Beginnings and Endings

             “Whatever is going on, you gotta man up. You gotta take care of your business. If I’ve learned anything in this godforsaken world it’s that it’s never done anyone any good to run from responsibility. You obviously are running from something and you need to go back and fix it. Whether it’s face to face or with some help. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. I don’t care if you do it yourself or if you enlist a thousand others. But you need to fix it.”

Jake just nodded his head in agreement, for he knew Marty was right. It was time to face the music; he wasn’t going to solve his problems by being on the lam for the rest of his days.

Chapter 11 / Page 70- One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series).

Published by Blockhead City Press. 

Available through Amazon.com, Barnes &Noble.com, iTunes or through your favorite local bookstore. 

This time of year always brings out the philosophical nature in all of us. We wax nostalgically about just about everything.

Holidays bring families together, traveling sometimes great distances, sometimes just a few miles, to share  meals, exchange gifts to show appreciation, and to just spend time together.
It is also a time to review the last 12 months and take into account all of one's actions and measure them up against what was intended. Did you succeed? Did you get close to what you wanted?

Oh, don't worry...there's always next year...the one that is about to start in six days.
On the last day of the year, that ritual of making a list of resolutions of what you intend to do, what you intend to accomplish begins again.

The pressure we put on ourselves is crazy!

No one likes to fail to measure up to thier own list of expectations, much less the expectations that others, much less, society puts on us.

What's a person suppose to do?

Screw it all. Who needs that pressure. I certainly don't.

If you make daily decisions with a modecome of thought and reason, if you take the stairs instead of the elevator, if you cut back just a little and don't eat 3 deserts, if you skip that 4th drink when  you're out with your buds at the local biker bar...you can be happier with yourself.

So, don't toast the new year thinking that it will be better just because the calendar company taught you to turn the page.

Turn your own page. Be your own person.
Start your own begining and you'll control your own ending.

Ride Hard, Ride Safe and Ride Often.

Respect

           “Jake and Karen spend the next few days enjoying each other’s company, doing all the things they once liked doing together. Long rides along the coast on his bike, stopping at a rustic restaurant for lunch, or riding up to the mountains of New Hampshire filled the hours they were together.

And, of course, there was the sweet excitement of rediscovering how good they were with each other. In some ways it was as if her time away had never happened. The thoughts in their heads about what to do and how to do it seemed to run as smoothly as a well tuned motor. There were no big issues to deal with. Each deferred to the other rather than seek to dominate. Jake had never been the possessive type, but he was protective of the women he had loved. He figured it all came down to respect. Respect for the other person. Respect for their wants, needs, and desires—and respect for the other person’s mind. Respect is one of the foundations of  life. In the grand scheme of relationships, this ability was rare, and they both knew it.”

Chapter 2 / Page 19- One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series).

Published by Blockhead City Press. 

Available through Amazon.com, Barnes &Noble.com, iTunes or through your favorite local bookstore. 

On a recent episode of a TV show that glorifies the Outlaw Biker community, there was a scene where a husband, one of the lead characters, brutally beats his wife.

The first episode of Season 4 was violent with 7 killings in 58 minutes.

I had no trouble with that. Our biker community is not the life of Ward and June Cleaver. It’s not the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  We all know that.

But this scene  was unconscionable. It was the last episode I'll ever watch of that show.

Real men don't hit women.

Real bikers, especially the Prez of a three patch club, wouldn't beat his Ol' Lady like that. An Ol’ Lady can make or break a club. Women have that power. A good woman knows how to balance that power.

But more importantly, it has to do with Respect.

I’m a big fan of Respect.

In our world, the phrase “Love and Respect” is not tossed around like used napkins.

They have meaning; and well they should.

Respect is earned daily and given to those who show it to others.

You have to show respect towards other people’s thoughts and ideals and actions because you want them to respect your thoughts and ideals and actions.

I have a design for a tattoo that has star points that signify six principles that I live my life by:
Truth Honor Strength Love Loyalty and Respect.

Respect is all about not having an ego to think that only your ideas are the best.

Respect is all about not having the attitude that you are the only one who knows how to do something.

Having respect and showing respect is the only way to make this world a better place.

And now, there comes a point where you have to say ‘NO’ to the media; just like the beating was unacceptable, so is promoting it the way this show did.

It's just wrong.

I will not watch the rest of this season.

I will also lobby all those that I know who watch to quit it too.

I hope that this show doesn’t get picked up for next season.

But it probably will.

Nothing sells on TV like violence. Except maybe sex.

Ride Safe,  Ride Hard   Ride Often.

