Going Up The Country - Woodstock 1969

A little Saturday fun... sit back, relax.... remember?

"Canned Heat" Going Up The Country - Woodstock Music & Art Festival 8-16-1969

Canned Heat, Going Up The Country, Woodstock, Woodstock Festival, Festival, 1969

Motorcycle Safety and Awareness - Before You Hit the Road

biker babe, bikerbabes, nudes, nudebabes, motorcycle nudes, naked, sexySturgis? Daytona? Laconia or just around the corner to your local Grocer your destination does not matter if you have not learned the basics of motorcycle safety.

We have all heard the stories or personally know riders that have years of riding experience and have made mistakes.  It can happen to anyone at anytime.  By educating yourself you greatly reduce your chances or at the very least improve your abilities to identify and get out of potentially dangerous situations.  Get educated about what your doing. Yes, experience can be the best teacher in the world but making a mistake on a motorcycle can be seriously dangerous to your health.

Rider safety courses are an excellent idea for any rider. I began riding at the age of ten and over the years I have logged thousands upon thousands of miles accident free. I consider myself a very aware and safe rider. Two weeks before leaving for a cross country road trip I was hit from behind while trying to leave my neighborhood. I did ALMOST everything I should have; checked left, checked right, used my indicator... I FAILED to continuously scan all approach areas and to know where my escape route was going to be. I concentrated on traffic in front of me and not on what was coming up behind me. Unfortunately the traffic behind me did not concentrate on what was in front of them. The bright side was it was the collision was minor, I ended up with just a stiff ankle and a few repairs to the bike. Damage to my motorcycle was about $1,400.00 which the other drivers insurance took care of. I just had to deal with the inconvenience factor of taking the bike back and forth to the shop for repairs 

This only emphasizes the point that when you are riding your motorcycle you have to be constantly evaluating your riding conditions; street surface, traffic patterns, bike reaction & feel, weather, side streets, road debris, wildlife and other potential hazards that may be lurking and be prepared to act/react with a plan. The motorcycle industry has developed an acronym to help you remember how you should be identifying and reacting to situations. The acronym is SIPDE or Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute.

• Scan
  
  You should constantly be aware of what's in front, to the sides and behind you. I personally scan constantly, first forward then through the mirrors and to each side and back again; scanning my tach & speed as I go. If you don't already scan or you're new to biking; take time to develop a pattern that includes your mirrors, your controls, and the area ahead of you. You should always be on the lookout for potential hazards and escape routes - even when you are stopped for a traffic signal/stop sign. When changing lanes be sure to check your mirrors early and often. When slowing to stop, check your mirrors to ensure that other motorists behind you are aware that you're stopping. One trick that I use to get the attention of motorist behind me is to tap my brake (either front or rear) in a 3-1-3 pattern. Maintain a 10-12 second lead. Meaning that you need looking at where you'll be 10-12 seconds from now.


• Identify
  
  Identify the situation ahead. Is there a hazard? Would you consider a side street a hazard? Probably not if you're in your car. Car's are "big"; meaning that their easily spotted by someone wanting access to the main road. Motorcycles are nearly invisible and you need to be aware of that when you ride. The same car on the side street will 99% of the time see the oncoming car, the percentage get's much lower with an oncoming motorcycle. Be ready, change lanes if you can, approach with cautious awareness that they may not see you. Are there multiple hazards ahead? Oncoming traffic, canyon road, side streets all pose their own risks scan and plan at all times. What are your escape routes? If you need to "ditch" or "lay it down" where? Options? What presents the least threat to you and your safety? Identify each situation by what represents a threat and what represents an opportunity or escape route. The motorcycle safety foundation recommends separating hazards into three separate and distinct categories.
  
  
  • 1. Other vehicles sharing the road.  
    
  • 2. Pedestrians and animals.  
    
  • 3. Stationary objects.
  
  

  With each category representing a different level of risk and each needs to be addressed by the rider differently.



