Motorcycle Eulogy!

Well I decided to keep the truck, avoid any more car payments and deal with the bad gas mileage and drive as little as possible. With the bike being gone I oddly enough felt like going for a quick ride today, then dawned on me that the bike was no longer and the remnants of my riding gear, leathers and jackets, helmets and gloves reminded me that an era had come and gone and I made it out alive with only 1 accident that threatened my life! So I look back on all of those hard solo rides and rides with buddies  where triple digit speeds in sweeping turns were commonplace. I remember thinking how cool this was to be able to enjoy the roads and feel the freedoms of the skills that the rider and the bike presented me.   can honestly say there was never a ride that scared me only some riders that we rode with that were less than safe at times, I stayed as far away as possible and knew where I needed to be on a given ride. No more trucking the bike to Yucaipa for the 200 mile Idyllwild run through mountain communities and down to the desert, then back up again, or the 33 rides up the famous highway 33 where the speeds were ridiculously over 120 mph for most of the ride. The most common and familiar ride was around my favorite and most road worthy ride was always LAke Casitas and that 71 mile roundtrip that gave me so much pleasure and yet almost killed me at the same time! That ride around the lake on Nov 22 ,2009 definitely changed my life and the lives of those around me but that was one bad ride amongst probably over 1500 rides in 12 years and well over 125,000 motorcycle miles if not more, and the greatest pleasure was having Terria riding along side of me when we rode together and enjoyed each others company for the ride and a good lunch or coffee somewhere along the route, those were the days but they are gone and I am good with it as we move onto another passion besides each other, Golf, Cars, something will crop up that will catch our fancy! I do bid a farewell to The great sport of motorcycling, i went out at the top of my game and was one of the best in the area for sport riders who didn't race at the track, and for that I  am proud that I taught myself to ride and get better and get really really fast! So I, we move on to something new and something fun, what that will be is the greatest question. Goodbye 98 , all my Gixxers, my busas, my R1 the 3 TLR's and the 2 Ducatis that were so damn beautiful, the KTM duke and any other bike I may have forgotten, I have ridden and owned over 20 motorcycles in my day, so much time effort and money spent on what was a passion, that is now an after thought of good times and thrills! Very lucky and Blessed to walk away intact and happy to be here...Goodnight!

Motorcycle Goodbye

Seems like a year since I last posted on here but here I go again with  a day, a week and a month of surreal events thay only enhance with each passing day.  So happy to have both boys back home temporarily but they are back home for the time being. Braz and Nikki are home for 2 weeks of R and R from the desert and Ty is home to take care of some shit unsettled! The days are scattered and we share the time with our boys with their family and friends and that is ok with us as it gives them a sense of freedom and no obligation to do what they want on their freedom from the war zone . Terria and I have told them that this is their time to relax and enjoy and feel no need to be at our beck and call. Since [picking them up from LAX on Sunday we have gome through a whirlwind of emotions and a sense of relief at the same time knowing that they are safe here in their home and with the people they want to be with.

Today was a strange day in a way, I sold my Ducati this morning and have finally put the motorcycle to rest, or at least in my mind I have, in my heart there will always be a ride left in me here or there on somebody's extra bike whenever I can steal ,beg or borrow one. But driving down to Huntington Beach this morning, feeling no regrets or remorse at all and ready to empty the garage of the reminders of not riding the damn bike that sat in front of me as I unloaded the washer and dryer during the week. Went through about the most tedious process I have ever been with the guy buying the bikem calling in VIN#'s and checking service records on a pristine bike with very little milage on it , and then claimed that it rode rough and vibrated, lets see , wet road, older tires and a tall first gear , the guy stalled the bike twice taking it out for the test run and was so damn anal I wanted to hit him but I waited it out in the hopes he would just give me the check and I could get out of there with my sanity and not kicking the living shit out of the OCD freak of nature, nice enough guy but have never in all my years met anybody so ridiculously disturbed by the OCD disease. So we got out of there and went for a great lunch in Anaheim Hills at Slaters 50/50  where the tastiest burgers ever and a long trip home afterwards with weekend traffic a real bear.we eventually got home and the dilemma of whether or not to get a new car or keep the truck is wearing on my mind, don't need the truck but don't want a payment either so leaning towards the truck and staying on top of things til next years when I will buy myself something new and nice. Looking forward to a Sunday breakfast with family tomorrow with the boys and all the cousins at the local stop here in town. Feeling litle tired right now and should head into bed and ready for another end to a busy weekend!Goodnight

Status Quo!

Another great day in the Nard and at work not much going on in regards to work but we are preparing for a long weekend and trying to get together an Agenda of some sort. Been Golfing a little and Bowling a little and doing whatever i can to stay busy these days. The gym is my constant companion and is my destination either at lunch time or after work but it a done deal either way.  Staying busy is a good thing and it's all things that are fun and good for me as well!

Speaking of things that i love doing I am putting my Ducati on the selling blocks and have decided to get rid of my prized possession motorcycle.  It was a tough decision but the fact that I'm only riding the bike once or twice every 2 weeks is not a justifiable possession on my part, so i listed it and will try to get rid of it as soon as i can. I Will miss the world of fast motorcycles and the open Canyons in the area but I have so many other things to look to for entertainment and good times with Family and friends. the fear factor never did come into play , even after my crash a few years back I never looked back and thought about getting hurt, I did find my self riding at 90% of what I once did and for no other reason than being practical and wiser!

Again i look back on where the spring of 2010 had taken me, dealt so much hurt and pain to my wife and family and in retrospect I can see what a confused person that i was and had become. the reasons and attractions away from my home are not important but the reasons and means of staying grounded are, i make mistakes, do stupid things to this day but they are easy fix, low stressers of everyday variety. Sometimes in looking back I see things that I hate about me, things that remind me of how far I had fallen internally and spiritually. But odd how taking backwards step have given me a sense of perspective, to realize that my selfish ways needed to be dealt with and taking into consideration that my thoughts and actions affect so much more than the sphere that I'm in, I'm learning!!!!!

Well I've stopped visiting my therapist Michael Morales and don't know when i will see him again, I learned allot of things from him but didn't agree with all of the things that he had to say and the route of the therapy was trying to take a semi flawed man and turn me into something that I'm not, a timid ,meek , overly in touch with my feeling type of person which will never be me and i have too many things that were trying to be taken away from me that had nothing to do with my departures from the truth, just things that i like, which seemed to be the central theme of my therapy which I do not agree with. So i move on and take the things that i believe in that I learned and move forward. My stupid ass may make mistakes and say stupid shit but i am a good man who loves and gives of himself more so now that ever, my feelings of empathy and understanding are better than they have ever been and for that i feel Good about Me and the gift of love that i can now give Terria!

To answer you question which i know i will get from you Terria , I am writing after my long absence for a number of reasons, i miss it, I love to write and I feel like I'm losing a friend with the motorcycle going away for the last time. It pains me in the aspect that  we shared the same passion together, we rode and went to races together and now that part of our lives is going away and know that there are many other things that replace that bond, more importantly the time we spend together which i love and adore you to death, trust me I am never going anywhere unless you kick my ass to the curb but knowing that you always incorporate my interests with your own and make them all your own to share tells me how much you love me and love spending time with me, i only hope that i project the same to you with my actions and reaction to what you love and adore in your life as we walk it together