The VP of Strategic Development at CPG is an industry veteran. He knows it is time for CPG to have a greater presence on the West Coast, and they agree. The business there is solid, and the customer base is already strong. This will make it stronger. CPG has unique end-to-end solutions and has collectively designed, constructed, commissioned, operated and maintained countless megawatts of hyper-scale Data Centers in the Northern Virginia market, and now Jeff Ivey will bring these services closer to the customer base in California and on the West Coast.
Jeff Ivey and his family moved from California to Virginia in 2006. CPG was fortunate to bring this thought leader in the industry onboard in 2018. He is always up to a challenge, and with his first grandchild living in California, the decision to move his wife and boys as well was easy.
Part of moving is realizing everything you own has to get there. Including vehicles, like his three motorcycles, a 2013 BMW R1200RT Sport—the bike that made this trip—a 2012 BMW R1200GS Swiss Army Knife, and the 2016 BMW S1000XR “This sucker is fast” race bike in adventure clothing. Jeff Ivey leaves nothing to chance, so after the bike’s been in the shop for new tires, an oil change and a thorough look through by his trusted mechanic George at Gridlock Motors, it’s ready to roll.
It’s Jeff Ivey’s third cross-county move, and he knows logistics are crazy and planning needs to be solid. “The trick to distance travel is pack light. I go through everything I’m bringing a couple times then remove as many items as possible. I knew I’d be working along the way so also needed all the electronics, laptop, iPad, phone, headphones, bike GPS, helmet intercom with speakers, battery packs, emergency supplies, heated gear and on and on. It’s amazing how much stuff you can squeeze into a bike!”
DAY ONE
42 degrees and rain. He decides to skip the Blue Ridge Parkway to save a couple hours and the cold. He left home in Centreville, VA and rode to Christiansburg, VA in terrible traffic. Traffic, rain and cold are not fun, and provide a rough start.
DAY TWO
He stops into a Data Center equipment supplier for a factory visit, the first of the real work stops. Strong partnerships with suppliers are the key to the success at CPG, and this trip to the West Coast provided great stops.
DAY THREE
Cold, cold, cold! Jeff wakes up in Nashville to a wet and cold 32 degrees. This was one of the longest riding days of the trip: 497 miles total from Nashville to Texarkana through Memphis and Little Rock and some other towns including Arkadelphia (“what a name!”). It was too cold for even him to get off the bike to deal with his camera.