Riding With Internet Friends: Goofy Bastard

I almost didn’t go out today. Plans fell apart during the week, a couple guys from the Discord had to drop out, and I talked myself into skipping it entirely. Then I got a text from Goofy Bastard, and just like that I was throwing a leg over the Yamaha MT-09 and heading out to meet him. That’s how riding with internet friends works. It doesn’t need a plan. It just needs a text at the right moment.

We were meeting at the Wawa in Limerick, Pennsylvania. No route, no destination, no agenda. Just two guys who met on the internet figuring it out from there.

How Goofy and I Met

I got back into motorcycles right around the pandemic, and pretty early on I decided I wanted to get into motovlogging. Part of that meant going out and finding local content creators who were doing interesting stuff. So I’m scrolling through YouTube one day and I come across this guy riding out to Oaks, Pennsylvania, talking about a drive-in movie theater. He’s on a white Kawasaki Vaquero. I’m on a Honda CB650F at the time. Different bikes, but he seemed like a cool dude.

We start commenting on each other’s videos. Followed each other on the socials. And then one day I get a message on Instagram. “Hey, you want to get together for a ride?” I said sure. We picked a date and a time, and if I’m remembering right, we actually met at the same Wawa in Limerick that we’re meeting at today.

From there we rode down to the Valley Forge area, hit the Valley Forge National Park, knocked out a covered bridge on Route 252, and made it over to Raps Dam. It was a little mini covered bridge circuit and it was a genuinely good time.

The Part Where My Wife Was Concerned

Leading up to that first meetup I’ll be honest, I was a little uneasy. Not enough to back out, but enough to notice. And when my wife asked where I was going, I told her I was meeting some random guy from the internet. She wanted to know his name. I told her I had no idea, he just goes by Goofy Bastard. That did not help her comfort level.

She asked if I was bringing some form of protection. We laughed about it. I did.

Why Riding With Internet Friends Actually Works

Here’s the thing about riding with internet friends that I don’t think gets talked about enough. The roads don’t have to be new. The destination doesn’t have to be special. Goofy and I have covered the same stretches of Pennsylvania pavement dozens of times at this point. We’ve done short spur-of-the-moment rides, a longer trip or two, we even took a ferry together at one point. If that’s not a bonding experience I don’t know what is.

Last riding season was rough for me. Weather was bad, life was busier than I wanted it to be, and I didn’t get out nearly as much as I had hoped. But when I look back at the guys I did ride with, Goofy was at the top of the list. TrekkieMoto was a close second. We try to get out at least once a month when life allows. And what makes those rides worth doing has nothing to do with the route. It’s just the camaraderie. That’s where the fun actually lives.

Every time someone uses the phrase “internet friends” I immediately think of that scene at the end of Old School where Frank the Tank gets invited to meet up with “internet friends” and it’s very much not wholesome. That’s not what this is. But I can’t hear that phrase without the scene popping into my head.

Today’s Ride: Parks Unknown, Pennsylvania

Today we had nothing figured out. Goofy texted to see if I’d made it out for a ride. I hadn’t. He floated the idea of going out and I was in immediately. By the time I rolled up to the Wawa he still hadn’t planned a route and honestly neither had I. We were just going to pick a direction and start riding and see where we ended up.

I also mentioned in a recent video that Goofy has a new wireless mic setup and we were looking at doing a dual vlog together. We actually tried it, but it didn’t pan out. Wind noise was a problem and the mic was cutting in and out. The potential is there, we just need to work out the kinks. Maybe today would be another chance to mess with it.

Where did we actually go? You’re going to have to wait for the next one. I know, I know.

Ride With Me

If you want to see where Goofy and I ended up, subscribe to the WaltInPA YouTube channel for more riding content. The follow-up video is coming.

If this one resonated with you, share this post with a friend who rides. Especially if that friend is someone you met online.

And if you want to be part of the community where rides like this get planned, come hang out in the WaltInPA Discord where good people talk about riding.