Posted: 10/14/2009 11:18 AM
three weekends in a row from epic surf to just plain "i can't believe this is ocean city surf"! it starts with hurricane bill three weeks ago. we load up the sequioa with a quiver of boards and head to assateague island. triple overhead!! 15 foot faces with 18 foot plus bombs! two days of A-plus surf. last week was tropical storm danny. same drill. load up the sequoia with surfboards and off to assateague. a solid 1-3 foot overhead all day and this weekend a strong low pressure system sitting off our coast bringing in a solid chest to headhigh swell. three weeks in a row, great surf, i can't lift my arms out of the water to paddle anymore. maybe this will give me time to clean out the toyota. smells like old wetsuits, milldewed surftrunks, and soggy rashguards...no need to travel for waves anymore, we have it here in our backyard. ahhhhh ocean city,md. home sweet home.
surfing with the wounded warriors
Posted: 6/16/2009 12:06 PM
I was asked if i could assist in taking several of our military heros surfing for the day. At 9 am i pulled my Sequioa up to Endless Summer and loaded 6 surfboards ,10 boogie boards and about a dozen wetsuits and headed to the beach. I have been in the surf business for over 25 years and taught thousands of people how to surf but what i saw today is something i will never forget. The two soldiers i will tell you about were both in the Army. One young man missing his left arm and the other, special forces Green Beret who was..."blown up three seperate times, put back together,operated on 7 seperate times so i could get back to work." end quote. Now, the most amazing thing i have ever seen. It wasn't a soldier with a disability learning to surf. Over a 25 year period we've surfed with blind people, partially paralized, ms, deaf and many more with handicaps/disabilities. What was incredible, what was hard to fathom, was the actions of the Green Beret. In 25 years of teaching people to surf, one of the most incredible feelings in life is standing atop a surfboard and feeling the glide of your first wave. Everyone that has ever surfed remembers their first wave, board they were riding, place, day, people they were with, conditions, etc. and after that first ever life changing wave, everyone i have ever taught or has ever surfed, immediately paddles back out to try and catch another wave to experience that same thrill of riding a wave to shore...except today. The two soldiers paddled out about the same time, each with several surf instructors by their side. About 30 minutes into the session the Green Beret was the first to catch a wave , stand up, and ride it to the beach. When he stepped off on the sand, the beach erupted with cheers, whistles, hoots, tears, and applause. What happened next was hard to explain. This soldier, after riding the first wave of his life didn't paddle back out. He instinctivly took off his surf leash, set his board down on the beach, looked over his shoulder at the other soldier with one arm who was struggling to catch his first wave and ran back out to the water to help his friend. This man, this patriot, is wired so differently then the normal human. After a huge adrenaline rush, with the stoke meter off the ricter scale, his first thought and instinct was to help his fellow man. To make sure the other soldier got to enjoy the same feeling of surfing as he did. 20 minutes later the beach erupted again as the second soldier planted his right arm in the center of the surfboard, worked his way to his knees, then stood and rode a beautiful waist high glassy wave all the way to the beach. For the next few hours i stood back and watched the Green Beret. He never surfed again. He didn't attempt to ride another wave all day. He spent the rest of the day helping the surf instructors teach all who wanted to learn. All day long I've tried to figure out why this man is the way he is. Why does he care about other people more then himself? How can he be shot, blown up, and still want to return to the fight? His love for our country? His love of our freedom? The need to protect us? How brave can one man be? How caring can one man be? I had the pleasure to shake his hand and say thank you. Tears rolled down my face. He smiled, shook my hand and said, "no worries, i've got your back."
Posted: 2/18/2009 12:36 PM
last week murph and i got two large coffees from wawa and climbed in the tundra for the three hour drive to the timonium motorcycle show. the drive was a breeze, gas is still cheap. it was a sunny and 50 degree day with hundreds of bikes on the road but for us....three hours away...we went in style and comfort. our toyota tundra show truck. stereo, heat, ahhh windows and doors, three hour drive. no regrets not riding our bikes, we went for style and comfort! besides, murph is the ultimate biker diva! there may be a recession but it didn't effect this show! they said over 50 thousand people were in attendance with backups a couple miles down 83 to get in! it was great to see vinny and cody again(formally of orange county choppers), matt elzy(ctm customs), and steve and shawn(savage cycles). savage cycles just inked a deal with john elway to build 20 john elway custom choppers with the proceeds of the sales to go to the starlight foundation. john will be here in maryland(savage cycles frostburg) to meet the owners of the bikes have lunch, pictures and autograph each signature john elway chopper. of course otr tv will be there to film this event. looking forward to meeting john and seeing his custom choppers. can't wait for a 60 degree day.
