Previous Page  8-9 / 100 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 8-9 / 100 Next Page
Page Background

8

RenegadeMagazine.com

WOW, what a great ride this last year has been! I got so

much done in 2015 and can’t wait to see what 2016 brings. I

would have to say that completing my Panhead and Charger

were two of my biggest accomplishments. Getting my Pan-

head finally painted and putting side stripes on my Charger

plus getting the bulge hood blacked out were the icing on

the cake. As far as other goals, I am almost done with my

Knucklehead half-sleeve on my left arm and I hope I will be

riding my Knuck later this year.

Even though I have been riding my 81 Ironhead for over five

years, it has received more attention in the last two years

than when we first put it together. It got a four page feature

in “The Horse”, which was a five year dream that I finally

achieved in July. It was also featured in three internation-

al magazines: Australia’s “Biker Zone”, “Wild Motorcycles”

from France and Germany’s “Harley Davidson Dream Ma-

chines”. I am grateful to be in any and all magazines, even if

I can’t read them! I also

received notice that my

photos were used at the

Sturgis Motorcycle Mu-

seum for the exhibit titled

“My First Ride”. The exhibit features stories from people with

their first motorcycles. A lady named Darla was nice enough

to send me photos of the mural that was made.

I am also excited to report that I am featured on the 2016

Throttle Gals calendar once again. This makes THREE

years in a ROW and I am truly honored! I genuinely support

what Doni Langdon is doing with her magazine and her cal-

endar, showcasing women with THEIR rides.

It seems like some things just fall into place. I have been

a member of Cool Rides Online (CRO) since June of 2012

and I just became a CRO Champion! The CRO Champion

Program is a group of individuals who have been selected

to represent CRO and Gold Eagle. Gold Eagle brands in-

clude products such as Sta-Bil, 303 Aerospace protectant,

HEET, 104+ Octane boost, and Start your Engines! All of

the products that I have tried from Gold Eagle are AMAZING

so it is awesome to be able to represent a company that has

products that actually work and that has a website that gives

back so freely to its members.

CRO founder, Marcel Manzano had an idea for an

online car show so in June of 2009, CRO was launched as a

one page automotive contest. It has grown into a large web -

site/forum that now has over 6000 members. If you would

like to be part of this online community http://coolridesonline.

net/, it is free to join so tell ‘em “2vette2camaro” referred you.

CRO’s motto is “If it’s cool and has an engine, we want to see

it”. Each month the CRO sponsors select five cool rides to

feature. The featured cars, trucks and bikes each receive an

award and care package filled with products valued at over

$150. I received this honor back in 2012 and just found out

that you can enter with each “ride” that you own.

Since the holidays seem to consume almost everyone, I am

happy to report that we don’t celebrate Christmas. I don’t

own or put up a tree and I don’t decorate. We don’t get to-

gether with family nor friends and we don’t buy gifts, for ANY-

ONE. In fact, I would say that not celebrating Christmas is

very very liberating! It’s kind of like when we got rid of televi -

sion altogether. At

first, it might seem

a little weird but the

notion passes and

you carry on with

life and actually get more things accomplished than you ever

thought possible. Christmas is actually the same way. Give

it up for one season and you will wonder why you ever cel-

ebrated it. In doing so, be prepared to face some criticism

or at the very least, some weird looks. People are still not

comfortable with others who don’t conform.

We do have a yearly ritual where I personalize a photo cal-

endar from Vistaprint with all of our rides. This signifies all of

the progress from year to year that we have made and since

Gabe changes vehicles so often, I always have enough rides

to fill each month. I also wipe off all the national pre-filled

Holidays and add my own, such as “Hemi Day” and “Dy-

er’s Blower Day”.

The downfall of our way of life is that

while everyone else was eating a huge

Christmas dinner, we were digging

through our apocalypse box and

being excited that we found a

can of TREET and calling it

“Christmas ham”.

“Hemi Day” and “Dyer’s Blower Day”

the thrift store. Unlike all the other times when I enter, this

time was different because several people started smiling

while talking to me. I immediately thought “I really AM fa-

mous”. As I went around the corner, the comments contin-

ued. My head was starting to swell up until the moment I

looked into a mirror hanging on the wall and saw that I had

a HUGE piece of bright white icing on my face. So much for

that line of thinking!

When I am in town, I always have to frequent the local dis-

count store where I have gotten so many bargains in the

past. Before checking out, I always make one more pass to

the deeply discounted/outdated aisle as the workers put out

items continuously. I saw a shopping cart that was packed

full so I decided to get down on the floor and totally check

it out as to not miss anything. At first it just looked like a lot

of crap that we don’t eat, but then lo and behold I spotted a

label that I recognized- KIND. Once I saw that label, I began

moving stuff out of the

cart in order to reach the

KIND. There were prob-

ably 100 KIND bars in

the cart all priced at just

.10 EACH! When I was grabbing all of the bars to put up

on the conveyor belt, a woman came running up behind me

asking me where I found the KIND bars stating “I did not see

them on the shelf”. I told her that’s because they were in a

cart and that I got them all.

After that I had to go to my chiropractor. I use my chiroprac-

tor as my “general doctor”. As soon as I walk in the door

they always ask the reason for my visit. As I often times

get sidetracked telling them stories of my life, I proceed to

tell them how I have been calling myself the Incredible Hulk

lately and how I spit a whole glass of water out after telling

Gabe that “I am the Hulk and when Hulk gets hot he turns

green”, when he discreetly says “The Hulk doesn’t get hot”.

While the assistant is standing there, she turns to the doctor

and says “how do I write that down?” He says “Don’t write

that down”!

Going to town once a month always seems to connect me

with some great characters out in the world. If I were in town

everyday there is no telling what would happen. I’d probably

float off on some spaceship to never be seen again. The

world is constantly changing and the more I see out there,

the more I want to retreat back to my compound. I just saw a

helicopter fly over, wonder if that means something?

I was in Wal Mart with my cart totally full; 10 dozen eggs,

30 gallons of distilled water, 35 pounds of cat food (for the

hedgehogs) and other groceries when a guy commented that

I wouldn’t be able to carry that on my bike. Since I didn’t

recognize him, the only logical reason behind it must be that

I am now famous. When I mentioned my experience to a

friend, I was asked if it was “the guy who has a big head and

who wears a miniature cowboy hat held on by a chin strap”.

Umm, no.... but as I went to checkout, the local mortician

called me by name. Wonder if THAT means anything???

Since we don’t buy

cookies, candy and

other such things,

when there is an op-

portunity for a free cookie, I take full advantage of it. I was

cashing in my change at the bank when I noticed there were

still fresh, hot COOKIES out for the taking. I promptly took

two, got into “Big Red”, the Cummins diesel with a manual

and proceeded to eat my cookies as fast as I could before

having to make

the next stop. Trying to eat the cookies

while driving the truck, and stop-

ping at stop signs was a workout

in itself.

I arrive at the next destination

on my agenda which just

happens to

b e

RenegadeMagazine.com

9

“eatmy cookies as fast as I could...”