Alone

Little Jimmie had taken the night off from hanging out with his brothers in the Skuldmen motorcycle club just to be by himself to think and ride—other than someplace in his mind, he had no real destination.

Riding with the half-moon and scattered stars that decorated the cloudless sky above, Jimmie was in the middle of a therapy session. Although he liked riding in groups, like most bikers, Jimmie Johnson that cruising alone was the perfect antidote to the trials and tribulations of daily life. There was nothing like the thrill of flicking gears, twisting the throttle, leaning into curves, and having the bike respond the way a Thoroughbred does to the sting of a quirt. Well, maybe sex was just as good, but for Jimmie it would be a difficult decision to make if given the choice of either one or the other.

It had been a good ride for the president of the Maryland chapter of the Skuldmen—a late Saturday night filled with the sights, smells, and sounds that make for a great solo ride. When Jimmie arrived back home on his blood red 1965 Panhead, it was almost 2 AM…”

Chapter 5, Page 37- One Light Coming: A Biker's Story

“I’m an independent, Jimmie. I live alone and ride by my own rulebook, which I believe to be honorable. And I never turn my back on someone in need. I learned a long time ago that you meet the same     people going up that you do coming back down. I believe in doing unto others as I would have them do unto me”, Jake says.

Little Jimmie smiled. The brevity with which Jake had answered his question, and what he had said, struck a chord with the president. He smiled briefly, almost admiringly.

“Nothing wrong with that, Jake.”

Chapter 16, Page 157- One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series) published by Blockhead City Press.  Available now through Amazon.com, Barnes &Noble.com,  iTunes.com or through your favorite local bookstore.  

The whole premise for my book, as evidenced by the title, is the concept of being alone. When you see a single rider cruising along some roadway, most of the cagers out there don't get it. They think that the rider has no one to count on. No one to be there for them. But for those of us who ride, and who understand, being alone isn't a bad thing.

But for some, being alone isn’t easy.

Whether you stand alone or live alone, you have to be strong. You have to be comfortable and happy with yourself, sometimes by yourself. You have to know that you can be your own best friend. Sometimes, you have to be your own best friend. Sometimes it means being your only friend.

And that takes strength.

Some people are cut out for it. Some people carve it out for themselves. Others struggle with it.

They connect being alone to loneliness.
I prefer to think of it as Independence; not needing anyone one else to rely on to have a good time.

That's not to say that I don't like being around people. I do.

By the same token, being around people isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Personalities, on top of issues, on top of egos….it can make for one tough ride. That’s when being alone sounds about as good as a riding down a smooth highway winding through the mountains on a clear summer’s day.

Sometimes you can be the world to just one person, even though to the rest of the world, you’re just one person. I’ll bet that most of us have someone who falls into the first part of that sentence.
I’ll bet that to most of us, we are the world to at least one person.

And that’s a good thing.

No one should ever feel that they are all alone.

Because chances are, they’re not.

Be there for someone, knowing that someone would be there for you.

Ride Hard, Ride Safe, Ride Often.

Originals

Jake just nodded his head as Jimmie sunk the ten ball into a corner pocket, because he knew that what Little Jimmie was saying, was true.

“Don’t even get me started on the materialism this society has created.  Man, if you don’t have the newest, brightest, latest, electronic doodad, well then you are an antiquated idiot. If you are not wearing the latest clothes in the latest color, you are less than perfect. I never understood how people believed that. The average citizen’s mailbox is clogged with four or five catalogs a week trying to sell them shit that they really don’t need. But no, they’re told that they must have this or gotta have that. And if you don’t, well, you aren’t really part of society. Hell, even the concept of alternative lifestyles is a falsehood. By the time a lifestyle has developed and emerged, it’s homogenized, cleaned up and spat back to us by magazines, promoted on TV, hyped by the news, then licensed and sold by Wal-Mart so that some poor dork in Iowa City can feel that they fit in.”

As Jimmie sunk the nine ball with authority, Jake continued the conversation by asking, “So where do you think all this started?”

“The problem with this society began with too much media driven, celebrity worshipping mindless brainwashing trash that masquerades as information. Who really cares what Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan is wearing, or not wearing, to some industry created and anointed televised award show. The real issue is how that behavior, those fashions, that attitude, gets filtered down to the average citizen, spoon fed to us in every department store, sanctified by music videos and bad cinema, and glorified by the mindless middle class,” Jimmie continued.

