Charactor Bio: Jason Bitgood
Where is your hometown?
Moosup, CT
Looking back to all the vehicles you have owned in your lifetime, which one is/was your favorite?
1970 International Scout SR2
I was 16 and had this very same Scout. I loved it more than any vehicle since. It got very rusty so I gave Harold Frink the rims and Mark Frink took the Scout off my hands for the meager sum of 2 cheeseburgers and a milkshake from Shady Glenn in Manchester CT.
If money and time was no object, what would be your dream vehicle be and why?
The Defender 110 for land and the Rigid Bottom Inflatable for sea
Are you currently working on any projects?
I own the boat below, it’s an ex-navy boat called a 7 meter rib made by Willard Marine. It has a 5.9 liter Cummins diesel engine. The boat is remarkable and considered the SUV of the sea. There is a small, but closely knit group of boaters, mostly in Europe who refer to these boats as “Adventure Ribs” or Expedition Ribs.” I’m trying to re-trace some of the trips my father did in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It’s an ongoing project and I have attempted, with Jack’s help, to improve the boat each year. I’ve already logged 1,000 miles.
Outside of cars and tinkering, whats your favorite hobby?
I still love to run and hope to complete Ironman #8 in the coming years, just trying to make sure my health is stable.
What is the one tool in your garage that you couldn’t live without?
My tape measure, 10 years as a carpenter leaves its mark.
The world is changing every day, what is the thing you miss most about old school, non technological times?
Face to face interactions are big for me. I need to see the expressions of others and see their enthusiasm, happiness, disappointment etc. we’re losing that capability quickly. As a school principal I love my interactions with students, their emotions are always genuine.
If you could take an overland or oversea adventure anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I’d explore Chile and the Patagonia region of South America on a BMW R1200GS like the one pictured below. I became interested in Adventure Motorcycling after watching the series Long Way Round. Their overland circumnavigation of the globe was remarkable, they are also a couple of “Charactors”
https://www.longwayround.com/
And last but not least, what makes you a “Charactor”
The fact that I’m responding to these questions!
If most people go left, I go right, if they go up I go down. I conform to make a living, contribute to society and support my guilty pleasures but if left with no responsibilities I’d be surfing in Indonesia or backpacking the Himalayas. I sure hope I get the chance.
