I recently borrowed a motorcycle from a friend to do some engineering work. He had it up in LA having a custom windshield made. He brought it down and later I returned it to LA. I really hadn't paid much attention to the windshield aspect until I pulled up the shop, met Paige Ortiz for the first time, and discovered I was at Aeroflow!
My son and I got a tour of their facility, learned how they design, form, and test windscreens, and best of all learned about Paige's background and skill sets.
Turns out he is quite an accomplished artist and has been producing the art for the Iron Butt Rallies for some time. I should have been paying more attention to this art over the years. He does these great line drawings and manages to "personalize" each one. The elements of his identity extend far beyond his signature.
Consider this image from the '07 IBR.
The theme that year was National Monuments and as you can see that reflected in the art with things like the Golden Arch, Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and so on. So where is Paige's imprint? First off is the motorcycle, that's his bike and him riding it. Next is Mount Rushmore, we have George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt or do we? Look closely at Teddy and you'll see that it's a self portrait of Paige. I've been looking at this for years and never noticed.
There are lots more examples of this in past and present IBR art. Regretfully, I didn't take pictures at his shop where he has the originals. I'm going to have to make another trip before long and make up for that.
Thanks Paige for your support of the IronButt Association ™ and the long distance riding community.
