RideLust

Audi’s TT-RS will be imported into the U.S. in a limited quantity of just 1,000 units, and each one features 360 horsepower and the latest generation of Audi’s quattro AWD. North Carolina’s Tail of the Dragon, on the other hand, features 318 curves in 11 miles of road, complete with plenty of elevation changes. Unfortunately, it’s also complete with plenty of idiot drivers and motorcyclists, driving (or riding) above their ability. As a result, accidents (including fatalities) are commonplace, and law enforcement is paying more and more attention to speeds on the Dragon.

In the words of Yogi Berra, “No one goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.” If you can manage to hit The Dragon mid-week and off season, your chance of having fun is greatly increased. If you can hit it under those circumstances in an Audi TT-RS, you can call us jealous. Read More…

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's about to be a distraction...

I’ve never heard of the Russian girl band SEREBRO, and I don’t speak a word of Russian (which, to my untrained ears, sounds a lot like forcing a weasel into a garbage disposal). I’m not a big fan of pop music, either, but I will suddenly admit to being a huge fan of SEREBRO. It’s got nothing to do with the band’s music, and I think you’ll enjoy the video a lot more if you turn the sound down. If you’re a heterosexual male, however, I assure you of this: you WILL like this video. Read More…

I-90, somewhere in Montana. Image: smithje77

You Tube user smithje77 was moving his family from Seattle to Maine, so he did what any of us would have done: he wrote a script in python to have his Droid take an image every ninety seconds, then he set this to video and dubbed in a Woody Guthrie tune, which he also performed.

And by “any of us,” I mean not me. I’m adept with an iPhone, but I draw the line at writing apps. As for setting images to video, I still struggle with Photoshop, and I’m fairly sure that people would pay me large amounts of money to NOT sing. I sure as hell can’t play guitar, but I have driven across this country more times that I care to ponder. Read More…

That’s right, we made it! We just conquered 2,987 miles in a 22-foot Penske box truck with a bench seat, 71 mph top speed, archaic suspension and an average fuel economy of 7.4 mpg. It was a long road (literally) but thankfully one that was void of any bad tidings. I’ve done a lot of cross country driving over the years, but I have to say that this particular run was very special. You see this one was a life changer for this native New Yorker, as California is about as close to New York as oil and water when it comes to people, weather and life philosophy. One thing however that remains constant though are the cars… those wonderful, wonderful cars.
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Image: Pat Hawks

From 1974 though 1987, 55 miles per hour was the national speed limit. In the early days, the limit almost made sense, since those were the dark times between our first and second gas crisises. Back then, most cars on the road weren’t getting 30 miles per gallon, so restricting speed in the name of fuel savings became the logical thing to do. Somewhere along the line, groups embraced the 55 mile per hour speed limit since it was “safer” than the old 70 mile per hour limit. When the double-nickel fell in 1987, those opposed to raising the national speed limit predicted carnage, death and highways flowing red with blood. Read More…

Well it’s been 2,353 miles so far and I’m happy to report that the big International is running strong. So we blasted through Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa which were boring as hell from our view on Interstate 80 heading westbound. Wyoming, Utah and Nevada however are a totally different story as the terrain had finally begun to change and we were able to ditch over 1,500 miles of pure corn. We are now residing at the start of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Nevada and truth be told, it’s epic. I’ve been here before, but I’m always amazed just how overwhelming it is when you see it in person. Its expanse is mind boggling and the fact that it is the home of the land speed record is like hitting the holy grail for a car guy.
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*The world’s largest truck stop…

Well it’s day 2 of my cross country move to Cali and let me say that when I said yesterday that stuff doesn’t get exciting until you hit Colorado, what I meant was that I-80 Westbound is one of the most boring stretches of road in existence. For example, I just drove through the rest of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and landed in Iowa, and let me tell you… if I see any more roadside corn I’m going to vomit. Yes, there are wonderful automotive attractions in some of these states, but for shear visceral stimulation you might as well be staring at plywood. Tomorrow’s drive should be better, at least the second half anyway as I still have to muscle through more corn in the remainder of Iowa and Nebraska. After that though I hit Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and then finally, California, states where the landscape is a bit more pleasing to the eye.
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It’s true… I’m moving to sunny California. In fact I’m currently 625 miles into my journey as I type this from my hotel room from someplace in Ohio. Understand that moving 3,000 miles away from the Motherland (New York City) for me is a big deal. You see I’ve lived my entire life in and around the boroughs of Manhattan. In fact I was born in NYC proper at the now defunct St. Vincents Hospital down in Greenwich Village. I’ve lived in 5th floor walk-ups, battled giant rats one-on-one that would kill a normal man, and had all manner of guns, knives and pipes pulled on me on the subway. I was also right there in the mix on 9/11, a day that will forever be burned into my psyche as one of the worst days of my existence. In some ways being a New Yorker has made me hard and mean with a short fuse that can be ignited at a moments notice, but it’s also made me sharp as a f*ckin’ razor when it comes to people who try to get one over on me. New York is a blessing and a curse, but in the end, it will always be who I am.
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“Body by Lamborghini, High Fidelity By Alpine” – those were the words written on the poster of the red Lamborghini Countach that I had on my wall when I was a kid. I stared at that image day after day for years hoping that one day I’d have one of those iconic machines in my garage. It was a lofty goal for sure, but hell, if one doesn’t have aspirations then what’s the point of living right? I also had a poster of a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV, a car, that in my opinion, is the most beautiful automobile ever produced. You see for me Lamborghini wasn’t just a car company, it was THE car company. Their body designs were impractically sexy, their power plants were wonderment’s of engineering and their exhaust notes… well, let’s just say that those were conjured up by the Gods above.
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A few weeks ago on Road Testament I had the opportunity to haul my 1969 Dodge Daytona replica out of storage, grab a good buddy and a few cameras and head out on an afternoon road trip. We didn’t really have a plan per say, only that at some point we’d need to eat, and at another we’d need to put fuel in the old beast. Other than that it was just grab a map and go. We started off at a central point on Long Island, NY and decided to head due east until we came to New York’s eastern most tip, Montauk Point. In total we ran about 250 miles, not a huge trip by any means, but for a nice sunny afternoon all those miles seemed to work out just fine. Click through for the video and enjoy.
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