Been a Long Time Since I Blogged and Rolled...

I haven't posted since there was snow on the ground and for whatever reason I felt it was time to rattle off an update. The blog was supposed to be kept up everyday about my day to day riding adventures but you all know that got cut short after my bike and I scuffled with a street sign and lost. So what the hell have I been up to?
I couldn't be more pleased and grateful to say I am tattooing again full time. The finger's a little shorter and ain't so pretty but it's working like a champ. As for the bike, it's nearly finished with just one more thing to do to it. I've got a new tank freshly painted and ready to be installed. I must say it's a sexy new replacement for the girl...I mean bike.

So where do I go from here? I started the 365 ride with intentions of practicing mindfulness and learning more about myself by forcing myself to ride everyday. I believed the cold and inclement weather would be the harshness that I would have to push through instead I found myself dealing with physical pain and challenges from a severed finger, bouts of depression, and questioning the future of my livelihood.

There is only one thing left to do and that is get on my motorcycle and ride the hell out of it this year.

Aside from the crash a series of unfortunate bullshit creeped into my day to day life and there were moments were I hadn't a clue on how to deal with anything. The only thing I did was wake up and show up. Some days I felt like I was sitting in my own shit and sinking fast. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself I decided to get off my ass and start making some changes about all the crap I had been complaining about.

When I'm on the bike and faced with different riding situations I just implement different techniques. Big hill...more gas. Steep decline...down shift. Dangerous curves...slow down. Open road and safe straight away...roll on the throttle, smile and enjoy. 

On the bike I keep moving no matter what the roads ahead of me bring.

The past few months I've shared my concerns and worries with friends and family alike. I've gotten a number of suggestions and ideas on how I could deal with life's terms, some I liked, some I didn't like.

We all have to deal with life on life's terms it's not on our terms though we'd like to believe that. Everyone has there own way of dealing with it and that's what keeps this world spinning.

My sister had been talking about taking the motorcycle safety course cuz she felt she needed to do something for herself and she had thought about for quite awhile. She signed up for the course about 2 weeks before i crashed and was scheduled to start the class the weekend that followed my crash. I told her, don't let my crash discourage you go out there and learn something new your going to love it and she did.

This is a woman who has her hands full as a single mom of three kids. She was living in a breadbox apartment with them and she's had her share of ups and downs for many years. When she told me she wanted to ride a motorcycle I of course encouraged her. I know alot of people didn't think it was the most responsible thing to do and some maybe thought it was a crazy idea. I've seen her go through some rough times and she's done the best she can to deal with things and gotten an earful of suggestions from people telling her what she should and should not do. The one thing I know about my sister is that even in the wake of the worst times she has kept moving no matter what the road ahead brought her. She is a stronger person then most that I know and she doesn't even know it. 

A couple weeks ago she bought a bike and this year we are going to face life on life's terms but most of all we are going to ride our asses off.

Love you Sis.

The 365 ride is alive...

Be well.

Jim

Slow Ride, Take It Easy...

March is fast approaching and most motorcycle enthusiasts start getting really anxious to get out there and start racking up some miles on their machines. This brutal winter has stolen any hope of taking a frigid jaunt on two wheels during the last couple months, but as the temps rise and these icebergs start to slowly melt away that hope is returning!
I crashed exactly 5 months ago today. That left me unable to do alot of things for a solid 3 months. I am starting to believe that perhaps it was the universe's way of saying, "Hey Jim it's gonna be a terrible winter, maybe you should pick another time to start the 3.6.5 ride!" I've imagined myself attempting to pull the bike out in some of this weather and I have to admit it may have been near impossible. The whole idea was to put myself in an uncomfortable situation and still maintain some sense of mindfulness. It was to be a reminder in a physical and mental way that things can be pretty rough in life but if I remained present in any given situation it would not become to overwhelming to handle no matter what. Turns out I didn't need to challenge myself with this crazy idea to ride everyday. A month or so into it I crashed and since that day I was faced with a whole lot of, how can I say it...SH*T!
As a tattoo artist I have often explained the process of a tattoo to my clients as being a slow one. In comparison to a drawing on paper it can take twice as long to execute the same art on skin. This winter has handed me example after example of things in life that present themselves as a slow process. My injury for one, considering it was just the tip of my finger, had some great damage. It's taken 5 months to get the little bugger moving again and I still don't have full range. I know it will take quite a long time to regain a lot of the strength I once had.The amount of snow on the ground will certainly take a good deal of time to melt away. My motorcycle has gotten some maintenance but still needs a bit more and with the cold temps and not so ideal working conditions its gonna take more time to complete it and get it ready for spring.
These are some of the more obvious examples of things in my life that appear to be a slow process.
So as I wait and watch the snow slowly melt away only to be blanketed by yet another new snowfall, my hope to ride soon gets repressed. I know that the Spring is coming and even if the weather discourages those who are waiting to get out there and be free on two wheels, there is always hope. If I lost hope I probably wouldn't be tattooing again or get back on my bike. The winter can glare its harsh ways and make us wait to get this riding season going just as life can hand us a shit storm occasionally. Getting to where we wanna be whether its on the bike 1500 miles away from home or just a better place in our own minds, is sometimes a slow process.
Hope is a lot like riding the motorcycle. The act of swinging a leg over the bike and sitting on it shows you've got the intention to ride off and experience the world around you. That seems like a hopeful intention to me but, if you don't fire that machine up and roll on that throttle that hope is dead.
I have found the best way to get through the shit storms is to keep moving, no matter how slow a process it might be, just keep moving.

