our footprint by taking on some “official” high profile clients and to get those contracts in place we needed our clearances anyway so the Head Of Govt Affairs hooked us up on both fronts. Who are these new clients? I am not allowed to name these new clients but I think its fine if I give you all a hint….FB_,  C_A,  NS_…..But, I digress, so we arrived at Pendleton where many were turned away but Shred and I sailed through as the guards immediately recognized us and waved us through-here are some pictures of the group heading to the gate (see how they funnel u into a narrow gap with high fences on either side and lots of guns at the end…classic military planning. Here are some pictures of the morning and the arrival at Pendleton:

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Once we made it past this rather large Marine we cruised through the base where we did see quite a bit of activity on base.

After we got through Pendleton it was a spectacular ride through all the coastal towns (oceanside/Carlsbad/Encinitas/Leucadia/Cardiff/Solano Beach/Del Mar) until we arrived at Torrey Pines for a Champagne reception prior to the big ride in to La Jolla Shores:

Now many of you are wondering if we stopped along the way at Robertos to get a taco….well I sure did!

And I also conducted business during the ride.

Once we arrived at Torrey Pines I took some time to reflect upon the journey-

Before we did the last 2 miles to finish the ride. Now this part was really cool because we had a big police escort from all these Motor Cycle Cops who literally shut down TP road for our group which actually was quite massive and impressive:

We rode in as a huge group to LJS where they had a huge party and the ride concluded. Tears were shed. Hugs were shared. Shred and I gave speeches and signed autographs and well then we met up with STR……Im going long lets leave it with a few more pictures and I will conclude the annual blog shortly.

More Later including STR and questions from the fans!

 

 

 

Hello again lets get to the actual CAF ride!

For Day 1 of the ride they started us out with the normal giant breakfast-I had 4 servings of bacon….

then they had a big group photo of all the riders and then they fine tuned to the “2 day riders” with the Challenged Athletes which is below:

In this picture we have only 50 of the 170 total (i.e. its a big group) and u can see shred and I in the back row (Thats where Rylo always has felt most comfortable)  in the center! After the Photo ops they corralled everybody into the starting area and sent us off in 2 large groups vs the normal daily 4 group ride options.  Which group you joined depended on which of the 2 ride options you chose for the day–they had the Epic, which Dave and I chose (74 miles), or the Classic for those wanting a bit less at the very end of the journey down the entire state (55 miles). The difference was the epic route  rode back up and around RPV–sort of a giant loop way up to the top of the hill where you get up high enough to have a great view of the entire Valley Of Death–Wilmington.

You then cruise down these fantastic winding roads and go back down into RPV before heading back to the PCH and due South. I had never been that way and it was really a nice ride. Here are some pictures of the morning:

Dom made sure we had a Destroyer following us along the coast in case we needed any extra “support”!

Instead of the normal route through the Valley Of Death we went along the water front for most of the way but there is no escaping it you have to go through the main trucking route across the bridges which is always exciting! Shred and I took every precaution but despite that we were nearly run over by a bus. Yes somebody apparently hired a bus to run us over and they made their move in Wilmington!  We were riding along minding our own business singing show tunes when the bus tried to run us over by abruptly cutting into our lane which forced Dave and I to take evasive action, which we did, by riding  up onto the sidewalk on our bikes and praying which luckily worked well. The funny thing is this guy on the sidewalk started giving us a bunch of crap about riding on the sidewalk and it started to escalate quickly so Shred and I sent Dom the prearranged signal for We Need Chuck :

And literally 30 seconds later Dom was on scene and the situation was resolved:

That was the only difficultly so for the rest of the ride we enjoyed the coast and made our way through Newport/Laguna and into Dana Pt where we stayed the night. Here are some more pictures of that part:

Our serious pose at the Shake Shack-

We finished off the day with a formal dinner program and LARGE dinner which was quite yummy.  Next I will cover the quick ride into LaJolla where we met up with Nathan and STR! I hope to get to that tomorrow!

 

Sorry for the delay there was no service in Dana Pt and we were quite busy anyway as the CAF is all about top notch service and keeping you busy! The drive down was very uneventful and it was actually a lovely day on the 5.  Dave and I pondered the plight of those who farmed the land along the 5 and we were BOTH sympathetic to their difficult lifestyle AND thankful for what they do. We can be quite thoughtful when we choose to be.  We were prepared for a difficult journey over the 5 and through LA but the commuter lane afforded us with a speedy option through town and we pulled into The Terraneo around 3 and it was go time from that point on. The CAF MDC is a BIG operation. This year there are 165 riders doing the ride. They used to have it capped at 100 but they said that rider feedback requested a larger group and a HARDER course SO they added mileage to days 1-5, added an extra optional day (day 0) and moved many of the hotels in order to add elevation as well. These people I tell ya! I would have voted to make it easier after 2014 BUT we have some amazing athletes on this trip and they wanted harder so harder it was!  130 of the riders did the entire 7 day and then there were us “2 day riders” who joined in RPV. This was the first year they offered the 2 day route and they had 31 riders sign up for this option. The CAF ride is top notch on the rider comfort side so there are a LOT of people supporting the 165 riders with the mechanics/logistics/masseuses/food/hotels/events etc–its a LOT of people but they do a great job. Here are some pictures of our trip and arrival at RPV:

