Two Years Living On Two Wheels...And Counting

[Judoka]

I packed up very early the next morning in hope of laying down as many miles as possible before the heat struck. I started down Rt 66 heading towards the interstate and that is when I heard it loud and clear. The scratching and grinding was loud and clear! I stopped to inspect the final drive boot and saw the fluid was just running out onto the rear wheel. I was not going anywhere any time soon!

What a great place for a pic! Unfortunately panic over pictures is the mood here!

 

[Judoka]

Luckily I had learned my lesson sitting on the Hwy 95 in Nevada in the blistering hear for 6 hours. I had roadside assistance now! I could just call a tow truck.
When the truck finally came it would take myself and the bike to the nearest shop which could repair the bike and that was back in AZ in Lake Havasu. I did not see that coming!

 

[Judoka]

One good thing about Lake Havasu City is that there are plenty of places to camp for a night or two just outside of town. Full arms and a long walk in the heat will get you to a patch of dirt in the desert where you can casually sweat your ( edited for for all audiences ) off all night until the sun comes up the next morning and makes you really miserable !

Fortunately the shop was great and they were able to take a look at the bike the following morning. Unfortunately...it was a bearing in the final drive which had grenaded. They told me they were shocked that she had not locked up the rear wheel on me! I think that would have sucked at 80 mph!!! The bearing was going to need to be ordered...from Germany I was told. The Post-Covid parts supply challenges would only complicate things.


I thought that life had started looking up at this point. Suddenly I was faced with the very harsh reality that my vehicle, and consequently my home was about to be unusable for an indeterminant length of time! I did not even have a backpack large enough to carry my bedding and my tent let alone clothes and gear! Now things had gotten REAL!

 

[Judoka]

So what do you do when you have a couple hundred bucks, no job, no home, and no vehicle to get anywhere to improve your situation? My hand was not hurting as much anymore but art was still not very functional. Camping was limited to two weeks here andI could not live in a tent in this heat for any length of time; no matter how tough I thought I was. This was when my positivity and my fortitude took a nosedive right into that rocky desert ground I had set out for to begin with! I was now standing just 70 miles north of my original intended destination; where I had put all of my hope in being able to survive while I fought Work Comp to fix my hand.
This was the stark reality of my ignorant ambition. This was the moment of truth, and the moments of utter failure. This was where I had to accept defeat.

 

[Judoka]

Even writing this and remembering those days brings a sort of heaviness.

 

[Judoka]

Right about here I thing it would be fitting to share a little happiness which I was able to experience on the other side of this test...and many more to come.
I hope this lifts your spirits like it did mine as I was blessed with this brief excursion!
If it makes you happy feel free to share it...or not.
( And yes. This is me. I am unapologetic with the life I am able to lead!)

 

[GR8ADV]

I would agree with that for the most part. However, our direction is also dictated by what choices are available. It has been my personal observation that character is developed by living with the consequences of choosing something when none of the choices you are presented with are what you want. Somehow I think that is often the best part of life.

Agreed. What most people forget, because accountability is usually uncomfortable to accept, is that the choices that are available are a result of previous choices.

 

[Judoka]

Agreed. What most people forget, because accountability is usually uncomfortable to accept, is that the choices that are available are a result of previous choices.

You are absolutely right GR8ADV ! Our decisions are indeed cumulative.

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

Agreed. What most people forget, because accountability is usually uncomfortable to accept, is that the choices that are available are a result of previous choices.

That's definitely a hard fact for many people to accept!

 

[Judoka]

After a moment of panic and an afternoon of reflection and an evening of regret, I decided to quit worrying about the things I could not change and focus on what I had control of. I have two legs. I have my health. I have been down before and life has taught me that if I fight like hell I will come out of it.

I could put my stuff in a small storage unit in Havasu and take just the basics in my backpack and lash my sleeping bag and bivy to that. It may not be comfortable but it will work. After all, I had less than three weeks until the LTVA opened up at my original destination, and I only had 70 miles to go!
Lets roll !

 

[Judoka]

That night my old roommate from Seattle calls me and says she is coming to pick me up and we are going to go to Seattle to her cosin's place. I am like, "Sure! I have time." I never even unpacked my backpack. Three hours later we stopped by my little storage unit and grabbed my clothes and dropped off my camping gear and headed for Seattle!

 

[Judoka]

While in Seattle I was able to get some money together by consulting a couple of...clients, which I used to get some business clothes at the thrift shop, and got a job just down the road selling cars in the Post-COVID market. That meant selling cars when there was no inventory. It was an adjustment but I was doing quite well...for the short time I was there.

I have struggled to find a way to tell this next part of the story because it is difficult to understand and more difficult to discuss while trying to be respectful. I would love to leave this part out but there is no way I can explain the next chapter without knowing how I got to that point. Therefore, If this part of the story leaves a lot of question and a lot of confusion I apologize in advance.

 

[Judoka]

I want to preface this account by saying I am very grateful for someone opening up their home to me and allowing me an opportunity to get on my feet. It was amazing that I was given the chance to get to work again in a job which I did not typically need both hands. To this day, despite the events which transpired, I am grateful!



Now for the bombshell $h*t show.
This cousin had been released from prison. Now I don't think that automatically makes someone a bad person. I have known a few people who had done time and were living successful and productive lives. I figure if you go pay for it and then be a good person after, who am I to judge?. Sometimes though, when someone has served the majority of their life in and out of prison and went to prison for...violence, that person is just not stable for society. I was a fighter and I know a killer when I see one.

 

[Judoka]

Anyone who has bought more than one car has been in that situation where it took several hours and sometimes even after the dealership had closed. If not then I am sure you know someone who left the finance office long after the dealership had closed. The point is, that salesperson is there with you ands they too are at work after the dealership closed!
For some reason, this person whose house I was in decided that it was not ok for me to be home within 30 minutes of the dealership closing. His paranoia had him questioning me and what I was doing when the truth was that I was only at work closing deals. The real problem was that IT WAS NOT OF HIS BUSINESS ANYWAY ! That unwelcomed desire to control me was about to come to a head, and three workable limbs or not, I am still a trained fighter!
Knowing myself and knowing him I knew something bad was going to happen. He always carried a gun (yes on parole) and he had shot someone before. There was no way this was going to end well either way it went. So, before I could even get a paycheck, I was out of Seattle on the first buss I could catch. I did not even go back to get my stuff from that house!

 

[Judoka]

I headed for Las Vegas where I would ride the city bus all night until the next morning when I could start hitchhiking back to Lake Havasu AZ. The shop had called and my bike was actually ready. All I had to do was to get there...and find $500 on the wain a cactus or something!
A friend landed me the money for my bike and I was able to ride over to pick up my stuff from the storage unit. Finally! I was "Home" safe and sound. Well, I was safe but I was not sound! That situation had triggered some things I have had to deal with in the past. What I now refer to as, another life. I did not realize that it had affected me. I just knew I was very driven to get my stuff and head out.

I had decided to sell my bike and use the money to find a place to start over. I was being completely irrational. I was suffering some mental stress and I was acting frantically.

On my way to Phoenix to sell my bike I was coming up on an intersection which would lead south to Quartzsite AZ if I made a right turn or strait on to phoenix. As I was coming into the intersection my phone rang again, as it had been doing for the past 5 minutes or so. I don't know what possessed me to do it but as I slowed down for that stop light, I reached for my phone and looked to see who kept calling me. I hit the from brake while looking down at my left hand with the bike in gear and down I went!