• Predict
  
  Learn to anticipate what the hazard is going to do; if it's a deer nature says it's going to get startled. There's a 50/50 chance it will dart in front of you - what's your plan? Once you've formulated a plan (about 0.5sec to do, predict what might happen - I always use the worst case: Of course the deer will dart in front of me - now what? Formulate your escape route; this may be as simple as "I'm going to slow down" or as drastic as "he's crossing the road, I'm going off road." I personally feel that it's best to make my assumptions and plan based on the worse case scenario so that I'm ready for whatever happens.
  
  


• Decide
  
  Determine your course of action. Let your presence be known; using the 3-1-3 pattern is one way I make sure that I'm seen. Increase or decrease your speed speed, changing the lane your in or maybe even your direction all together. Combine any or use all three. Some riders put "whistlers" on their bikes, can't be heard by us but it is supposed to keep the deer and other wildlife out of the way. No matter what decision you make, be certain that you've account for your skill/experience level and road conditions.
  
  


• Execute
  
  Take action based on what you decided to do. If you can, separate the hazards so you're only dealing with one at a time. Continue scanning and adjust your actions based on the situation. Remember riding a motorcycle is fluid and things might change. Concentrate on the motorcycle and what you can control. Create a larger safety bubble around the motorcycle. Your safety bubble is the amount of space between you and other vehicles sharing the road with you. When following cars or trucks you should have a 4-5 second safety bubble. When in wet or adverse conditions increase this to 7-8 seconds.
  
  

  Remember to always be aware of your surroundings. Riding a motorcycle is more than just getting on and rolling down the road, road trips can and will wear you out. Take breaks, keep yourself mentally alert (you mind is key to riding safe).

  
  

Sturgis, Daytona, Laconia, motorcycle safety, motorcycle, riding, route, traffic, insurance, repairs, bike, SPIDE, route

Motorcycle Art

I found this pic, and many more like it (check the site out), and had to put it up on "Ride White Lines". Being a Motorcycle enthusiast and going to a ton of shows over the years I've seen all kinds of M/C art, but I have never seen anything quite like this. This picture and all of the ones of motorcycles over at All Fine Arts have been crafted from watch parts. I thought it was pretty cool from several aspects; time (no pun intended), craftsmanship, originality, interpretation - really thought it was cool. Check out more over at All Fine Arts.

Peace


Technorati Tags: art, motorcycles, Motorcycle enthusiast, Ride White Lines

Tattoo Time

After finding out that we were supposed to tip the stripper we decided it was time to move on, time for the tattoo. Across the street we went, all of us had a bit of a light head, filled with enthusiasm, we were going to permanently mark-up our bodies! Woohooo!

How fun was this going to be.

Into the shop we went, looking at all of the different pictures on the wall, watching people getting "work" done and trying to decide which tattoo was the "coolest" one for us.

Hey dude, does it hurt?

Well, it's been nearly 30 years and during that time I've trained as a Tattoo Artist under a guy named "Toomer" and began my tattoo career, ok, not career but my sideline for extra money, after all at that time the military was my "career", and to this day I wear a shirt that I get from my Art Supplier that has a skull in the background (kind of a gray print on a black shirt) and bold white letters that state: "HELL YES, IT HURTS!"

We each picked out out tattoo, each had a reason for what we chose, I went first. Into the chair, the artist shot a template of the design, placed it on my arm (bicep area) and began to work. I sat there sweating for two hours while he put my "leopard perched upon a skull" design on to my arm. I now try to remember what the reason was that I chose a leopard, the skull doesn't surprise me in the least... but the leopard that one baffles me. All that I know for sure is that each of the five of us have a leopard of some type on our left arm.

And the band of brothers is:

Maui
Woody
Wolf
Hillbilly (from someplace called Devo Mountain, TN)
and Moose

We all did our Boot Camp together and later our Advanced.  Maui went on to Military Intelligence School in Southern Arizona, Wolf ended up in Korea, Hillbilly - he had a bit of a tough time and was asked to leave Uncle Sam's party, and Moose, well, Moose was last seen jumping out of a plane someplace over the swamps of Louisiana training for Ranger School - no one really knows what happened to that crazy SOB.

