To Know Us is to Love Us......

Before getting too much into the ride, there's a history that simply must be explained. To do so, here's a little blurb about each rider, their "story", and how this all came about...




Scotty Dudley: Known aliases- Overtime / Chewy
Ride: 2007 Harley-Davidson Road King

Scotty, or "Overtime" as he's affectionately known to his riding Brothers, retired a full bird Colonel, United States Marine Corps. Bored in retirement, Scotty moved to do what we all secretly yearn to do in retirement... He chose to uphold the Law?! Though not as a lawyer, prosecutor, or police officer mind you... Rather as a Governor appointed Magistrate in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Have him tell you how he got the job... Nothing kinky, but damn funny!!!

Scotty is a veteran of two foreign wars. Having flown and lead squadrons of both F-4 Phantoms (Vietnam) and F-18 Hornets (Desert Storm), he knows a thing or two about what it means to go fast. Motorcycling is Scotty's methadone (for lack of a better term) and nothing, not even serious illness, is going to keep him from that. As the recipient of a Purple Heart, as well as a slew of other medals I won't pretend to know anything about, Scotty's given almost everything he's got to his country and we're all damn proud to know him. Now in retirement, Overtime is a scooter junkie... Living each day for the next ride.

When Overtime rediscovered his love of riding, it was through an Ebay ad for a hopped up '02 H-D Deuce. Having ridden a Honda street bike and a Yamaha motorcross bike back in the 60's and 70's, a 1450cc Harley-Davidson Softail is not exactly an easy bike to reaquaint yourself with road on two wheels... Though not bothered by such a mere inconvenience, Scotty drove to South of the Border, SC to meet the guy who would sell him the bike, down from Richmond, VA. He looked the Duece over, threw a leg over it, fiddled with the mirrors, paid the man, and rode it home...

A short while later my In-Laws, also a Marine Corps family and long time friends of the Dudleys, called to tell me about their crazy friend who, with little to no riding experience, bought a Harley Davidson and can now be seen tooling about Beufort on this beautiful, yet loud, Harley machine.

On my next visit to Beaufort, I met Scotty at an annual Thanksgiving event known as "The Turkey Fry". We talked about bikes, riding, etc, and I told him all about Washington DC's famous "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle rally in memory of Americas POW's and MIA's. My wife and I offered Overtime a place to park his bike and lay his head if he was interested, and what do you know... He showed up!

An otherwise unlikely pairing of friends, Scotty is now someone whom I trust implicitly and would follow to the gates of hell. Evidently riding can bring people of all ages and backgrounds together... There's certainly something to be said for that.

Scotty Dudley is a proud Husband, Father, Grandfather, and pet owner. (Pet Owner?)
He lives in Beaufort, SC with his beautiful (and extraordinarily tolerant) wife, Darlene. And while their kids are now adults and on their own, they keep the house warm with a squawking attack bird by the name of Lisa, a big goofy Akita, and an old Yellow Lab.

Scott's daughter, Jenny, and her two children live not all that far away from Beaufort in Pensacola, FL while his son, Andrew, currently resides in Lompoc, CA.

Andrew is also a big part of this ride as he and his wife have so graciously provided us with the West Coast launch point from their home just north of Santa Barbara. Andrew will also serve as the ATW '08 Road Captain through at least two states; California and Arizona.




Nelson Velasquez; Known aliases- Tuna / Flying Burrito
Ride: 2006 Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe

Nelson, AKA, Tuna, is my partner in crime. When Tuna and I met, it was through our wives, Devin (his) and Sara (mine). Immediately we began noticing subtle similarities between us. For example, Tuna had a male Rottweiler named Taz(RIP), and I have a female Rottweiler named Jazz... And that's just one of many...
Turns out, Tuna and I share the same birthday (02/16), though two years apart. Suddenly, more and more of these similarities started popping up and it wasn't long before our love of riding came to bare.

Having had a bike for some time and having been on the verge of selling it for having no one to ride with, when Nelson let me know his plan to get a bike, I knew I had a riding partner for life. Just like Ponch and John!! Only I'm not blonde and he's not Mexican... (Guatamalan, close enough)

Still, more similarities. Tuna named his bike "Annette" for his favorite Hollywood Starlett, Annette Benning. I named my bike "Willamena" for the COO of Harley-Davidson, Willie G. Davidson. Tuna decided to prospect for a club and, low and behold, it didn't take much convincing for me to prospect for that same club. So it should go without saying that when I asked Tuna if he was interested in riding coast to coast with our good friend Scotty, without missing a beat or blinking an eye he said...
"Let me ask my wife!"
And so, we go...

Nelson and his wife, Devin, have a home in Falls Church, VA with their 5 year old boy, Nelson Jr, whom we affectionately call "Nelo".




