May 4, 2016

After much careful consideration and advice from many, we are moving the National Service Ride to the fall - starting the last week of August and ending the third week of October. There are a number of reasons; but, all in all, we’ll stand a much greater chance of local success and national impact.

The emerging feedback is that the fall presents more of an opportunity to gain larger audiences, especially from the growing number of associated schools really getting interested in the initiative. Additionally, we’re seeing interest growth in venues like Harley-Davidson dealerships and bookstores. You can see the new itinerary on the website (www.nationalserviceride.net/).

So, for the most part, it’s a matter of re-scheduling and taking advantage now of working with many schools that will be better positioned to be hosting presentations in the fall. It also gives us a greater chance to cast and bill the Ride presentations more as local events in support of local groups and initiatives – even as a local fundraiser.

We’re still going to run the school presentations here in the New York and New Jersey areas, as you’re seeing on the Facebook page. These "preseason" events will give us some media material as well as act as a testing ground for our events later on this year. I also plan to run some events at motorcycle rallies and so on this summer, as well as additional talks in DC and New York, write more articles, etc., right up to the time of the Ride to build up the buzz. We’re also gaining some ground with getting national media interest - another good reason for delaying the start of the Ride.

And with the elections even closer in September (and now more interesting), the Ride’s message about citizenship as the antidote to gaps in governance, about community service = national service = global service, and about gaining personal as well as community (and thus national) strength through engagement should have even greater gravitas then. So, it all bodes much better for then than now.

Meantime, here’s what you can do:

• Help spread the word and get the book and Ride’s positive and empowering message out – through social media (“friending” the NSR Facebook page, liking, favoriting, reposting and re-tweeting, and so on) and through your personal networks; and

• Help spike books sales by posting a rating and review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads – remember that the National Service Ride is funded solely through book sales.

Oh yeah: Travels with Harley got a great review in The Huffington Post: “Seeing America and Ourselves from the Outside In.”

Again, my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support of this cause. I look really forward to the dent we’ll make together later this year.

All the best,

Chris