“Next time you see a guy in a motorcycle encrusted T-shirt, ask him what he rides. Chances are he’s never been on a bike. He’s just buying up what is fed to him. The concept that Andy Warhol preached in the early seventies that every person getting fifteen minutes of fame is dead. With the electronic revolution came the acceleration of society. A stepped up version of the Polaroid principle where anything could happen within thirty seconds, and you didn’t have to wait for anything. Now every action is expected to happen in nano seconds. I’ve seen a counter person at a Dunkin Donuts shop scream at a fucking microwave to hurry up! If someone doesn’t answer an e-mail within four hours, the sender thinks something is wrong. No one waits for anything anymore. Life is too fast. In truth, Warhol’s fifteen minutes has been compressed to fifteen seconds, played out on a reality game show where everyone chases after some grand prize all because America’s attention span has diminished to that of a two year old child.”

Clack, plunk, clack, plunk and two more striped billiard balls find their way to a pocket on the table.

Chapter 19 / Page 116  One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series published by Blockhead City Press to be released 1Oct2011. Available through bookstores everywhere, and Amazon.com and B&N.com)

It’s tough to be original these days. It seems that there’s no such thing as original thought. Everything is just a variation on what’s been done before. New music isn’t new; it’s just a twist on something that we’ve heard. Movies are being released in terms of Big Disaster Movie Part 7. Commercial radio plays the same 25 songs over and over and over. And most of TV is just junk. Recycling is great for newspapers and beer bottles, but not for enlightenment, education or entertainment.  

It’s even tougher to be your own person. Everyone wants to be considered as an individual.  But being an individual is difficult, because either you’re too insecure to stand up and be who you are, afraid of rocking the boat, or being ostracized by the rest of society. No one likes to be made fun of. It goes back to the days of playing in the schoolyard. If you were different, you were picked on; bullying is what they call it these days. And it sucks. 

Most people want to be part of something; a group, a company, a family. They want to be identified with some cause, some effort, some brand. Why else would the logo craze of twenty or thirty years ago bring us to where guys have some other guy’s name on his underwear? Remember that great scene in the movie, Back to the Future, where Lea Thompson keeps calling the Michael J. Fox: ‘Calvin’ because that was the name on his underwear? Funny, huh? Not really. Try buying something that doesn’t have a logo on it. It isn’t easy. It can be done, but it isn’t easy.

Belonging to a group, or a club, doesn’t mean you lose your individuality. You just have to make sure that you don’t disappear. Take from them what they offer, and contribute your best back.

Individuality takes strength. Strength of character; a backbone. It takes strength to be who you want to be; not who everyone else wants you to be, not what the rest of society wants you to be, not what retailers want you to be.

Individuals can make a difference; in small ways first and then in big ways. All it takes is one person to say: ‘What if?’ All it takes is one person to start to take action. You may be one person to the rest of the world, but you could be the world to one person.

Make choices that make you an individual.

Ride Hard, Ride Safe, Ride Often.

Rightous

.

“Woody was one hell of a brother. One of the righteous few, and a good man,” Big Keith said, before leaving Jake to rejoin the other patcholders he had been standing with.

The title of righteous was not one that was tossed around lightly. This was something Jake had learned early on in his riding days. Righteous was a mantle that was earned over time, awarded through action, made by honor and held in high esteem by those who followed the silent code of a secret society. To be considered righteous, you earned it by being there for others at a time when no one else could be found. It meant that you gave your last dollar to someone who needed it for food, gas, or drink; or you took a part off your bike for a brother who was stranded on the side of the road and then you both limped home together. A righteous brother would be the first to come to your side in a bar fight and be the last man standing next to you.

And this gathering was another step to earning the title. You showed up to pay respect to a dead man you hardly knew, in a town that is not your own and stand shoulder to shoulder with relative strangers, because you know they would do the same for you. They’d do it because they all know what its like to feel the power of rolling down the highway at ninety miles per hour astride an iron horse, with nothing except a leather jacket between you, the pavement, and the rest of the world."

Chapter 21 / Page 141  One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series published by Blockhead City Press to be released 1Oct2011. Available through bookstores everywhere, and Amazon.com and B&N.com)

Success is measured in many ways in this world. Material wealth is important to some, admiration is paramount to others. I've always felt that being a good man is the best measure of success. A good man, someone who is there for others when they need it, not when it's convenient.

In this lifestyle, rightous is a badge proudly worn. As I said in the passage above: Brothers are made, not neccesarily born, to each other.

Let me give you a real life example of what it means to be rightous.

I am involved with a state wide Motorcyclist's Survivors Fund organization. This organization raises money with the only task of giving it all away to the families of downed motorcycle riders who are in need. In need of rent money, grocery money, money to pay doctor's bills, even money to pay funeral expenses.  There are 'fundraising rides' held several times a year to add money to the kitty.