Once the group had all been freshly "Inked" we all headed to the convenience store bought what we thought would be to much beer and went back to the hotel room to drink the night away.

The sun was in mid-sky before we woke from our haze, foggy headed and bandaged arms we grabbed a cab to the bus depot and headed back to the base.



Technorati Tags: tattoo, artist, skull tattoo, Inked, Boot Camp, First Tattoo, Tattoo

Tip the Stripper

1979: Time was marked by constant marching drills, morning PT routines, forced marches led by our CO (Commanding Officer) - who - at the time we swore was a former NAZI, based solely on his desire to march us 20 plus miles at least once a week, it turns out that 1. he wasn't a NAZI after all and 2. He was a Marathon runner so he used the forced marches for his training - nice guy :). One field exercise after another, live fire, night recon, navigation and finally.... our next leave.

Off duty and into our "Civi's", a cab ride down to the bus depot and we were quickly buying our tickets to Augusta, all five of us. The bus arrives at the Augusta bus depot after a couple of hours of travel it's time to catch a cab to the hotel and start seriously looking to get our first tattoo. The cab ride isn't a very long one to the hotel. We get checked in, get settled and we're off. It's time to get a tattoo, but first... you can't get your first tattoo without a drink first. It's going to hurt, right? None of us big, bad, soldiers want to feel that crap. We just came through the lines of deployment shots about a week earlier - that was enough stabbing, jabbing, poking and prodding for any of us, so it's off to find a bar.

This really can't be good - five 18 year boys traveled 200 miles to get tattoos but first are going to have some fun in a bar. Not a single one of us had ever drank in a bar before.

There's a saying, I'm not sure where it comes from but it goes something like this:

When hiring a teenage boy the rule is: 1 boy = a good days work. 2 boys = a 1/2 days work. 3 boys = no work at all.

I think the same applies here just substitute the word "work" for the word "brain" and you can pretty much get a good picture of our mental acumen as a group.

The herd meandered down main street and taking in the sights. We found the tattoo shop, stopped in and looked around. Yep, it was a tattoo shop. We all decided this was going to be FUN, now it's off to find the bar. Much to our delight there was a bar right across the street - imagine that a bar and a tattoo shop next to each other. What a great city!

In to the bar we went, dark and smokey with the music blaring we stood just beyond the closed door waiting for our eyes to adjust while we scanned the room for a place to sit. Before we could find a table, the bar erupted with applause, a light came on above the stage in the center of the room and "Bambi" appeared from behind the curtain. This was all the motivation we needed to sit front and center at the empty chairs around the stage. I and to this day would bet the group as a whole had never been to a strip club. The music started and "Bambi" began the grind, cat-calls and whistles went around the bar and my eyes became twice the size they normally are, although I tried to play it cool like I was born in a strip club. You know, arm back across the chair, making small talk, hey - this wasn't my first pair of real live breasts or anything, I've seen girls dance before - where do you think I'm from anyway?!

Drinks were ordered, clothing kept coming off - hers not ours - "Bambi" danced her dance in front of us for what seemed like a life time. She played the group, obviously knowing that we were young servicemen and that we were putty in her hands. She took hold of my buddies ears and pulled his face into what he later described as heaven, my hat was taken from my head and "Bambi" promptly put it on hers and wore it around the stage using it as a ... prop... while she danced - I kept that hat for years after it had lost any of it's usefulness - we were beside ourselves with all of this attention from a beautiful young lady who was willing to take her clothes off. What a great bar! All of this attention - just because we were servicemen. What a great country. What a great city. What a... ohhhhhh - I see, as we were enjoying the show a rather large gentlemen came up to the group and told us we were supposed to TIP when we received that much attention from "the lady". Damn-it. Time to go.


Boys plan - God laughs - the Stripper gets stiffed.

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