First off, I don’t give a fuck whether you think I’m a biker or not.   I may be, I may not be, based on how you view bikers.    I don’t weld for a living, work in a mine or am a hand on an oil well.      I’m not a 1%er, even though I have a lot of friends who are.    I may not ride the bike you think a biker would ride.

Fuckit, all I know is I need to ride.   It’s not a want.  Straight up, it’s a need.

I’m also a father.   A business owner.   A husband.   I’ve also made a pledge to protect abused kids, even at the sake of my life.   I’ll do all four.

So last night I scoped out ballarat California and death valley as my late winter ride.   Man, I want to go.   I stare down the barrell of my calendar and I see the whole state of utah coming to my chapter in a few weeks for our annual 100 mile ride.   I see a party in mexican hat that was my idea, for my B.A.C.A. Brothers and sisters on an idea I had last year.     I see child rides, to help abused kids that I’ve sworn to be their sheild.    I’ve got 120 employees who depend on me to get things done and to make the right decision.  I’ve got mothers day.   Not to mention, I’ve got kids who need a day to day with their old man.

But dammit, I’ve got to ride.    I thought on the way home… I’ve got pressures in my life that I’ll never tell you about.    Riding gives me the focus to get my rockability back.   Gotta keep all the balls in the air, and at the same fucking time, I gotta be happy about chucking those balls up.    I gotta live.

This weekend, my plan was to ride to California.   I may or may not end up going.    I might take my wife on the bike.  My kids might go in the truck.    Hell, I don’t know now.  It’s gonna be a game time decision.

Responsibility is a bitch.

But I’m probably no different than you, am I.   You balance your life and pressures and at the end of the day, you throw your leg over your bike, point it somewhere, and find your soul in some way or another.   Riding is truly freedom.   People that don’t ride will  never truly  understand.

Thats one of the things I love about riding:

First, it drains your stress… this takes the longest.   There’s a whole lot of bullshit in life that gets built up.      Sometimes, it takes hours for it to all go away.   The road will fix it eventually.   Just keep riding.   Cracked blacktop, open throttle and good music at 75 mph will cure about any evil I know of.

Then, It opens your mind. You start to see things how they are.   How you want to make em.   The ideas flow again.   Ideas about family, life, work.     That’s stage 2.   once stage 1 is fixed, stage 2 goes quickly into stage 3:

Then, it opens your soul. In my experience, I start feeling again.   Imagining.   Loving life.    Feeling Life.   Man, its the best part.   You start breathing it in, ready to kick ass again.   Ready to be a good dad.   Ready to make some money.   Ready for whatever life is gonna throw at you, because you’re not young…. you know life is gonna throw shit.   Life…. bring that shit on.   I’ll own you.

That’s when music starts sounding good on the road.    I don’t care if its from your ipod, or your batwing faring stereo.

Once those 3 are fixed, man… youre a human being again.

It’s been a long winter.   I need to be a human being again.   Real Men get life pressures that only a man might know about, if he’s a man.

I think I’m heading out to ballarat this weekend, after my BACA child ride.   I’ll go cheap, and hopefully get all three.   I’d be happy if the first one happens, but what will power me up for weeks is if the other 2 happen.   Only the road knows if that’s gonna be.     Can’t wait.

I’m countin’ on you, to carry me through…

I love this song.     I have past memories, and future plans to listen to this as I wake up on the side of the road, find me some coffee as I shake the dew off my tent and look at a map at 7:30 in the morning.     Feeling the effects of a pint of somethin’ something’ I bought in a town 200 miles away, but looking forward to a new day of riding.   I’ll load that tent, roll up my sleeping bag that will serve as my back rest for the next 600 miles today, turn on my ignition and wonder what the song is in my stereo.    I’ll start my bike, turn down the volume from the night before, and point my bike toward a gas station since I’m in a town with gas and I’m not sure if the next town has any.   Once I’m out of town, I’ll tab down on my hand controls to find this song and realize how free I am today.     I’ll probably leave that town hungry, with the ambition to make miles today, and the expectation to find a diner or a 7-11 to find lunch at.   Hell, to be honest, I don’t know, and that’s what makes a good ride.

“Gimme the beat boys to free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away”

You may or may not know the feeling.   I know I do.   It’s the feeling of adventure.   The feeling of  whats over the next rise, of riding the bike that you love across vast territory of nothing to hit the next town to find a gem of something good that will make you wonder.  To me, living in the openness of the west, that’s why I ride.   this song seems to hit that for me.

I have my daughters birthday this weekend.   I also have a B.A.C.A. car show I’ve done three times now this weekend.   I’ll do both, because I love both, but next weekend, I’m pointing my bike somewhere.   I gotta get lost in that rock and roll and drift away.   I gotta.

Day after day I’m more confused So I look for the light in the pouring rain You know that’s a game that I hate to lose I’m feelin’ the strain, ain’t it a shame

Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away Beginning to think that I’m wastin’ time I don’t understand the things I do The world outside looks so unkind I’m countin’ on you to carry me through And when my mind is free You know a melody can move me And when I’m feelin’ blue The guitar’s comin’ through to soothe me Thanks for the joy that you’ve given me I want you to know I believe in your song Rhythm and rhyme and harmony You help me along makin’ me strong

Today, I had 12,000 hits on the MrZip66 blog. Kind of cool. Harley-Davidson featured me on their facebook page. Right on! I hope you guys ride the easy rider route and fill in my gaps.

So I’m moving this weekend. Next weekend is my daughters birthday. That means, in 3 weeks, if all goes right, I can get out into the wind, the open road, and get the hell out of dodge. I so need it. Looking forward to the first good ride since I rebuilt the street glide. I trust this engine. She’s got all new insides, but her heart is the same. She wants to ride, just like me. She wants to tour. She wants to see more. This is a good bike.

Had a good day today. B.A.C.A. brought back my mojo. Went to court with some of my brothers to help out a step mom and her daughter to support her abused daughter. The mother was visibly shaken as she asked me and my friends to escort her to her car, because her perp has been threatening her. I love these situations. I’ll walk that line, and so will my bros. I explained our mission, that will do WHATEVER it takes to keep her daughter safe. we mean it.

It brought back my fire. My fire, is that I’m a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse. Someone commented on my patch today, saying “who is against child abuse?”. I told him, “yeah, camp out in front of a scared kids house at 3 in the morning, go to court with scared kids and do it all the time and its more than just a statement patch”.

Don’t underestimate what we can, and will do.

We’re a sheild, not a sword. Make no mistake though: We will do whatever it takes. It’s your call perp. Like my tattoo says: Don’t tread on me. It’s all about the kids.

This is my road music for 2010.