Driven to Ride

WATCH THE FULL FILM HEREIn the classic 19th century Jules Verne novel, “Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours,” eccentric Brit Phileas Fogg and his French valet, Passepartout, wager they can circumnavigate the world in 80 days. That nearly three-month time table would have been a walk in the park for the Vancouver-based content team at YouTube motorcycle sensation “FortNine.”Ryan Kluftinger, Connor Bondlow, and Edwin El Bainou set out to ride across America, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and then back through Alaska, the carrot being the current world record of 19 days and change, all while filming their every move. Their motorcycles of choice for this ultimate “Iron Butt” adventure? A pair of Ducati Multistrada V4 Rallys.While Kluftinger describes their global lap as “the greatest ride of my life,” the two-plus-week excursion (no spoilers!) wasn’t without moments of undeniable reality. “What we were doing was fun and exciting,” he says, “and suddenly you remember the danger associated with it.” “Yalla Habibi!” premiered at the Rio Theater in Vancouver on December 22. Watch the trailer, or jump into the full film! Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

This Saturday on Driven to Ride, we’re dropping something special.We sat down in person with Ryan, Connor, and Edwin from FortNine for a full, hour-and-a-half conversation about one of the most ambitious motorcycle projects ever attempted: trying to circumnavigate the globe in under 19 days while filming a feature-length movie along the way.From extreme sleep deprivation and hallucinations, to riding through freezing nights, dodging kangaroos in Australia, and pushing the human body far past its limits — this episode pulls back the curtain on what that trip really cost, physically and mentally.This teaser is just a taste.The full episode drops Saturday, both as a podcast and a full video. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum exists at the intersection of the past, present, and future of motorcycling. “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long traveled to the museum for the very first time this past October. His eye-opening experience coincided with the annual Barber Vintage Festival, which attracts tens of thousands of riders from all over North America and beyond to central Alabama.The magnificent five-story building sits in the southeast corner of Barber Motorsports Park, adjacent to the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course, affectionately known as the “Alabama roller coaster.” The museum and park are the legacy of dairy heavyweight and successful Porsche racer George Barber, whose vivid vision for a “motorcycle mecca” began in the late-1980s.Long took full advantage of the three-day weekend, conversing with Executive Director Brian Case, Conservation Manager Ally Domar, Education Programs Manager Dr. Liz Johnson, and legendary designer Pierre Terblanche. He also took in Q&A sessions with champion racers and celebrity authors, while roaming the exquisitely manicured, 880-acre grounds. It’s a don’t-miss episode. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

Ultan Guilfoyle is a filmmaker and an author, who co-curated the landmark 1998 exhibition “The Art of the Motorcycle” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “Installing motorcycles in the rotunda was a thrill,” he recalls. “It was like taking sculptural, three-dimensional objects and putting them up in the space and allowing people to see them in a way they had never seen before.”On this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, Guilfoyle relates the story behind the exhaustive efforts to gather the astounding 111 motorcycles presented in the exhibition. “If you’re curating an art exhibition, say you’re doing Picasso, you know where all the Picassos are,” he tells host Mark Long. “You make 50 calls, and you’ve got 40 yeses and 10 nos. At least you got an idea. We had no idea.”Co-curator Charles Falco and Guilfoyle had a list of 50 “must-have” motorcycles, without which they had little hope of achieving their lofty exhibition goals. Twenty-one of those machines were ultimately lent to the Guggenheim by the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. That, Guilfoyle says, led to a relationship with founder George Barber, a relationship that continues to this day. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

Wendy Schneider’s recently released film, “Angels of Dirt,” is a true labor of love. The 90-minute picture focuses on Charlotte Kainz, who, as a child, embraced the male-dominated sport of flat-track motorcycle racing. One of the challenges, Schneider tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, was explaining the rich history of this “go fast, turn left” form of two-wheel competition to a new audience.While Schneider interviewed a number of top former racers, both men and women, Kainz is at the heart of the story. “This is somebody, who, at a very early age, was carving out her destiny,” she says. “Watching her emerge as a contender, who said, ‘I want to race a Harley-Davidson XR-750. I want to race it at the Springfield Mile, and I want to win.’ She was her own compass.”Kainz was a force, says Schneider. “All of us who were friends with her over the years loved watching her become who she became. That pairing of this young person on this monstrous motorcycle meant something that was bigger than both of them. It was really quite beautiful to be around. Why not celebrate it?” Why not, indeed. Watch the film at angelsofdirt.com. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]