Posted: 1/22/2009 4:03 PM
it snows 1/8 of an inch, it's january, we're surfers and we're bored. the solution? one waterski rope, an old surfboard(less the fins) and the 2008 toyota tundra in 4wd. wakesurfing down coastal highway in the snow! we attatched the rope to the trailor hitch and away you go! curbs suck. the parking lot was much better...and safer! the tundra was great. the rear view mirrors are spot- on perfect. most of the driving is spent looking behind you at the surfer. the driver never had to turn his head 180 degrees to see behind him. just drive by the mirrors. the turn of the switch 4wd is my kind of technology. the snow didn't last long but we did have a blast. we just got back from the surf expo in orlando. one of our guys brought back this human slingshot. it's a toy/device designed to propel a surfer/skimboarder standing on the beach into the ocean at over 30mph! stay tuned for the next blog. i'm sure by then we'll figure out how to hook it up to the tundra. mahalo.
Posted: 12/3/2008 9:37 AM
it's official. the new "on the road tv" logos are on the show truck. looks great and we're taking the truck this saturday to the world premier of the new surf film by "lost surfwear". hi octane surfing on boards called "fishes". small and wide, enableing surfers to perform skateboard like maneuvers on small waves. our film crew will be there and coverage of this event will be on the january show. new subject...i filled up the tundra today at a cost of $38!!!! lovin it. is it just me or are you seeing alot more tundras and tacomas on the road now? two months ago it was all prius'. gas takes a drop and the trucks are poppin' up all over the place. lovin it, again.  
off road with the tundra!
Posted: 12/2/2008 11:20 AM
we loaded up the toyota tundra with surfboards and fishing poles and headed to hatteras, nc. it was great to see gas at $2 a gallon and for less then $35 we were there! when we got to the island we headed north on 12 to the end of the road. its called carova. no roads for twelve miles. a complete housing community on the beach...no roads. with just a turn of a switch i put the tundra in 4 wheel drive and was off. driving next to the ocean(and sometimes in it) is really a cool thing. the trick at carova is, at low tide your ok, stay to long, your stranded. the tundra performed great. two story climbs and drops. i never would have thought 20 plus foot sand dunes were driveable! deep sand and hard packed. small ponds at door high depths, we did it all. this truck is unreal! five hours of highway driving the tundra rode like a dream. off-roading to the max, never any problems and tons of fun. waves were good, fishing even better. the rain came at the end of the week and chased us home. again the ride back in the toyota tundra was a breeze, even with all the extra weight from coolers full of drum and rock fish.
Posted: 9/15/2008 1:47 PM
the rednights held the annual 911 ride/parade which kicked off the 2008 delmarva bikeweek. over 300 motorcycles rode 27 blocks of the ocean city boardwalk as thousands of specators waved american flags and cheered. the parade ended at the fallen firefighters memorial. the ocean city mayor, police and firechief, and maryland rednights president larry sacadorf gave speeches about lives lost, heros made, america standing together, and never forgetting. also in attendance was the patriotguard, a motorcycle club of war veterans whose sole job is escorting with a motorcycle brigade and flaglines our fallen soldiers to their final resting place. it was an honor and privilage to ride with these men and women who have dedicated their lives to protecting us and keeping us safe. www.patriotguard.org
Posted: 8/19/2008 10:39 AM
i was having dinner last week at my favorite mexican restaurant when my cell phone rang. the gentlemen on the line spoke with a british accent and said he was shaun tomson. of course i said "yeah right, and i'm tiger woods". thinking it was a practical joke this went on for about five minutes until i realized it really was the world surfing champion from south africa. he was coming into town for a q and a about his new movie "bustin down the door" and wanted to know if i could cover the event and spread the word. the movie opened nation wide aug 5th and he is pictured with me at the fox sun and surf cinemas in ocean city, md for our premier. shaun tomson has been a huge figure in the sport of surfing. a competetive surfer(world champion), owner of one of the largest surf companies(instinct sportswear), and now a movie producer. always a gentlemen and one of the best ambassadors of our sport. the movie gets two thumbs up. catch it at a theatre near you. mahalo. 
