I'm turning into fuckin' Ghandi!

  On my way to the flat track races and half way to nowhere the battery on the Latowski cooked. I mean COOKED with bubbles, smoke and noxious fumes that take your breath away kind of cooked.  Dead on the side of the road...again.

   This time though there was no wave of ‘get back on the road’ panic. It wasn’t roadside fixable and with nowhere to get parts and no money to do it with I just settled into my current environment and waited for my $70 truck ride home, smoked a bowl and just relaxed. I was as content as if I was still on the road to the races. It was kind of weird excepting my state of affairs and not beating it with a stick.

   I mean what the fuck, I could be on the road headed to the races, at the studio workin’ or sittin’ on the side of the road on this beautiful night hangin’ out half baked waiting for a ride…it’s all the same to me, nothing life threatening so what’s the worry. The problem was a bad regulator (probably) and there wasn’t any way to properly diagnose the problem where I was and I wasn’t about to go to Phoenix and just start throwing parts at it so I was just as happy just to go home and carefully figure it out.

   My ride home didn’t cost anymore than if I made it to the races so I just got comfortable and enjoyed a nice buzz in the perfect canyon weather in which I was stuck. I had nothing to prove by making it to the races and I was completely comfortable in my current location with a full bottle of water and enough smokes to last me for a day or two so I just laid out a blanket and stared out the stars. No problems here…just a bike that was illin’…I’ve been here before…big deal.

  The days of people stoppin’ to help someone with a broken bike are passed and considering I probably knew more about the issue then the waving tools I’m glad they didn’t. No one stopped and as the morons floundered by with their 30” front wheeled bagger waving it would just be more of a buzz kill than if they stopped and tried to help. I had it covered and I was alone comfortably sprawled out next to my bike lookin’ into the abyss of the universe and thinking about the rest of my life. I was cool where I was at and anyplace else would be just as cool, I just happened to be here…and that didn’t seem to bother me at all this time.

  It’s strange how having a life beyond bikes makes situations like this palatable. I got a lot of good things going on right now and a fucked electrical component really doesn’t bother me too much. I have a winter coming up and my shit will be semi-organized so what’s to stress…sitting on the side of the road just gives you the opportunity to sort things out mentally and lately things are a lot clearer.

   I ain’t looking to ditch my home and studio just to have a non- running bike ruin it based on a motor that flat out wasn’t getting power to the plugs. Big deal, if I get it home I can take my time, diagnose the problem and in the mean time I can move my house to the Sub-Basement, paint and do a bit of wrenchin’ on the sled. At this point in the game that seemed real good…and it is.

  I laid back, lit a Marlboro and watched the smoke get carried away by the cool breeze that was barely noticeable before I exhaled. Not a moment passed that was ruined with that tinge of loneliness that usually spoils a moment like this. I was alone but not lonely.

   Plans change all the time and most of them you have no control over, this was one of those times and I was at home, next to my broken bike that broke in the perfect place to relax. Relaxation, that’s what my bike is these days, no matter the circumstances.

  So there I settled in for an hour or two just thinkin’ about the upcoming winter months. My focus was far from my fried bike as I shuffled through the things that will make MY compound a pleasant place to hunker down when the snow flies.

  There’s a stove to install, wood to gather, paintings to get done, writing to do, a car that needs some love and a Hamsteak to remodel. The bike will get done but for some reason it’s not at the top of the list…I am a biker but I am also becoming a bit more responsible when it comes to things that will make my small world a place that I want to be rather than a place to crash between my running around the country. I like what I am building.

  It sucks a bit but my bike deciding to be a little cantankerous last night was something of a pleasant expereince. I had time alone with nothing to do and no mental anguish beatin’ the fuck out of me. Bikes are the best but some of the funnest times are the ones that you don’t expect…like last night.

  Today I’m back in the Sub-Basement slappin’ paint on canvas again. I was supposed to be watchin’ XR750’s rip it up but I’m here instead, doin’ the other thing I love.

   I’ve been obsessed with the Latowski from day one and that was it, but now my quality of life is becoming just as acceptable as when I’m blastin’ towards the horizon, although it will never be a replacement. I’m diggin’ painting again and being able to just pile on the pigment without doing it  to gather what I can for the next ride is a nice break.

  Riding isn’t my only driving force these days. I am finding satisfaction in the rest of my life. I guess I’m slowin’ down a bit but I could give a fuck. I need the rest and gaining a little piece of mind is what I have been searching for anyway. Maybe I can ride just to ride. It would be nice to be on the bike and not running from things, even when there was nothing to run from. It’s just that easy, make an entire life that you enjoy and make it strange… just shy of a train wreck is a good place to start.