MSF Dirt School...this should be interesting

Morning...

After riding for eight years now and surviving several thousand miles off-road on my BMW R1200GS, I've decided it was time to take a class to learn how to do more than survive. Today I will be attending an MSF Dirt School to learn how to ride a dirt bike. I am hoping to learn skills that will allow me to be able to take advantage of the vast off-road riding available near my new home in Southern California.

After looking around at different companies that offered off-road training with options from three day camps at $1,400 riding your bike to half day courses bike provided. I have signed up with is www.schoolofdirt.com to attend their half day course, for several reasons. First, I'm an aspiring writer, former software engineer that is currently unemployed so, cost means allot. Second, I don't like the idea of using my bike to take a class where, I know, I'm gonna end up in the dirt which risks my expensive bike, part of the reason I want to take the class is to minimize the risk of damage to the bike, not to mention myself. Third, proximity is a big deal. The School of Dirt is only twenty five minutes from my house, which means I can be home in time to cook dinner, as well as, be close enough to go back in with follow up questions or additional instruction without having to plan a major trip in advance. Finally, my biggest deciding factor was around community. This organization is run by local people that have found a way to give back to the local motorcycle community by teaching responsible/safe riding and do something they enjoy. Working with a small organization gives me an opportunity to meet locals and hopefully begin establishing my own connections to the community, in which I am new.

My research suggests the intention of this class is to teach basic techniques and how to ride dirt bikes responsibly. Further techniques developed are riding strategies, direction change, signaling, control, starting and stopping, traversing hills, emergency maneuvers, and negotiating obstacles.

Well, time to get ready! I'll write a full review after I've completed the class.

Live like I ride...with a smile...
...it only takes one lifetime to get it right...
...but all of them to whine if you don't!

The Trip That Wasn't

I think I've been time warped again. I guess that thats one of the downside of having Merlin (the master of time warps), as your guardian or guide. I've been dreaming off and on for the past six months about the ride to and from this years BMW MOA International Rally in Salem, Oregon. Riding up the California Coast on the Pacific Coast Highway then follow the 101 all the way to Otis, Oregon turning east onto 18 the Salmon River Highway through the Siuslaw National Forest and then Oregon State Highway 22 into Salem. I had big dreams of checking off at least four of the final six states in the country, I have yet to ride. I was hoping to be able to check off forty nine states in 2013, but it appears that is not in the cards this year. Last week, between writing the Story of Dax and Amanda Arach (The Original Crusade), researching blue water capable liveaboard sailboats and cooking diner for my family, I mapped out the ride and cost of attending the rally.

It was with much frustration, that I resolved myself to the fact that, seventeen months of being unemployed has drained my savings to a point, I can not make the trip to Salem. Oddly, before mapping it out I was confident that the trip would be possible since, it was on the west coast this year, where I happen to find myself. However, upon completing the map it turns out that the round trip ride would be a little over 2,500 miles not including my hope to hit Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington on top of Oregon. In spite of the continental proximity, the trip would require a two day ride to arrive and a minimum of two return days and a potential price tag of $700 - 1,000. In a previous time in my life, that wouldn't be a big deal, as it would have been less than half of what I made while on vacation. But these days, that would set back my solvency by a month. Not an option!

The big adventure for this summer is going to be lived vicariously through the Instagrams, Facebook posts, emails and Facetime calls from my two little sisters (Carly and Carrie) and my Mom (Colleen Sayre). I have gotten accustomed to being the adventurer in the family that everyone is living through and now I get to be a watcher. Don't get me wrong. I am happy for them to have made their dream come true. This trip has taken over two years to plan and bring to fruition. As I write this, they are high above the earth traveling from Orlando to Philadelphia in the first leg of their trip to Scotland. They will be spending the next ten days traveling the Scottish Highlands and drinking in all the Outlander sites they can behold, as well as, camping on my sister's, Lady Carrie Wood's, newly gifited land in Glencoe.

As far as the rally is concerned, I will content myself with reading about the antics at the rally, in next months issue of the BMW MOA Owners News. Oh and see if I can find an off road training class close to home and learn how to ride in the sand or just disappear onto a winding road for a few days...Shhhhh!

Live like I ride...with a smile...
...it only takes one lifetime to get it right...
...but all of them to whine if you don't!

Time Warps...some call them anchors

Well, CaveDweller you're right, our family has our own series of time warps. You personally get the benefit of extra time to visit benefit of the extra time to visit by getting there faster or spending less time in the car. For me, the stretched side of the warp is most commonly while I'm writing or traveling and on a deadline. Most of my life, I have found that when I do my best work is with my back against a wall. When there is a problem that has to be solved immediately or a deadline to meet, everything around me seems to slow down and I write a document that would take two weeks in a night. When the sun rises, I have finished a fifty page Software Strategy document complete with pictures, diagrams and meeting invitations to the key stakeholders. Then, I take a shower, ride Dragon to the office and present the paper for review without anyone the wiser, that I did it last night, let alone that I haven't slept in twenty four hours.

