Road Captain USA

I was patched as an official HOG Road Captain for the First State HOG chapter earlier this evening. I am very proud of this accomplishment and thank everyone who supported me including our Road Captains, Road Captain Prospects, and members who participate in my rides. 

When I dubbed this website www.RoadCaptainUSA.com I never meant to imply I was a Road Captain. I started going by the online handle Road Captain on other blogs and biker forums only as a way to create visibility for my site. I clearly stated on my About Page that I was the FSH Activities Officer. Some of you may have been disappointed to find out I was not officially a real Road Captain. I considered myself a Road Captain of the Internet; through my blog posts I can guide you and give you useful information that will make your biking experience better.

The more I immersed myself in writing my posts and group riding with our club the position of Road Captain began to interest me more and more. There is sort of an art form to being a Road Captain. It’s like zen biker martial arts with elements of karma, style, intuition, wisdom and the ability to execute the moves correctly. I also liken the RC patch to the black belt. Like Mr Miagi pointed out to young Danielson, it’s your skill and accomplsihments that make you a black belt… not the belt itself.

Now that I have earned the patch, I am glad to finally be legitimate! Thank you all for bearing with me and now that I am legit I hope you continue to read my blog and participate in my rides.

Tags: HOG®, News & Announcements, Road Captain Stuff by Jay Green
14 Comments »

To be patched as a Road Captain is a great honor. The Road Captain can make an ordinary ride into a spectacular ride. The Road Captain leads his club and they follow knowing full well that their Captain will lead them as safely as he can. His focus is to lead the group safely and make the trip enjoyable. Just like a Captain at the helm of a ship, he is going to guide you through the adversity that is the open road.

For the prospective Road Captain eager to learn the ways of the road you can only hope to find a willing mentor. Some of you may be fortunate and join clubs with well established Road Captain programs. Others may not be so lucky. Maybe you are trying to start your own club from scratch. Maybe you live in some distant corner of the planet far away from Milwaukee where there are no other motorcycle clubs to model yourselves after. You may feel lost like Luke Skywalker seeking out instruction from Obi Wan and Yoda.

You can take the Riders Edge Experienced Rider Course. You can watch the Ride Like A Pro DVD series. You can watch the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s group riding video. You can get yourself some good books on riding proficiently. But where I ask… “Where is a Road Captain manual?”

Does your club have it’s own manual?

Do you know of a manual that is available to the public?

Is there a reason that this manual may not exist?

If you have one, can you mail it to me or tell me where I can get one?

Tags: Road Captain Stuff by Jay Green
26 Comments »

Although many of you on the Internet know me as Road Captain, I am not yet officially a HOG Road Captain. As the Activities Officer for First State HOG I have been put in the position of leading some of of the rides I have planned. Leading members of my own club that I ride with often is OK with me. Today was different. Today I had to lead a group of strangers who I have never met through a poker run course in southern Delaware. I don’t know the backroads of southern Delaware that well. I have been through the course 3 times, but still I worried that I might miss a turn with 20 bikers following me. Those backroads are too tight to pull a U-Turn on with a group that big. The pressure was on! Here are some of the questions and situations I experienced: [Read more →]

Tags: Road Captain Stuff by Jay Green
18 Comments »