Posted: 8/11/2008 11:31 AM
instead of loading up the toyota tundra we jumped in the endless summer/toyota boat and headed to the scales of the white marlin open. at least five thousand spectators watched as the dock hands unloaded a 935 lb blue marlin. calcuta value estimated about $680k ! and a local guy with an 81 lb white worth 1.2 million! one day left to fish, keep your fingers crossed for these two guys. after the stop at the white marlin open we headed to the endless summer surf shop to see two of the worlds top pro surfers(corey lopez and alec parker) and the premier of oneill's surf movie "the life". now, comes the picture of the boat with noone on it. next time you see it, the boat will be airborn at least 5 plus feet out the back of a wave, with a surfer attached to a tow rope, at 10 plus feet above the boat!!! tow-ins you ask? no, that was a couple blogs ago. these are tow-outs....small rolling waves, a boat, a surfer in tow, and a 20 mph launch ramp to outer space... the two pros did surf at 38th st, signed autographs, did the photo shoot and then hung around and watched the surf movie with the local kids/crowd. what was cool ...the movie was shown ON the side of the castle in the sands hotel, ocean front, under the stars! it was at least a 50 ft tall screen/wall to watch the movie on. great night, oneill sportswear picked up the bill for food and drinks. world surfing champion shaun tomson will be in town monday to promote/premier his movie "bustin down the door" at the fox cinemas. "bustin" opens nationwide aug 9th. see you there!  
Posted: 7/28/2008 1:54 PM
what do you get when you have over 100 harley-davidsons riding inside purdue stadium escorted by a toyota tundra with a 7 foot bird riding in the bed of the tundra...named sherman? ahhhh its harley-davidson bike night. here's how it went. the evening/events begin with a parade of motorcycles led by Sherman (shorebirds mascot) and the toyota tundra...INSIDE the stadium! next, harley-davidson of ocean city owner benet bennet throws out the first pitch. during the game toyota gives away 3 gas cards for $500 each. a lady sitting in the seat directly in front of me wins one of the cards. insanity breaks loose, i'm convinced elvis has come back to life and just handed her this gift! she goes ballistic!!! jumping up and down like a crazed kangaroo from her seat all the way to the toyota booth. we're laughing so hard we're crying. i've never seen someone so grateful. the game was great. a loss for the shorebirds, but in 15 innings. the players wore harley-davidson jerseys which were auctioned off and the money given to the spuck and libb foundation. no doubt one of the best nights of the summer. 
Posted: 6/25/2008 1:35 PM
for a first time event, the ocean city air show was off the charts! we jumped in the 2008 tundra and headed for the boat docks to view the air show from the water. as we shot down the bay in the boat, we were buzzed by an f-16 viper no more than 50 feet over our heads which then slammed on its brakes, pointed its nose towards the heavens, and went supersonic!!! we sat there idling in disbelief and then he did it again this time tipping his wings at us before going vertical! after watching the entire show from the water we parked the boat, jumped back in the tundra and headed to west ocean city to see the "golden nights parachute team". get this...8 guys jumping out of a plane at ten thousand feet and landing on an "x" in the parking lot 5 feet square. 8 out of 8 hit the "x" dead center and actually landed in each other’s boot prints! considering the 10-15 knot wind this seemed almost impossible to even hit the parking lot! hats off to all the pilots and organizers and hopefully this will be an annual event. going surfing now. its chest high and perfect. mahalo....
Posted: 5/20/2008 12:39 PM
Hotrod week in Ocean City sets new records!
