Ride with Norman Reedus 203
California is the destination on the latest episode of Ride with Norman Redus. Stating out in Hollywood Norman spends some time visiting friends in the City of Lost Angels before hitting the road and rocketing through the desert on his way to Joshua Tree.
Los Angeles is the first leg on this week’s journey and Powerplant Motorcycles is number one on Norman’s list. Powerplant is a custom bike bonanza, as Norman reconnects with his old friend Yaniv Evan. Evan owns the shop and the two talk customs bikes and Evan’s approach to building unique rides before riding through LA to see a scenic part of the city. Then it’s off to The Ramones Ranch. While there Norman visits with Linda Ramone and the two of them talk about The Ramones and music during punk rock’s heyday.
Fans of The Walking Dead are given a backstage look at the show when Norman pays a visit to the legendary Greg Nicotero. Nicotero is the mastermind behind the show’s special effects make-up and has filled the role of actor, director and co-executive producer on the series. He gives Norman a tour of his studio showing him some of the walker molds the award-winning special effects supervisor has created for the show.
Downey is the second leg of the road trip. Accompanying Norman is another of his close pals, Chris Richardson. Richardson runs LA Speed Shop that specializes in vintage choppers. Before heading out for Downey LA traffic and the perils of riding in the city are touched on and Norman recounts a crash he once had. Chris and Norman then join Sen Dog, lead singer of Cypress Hill in Downey. They soon hit the road with for a group ride with Sen Dog’s crew the Cypress Hillbillies.
Leaving Sen Dog and the Cypress Hillbillies behind, the Museum of Pinball is the next destination on the map. Chris and Norman play vintage pinball games and Norman gets to relive his youth when he absolutely owns a Defender video game. After they’ve reached the limit of their arcade madness Norman parts ways with Chris and he makes his way east towards Joshua Tree.
In Joshua Tree, Norman meets up with Gwen and Eric who’ve left the city behind to start a new life in the desert. Gwen and Eric call Rimrock Ranch their home and they welcome Norman into their community to give him a taste of how people live in the desert. The trio hops on their bikes but Eric soon runs into some mechanical trouble. Realizing that Eric’s not with them Norman jokes that while the locals seems nice, there’s a chance Eric may have been turned into chili eliciting laughter from Gwen. Once Eric is back up and running they return to the ranch where Eric has a replica Ford GT40 that he built himself. He lets Norman get behind of the wheel to have some fun with it. Local LA band The Shrine perform for the members of the community as the sun slips past the horizon to cap off Norman’s time in the desert.
