Ride With Norman Reedus

By starrymag | June 15, 2016

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

 

While “The Walking Dead” is on hiatus until October, where we’ll finally find out Negan’s victim, the show’s fan favorite Norman Reedus (a/k/a/ Daryl Dixon) hits the road via motorcycle on his new show, “Ride With Norman Reedus.”

 

Each week we’re treated to a new route and set destination where Reedus brings us into his love of all things motorcycles, bridging the gap between motorcycle culture and the average TV viewer. For his debut episode, Reedus starts with a 400-mile ride through California along the Pacific Coast Highway: from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz for a podcast on “Motorcycles & Misfits.”

 

Day 1

 

Kickstarting his acting career, Reedus reflects on his younger years of living in Los Angeles and why it’s a fitting city for him to start his show. For the first stop, Reedus finds himself at Roland Sands Designs, founded by professional motorcycle racer and designer Roland Sands. Sands, an award-winning designer of custom motorcycles, shows Norman some of his favorite builds as well as eclectic pieces throughout the shop. After perusing the bikes, Reedus is granted permission to borrow one a customized BMW 9T for his ride while Sands holds onto Norman’s Ducati Hypermotard 939.

 

For the actual start of the ride itself, Reedus goes to pick up his first riding partner: Imogen Lehtonen, known for her family’s jewelry shop The Great Frog. This is a jewelry store known for making custom pieces for bands such as Motorhead, Aerosmith and Metallica. Aside from the jewelry, Imogen also loves to ride bikes, a love that grew from riding around with her father when she was a child. For their journey, Imogen chooses to use her Harley Dyna T-Sport to take the trek up to Santa Cruz.

 

Day 2

 

After a night in an airstream trailer park, Norman and Imogen make their way to their next stop – Pismo Beach. There they enjoy a quick jaunt on dune buggies along the beach for a little bit of fun. Later on that night, as they make their way into Cambria, Imogen spots the house aptly dubbed as “Nitt-Witt Ridge,” built by Arthur Harold Beal, and wants a closer look.

 

Beal, who was a garbage collector adamant on building a home known as the antithesis of Hearst Castle, created his mansion using items such as beer cans, concrete and car rims. All of the items in the house have been left in their original places, untouched for decades. Shortly after an impromptu tour of the property by the current owner, Norman and Imogen turn in for the night.

 

Day 3

 

The third day of the trip finds Norman and Imogen in Big Sur, California where from there they go to check out Zero Motorcycles. They met up with Scot Harden, a Baja dirt bike racer, who takes them on a tour of the shop where they create electric motorcycles. To complete the tour, Harden takes them out of a bevy of their custom bikes where Norman and Imogen choose the ones they would like to test-drive through the California Redwoods. During their trek, Norman and Imogen are amazed at how quiet the bikes are, even commenting how this is the future of bikes.

 

Upon their return, one of the employees from Zero Motorcycles approaches Norman and asks him to sign a Boondock Saints DVD, one that his brother had while he was over in Iraq. Norman, touched by the story of the employee’s brother, obliges and even comments on how moments like this one are what makes his career.

 

Final Destination

 

The duo finally makes it to Santa Cruz where Norman is scheduled to speak on one of his favorite podcasts “Motorcycles & Misfits,” located at Re-Cycle Garage. The Re-Cycle Garage is known for being a collective where one can learn about motorcycles from other motorcycle enthusiasts.

 

During the podcast, Norman fields questions about his “Walking Dead” character, as well as Daryl’s bikes and what would be the best motorcycle in the zombie apocalypse. After the podcast, Norman and Imogen join the group at Re-Cycle over some drinks and share some stories. Within the group of outsiders, Norman finds his place. After all, he is an outsider himself.

 

Catch up with me on next week’s episode where Norman is joined by his friend Balthazar Getty for a ride through Death Valley! And if you’re interested to know more about some of the places and people featured in this week’s episode, please check out the links below:

 

Roland Sands Design: www.rolandsands.com

The Great Frog: www.thegreatfroglondon.com

Nitt-Witt Ridge: www.nittwittridge.com

Zero Motorcycles: www.zeromotorcycles.com

Motorcycles & Misfits: www.motorcyclesandmisfits.com