Be Just Fear Not

      In life we have plenty of things that cause fear in our hearts. War abroad, violence at home, the fact that most of us live one paycheck away from total financial collapse, sickness we cant afford to treat, the possibility of going thru life being unknown or uncared for. Fear is a mechanism our brain uses to keep us from walking headlong and unaware off into something bad or worse the abyss. It is your sub-conscious helping you choose the right path. We cannot cancel our fears out completely but we can use it as our ally. Listen to it. Instead of running from your fear, face it. Look it in the eye. It is trying to tell you something. It is flailing a red flag at a bad situation or a bad choice. Use this as motivation to overcome or at least balance these things with the rest of your life. Running away leaves it unaddressed. Some of us run away by putting our heads in the sand when it comes to global and political issues, major life decisions, all the way down to every day fears like "How am I gonna get thru another day..?". Many of us turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, self-indulgence, overspending or overworking. What ever it takes to dull your senses for an hour or two.

      If you understand upfront that fear can be used to guide or push you in the right direction, you can move towards it without hesitation.

Do right! Be honorable! Have courage!

Road Trip to a Wedding!

I am about to take off on a trip and I am looking for input. Going to a part of the country I am not too familiar with and would like to know if there are any restaraunts, rode side atractions, scenic gotta have a picture kinda places that I should make sure and squeeze in, or stay away from. My good friends Seth Nordmeyer and Kristene Roberts are gonna be tying the knot in Asheville, NC on the October 23rd. I will be leaving Houston on the 16th to meet Kristene in Fredricksburg where she will have a moving truck with her whole life packed in it waiting to make the second leg of this adventure. I am going to squeeze my motorcycle into the moving truck and help her drive or navigate whilst drinking massive amounts of unsweetened espresso and possibly some truck stop over the counter (legal) speed. I am not sure if Kristene is up to that kind of intensity. We should have 20 hours to figure that out if we follow this route. View Directions to Asheville, NC in a larger map We will be focused on getting there ASAP as she is really excited to get to Seth. If you know him, than you understand. The man has MOJO! I am pretty stoked myself. Seeing as I am kinda the chapter president of my local "Women are EVIL" club, I don't make it to many weddings unless there is an open bar or the bride has a bunch of "WINE LOVING"girlfriends, BUT,....This is an exception this is one of those rare moments when it feels right. Plenty of wisdom, no caution! I give this one my blessing and the word is still out on the virtue of the brides girlfriends!!! It should be a good time to share with old friends and I have already promised that I would not drink more than "ahem" six drinks, so there shouldn't be a huge hang over and stories that start out "Do you remember.." and "I can't believe you.." or "after we got you out of jail..". The journey back to Texas is where it will all go a little grey and a visit to the authourities will become a likely possibility. A fellow rider (Grady) will be meeting me in Asheville on Thursday. We will be making our way back to the Lonestart via which ever way the wind takes us, all the while trying to cram in as much tourism and local economy stimulation (tipping the dancers) as our limited resources will allow. I have been working on a mental list. My ability to pay attention has made this a short list. 1. Deals Gap - As far as motorcycling in America goes it is pretty much as good as it gets. 11 miles with 318 turns! I just got a chill while typing that! 2. Smokey Mountain National Park - It's on the way to Deals Gap and should be scenic drive nirvana. 3. The Parthenon - Nashville - Built in 1925 as and exact copy and monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture and is in downtown Nashville. Sausage and biscuits and then a stroll threw the Parthenon 4. Graceland - .Memphis - Cause no born and bred southern soul doesn't wanna at least drive thru the parking lot of Graceland. I have heard the tour isn't worth it but I just wanna look thru the fence at it. He was the KING of rock and roll by God. 5. Sun Studios -Memphis - While your in Memphis you might as well.. 6. Three Way Tennesee - It's not far from highway 69. I am sorry but I will go there just for the picture! and I am grasping at straws from that point on. What do I need to see between here and there???? We are willing and probably will go out of our way to see just about anything so don't hold back.

On waiving to other bikers..

First of all I am a not a believer in the whole brotherhood bullshit that is portrayed by your local Harley Davidson dealership. The brotherhood that upon you purchasing your new soulless chrome "factory custom" motorcycle by way of payments that you are allowed to stretch out over a nine year period, comes with a free one year membership to HOG. THE BROTHERHOOD. Horse hooey and a bag of biscuits. And the next day your driving around on your HOG and waving to every other dolt on a bike just like yours. Apparently, some where in the rule book it says, "you can only wave at people on other bikes of your brand or close proximity to your brand". DO NOT wave at anything that resemble modern technology unless of course it is a VROD only because it has the prerequisite HD stamped into the side of it, and because even though it is nothing more than a HONDA, it still qualifies if... you hang some sort of leather tassel off of the handle bars or your sissified body somewhere. If you are caught waving at any other style of two wheeled combustion run mo-chine, your eligibility for signing up for subsequent years of club membership will be revoked.

As rider of a shovel headed beater that was originally manufactured by HD back in 1979, I was always sceptical about the whole waving thing but I thought is was about the two wheels and the wind. So like an idiot I have been waving to anybody. Gixxers, scooters, beemers, shovels, EVOs, Kawis with no regard to what your name tag said. It seemed that I was being snubbed by some people. All of the other types of bikes would not wave at me. They would just stare straight ahead like they didn't notice me or had some real serious things on their mind. This left me with only the dolts that I spoke of previously, waving like they were fresh off the bus from Rusk (famous Texas Mental Institute for you yanks!). "Hi there fella, is yours on of them rigid tails?" So to hell with it. I decided to adopt the other guys way of doing things and just ignore them and their flapping. This was way more fun I must admit. The grin that it would put on my face as I passed two or three goobs in a pack with there goofy girlfriends all dressed up in her outfit of the latest HD attire all the way down to HD boots, socks and underwear including the pink flamed half shell helmet, that wouldn't save you from anything short of tripping over a chicken nugget. So that's it I found my slot. A non waver.

Then I came upon a situation that allowed me to acquire a bike of the newer variety. One built for long haul riding at high speeds. Not HD speeds. I am talking rocket ship fast. Smooth, ergonomics...sensible design, light weight, aluminum and alloys and electronically injected fuel. Not just cool ICE cold! so anyway I am out and about and I start noticing something is different. Those shitbird yuppies are no longer wagging their arm around trying to get you to approve of their costumes and their parade float chromed out Heritage. They are looking the other way....like they got some shit to worry about other than keeping the shiny stuff shiny. My construct is shifting. The polarity is reversed. Well those dirty sons a .........wait this is what I wanted. Hold on someone else is waving now.....I'll be a dipped in ditch water. Now the freakin sport bikes are waving. What is it all about? I feel dizzy with confusion. Who do I wave at? That's when I decided that I am no longer waving at anyone. Depending on what day it is I could be on either, the beater or the trump. I might get confused and wave at the wrong group. If I bother to raise my arm it will not be to wave at you with approval for the type of bike you ride. It will be to shoot the bird at you. You would not believe how much fun this is. To burn someone at speed. There is no taking back your goofy wave. You've been burned. And if your a waver keep this in mind. I am not giving you the bird as an assault on you personally. I just disapprove of waving at some and not others so you all get the same salute!