You had to see it too believe it. 3000 registered plus thousands more brought their classics, customs, hotrods, and pro street cars and trucks to Ocean City, Md last week. The roar of their engines up and down Coastal hwy never stopped for five straight days! Car shows were everywhere and no matter what you drove, there was a catagory for you someplace, somewhere. At the peak time on Saturday, drivers said it took over and hour and a half to parade the seven miles of Coastal hwy! Attendance set a record, spectators set a record and I haven't seen Ocean City that busy since bike week. Hats go off to the event promotors and I can't wait for the fall car show! Pictured with me and the new 2008 Toyota Tundra is the winner of the pro street catagory at Harley-Davidson. This is Chuck Pryor and his 805 horsepower 1941 Willy's. Congrats Mr. Pryor, we look forward to seeing everyone again this fall.
Posted: 5/5/2008 2:24 PM
We have a new official truck for the "On The Road" TV show. It's 2008 truck of the year, Toyota Tundra. Race car red baby. I mean nascar red, as in the 1-3-5 Team Toyota finish at Talladega!!! Yep, I'm a big nascar fan. Always loved fast cars and hotrods, so look for the new "On The Road" Toyota Tundra in two weeks at the custom car and hotrod show in Ocean City, Md. We will be there filming all four days of the event and pimpin in our new ride. Love it man. Mahalo.
salisbury pork in the park festival
Posted: 4/22/2008 1:52 PM
motorcycles and bar b que? that's what i thought too. but i love motorcycles and would never turn down the chance to try a good bbq sandwhich. so i jumped in the tundra and headed to the salisbury festival. bar b que vendors from all over the planet were there! plus the rednights motorcycle club and bike show. the picture is the rednights chapter 3 with the president of the maryland club(larry sacadorf) second from the left. the rednights are career fire fiighters, emt, and paramedics. a motorcycle club whose members dedicate their lives to protecting us both in their careers and passion, motorcycles. the rednights raise money doing bike shows and rides for numerous charities. 100% of the money brought in go to the charities, no profits or management fees ,ever. these men and women are the best of the best. on and off duty keeping us safe. for info check out www.rednightsmd3.org
Posted: 3/31/2008 11:12 AM
the harley-davidson creed says: "we believe the machine you ride tells us exactly where you stand." i ride a chopper, powered by harley-davidson. i drive a Toyota tundra, sequoia, and corolla, all in the family. the annual ocean city st patricks day parade gave the "on the road" tv crew a chance to show off our rides and have a blast at the same time. billed as the second largest parade in maryland, this year’s parade attendance was awesome. the weather broke the day before and parade day was sunny and 65 degrees. thousands and thousands of people lined coastal highway and made every block of the parade route a true spectacle. our "on the road" tv float consisted of our jet black Toyota tundra with the staff and film crew in the bed of the truck along with our "Toyota" banner running the length of the tundra, and four of the baddest custom choppers on the planet! on the other three choppers were rick(kaos cycles), our pilot bill(bourget choppers), and todd (on the chopperz4life bike). stay tuned for coverage of the parade on the april episode of "on the road" on i-tunes. thank you to the event organizers for the invite and we look forward to next year.
Posted: 2/5/2008 10:47 AM
technology is great. the navigation system in this tundra is as much fun as the reverse camera. I go to Wal-Mart, I type it in. Home Depot, I type it in. CVS, same thing, even Wawa, for my coffee to start each day. I leave my driveway..."turn right, proceed 1/8 mile, it's on the right". I use it no matter what, just to see if it ever makes a mistake. the reverse camera is also great. we finished playing golf today and one of the guys I played with(who beat me out of 20 bucks) stood his clubs up behind my truck while he was changing out of his golf shoes. it's amazing how clear the camera is. I put the tundra in reverse and hit his golf bag just hard enough to send most of his clubs flying across the parking lot. at least $20 worth of fun...! without the camera, I might have run his golf bag completely over. we need a 4th for tomorrow, anyone in?