Bill had a new look this year he went for the full on heavy application of sunscreen and didnt wipe it in all the way….more later.  And, yes we did get thirsty after such a long day on the 5–so, well, I like beer?  I drink beer–do you like beer? That sounds so familiar…

We got to know the lay of the land at the resort and then we had a program/food event from 6-9 and YES the programs are all tear jerkers. They have several of the challenged athletes speak/tell their story and boy they never leave a dry eye in the house but in a good way.  Shred and I were soaking it all in when our good friend Bret Barker arrived!  This is one of his publicity photos so its quite professional:

Despite being a busy father of 2, Bret found his way to meet us after another 14 hour day in the office (this is not unusual for Bret who often works 7 days a week). As a Platinum sponsor Bret was able to enjoy the receptions and interact with any and all of the Challenged Athletes and Staff.  I think he really liked it and we sure liked having him there even if there was a lot of crying at our table! Thanks for coming Bret:

After dinner that was about it for the official events but we had a ton to do anyway as we got all our CAF gear when we arrived so we had to get all organized etc and be up for our 6 am breakfast. After you eat you run to the room get dressed and haul your luggage to luggage drop off/take your drop bags to their respective locations/retrieve your bike get her all ready and head out! I will throw up some pictures from that and get to Day 1 next.  I wanted to be more on top of this but after you ride for 6-7 hours you immediately have options at the ride in area/then you shower and boy its right on to the cocktail party/dinner/show we were busy!  Here is all the gear I got!

  

And they are off!

I will leave it there for now as I must catch up on some of my other writing obligations and I have lots of good pictures for the full riding days coming up!

Hello again! The excitement is building as we are just over 12 hours away from our departure to meet the CAF crew in RPV.  Our scout vehicles,  which drove down ahead of us to clear a path, report MASSIVE crowds lining the streets waiting to catch a glimpse of Team Rylo as we drive through their various towns. 

Don’t worry we will honk and wave as we pass by! I can only imagine how many people will be lined up when we ride by on our trusted bikes….But before we get to the good stuff of meeting the Challenged Athletes and reconnecting with the CAF staff and our dear friend and biking mentor Bill Walton, we must schlepp down the 5 so we have an early departure tomorrow morning to get this event going! As has become a Ryloride tradition I will present each riding member with a fantastic treat bag and since its only me and Shred this year on the bikes I REALLY outdid myself and created a treat bag worthy of being copied. ….Check it out:

WOW! I created quite a nice collection of fantastic items that every person should have! We have 5 of my favorite books–a Handlebar bag for the longer rides–an extra charger (aka The Logan Went Missing) given the length of the ride and electronics we run during the ride–some well needed beverages AND of course the ultra cool classic VW Bus Igloo cooler….and guess what….it all fits in….

You guessed it the cooler! I was inspired by the coffee table book which also was a multi use item.

Now I am sure you noticed the Drakes Beer and yes I am pleased to announce that RR5 is OFFICIALLY sponsored by Drakes Brewery! Holy cow it just gets better by the minute.  There will be more on this sponsor and others as we move down the coast along with plenty of product placements but now that you think about it aren’t you a bit parched?? Maybe a nice ICE cold Drakes IPA would be the perfect solution!  Anyway, more later…

Shred will be so excited about the treat bag please don’t tell him he hasn’t seen it yet!

Once we arrive in RPV we will synch up with the potentially LONE member of STR (this isn’t confirmed yet we may still get Maust to come stay tuned–he does have Rock Star stuff to do) The Dom! Yes! Although some may find it hard to believe we were able to get The Dom to run the transportation for RR5 given his immensely busy schedule but we did and he will be driving the highlander from RPV to Del Mar where he will meet up with Mr. Rose and then retrieve us in La Jolla. I know you are wondering who will be portraying The Dom on the blog this year? Once again this was an easy one–Ladies and Gentleman I give you STR 2018/RR5 The Dom!

As head of weaponry acquisitions The Dom requested that we upgrade some of our “equipment” to deal with the scary conditions in Wilmington so The Executive Committee of The Ryloride Franchise approved The Dom’s request and we have some fantastic new toys for RR5!

The Dom assures us he has the appropriate licenses to operate the new equipment so we are ready to roll! You really can get anything on Ebay.