Steve Sarcione; Known aliases- Rigid / Big Daddy
Ride: 2008 Harley-Davidson Road Glide
1996 Harley-Davidson FatBoy

Steve, AKA Rigid, is one of those genuine guys who just makes life a little more interesting and a lot more fun. Like Scotty, Steve retired a full bird Colonel having spent 27+ years in the Army. When I first met Steve, it was at a hotel party in Arlington, VA hosted by his club, the Boozefighters. As an active member and officer in his chapter, I was blown away with how passionately he spoke of the Boozefighters, and more than anyone else, Steve is who sparked my interest to start hanging around this club. I'm ever thankful for the opportunity to get to know and ride with the Boozefighters, and Rigid's open acceptance of me is what's made that a reality.

But on to more entertaining subjects about Rigid... I mentioned Steve retired from the military after 27 years of service... Well, when he retired, he RETIRED. On my second run-in with this character I hardly recognized him... The first time we met, Rigid was clean shaven and wore short hair... Exactly what you would expect from a ranking officer in the US armed forces. A short while later, Steve RETIRED. From then on he let his hair grow, grew a goat-tee, and has been letting it go ever since! Now, with his hair just about pony tail length and his goat-tee braided, Rigid embodies the very essence of what every biker longs to be... Free.

As I've gotten to know Rigid, the similarities between he and Scotty (in so far as both being career military men and motorcycle junkies) were glaringly obvious. Tuna and I started talking to Rigid about this ride somewhere around 4 or 5 months into the planning phase, and though he's retired from active service, Steve still works as a consultant, so for a while there he was a question mark... Then one day, he figured, "I'm gonna go! In fact, I'm gonna buy a new bike and commit to it!" And so he did! In fact, he got the Daddy of all touring bikes... The Road Glide! Tour pack, heated grips, stereo, the works!! And just in time, 'cuz Rigid's FatBoy wouldn't have made it..........

Speaking of the FatBoy... We're talking about one slick looking bike... Motor work, wheels, custom paint, beach cruiser bars, no front fender... This thing is a baffleless screaming thing of beauty... Though to say the ole gal has been put through her paces is a bit of understatement. It's the little things, you know?? Like the bottom of the gas tank falling out and bleeding fuel all over the bike, the highway, Steve himself, you name it! If some passer-by would've hit Steve's gasoline trail with a lit cigarette, 'ole Rigid would have taken off like a comet! And then there was Dallas... While pulling into a parking garge, Rigid noticed his headlight was jumping all over the place! When suddenly he realized, the headlight had fallen OUT of the light housing and was bouncing up and down off his fenderless front tire!
I'm told it looked like something out of a Road Runner and Coyote cartoon... Priceless!

Now THAT'S a well ridden motorcycle... And that's Rigid... If there was a missing piece to this crew, Steve was it. We couldn't be more fortunate to have him along on this ride. I've no doubt we'll never be short of good times and good laughter with Rigid on the road...

Steve lives just outside Charlotte, NC with his wife, Francine, in their custom built dream home... Here's to the shortest commute, Man!!





Shane Yerkes: Know aliases- None
Ride: 2003 Harley-Davidson FatBoy

As for myself, I've been riding motorcycles in one form or another since I could reach the shifter... I grew up learning to ride on my buddy's brother's KX-80 Big Wheel motor cross bike and fell in love with it from the start. My first bike of my own was this crazy thing my Dad built in the garage using a refurbished bicycle frame, a Briggs and Stratton 5 hp motor, no front brake, a twist throttle, and a cup-wheel rear foot brake... Essentially what that means is, I would stand on the brake and a spring loaded arm that reached back to the rear tire would literally LOCK the tire by grabbing the rubber on the tire's surface. It was a hell of a way to learn to ride!

I got into street bikes as soon as I had a license. In '88 I bought my first street bike, a 1983 Seca 550, for $450.00. I wrecked it that very weekend! Cracked the oil case on the motor, bent the shifter, broke the clutch handle, pitched the mirror in a dumpster, and walked it home... About a 2 mile walk. I found an old scrap yard, bought the parts I needed and fixed it up, put about three thousand miles on it, and sold it for $400.00 6 months later!

Soon after I got a job as a porter and parts guy at a local motorcycle shop and got to ride just about every kind of metric bike imaginable. It was a hell of a deal for a kid who loved bikes but couldn't afford a decent one! Some time later I bought a Honda VTR-1000 SuperHawk brand new, wrecked it twice, walked away from both, and gave up cafe bikes all together.

I got my Harley in September 2002... A Hundred year anniversary edition FatBoy, and I've been riding slow and low ever since. Motorcycling is a part of me to be sure.

After meeting up with Scotty, adopting Nelson as a brother, and getting to know Rigid, the upcoming coast to coast ride with these characters is an opportunity of a lifetime for me. I can honestly say that I haven't looked this forward to anything since my marriage to my wife almost 6 years ago, and I'm honored to make this journey with these men.

I live in Fairfax with my wife, Sara, our two dogs- Jazz and Bruiser, and our two cats- Sampson and Delilah.