The time warp gives to help my life and career but the way it takes is just too hard some times. For instance, one morning, I'll stroll by Dragon and think "Why all the dust? We were just on the road... Oh Crap! We haven't been out in over two weeks! Later today! I promise!" A few more days go by and I pass her again, "Why all the dust?" I think. Once again, I make my promise.  The truth is that these are the times she takes from me. My favorite and most meditative gift to myself is riding or being on the open road in anything at all and she continues to tie up my time, keeping me anchored to the land.

She chooses her victims, I mean partners, carefully and doesn't allow everyone to experience the full glory of her gifts. The ones she chooses however, need be careful what they ask for as the price you pay could be much more than you are able to bare as it may be the loss of your only tranquility.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that on the rare occasion the time warp mistress will be generous and allow you the opportunity to experience the stretch while you are doing that which she usually takes away. Recently, I spent an entire day riding. I started with cool crisp air along the coast, a brilliant sun filled afternoon in the heat as I stormed the mountain turns and then the return trip in the dark shadows of the late afternoon in the turns. Finally, capped with the sounds of waves crashing on the rocks as I coasted home. Again, I say a spectacular day of riding that only took me away from my family for three hours (their time) and Dragon grinned at the two hundred fifty plus miles on the trip meter. Just then, my phone beeps, "U be home for dinner?" While dismounting, I think to myself, "As a matter of fact!"

My final thought for the subject today.  If, like my family, you are able to experience these quirks or holes in the fabric of time or your not. Remember, not to bemoan the little setbacks that make them possible. Embrace the time you have and every so often maybe you'll actually give yourself a break.

By the way, time warp mistress or not. Dragon says the last ten thousand miles have been her favorite, on account of most of the miles have been headed to "No specific destination!"

Live like I ride...with a smile...

...it only takes one lifetime to get it right...

...but all of them to whine if you don't!

Re: Don't buy the boat!

What can I say to The Joy (and Power) of Being Right Here?

You know me...everything is an adventure and you're right, for years now "Dragon" has been my escape hatch, so to speak. She still is and will be for a long time to come. Believe it or not, after spending seventeen years is one place, I remember and appreciate the art of finding joy where my feet are planted. Although, much like Fitz in 'Martin Vane Says Hello', I too have forgotten the meaning of life, intentionally at times, only to awake later and be mesmerized by the joy of find myself all over again.

The idea of the boat however, has been in my psyche since I was very young. Why is that Mom? The first images I remember, in my minds eye, are of a boat anchored at the edge of a harbor in dark choppy seas, cold walls of sea water crashing into and over me on the deck, storm clouds raging over head, and a very young me being encouraged to climb the mast and command the seas to calm and then lay on the deck and break the clouds one at a time till there was nothing but blue skies as far as I could see. This little single-masted dinghy grew over the years, replaced plank by plank, as you taught me to master the pain of my migraines through visual meditation. Now, moored at the edge of that same harbor on the western edge of Scotland is a huge three-masted ship complete with galley, three bedrooms, a head with shower, and most importantly, a crows nest with a hammock to relax in once I have calmed the seas and sky of my world. That was my only escape hatch for years, until I found the "Blue Dragon," a '99 Moto Guzzi Bassa which gave me a physical freedom all my own.  Together, the two Dragons have taken me all around this great country of ours and even to Canada on a whirl-wind ride that has spanned almost eighty thousand miles in eight years.

I am living firmly in the here and now...truly absorbing as much of what is around me as possible.  Still my mind wanders, both as I write my first novel that takes me around the world and back and as I sit in quiet meditation and allow myself to fall away and my soul to emerge from its glimmering leather and scaly shell, deep within my sub-conscience.

After all these years of settling the seas and calming the winds around my ship, I have come to realize that for all the hard work I have put into creating this beautiful vessel, it is far too complex to sail enjoyably.  So, I have begun rebuilding my ship into a live aboard, ocean worthy sailboat that can be manned single-handed but has room for a partner and a little more.  Remembering how to sail in my mind is effortless, even on the large ship as a respite from the real world.  I want to know (remember that is) that, not only can I sail the pleasure cruiser I've name "Phoenix" in my mind but that I can sail away on her, in this world as well.

See, I inherited this thirst for knowledge and adventure from someone, I won't name names "Mom", and the idea of learning to sail and know about boats and how big it needs to be to safely transport us and Dragon are simply an extension of that thirst.