Hogs go 'On the Road' with Salty
Posted: 10/29/2007 11:50 AM
Hogs go 'On the Road' with Salty Posted: 10/29/2007 11:50 AM Local television show showcases motorcycle lifestyle BE RLI N – Tracey Moore showed up to work in three-inch heels, tight jeans and a mesh Harley-Davidson shirt over a teal spaghetti strap tee, but she may as well have been wearing a sign that said,“Razz Me.” Moore is co-host of “On the Road” a monthly motorcycle lifestyle show hosted and produced by Salty, who owns Endless Summer Surf Shop in Ocean City. He and the show’s test pilot, Tom Harding, stopped their conversation and made a production over Moore’s attire. “Their like brothers and sisters,” said Bruce Bennett, director of marketing and promotions for the Harley-Davidson Shop of Ocean City, one of the show’s sponsors. Salty, Moore and Harding chatted for awhile, not about the show, and then went their separate ways. They were waiting for Dave Messick, who runs the technical side of the show – shooting, editing, lighting and the like. Once he showed up, the foursome stood around the bike at the Harley-Davidson Shop they were about to review, but they were still more interested in teasing one another than actually putting on the show. There was an amazing level of camaraderie. “We try to keep it loose,” said Salty. After a while, Harding announced the route he’d take for his review ride. Moore hopped on the bike behind Harding and Messick climbed into the back of Salty’s pickup. Salty talked about the show’s evolution as he drove. Bobby Vermillion, who produces and hosts another local show, “Endless Golf,” contacted Salty about doing a motorcycle lifestyle show. “I don’t know anything about motorcycles,” he said. But his wife convinced him that he would be good in front of the camera. She was right. Salty, who has a laid-back surfer attitude most of the time, actually seems to relax and get comfortable in from of the cameras. His lack of motorcycle knowledge works to his advantage because he asks questions that people without much bike knowledge would ask. Salty said that he thinks it gives the show a wider appeal. It also affords his co-workers the opportunity to give him a hard time. Although Salty owned and rode a motorcycle, he elected to fly rather than ride to the Outer Banks for the North Carolina H.O.G. Rally, eliciting the tag “Diva.” “I have a friend who has a plane and offered to fly me down,” Salty said in his defense without effect. “Believe it or not, we actually also do a show,” said Salty. The constant playfulness keeps the show fresh. Salty said that each week, in addition to the ride and review segment, the show features profiles of local custom bikes and segments from bike shows where he interviews custom builders and racing legends. Before long, everyone in the cast and crew is the butt of jokes, including the stereotypical-looking Harding, who probably doesn’t get needled by strangers. Messick convinced him to fluff up his beard after the test ride and threatened to run it slow-motion with “The Village People” playing in the background. For all of the kibitzing, once they got down to work they still fooled around, but since the cameras were running it was O.K. “On the Road” airs Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. on WMDT channel 47, on Channel 10 OCTC7 every night at 11:30p.m., Rehoboth Beach Channel 36 daily at 6 p.m. and on Mediacom daily. Pod casts can also be downloaded from iTunes. - Russo, Tony. “Hogs go ‘On the Road’ with Salty.” Bayside Gazette 7 Jun. 2007: 32.
Posted: 9/4/2007 3:38 PM
the first big swell of the fall is here. open ocean buoys reading 6-8ft seas at 18 seconds! it's 10 pm sat night labor day weekend and our call is to surf the shoals 1/2 mile offshore of assateague island in the morning. it should be double overhead and reeling but the worst case scenario is the wedge should be firing...we're getting ready to launch the new surf tv show "endless summer tv" and this should be ideal conditions for the pilot. we've just finished loading up the 2008 toyota tundra with 6 surfboards, three sets of swim fins, water, wax, extra leashes and about $50,000 worth of under water and water proof cameras. "uncscene productions" will film the shoot and the crew onboard will be ryan savage (host of the endless summer tv show), myself, big wave rider teedo hahn, and the prez of the ssu surf club danny ritz. taking the tundra straight to sunset marina at first light and loading in our new "endless summer" boat for the journey out of the inlet. 6-8ft open ocean swells in a 19ft center console. hmmm......stay tuned for part two!