Happy Sunday!
Jim

American Beauty?

At the onset of some of the most difficult times in American history, particular war times, we witness an increase in people expressing there love for this country. Everywhere you look you'd see "I love America" bumper stickers and other related swag. While the intention means well and it does create a sense of unity it seems that this gesture is enough while we go about our daily lives and don't really do the foot work to create a true bond on a national level, or a community level or sometimes even with your neighbor.
Now don't get me wrong, I love this country very much but that love is not for it's politics, it's leaders or it's "system". While we've experience both good and bad with the change of our leaders and their ideas, one thing remains constant, the land.
That is where my love comes from for this country, granted I have alot more to explore and I will. Standing on top of the 12,000 foot elevation of the Rockie Mountains, watching the sun set on the topography of  Bryce Canyon or seeing a full moon kiss the tops of the highest peaks in Zion Park makes it hard not to love The States. I've done some hiking in all of these places and with the beauty that mother nature offers, there also comes some danger.
I remember riding into the Black Hills in South Dakota on the bike and anticipating a great ride through the Needles Highway. The trees and mountains were so beautiful and I couldnt wait to get on the road that cut into the hills. As I got deeper into the Needles Highway the road began twisting more and getting narrower. The elevation was increasing and the higher I got the more dangerous the roads became. I found it a bit harder to relax and started to grip a bit tighter on to those handle bars. There were drop offs on one side of me that could have killed me if I didn't pay attention to the road.
So here I am in the middle of all this beauty and I am finding myself afraid for my life. Thats where the footwork comes in. These places are real, not Disney Land, they're not IMAX movies from the comfort of  a theater seat. If you choose to venture out into these places you need to respect them and tread lightly.
The landscape across the United States changes vastly in its many shapes and forms, it offers some beautiful views like nothing else. Their beauty is inviting and breath taking but be sure you're prepared for the dangerous aspects that may present themselves to you.
While we can never be sure of the intentions of political leaders or certain organized groups or even your neighbor. One thing will always be true and that is the land that makes up this country. With all its beauty comes it's equally harsh terrain but it's intent is never to harm. It has been there before us and will remain for quite some time after. It simply invites us in with open arms for us to explore and take a chance with the only true and constant element in this life.

“Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves” ~ Jacques Rousseau

Another day, another snow storm...

Hang in there fellow riders and show those bikes some love as they wait patiently for us to shred pavement soon.

Jim

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, not much to do with all this snow...

The snow has slowed us all down. Personally it has slowed me down both physically and mentally which explains the lack of blogs. After a couple of good snowstorms I thought I'd write a little update. Here it is 2011 and we've slid our way into a snowy new year. Like the hills I used to sled on as a kid, I've been cruising my way down a couple of them only to tromp back up and do it all over again. I'm speaking of course figuratively cuz damned if I am gonna get on a sled at my age and I'm certainly not cruising on the motorcycle. You can be sure with the first sign of spring I'll be ready to climb on that beast and start exploring more roads, more states and more aspects of this little brain of mine.
As I get older I've become less interested in the winters, though they are pretty to look at I'd just assume sit in front of a fire with a cup of hot chocolate, a bag of popcorn and a good movie. I've often thought of the winter as the great equalizer. Everything is coated in white snow, we're all forced to slow down, we're all digging ourselves out and waiting to see if there will be work to hustle off to for the day. In that respect I like what the winter does to all of us. No matter who you are or what you do, "Old Man Winter" levels the playing field even if it is for a short period of time. You certainly don't have as many choices in a snowstorm. Wanna drive fast? Nope... Wanna take the motorcycle out for a countryside drive? Nope... Wanna do some gardening? Nope...
So what do we do when those choices get taken away? We make the best with what we have and as situations change, such as the weather, we begin to look at all of our possibilities and start making the choices that suit us best.
Just as the snow melts and begins to reveal what lies beneath, our minds have the capacity to show us things we never knew were there. When things are constant for as long as we can see, such as a fresh blanket of snow, we tend to act in a certain way. I could get very comfortable with the idea of waking up looking out the window only to see miles of snow and then settle back down into the couch with a cup of coffee. This would probably only last so long before a change would need to take place. When the Spring time starts to creep in and the snow melts away we'll discover a hell of alot more choices to fill our day up with. So what happens when our daily routine is shaken up? Maybe we start a new job, or make a new friend. or lose a good friend. We start to look at things a little differently or have some thoughts we've never had before.
I've been thinking about the night I crashed and if I had chosen not to ride the motorcycle that night, the months that followed would not have changed as drastic as they did for me. I could go over it a hundred times in my head, but that's pointless. I chose to ride that night, I crashed, I injured my hand. Some choices were taken away from me that night. I couldn't tattoo, draw, play drums, hell I could barley get dressed. So I've made the best with what I have and paid attention to some of those thoughts that arose as a result of that accident. My hand's getting stronger and I'm able to make some new choices now so I'll tromp on up another hill. Maybe I'll hang out at the top for a little longer before I decide to come cruising down.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. ~Eleanor Roosevelt


Beware the slippery slopes.
Jim