Another Late Night

It's almost midnight Friday night, we made it to Indio CA, only about 150 miles from Yuma. I got my gas tanks back, all brazed up & leak free yippee!  We got on the road about 3:30 and pushed hard just to get here.

Now I have a new problem, my rear brake is basically worthless because of slop in the linkage.  This bike is over 70 years old and has it's problems, as one might expect. Weird thing is, this problem is a long term wear sorta thing and it just POPPED up, I was suddenly without a brake.  Some mountain stuff tomorrow so we're gonna try to find a welding shop first thing, we know what needs to be done.

We hope for Lee Vining CA tomorrow but it appears to be about 400 miles, which would be a longong day. Taking time out for welding will make it very difficult.  Dammit I hate to think schedule.  Oh well.


Sent from my cell

Yuma Territorial Prison

Here are a few shots of the local old old prison.  The dark ones are from solitary.  The skyline was gorgeous too, I hadda stop for a shot. Note the black & white, I'm kinda partial.  

Late Bedtime, Early Start Questionable

Still in Yuma, as planned. It's after 2 AM and I need to sleep but just can't pull it off. I've had some maintenance issues that have kept us all very busy between riding and enjoying our mutual company. We had agreed to get me a new tire installed down here, but discovered my chain & rear brake were both shot. OK, whatever. Then we worked for 3-4 solid hours chasing a short in my tail light. I hit the rear brake & the engine quits. That's alright, I was stopping anyway.

So today we put the bike on a lift to hook up some lights & saw a wet cylinder, thought it was oil. Damn, it's GAS!   Looks like cracks in both tanks the day before we're supposed to leave. Bob The Wizard has a good friend, wheeler-dealer type, who knows someone who can weld gas tanks.  Maybe maybe we can be outta here by noon.

One of the regular guys flew down from Seattle with his lovely wife, kind of a surprise visit. He may ride with us for the first day or 2 so, we'll have 4 I hope.  Looks like 2 Flatheads and a Knucklehead, not sure what #4 will ride, probably a loaner from Bob, he has a handful of old ones.   All I know is we may get a late start but - - - - - WE GONNA RIDE!

Dammit I love these people, I really do.  Here today we have a bike mechanic, a retired trucker, a body shop guy and they call me their "rocket scientist". I'm the dumbest in the lot when it comes to these machines. I mean, I can hold my own but you put a 75 year old bolt or a fitting on these guys hands & they'll tell you model and year just by giving it a sniff.  And oh, they have some pretty bikes.  Pics, oh yeah.

Something Happened

Around 55 something happened to me, not sure exactly what, but my perspective of time & me changed. Before then I had goals & aspirations but as I began to realize there is a heavy price to pay to get there, I also began to understand many of the experiences I wanted to have either slipped away or don't really matter.  I don't really want to climb Rainier any more.  There's no way I can be a Boeing VP and that is JUST fine with me although I once thought I may have a chance.  Today I want to saddle up on my 1941 Harley-Davidson and ride from Mexico to Canada.  And that's all. Today.

I want to know I've done that, tuck it away so I can replay the tapes any time I want. I want the richest experience I can reach for, because I don't know how much time I have left. I never thought this way before 55.  Time left was an abstract concept, somebody else's problem. Today it's my problem and guess what?  It's OK. I embrace it, wallow in it because it's all mine and I've found some fine people to share it with, here in Yuma, in Seattle, and almost everywhere I go.  It doesn't have to be around bikes, of course. I've found I can be more open to being in the moment, more open to now. I've found myself savoring every bite of an ice cream cone, nothing but that.  Lunch with special friends. The richness doesn't have to be in what I do, it can be in simply experiencing right here right now.

There's another reason besides age that continues to teach me this, more on that later.

I think about time often, and ask myself this question. What if time were a static thing and we move through it?  We think we're victims of time, like leaves in the wind, being blown along, circling in the whirls & eddys.  What if we could speed it up or slow it down, make it stop or run through it?   Maybe we can. Maybe we can love time and make it ours by taking the power back. Maybe we can just live in the now, as if there is no time.  Every now and then I believe I get a taste of that, and I like it.

This is living, everything else is trash

Just finished day 3 in Yuma AZ with some great friends, like-minded people who love old motorcycles that actually run.  This desert heat is absolute murder, we're out running around on these ancient Harleys in 100 degree heat, getting sandblasted every few minutes & folks think we're nuts.  Thing is, and we've talked about this, we're all well along in life and the last ride can easily be tomorrow. We have to be OK with that when the time comes, and we have to live this as fully as we can.  Now.  Right now.  

God I love this shit & I love these people.  This is living, everything else is trash.  

Eeeek!

Bob's Knucklehead

Bob's Bobber, 74 inches. Damn.