Contemplative Thought For The Day

Gray-haired riders don't get that way from pure luck.

Be careful out there my brothers and sisters.

No Riding For The Weary

It feels like January around here and it's not because of the cold (Temps have been down in the thirties the past few mornings). It's because the only time lately that Dixie and I have spent together has been the nice washing I gave her on Saturday. It's gone something like this:

Sunday: 40th birthday party at my house. Grilling, drinking & socializing with friends and family until late. - No riding.
Monday: Recovering from birthday party. - No riding.
Tuesday: Work & throwing horseshoes with the guys. - No riding.
Wednesday: Work & meetings at city hall until 10 PM. - No riding.
Thursday: Work & meetings at city hall until 10 PM. - No riding.

I'm starting to feel the beginnings of PMS setting in. (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome)

*** On a brighter note, my family bought me a gift certificate for a skydiving school that's not too far from my house. I'll keep you guys in the loop with details and pictures when I make the big jump.

National Moment Of Remembrance

The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute).The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday. The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans.

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart...should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion." -Abraham Lincoln

And Then There Was One

Sorry that I haven't posted at all this week. My grandmother did finally pass away and I've been a little preoccupied with the funeral and all the out of town relatives who are visiting. I've had 3 grandparents die in the last couple of years leaving only 1 left. With my grandparents dropping like flies, my parents approaching 70 years old and my 40th birthday on Monday looming over my head, I've been doing a lot of thinking about life in general. I haven't really sorted it all out yet but I'll let you know when it's ready for publication.

I just wanted to let you folks know that I'm still alive and kicking.

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

Planning For The Unexpected

As bikers, we regularly put ourselves in precarious and uncontrollable situations. There are things that we can do though to take the edge off. I was roaming around the motorcycle site Clutch & Chrome and found some interesting things on their download page.

ICE Card: In Case of Emergency Card
This card lists all your vital information. It should be stored in a prominent place in your wallet, easily found for emergency personnel in case you're knocked unconscious after an accident.

Packing List
This handy list includes items needed to make the most of your road trips. It has spaces for you to write in any stuff uniquely yours. Also included is an article "How to plan for a road trip".

These helpful downloads can be found at www.clutchandchrome.com/downloads.htm

D-Day Strikes Back

Well, it's finally here! My rebuttal article is in the May issue of "The Horse: Backstreet Choppers" magazine and is on newsstands as I speak. I'd probably be breaking some copyright laws if I reprinted the article here so I'll have to give you some background information and a brief summary of the article. You'll have to decide if you want to run out and buy the magazine to see what I had to say.

In the March issue, the editor went on at great length to explain the AMF/Harley-Davidson transitional history which gave rise to the H.O.G. groups. Most of his commentary was not very favorable to Harley. Most of it I agreed with as Harley was not very good to their customers or dealerships during the 1980's and most of the 1990's. All of a sudden, in the last few paragraphs, he set his sights on the H.O.G. groups. He explained how H.O.G. was formed during that delicate time period to rally the troops and get mainstream America to sing the praises of Harley all with their wallets wide open. He said that joining H.O.G. was corporate buy-in and like "taking on the mark of the beast" or it's "like belonging to the Nazi party". I was shocked! How did something that I belong to become this evil entity of the corporation?!

So, I sat down a rattled off a rebuttal article. I basically stated that even though I was a H.O.G member, I hardly considered myself a Harley zombie. Besides my bike, I hardly own anything with the Harley logo branded on it. And even though I didn't build my own bike and I can't talk modifications, like most of their readers, there's a lot more to being a biker. I explained that those who are merely infatuated with Harley should not be shunned but instead should be schooled in what it really means to be a biker. I, like a lot of others, didn't grow up around gearheads or bikers so H.O.G. was the only means to easily meet other riders and don't deserve the lashing that he handed out.

The article is on page 101 and entitled "D-Day Strikes Back". Needless to say, this magazine is not usually available at Harley dealerships so you'll have to go to an independant bike shop or a magazine shop if you want to pick up a copy. They also have a list of dealers that are supposed to carry the magazine listed on their website at www.ironcross.net/traders.html.

Highs and Lows

Well, it's becoming a very exciting time for my writing ambitions. I'm supposed to be having an article coming out this month in The Horse: Backstreet Choppers magazine. I've also been recently contacted by a couple guys who are putting together a new motorcycle magazine aimed at bikers in Wisconsin and northern Illinois who want me to do some writing for them. It's getting to the point where I'm having trouble finding time to work on my motorcycle romance novel. (I suppose it's a good problem to have.)

Unfortunately, with the highs come the lows. My grandmother, whose physical and mental health has been failing for some time now, had a stroke this morning. My mother come into town today to be with her as they don't know how much time my grandma may have left. I can't seem to pull myself together enough to go see her though. The last time I saw her, she didn't even know who I was until I started telling her stories of when I would visit her as a little boy. It's hard enough to lose the ones you love but to watch them slowly deteriorate is devastating.

Sorry to build you guys up with the good news only to knock you down with the bad but I wanted to share what was going on in my life with my second family.

Anyone For Poker?

A bar not too far from my house (Mustang Shelly's Roadhouse) has a great poker run every spring. So when my friend asked me if I wanted to go, I took about 1 second to say "Yeah!" So I took off Sunday morning and hooked up with my friends Keith and Ray. It was cool outside but the weather report looked like it would shape up to be a beautiful day. We rode over to Jeff's house (Jeff works for Keith) to meet up with the rest of the guys who were going to be riding with us. There were already about half a dozen guys at Jeff's house by the time we got there but by the time we left, our posse had grown to about 20 bikes. I only knew about 5 of the people but that's OK, it gave me lots of new friends to meet. Leaving Jeff's house, Ray got a little too close to the mud and shot clumps of it right at me! It was like slow-motion. I could see it coming but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I'm hoping that this isn't a sign of how the rest of the day is going to go.

Luckily, it wasn't. Jeff took the lead and directed our group down some of the most beautiful country back-roads to our different destinations. The watering-holes we stopped at were great and extremely packed with bikes. I heard through the grape-vine that there were over 800 people on the run this year. We finally returned to Mustang Shelly's at 4:30 PM to the most bikes I've ever seen parked at one bar. The bar was elbow-to-elbow leather as was the large tent set up outside where the band was playing. We worked our way through the crowd to the table where we had to pick our cards. Not even one pair! I guess there will be no prize money for me today.

Oh well, it was a beautiful sunny day, I went on a great ride and I met some new friends. That's what it's all about anyway. Isn't it?