This  year's main fundraiser is coming up, and to publicize the event, pre-sell ride tickets, raffle tickets and other merchandise, the President of our Fund organized a series of free cook-outs at Bike Shops across the area. He got a biker friendly lawyer to sponsor and pick up the tab for the food and drink and lined up the locations. Well, one event was more successful than expected. Maybe  it was the good weather, maybe it was the shop that was the location, whatever the reason, at the end of the night there was no more food left for the next night's cook out. So, after the volunteer crew had cleaned up and packed the truck up, he and his sweetheart headed off to the nearest supermarket at 11PM to replenish supplies. Hamburger meat and chicken breasts by the ton, more hot dogs than you could shake a stick at, and a couple dozen flats of water were loaded up onto the conveyor belt and the poor check-out girl didn't know what to make of this $300+ purchase so late at night. Just as Prez, was reaching for his wallet, a guy behind him slide his credit card into the machine. Surprised, Prez looked over at this bearded, barrellchested t-shirt wearing regular guy.

"My contribution to The Cause" was what he said. "I saw your  truck out in the lot, and want to do something to help."

My Prez, stunned, said thanks and wanted to know this guy's name.

This  guy shook his hand, and refused to tell him who he  was. The last thing he said was: "I hope to God my family never has to be in touch with you, but I know there are others who will."

And with this, he walked away.

He is Rightous.

He earned it.

It's what a person does when a situation arises that defines them.

Be rightous whenever you can.

Ride Hard, Ride Safe,  Ride Often.

Introduction

"It was midnight, and an almost full moon guided Jake down a road that was as smooth as the eighty cubic inches of pulsating motor that hummed beneath him. He was glad to be back on his Harley, for the vibrations that ran through the handlebars and into his hands gave him the same comfort that a baby gets from a mouthful of mother’s milk.

The wind ran through his hair as he cruised east on the narrow two lane roads of northern Virginia. The sound of the engine and the smell of the road intoxicated him. Comfortable, relaxed, and secure, the smooth asphalt made for a perfect night. Small, quaint villages appeared ahead and disappeared behind like pages in a fairytale book, and before he knew it Jake was countless miles from the beginning of his ride.

The hamlets he passed through sported a mixture of older stores, pre-depression era homes, and the inevitable newer fast food joints. Their lights burned in the night’s darkness as they blended together one after another. The few cars he encountered made for a solo journey that seemed at times to be more like a dream than reality.

Jake’s well worn leathers kept the coolness of the evening air from chilling him to the bone. His feet were glued to the pegs of his big twin, a few scant inches from the blacktop, as he turned north on Highway 301, heading for the Maryland border. As he rumbled down the road lost in thought, his encounter with the patch holders earlier that afternoon was front and center on his mind."

- Chapter 12/Page 32 - One Light Coming: A Biker's Story (Book 3 in a series published by Blockhead City Press to be released 1Oct2011.)

We all know the feeling. If you ride, no matter what you ride, there is a feeling of freedom, a feeling of power you get from taking control of a motor machine and making it your own. You're typically on your own, by yourself. You're so much more connected to the road you're on, connected to the locales you're traveling through. You smell the fresh cut grass, that pond that's just on the other side of the guardrail. You can tell when the farmers have just fertilized thier fields  and you don't have to look to know that there are a few horses out in the paddocks either.

I consider myself lucky 'cause I get to experience this every day on the way to and from work, as long as the weather cooperates. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've  arrived home soaked to the skin, pouring water out of my boots on more than one occassion because a weatherman said there was only a 30% chance of rain. Of course to me, when I hear 30% chance of rain, I think of 70% chance of sun. If you ride, you would too. It's all about percentages.

Anyone who rides plays the percentages. And I'm not just talking about the weather, either. Share the road with cagers and you know exactly what I mean. See the statistics, read the newspapers and watch the news and you hear about Bikers going down all the time.

I don't mind  reading  or hearing about them. I do have sympathy for  them, I really do. But everytime I hear about some other biker going down...I figure that improves my chances of not going down. It's a percentage thing. Think about it. 

WIth this blog, I'll give you little peaks at my new novel: "One Light Coming: A Biker's Story" that I co-authored with Edward Winterhalder.  It's the third in the Biker Story Series published by Blockhead City Press and I hope that you'll  like them enough to go out and buy the book. 

I'll also be sharing other stories, observations and opinions about this lifestyle we call our own.

So, gas up and follow along. It's going to be a great ride!!!