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Recently, someone sent me yet another video of an actor riding a Harley-Davidson through South America (no, not that electric one). At least they were planning to ride Harleys, but when their ratty old bikes broke down in Colombia (something about the elevation causing the side of the carburetor to blow out — the video's way of letting us know the actor had no clue what was really the problem) they did exactly what you, Common Tread reader, would do in such a situation: They called Ducati and had a couple of new motorcycles shipped to them for their use for free.
I think from there they went on to discover the meaning of life and the joy of stripping all the possessions from your life one by one, which is a much easier attitude to adopt when you can trade on your name and make a phone call and have those stripped possessions replaced with new ones at someone else's expense. But I'm not totally sure I have that right, because at that point I was fast forwarding a lot.
Then, someone sent me a very different video. This one is by a couple of guys who definitely are aiming lower than the meaning of life and South America. They have a lot less hair and bigger waistlines than the younger guys in that other video and they're just riding the Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) and having fun. And more than a few jokes.
If you're looking for a serious guide to riding the BDR, this isn't it. This is not your video if you enjoy watching an actor blatantly build tension by looking into the camera in a darkened room at night and saying, "Tomorrow we cross the border. I don't know how that will go." But if you want a break from those videos, you may appreciate the parody of the "1st Water Crossing" scene. I say "maybe," because it depends on your sense of humor.
One thing I can say is that Richie Montgomery and John Putch have made a motorcycle video that sets a new standard for not taking itself too seriously.
SOMEWHERE ON THE MABDR? from Putchfilms on Vimeo.