During our last Strategy session for Team Ryloride we were discussing ways to get through Wilmington safely when Shred told us that back in the day he was QUITE the kickassss dude so between him and The Dom and our new “equipment” we are feeling much more comfortable about that portion of the trip:

Ok take a minute. I mean the boots alone….well ok there is MUCH more going on but well done Shred thanks for sharing that picture from the old days. Additionally, given my background I am also able to help out if it gets really gnarly as I too am a well trained former military pilot:

-wait, where do the keys go?  Ok, enough about Wilmington (you can see how scary it is) we must move on. Well I wanted to get to the Ryles Institute to tell you what we have been up to but I need to go do the final preparation for the trip so I will have to get to that at a later time but before I go I am THRILLED to report that we added some senior female leadership to the Ryles Institute!  When we did RR last year I thought the world was inane but the insanity has only gone up a few dozen notches so we staffed up accordingly at The Institute….Given the chaos in the legal community we decided to go after some of the greatest legal minds of all times and I am happy to report that after a LOT of convincing we were able to add our NEW Head of Legal at the Institute:

She obviously needs no introduction…when I asked her what she thought of the new Supreme Court Justice she refused to answer…with words…

OK….moving along….I am also THRILLED to announce that we have also added one of the most powerful women in America to our ranks…now this one wasn’t easy but when she reviewed all of the fantastic and worthwhile work The Ryles Institute has done she immediately agreed to join so ladies and gentlemen our new Head of Global Initiatives :

OPRAH! Who DOESN’T love OPRAH? I do.  I look forward to working with her and know she will teach us all so much! I have a LOT more to say but I really must go so until tomorrow–SO LONG!

Rylo.

 

Yes it is getting close to go time with the ride less than a week away for Shred and me. In fact, the people doing the entire Sausalito to SD ride officially started their trek at 7:15 am today! Thankfully I was sound asleep but still planning strategy while I slumbered.  Dave and I have officially committed to driving the Highlander (no it is NOT named after the #1 movie of all time but good thought) to Rancho Palos Verdes this year. I wanted to take a spryer vehicle but I couldn’t get 2 bikes onto the back of the car so the Highlander it is.  They have a new start location for the ride this year (vs. Santa Monica) as they switch it around due to road closures etc.  Normally that would slice 15 ish miles off the ride but not for the CAF they now have the official route taking a hard left in Newport Beach (mile 40) and going inland over the 5 and up into the hills until you pop back down in Dana Pt. at mile 95! 95 Jerry that is a big number!  Because this route lops off some of the best coastal views of the day Dave and I consulted with our logistics team and they mapped out an alternative route which we will follow on our own—Staying in our lane and running our race!—because well we want to ride the coast so the coast we will ride! Click on the picture to make it bigger:

Enough of the logistics, who is coming and who is not AND if not WHY not is the big question.

–Bobby J: Our good friend was planning on coming but then somebody wanted to throw down and well Bobby threw it down and violated his parole which means he cant leave the state and hence was unable to make RR5. Yes we are sad. Tears were shed.  We considered cancelling the ride but then Bobby GENEROUSLY came in to sponsor Team Rylo at the Platinum level so ALL is good we still love Bobby with our whole giant hearts and wish and hope to see him next year! Don’t worry he will make guest appearances on the Blog its in his contract.

–Rob Rowe: As some of you know Rob went missing a few months back. Just completely fell of the radar. We became worried and used some of our resources from the Institute to search for our dear friend and I am happy to say we now know where he is and what he is up to.  Rob is a thespian, not that there is anything wrong with that, and his heart has always been with the theater….Side note and this is 100% true—Rob appeared in THE HIGHLANDER—well, part of his arm did, but this is still super amazing as this movie has been widely recognized as the Greatest Movie of All Time. Anyway, Rob was offered a part in an Off Off Off Broadway Production of “Kats”. Kats is the story of a man who believes he is part feline and lives in Central Park as a Cat sleeping in the trees etc. I hear it opened to rave reviews.  Since Rob takes his roles very seriously he decided to try and live as the character in the play did so off he went in full costume to spend a few nights in Central Park.  Since Rob is busy with the show he wont be able to attend RR5. More tears are shed.

–Nathan:  Mr. Rose wont be joining us on the bikes this year but will be participating in the latter half of the ride as he is residing in Del Mar (I know isn’t that awesome) and will be meeting Team Rylo as we ride in with the CAF fanfare to end the event in La Jolla Shores.  Nathan wanted to make the journey but pressing business at the Institute prevented his attendance–yes  he is busy opening up the Del Mar Branch of The Ryles Institute. More on that later.  So don’t worry you will all get to see plenty of Nathan during the trip.  Deciding on who would portray Nathan on the blog was just super simple this year so here we have Nathan:

Shred: Obviously Shred will be in attendance as my ride partner so he will be well represented on the blog. We are doing the drive once again so we are REALLY hoping the 5 isn’t closed this time! Shred has decided to renew Sean’s contract for another year so there you go.

Me? Yes I will be in attendance for RR5! Only question for me was whom should I choose to represent me on the blog? In the end it came down to 3 choices:

–#1 was solid the Dread Pirate Roberts/Farm Boy but alas I have already been portrayed by a character who carried a sword (see below) so I went another direction.

 

–#2 was in strong contention up until I saw him in some roles that frankly scared me so once again sorry not this year John.

–#3, and here we have the WINNER for RR5!!  It was a difficult choice but we decided to go with the person who I looked the most like and indeed we found my doppelganger.  Yes soak it in a spitting image, no?  Prince Harry will be playing my part this year and agreed to let us call him Harry!

I think that is quite a bit to absorb in one reading so I will sign off for now and get back to STR soon. It’s Happening!