How do I define the success of a road trip?
I clocked 9,000 KMS on this trip, I attended some10 motorcycle events, I added up 8 hours of rain, I visited a ton of Rider Friendly Businesses and I stayed with a ton of friends. I took thousands of photos and lots of video!
And I made it home in one piece.
Yes it was a wonderful road trip but I am glad to be home.
I missed my hubby and my cats and am thrilled to have attended by husband's stepson's wedding on Saturday in Fort St John BC and even more thrilled to be getting ready for my daughter's wedding in Mexico.
Before I head to Mexico however, I have one more event to attend - the Howlin' Coyote's Biker Bash in support of the Fallen Rider's Memorial in Two Hills AB!
My Street Glide has been treating me well, Black Betty and I have logged over 96,000 KMS since I got her in 2007, which by the end of this season will be somewhere around 100,000 or 20,000 KMS per year. Not too shabby considering the workload I have!
I myself have logged well over that number as I have attended events where I was on a rental or borrowed bike.
Many have commented to me that I have the world's best jobs and I have to agree I am one of the luckiest people alive as I have a job I adore!
It has it's downside too though.
As I said, I miss my hubby and the cats when I am on the road, but when I get home, I am generally buried in paperwork and that can make things tough too. Balancing business and family life has always been a challenge for me, even when I worked for other people.
I love to work and if it is something I truly believe in, I throw myself into it 110%.
I have a ton of articles to write not just for my own publication but for others as well, a ton of video to edit and I have a ton of invoicing and books to do - I am grateful to do it.
It's a trade off yah know!
I work to ride just like everyone else out there. But I also ride to work which means the perks in my job are many. I get to meet great people, ride incredible stretches of highway and my brain comes home feeling vibrant and alive even if the body is tired!
It's a great feeling - growing a community newspaper, helping others to communicate what's happening in their region, enticing others to come visit Canada and experience one of the greatest play lands out there!
But again, it has it's down side as I also have to report on the sad things and the frustrating things that affect our community - like the deaths of many of my extended family and the police harassment and profiling of our community.
I attend events that are hosted by for profit businesses that are really only started to make some promoter rich - and make the community feel fleeced...
This is such a vast country with such a small population and so many who host events - trying to imitate the big events of the US miscalculate what the size of the touring and cruising aspect of the Canadian Motorcycle community is - they see how successful these big American events are and think they can replicate that here!
And I attend community based events that are meant to help and assist their towns and charities. It's wonderful to see the impact these events have on the charities they support and I love sponsoring them, attending them and seeing them flourish as the result of the hundreds of man hours the volunteers put in.
With my riding season winding down I experience that bitter sweet feeling that comes with knowing I have, like most Canadians a long cold winter ahead of me - the videos, photos and articles written by myself and other riders will be what gets me through that the same as it does for every other rider out there.
I am looking forward to the fact that I will finally have help here in the office for a while! I have a gal that I have known for a long time coming to assist me with getting our 2013 Rider Friendly Phone Book ready for print. In 2012 we printed 15,000 copies and we ran out - I did not even have enough to send to all of the business partners - so this year we are looking to print 25,000.
We give the book away for free unless we have to ship them out and Canada Post sure takes a big enough chunk of a $10 bill for their role in getting them out so we really encourage everyone to come to the bike shows or go to one of our partner businesses to get their copy.
Yes - everything in life is a trade off isn't it! Work hard, ride hard and love lots!
Speaking of love and it's bitter sweet aspect...
I have some sad news of a personal and business nature that I must share - our writer William Perry - the former Catholic Priest turned RCMP officer - now retired and battling cancer is loosing his fight.
William was struck from behind by a rogue Kawasaki at a dealership in London England about 10 days ago. He has been battling prostate cancer and the broken leg he received in the crash which happened while he was walking into the dealership to go rent his grand daughter a bike has caused the cancer to travel into his bone marrow and we are told it has shortened his life expectancy.
William has gone to his ancestral home in Ireland in preparation for his passing.
What makes this sad tale even sadder is the fact that William only found out a few months ago that he was the daddy to a beautiful little 6 year old girl. His first wife had passed away many years ago and he had never remarried. He had a relationship with a gal from Spain about 7 years ago and the mother of his child had never told him she had given birth as a result. When he found out about his daughter, he asked the mother, a woman he loved as a friend, to marry him. They married and sadly she died a few short weeks later in his arms. Now this pretty little girl is going to be without benefit of her father too.
I have grown to truly love William as a friend and I feel so torn up inside by this news.
It's selfish that I want him around for a long time. He has so much wisdom to share, so much warmth and love to offer - he is one of the good guys and our world needs more of them.
My heart breaks for his family and again selfishly for myself as I will miss his missives, his council and his friendship - but I also count myself lucky to be among his friends.
I close off today asking everyone in my circle of friends to pray for this man - he is a friend and family man with a big heart - I pray for God's comfort for him and his family and friends, I pray for a miracle...
There is a ton of news in the feeds over at www.beltdrivebetty.com where our work is keeping YOU informed....I invite you to visit our site and find out what might affect your day and life as a rider.
I am going to leave you today by sharing a few funnies shared with me by my friends on Facebook and by emails, cause I need some laughter to balance the pain I feel.
Ride safe please everyone,
Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider.
rider friendly business assoc | rider friendly business association
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