Why are you doing this?

 

People ask me, “What made you want to do this?”   It started with a blog post on Strobist.com,  September 26, 2011, about photographer Bjorn Holland. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2011/09/bjorn-stopped-by-house-on-way-home.html

STROBIST, is one of my favorite photography blogs.  It was started by David Hobby back in 2006,  a mild mannered photojournalist with the Baltimore Sun at the time who wanted to share his ideas about off camera flash (Strobes).  David has since become an international photo geek “Megastar” creating classes, seminars, excellent instructional videos, and the avid Blogger of the STROBIST.  

Some how reading that single blog entry planted the seed that launched me into planning this trip. But that’s only part of the story. 

More of the story:  In August of 2009 I lost my good friend Jay McCarty.  From the day he got his motorcycle he road it everywhere. One night, on the way home from a friends house, Jay will hit and killed by a drunk driver.  However, that night, Jay was not on his motorcycle, he was on a bicycle.   I can hear Jay now,  “A BICYCLE, are you kidding me!”

That same year, I lost two other good friends, one to cancer and the other to suicide.          

Life was passing fast and I had a long bucket list:   

Loosing three friends, about to turn 50, and a newly found interest in Motorcycles, it was inedible - I was going to have to ride, photograph, and ride some more.  I was going to ride across America and see it one town at a time. No interstates, no cages, just me, the road, and my camera. 

Now What:

The first step was deciding which route to take.  I have been to all of the eastern states from Maine to Florida.  (Stopped in Georgia for a Ham, Egg and Cheese on a hard roll) I have been to many of the southern states, TX, AZ, TN, AR, and California. The middle of the country looked interesting, but there have been so many movies, books and stories about it, I decided it’s been done, done and done again. That left the northern route.  Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, and the Pacific North West, one of my favorite places.   

I added Canada to the route on the advise of some folks at work.  And since I been to all of the states between NY and MN, I decided to go over the top of the Great Lakes and learn to say Eh.

Family:

Once I had my route picked out, I needed to find a way to convince the family this was ok for me to do.   The original plan was to fly them all out to Washington and meet them there for a vacation.  That did not go over well. It also meant I would have to be out of work for a month. That’s when I decided to make it a fundraiser. That way, it was less selfish. (Keep saying it,  you start to believe it).

Why JDRF:

Next I had to decide how to make it happen.  I volunteer my time for Dutchess ARC, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and JDRF in the form of photographic services - http://duanebeyer.zenfolio.com/events

All of these are great causes, but I needed to pick one.  After reviewing them all,  I found that JDRF had the best program for creating a individual fund raiser event that met my needs and requirements (easy to setup).  It's also the one that hits closet to home for our family, Dutchess ARC comes in a very close second.

So there you have it.  That’s my story and I’m,  well…   you know.

Thanks for reading,

Duane