Until I find a suitable manifestation of Phoenix within our price range, I will build her in my mind's eye, and take reminder courses from the ASA, to master the art of sailing her safely into the next big adventure.

I hear you MOM! I'm not buying a boat, I am manifesting it, one plank at a time, just like you taught me. And don't worry, it will be big enough for you to sail with us on occasion, if you're not too busy writing another book. Congratulations on your latest book, 'Martin Vane Says Hello'.

Sat Nam!

~Topher

Life Anew

Hey everyone...

Well, as you may have noticed, I have not exactly been posting much in the last few months. I had taken a break from my blog and social media. There have been a lot of changes in my life, during which I felt silence was the better part of valor. Now that I have gotten beyond most of that, I am back and ready to begin my new adventures and share some of it with the world.

In the past year, I have traveled over 50,000 miles in my car and in excess of 7,000 miles on my motorcycle. I have visited all but ten of the lower 48 states and moved from my home of twenty years in Massachusetts back to the state of my childhood, Georgia, made brief but important visits with my Mother in Florida and my Grandpa in Ohio. I spent a good deal of time in Alabama, with my girlfriend and partner in life prior to our move to Costa Mesa, California.

My youngest daughter graduates from college in May, my divorce is final, my house has an offer and will hopefully be sold within the month and my family is beginning to find its way in this world!

On my adventure, this year, I spent a great deal of time in California, exploring the beaches, and towns along the coast and in the mountains living in my tent and cheap hotels. I saw the sunset on the a Pacific Ocean for the first time, committed the ashes if my loyal friend and companion Merlin, whom was a 14 year old a Bichon Frise, to the ocean and various other locations along the journey. I watched the sun rise and set over the mountain peaks around Copper Mountain, Colorado. Witnessed the onset of darkness as it enveloped the Redwoods and myself in northern California. Fell asleep to the roar of the surf on dark sand beaches, and awakened to the gentle crashing of the waves on those same shores. Felt the sharp bite of cold as it stole into my tent though the night, both in the mountains of Colorado and in the Sierra Nevadas of California. Awoken to find frost on the inside if the tent just inches from my face. Sat in the snow and stared with wonder at the hot sulfur springs erupting from the ground at Lassen National Volcanic Park in June. Fallen asleep with my sliding door open to the ocean and the I-5 in San Clemente as the sound of the rushing traffic and crashing surf washed over my soul. Lay in an attic bed, mere inches from the roof, listening to the winds of a tornado hurdle cars through the air and tear roofs from houses in the heart of Mobile, Alabama, while waiting and wondering if it would find me as it tore through the neighborhood only two blocks away. Spent sleepless nights with my hand in the bed of my partially paralyzed companion to both comfort him with my presence and monitor his movements in the night. Giving countless late night baths to clean him up and then hours holding and warming him and exercising his legs. I spent innumerable hours alone: writing, thinking, reading, riding, driving, contemplating life and capturing my view of the world through word and photography. There have been late nights in the hospital, visits to animal clinics and animal acupuncturists. Break downs of the body, both emotional and physical, as well as on trailers and moving trucks. Searches for welders and machine shops, long waits for road side assistance in the middle of nowhere and the pleasant surprise of an unexpected sunset in the dessert! I've been snowed on in the dessert, and snowed in in Texas. On the bike, I have frozen in Alabama and Florida and roasted in Missouri while sitting in traffic overheating. Learned to lane share in California to navigate and weave through the bumper-to-bumper traffic and avoid overheating. I have driven or ridden for up to 1,400 miles without stopping and hit the wall at 140 miles and stopped for the night. At a small two man shop on the side of the road i learned how to reset the maintenance light on my Prius and I have had my oil changed at big chain garages, where I taught them how to reset the maintenance light. There have been days, that I haven't talked to another living soul and others where everyone I encountered seemed to have the need to talk, either to share their story or ask after mine. I've seen men go out of their way to help a stranded motorist in need and a cop drive by without a look. Strangers have fed me in campgrounds in return for conversation and a telling of my story; another tried to rob me in the parking lot of a gas station; others scoffed at me for living the dream when I answered their inevitable question, "Where are you heading?" and I replied, "I don't know yet! Whichever way the wind takes me today!"

So, here is where I find myself! My sun and the wind have guided me here, to Costa Mesa, California...for the first time in a long while I feel at home. I can breathe, I can sleep, I can write again.

Today, I am starting my life anew! I am no longer bound by the conventions of how things should be, but by how I decide things will be!

Get out there...find your life anew!

Ride Hard...Live Well...it only takes one lifetime to get it right!

~Chris Wood