WINTER AND MOTORCYCLE CLUBS

In the far north, motorcycle clubs suffer greatly in the winter. There are many reasons for this beyond the obvious reason that it is very difficult, dangerous and stupid to bike on snowy, slick roads. People of the north undergo some biological and psychological changes due to extended exposure to subzero temperatures. Noted psychologist Dr. Brugna VanDrutten has coined the term Frozen Personality Disorder. He has studied the dramatic changes in behavior due to cold weather. If you are interested in getting a detailed explanation purchase his book  Ice Cube People.

The Nobodies are not immune to this disorder, so in the winter we seldom gather as social situation cause us to become anxious and agitated. Consequently, no one attends our meetings, our income drops to nearly nothing and we lack vision and purpose.  Actually we always lack vision and purpose, so we cannot blame that on our long, cold winters.

If it were not for our innovative and ever inspiring president Tom "Kickstand" Bergum the club would fade away and simply be a distant memory.  But because of Kickstands many press releases and winter events along with publishing the 2014 ride calendar, hope burns in the cold hearts of our faithful members.

The month of January is going to be a very active month for the club. The ride calendar will be published, our annual Ice Cube Cycle Olympics will be held the third Saturday in January and noted winter rider Ole Olafson  will be teaching a hands on seminar on winter riding.

If you are interested in becoming a member or simply want to participate in one of our winter events, simply contact us using this blog.  Remember winter is only a state of mind and if you choose to stop thinking you can do anything you want.

NOBODIES EMBRACE NEW VISION

The Nobodies of Minnesota met this summer to ratify a new constitution. "After a year of negotiating the specifics of our new constitution we have agreed on exactly who the Nobodies are and what our club goals and objectives are for the 2013 riding season", explained President Bergum.
The Nobodies will continue focus on commuting- riding motorcycles: to and from work, on errands,  to evening engagements, to breakfasts,  to lunches, to dinners, to snacks, to coffee with friends and enemies alike etc. Our slogan for 2013 is "Riding With A Purpose".   It almost was "Riding With A Porpoise" but we caught the typo before printing up the banners and t-shirts. Sea World was interested in sponsoring our riding season if we choose to use Riding With A Porpoise, but we felt it would have been very expensive and difficult to follow through on that commitment.

COMMUTERS UNITE

It's been a tough year. When one is not sure if they are going to ride motorcycle again and they don't have the financial means to see a psychotherapist ever day, strange things can happen.  Well the good news is I am back to normal! In fact I am better than normal......I'm above average. I've not only gotten back to my former stature; I have grown as an innovator and futurist! The Nobodies are moving on to a new frontier.  We are happy to announce that  The Nobody Motorcycle Club is going to open its membership to commuters from all around the world.  The Nobody Motorcycle Club is going to organize all the motorcycle commuters on the planet earth. In the coming weeks we will explain this imaginative and bold plan in more detail, but to get things started just contact me if you want to join the Nobodies.  We expect thousands if not tens of thousands of new members in the next month.
KEEP RIDING WITH A PURPOSE is our kickoff  campaign slogan.  Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

REASON TO RIDE

I started riding again. I wasn't sure if I would. A new high viz Aerostich jacket, high viz water proof duffel bag and some unknown desire to commute got me back on the road. I will start posting in the coming weeks so hope to get a few laughs and comments from my thousands of readers. 

WINTER CAME FOR ONE DAY

On Leap Day, winter visited us in Duluth; fifty mile an hour winds, ten inches of snow and school canceled for two days. Then it got warm again! If I was in the motorcycling mood, I would have been driving my 125 to work for over a month now.

Today is is supposed to be in the high 60's. Our average temperature this time of year is about 37. It didn't even get down to 37 last night.

To all you Minnesota Motorcyclers enjoy your rides today!

I LOOK OLD

This winter has been a strange one for folks in Northern Minnesota. Very little snow and unseasonably warm weather. I have not done my usual winter activities, except for downhill skiing; which actually is a job requirement for me. No cross country skiing, no snowshoeing, very little snow shoveling and no sliding around in a car. I love watching snow as it drifts down from the sky.....not much of that this year. I am still holding out some hope for one good snow storm, but we only have a month and a half of winter left to bring some nasty winter weather.

Since the winter has been so tame, I have resorted to routines. I was never created to be a creature of habit. I seldom do the same routine in preparation for heading off to work. I'm not proud of the fact, as I admire people who have a systematic approach to life. I just don't have the necessary wiring to pull it off. I am easily side tracked and distracted. I also allow crazy ideas that continually flow through my brain to take hold of me. If I didn't have a job that allowed me to come in late, I would have been fired years ago. Now I am a man of routines.

Here is my typical weekday routine. Wake up, allow Olar our male cat to lay on my chest in bed. Pet Olar for five minutes. Have a conversation with our female cat Socks about the weather and what my day looks like; usually preparing her for the reality that I will not have time to allow her to go outside. Go to the bathroom to do bathroom stuff and brush my teeth, yes bush my teeth before breakfast. I do this because I will forget to do it later. Look at myself in the mirror.

Looking at myself in the mirror was some thing I never did in the past. I actually put on my reading glasses to do this; which means I really can see how I look. Now as I mentioned before, I am not a person who focuses on details. So my looking has nothing to do with hygiene; how my hair looks, whether I need to trim nose or ear hair or how my mustache is looking. I just see this old guy. I start staring into his eyes and ask him a few questions. He never looks directly back at me and he usually avoids answering the questions. His usual response is "I don't know" or "I will put some thought into that and get back to you". The mirror looking is the end of my predictable morning routine as I then revert back to my random methods of relating to the world.

I wish I'd never looked in the mirror. I am sure I would be a better man if I had avoided this fateful mistakes, but I did it. I have always be a proponent of the saying " you are only as old as you feel" and I have felt young....even youthful every since I was a kid! That got messed up for me when I had T

the motorcycle accident and I was feeling rather poorly. So I just changed the saying: " you are only as old as you felt before the accident and you will surely recover and feel great again". Well thank God I am getting better and feeling better, but man I look old!

MOTORCYCLE FEVER

Usually by this time of the winter, I am getting a healthy case of motorcycle fever. The symptoms include: reoccurring dreams of riding a motorcycle on a beach in Australia, wearing my helmet and motorcycle boots in the house, making lists of the new gear I need for the coming season and riding my 125 in the snow.

But this is a different winter for me, rather than trying to survive the fever, I'm dealing with motorcycle doubt. My therapist is using a variety of techniques to help me through this difficult time. Visualization, Rational Emotive Therapy and Regressive Therapy are just a few, while we are experiencing some success, my multiple personalities are still suffering greatly.

I have found the best way to deal with motorcycle doubt is to not think about motorcycling! In the past month, I have been successful in letting go of all motorcycle thoughts. My wife is very pleased with the attention I have give to keeping the house clean, doing my own laundry and shopping. You should see the great dining room set I just purchased. The suppers I have been making this past month have been terrific too! Say does any one have a good recipe for Italian meatballs?