Clarksville, TN – When I started this journey, I had ONE selfish reason to buy a motorcycle. I was battling depression and I needed something that I could focus on. Something new. Some adventure.
After I retired from a forty year broadcasting career, I was bored. I wasn’t prepared for life after retirement. I didn’t have a hobby, my wife was still working, my kids were grown, and I’m not very good with too much time on my hands.
The motorcycle changed all of that, but the biker community that I discovered, was the greatest thing about the journey I started.
With each and every mile of this experience, I continue to be blessed by the people and places my motorcycle takes me. Just the people I’ve met through this blog has been an AMAZING blessing.
There’s a brotherhood within this community and it’s special. It’s real. It’s passionate. It’s universal.
I don’t know what it’s like to be a soldier, a cop, a firefighter. I don’t know what it’s like to hold a dying soul in my arms and promise to tell his family that “I love them.” To be shot at. To go running into danger, a burning house, a life or death call from 911.
Some of my best friends are THOSE people. THEIR brotherhood is unique. It’s special.
This motorcycle brings us together. I can ride with real heros, who have a bond with their brothers that I’m able to share through being a fellow biker. I think of my responsibility to be there for them as they are for me. To hold up my end of the deal.
When I had my recent accident, the first two “brothers” were firefighters and a former cop. They knew what to do and they did it. They’re my brothers.
MY career didn’t involve any of that. My life NEVER came close to that responsibility. I lived and worked with the most selfish and superficial people that God ever put on the planet. They couldn’t care LESS about me or you. And because of all of that, when I left that business, I was left with just me, and I was NOT real pleased with who I had become or where I was headed.
When I began this lifestyle, I immediately felt that I was “one of them.” The first time I flashed the two finger salute and it was returned, you have no idea how that made me feel. Sounds silly I know, but it was great.
The first long distance trip I made on my bike, I was traveling alone and for about 100 miles, tears rolled down my face and I couldn’t figure out why. I was FREE of all the bullshit that life throws at you while you’re trying to please everybody around you. To earn a living. To raise a family and provide for them. Pay the bills. To exist.
BIKERS!
They were veterans, soldiers, firefighters, cops AND everyday people like me. We were brothers, and the common thread was this motorcycle. I was “side by side” with those who know what service and sacrifice is all about. True heroes. True warriors. Those who make the world a better place.
And the MOTORCYCLE brings us together.
It’s a privilege to have these friends. These brothers. These men and women who love each other BECAUSE of their passion for this lifestyle. We bring our heart and soul to this community.
I’m proud and honored!
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