Posted: 8/1/2007 12:55 PM
summer is rolling and so are the events in ocean city, md. last week i fired up the 2007 tundra and headed down to the toyota pro beach volleyball tournament. as a retired pro beach player it was nice walking in and having the mc announce, "ladies and gentlemen, now entering the stadium court, the best player on the east coast...25 years ago!!!" now, i know funny, and that was funny. sometimes you've gotta be able to laugh at yourself. so i did, and so did about 1000 other people! the tournament was great and the level of play has gone to a new level. hats off to toyota for bringing such a world class event to our beach.
also stopped by the tuna tournament at micky finns. over $600k in the calcutta and my good friend buddy trolla was in 2nd after day 1. it held up over the last two days and buddy and his partner cashed in and walked with a smooth $90k!!! i think they're still celebrating and i heard him yell to the bartender ,"i still have $5k left!"....i just got a new boat so i'm loading it on my trailer, hooking it to the back of my tundra and looking for the next big fishing tournament with some $$$. but i don't fish. but i do eat fish, but i'll never catch a fish....talk soon, salty
offshore power boat races
Posted: 6/20/2007 1:57 PM
I got a call from Kerry Mendenhal from Harley-Davidson to go on a "ride along" on a offshore speed boat, and can we film it for the TV show.I got the film crew together, loaded up the Toyota Tundra and headed to Sunset Marina to meet the pilot and boat. a word of advice, any boat that has to be loaded into the water via a 75 foot crane...stay away! this was one of the three boats this race team had, a 2000 horse power 40 some foot apache! with me standing in the throttle position, Kerry in the navigator spot and our pilot "Rob" driving the rocketship, the engines ignited and we taxied out to the mouth of the ocean city inlet. the DNR cleared the way for us and with a smile on his face, Rob flipped on two trim tab switches, two switches that I have no idea what they did, and then he shoved the throttles up as fast as he could and as far as they went...my hat flew off, my sunglasses flew off, and I soiled a brand new pair of board shorts! Kerry and I screamed like two ten year old girls in a haunted house as we negotiated the turn out of the inlet at 100mph!!! the ride went north in the Atlantic ocean at mach 7 for at least ten miles until the pilot had enough of us screaming, pleading with him, and promising him everything from large sums of money to all expense paid vacation trips to Las Vegas if he would just slow down!....30 minutes later, back at the dock, Kerry and I crawled out of the boat and both simultaneously smooched the ground. we did get this on film so look for it on an upcoming show of "on the road". Kerry and I will be the two guys you see on their hands and knees and our lips surgically attached to the dock. would we do it again? are you kidding me? of course my horse...
Posted: 5/25/2007 3:24 PM
myrtle beach bike week was a blast.. the 2007 tundra hauled...one custom chopper, three harley-davidsons, film crew, camera equipment, and enough surfboards for everyone! we never stepped in the ocean once...we were there to cover the event for the "on the road" tv show but the good times and good people of myrtle beach changed the game plan. the trip back was just as easy. this truck has mega power. pulling a huge trailer and four bikes was hardly noticeable. no joke, had to keep looking out back to see if the trailer was still there!
we came back to the custom car and hotrod show in ocean city, md. over 7000 hotrods entered in the show! we had the camera crew hanging out the back of the tundra the entire week getting great footage. only got pulled over once....but i think he was just checking out the new truck. i wonder what the $250 ticket was all about...?
next up, rolling thunder ride washington dc. 500 thousand people and motorcycles!!! see you there.
Posted: 5/3/2007 2:52 PM
we had to go to chix custom cycle to pick up a new chopper for the tv show"on the road". usually we hire a driver and send him on his way with a trailor and directions but with the new toyota tundra in house, i wanted to make this trip myself. the power of this tundra is insane. with the trailor empty, or loaded with the 700 lb custom bike, this truck pulled the trailor like it was a little red wagon. on the trip home i got the voice activation system working and it was a blast. it was good to see john and woody at chix and i'll see those guys again in a couple of weeks at myrtle beach bikeweek. mahalo and ride safe, salty
Posted: 4/26/2007 10:47 AM
i just picked up the new 2007 tundra today....! awesome. big truck, big features. we were filming the may episode of "on the road with harley-davidson" tv show and used the tundra in the opening and closing segments.
i was escorted to the shoot by a 2005 harley-davidson ultra and the chopperz4life tv show bike. i think the tundra got more attention than the custom chopper! put about 50 highway miles on the tundra before we got to the shoot and it was smoother than the back seat of a limo. tom harding, harley-davidson test pilot, stopped by the shoot to check out the new truck. he drives a tacoma. he left the scene heading towards the toyota dealership mumbling something about trading the tacoma in for a tundra and will my wife understand?
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