Rudi G is the "nom de guerre" (a fake name for use in warfare) that was given to me, Bob Selwyn, by my coach in order to allow me to play college football against the convict team from the maximum security state prison in Canyon City, Colorado, without losing any eligibility for varsity games. Simple, no? The story is much longer, but this all you need to know.

The name is actually "Rudi Ganakas", and my fake parents were sheepherders in the mountains of Idaho, with only a seldom-visited post office box for an address, should anyone from the NCAA get curious about me, Rudi. The name has proven useful over the years, but I don't take it too seriously. It's fun to use on motorcycle forums where a "handle" is the usual way to ID yourself to others with similar two-wheeled interests.

The blog is getting fired up now because my son and I are doing a motorcycle ride to Alaska and the Arctic Circle this summer. Since this is a six-week trip, I wanted a way to keep up with my family and friends and share some of the beauty and adventure of the trip.

My wife is flying into Anchorage for a portion of the trip and she agreed to help me with "Blog tech" as she wants to keep tabs on husband and son. The people who are house-sitting for us also wanted a fun way to give me grief about how much fun they are having while the cat's away.

In future posts, I'll tell you how all this came about, and about the incredible amount of planning and preparation that goes into one of these jaunts, but all that can wait while Rudi and I try to figure out how to get some good stuff onto the blog.

See you.