New to this....

[greeneyedjul]

I was so glad to see that this forum was here. Have heard about bikers in recovery, have not met many though. Maybe because I haven't been looking in the right places??? dah. Will be going to my first meeting in years tonight. Thanks for being here! Gives me hope

[Gooch]

Welcome! The rumors are true.. lol

straight bikers .. what will they think of next?

[greeneyedjul]

hi gooch....

i like your humor. now on the lookout for straight bikers in my area. maybe getting clean will help my vision in this quest!

[best]

Welcome

I have run across a few over time. A hangout at the beach. Sober bikers who just hang out and chat.
Monday night ride north and then a meeting.
donut shop hang out....sober bikers. Tomorrow as a matter of fact they are doing a ride on the back roads as a group.
They are out there... You will find them.


Oh and Yes Gooch does carry a great sense of humor.

At times he has even been known to be wiser then his age.
*whispers* and he always has coffee if you stop by

[greeneyedjul]

Hi Best,

Guess it's time for me to check out the donut shops and back roads! Thanks for your words of encouragement!

[BillJ]

There are so many of us around that we even have our own song! Singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler, an excellent performer, sings about "Sober Harley Guys" on her Harvest album. Worth a listen, if you can find a copy.

[greeneyedjul]

Hello Bill,

I'll check out that song and your quote is awesome. I'm heading out for some rides where excesses will be all around me. Am going to keep a tight grip on the bike and my medallion. I've done this before and I can do it again...this time I will keep an eye peeled for my sober comrades....glad this forum is here!

[Gooch]

Hey Best I remember a few years ago rumor had it that you couldn't get a car into some of the doughnut shop parking lots in the south shore because of all the bikes of the members of one of those straight groups.

What you ride there Jules? I see your in Portland .. I know some straight bikers in Minnesota and a few in Washington. Got a friend in Oregon that never has time to ride between feeding his livestock and work as an ER tech.

[greeneyedjul]

Hi Gooch,
Working on a low rider. Been on the back way too long. Getting the finances straight ( and my attitude...). Should have my own bike next spring. My bro has a deuce he's been tricking out. Friend's with fatboys and road kings. Heading for the Blue's Blast in Washington at the end of the season.
Never have been much into donuts but won't mind those back road rides.
I am a RN by trade and ususally work the event's first aid up here. I don't smoke, quit drugs, am going on 2 days sober, am an avid skiier and outdoors nut who has riding in my blood...can't help it! If I can combine camping, fishing and a good ride...I really am in heaven!

[Gooch]

Good ol Ron must have had us in mind huh?

[greeneyedjul]

WAy tooooooooooooooo funny Gooch! Just found a Deli hangout. Now a good sandwich over a donut works for me! Along with the back road and fishing!!! Also have been contacted by an "Alkie Angel Group" here in good old Portland. Out the afternoon for a ride in the country with a friend who put it down last month and is getting his bike out today....kind of helping him "get back on the horse" so to speak. Thanks for your support and humor. juls

[BillJ]

Things to look for, to identify fellow C&S riders:
On bike:
Circle-and-triangle or circle-and-diamond designs, either as stickers, or worked into paint scheme. I don't have any of that on my bikes, but I've seen some beautiful paint jobs incorporating recovery designs.
"Slogan" stickers - I have First Things First stickers on my ugly old road-bags.
Medallions - I have anniversary chips mounted on both my motorcycles, in various conspicuous locations.

NOTE First Things First STICKER ON SADDLEBAG LID AND BRONZE MEDALLION ON PRIMARY COVER

On person:
Pins, patches and/or jewelry related to recovery. In addition to NA and AA logos, I've seen "In Memory of Bill W." and "In Memory of Doctor Bob", "Protected by Smith and Wilson", and even Serenity Prayer patches, AA and NA logo rings and necklaces, etcetera. Myself, I wear a simple bronze AA anniversary chip with a blank center (where the number of years would normally be marked) on my riding vest. A friend gave it to me years ago, when I mentioned that I'd never gotten a desire chip. Now it has a place close to my heart.

Because I mark my bikes and my vest, I've been approached by other sober folk and supporters in some of the oddest locations and (because God knows what I need when I need it) at some of the most opportune moments, when contact with another sober person was desperately needed!

I encourage you to look for telltale signs of a sober biker, and don't hesitate to approach 'em. In my experience, you may help them as much or more than they help you!

Ride free!

[Gooch]

yeah ..to what Bill said.. and also helmet stickers.. sober and insane.. clean and crazy.. Ridin Drug Free

I have a friend of Jimmy K patch on my vest..

[Hgrokit]

I ride clean and sober. Here is a google link that might help ou find clean and sober bikers in your area. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...d+sober+bikers

[Gooch]

Hey Hgro .. I got a friend from the rooms that used to decorate my fender, moved out there near Tacoma, got married and I beleive last update I got had learned to juggle.

[greeneyedjul]

DAy three free and sober found me at my old Columbia Gorge Spiritual Breakfast in Cascade Locks, OR. Now what could I find that brought a big tear to the eyes and a glow to my heart besides the sun in my eye???? You guys there, bikes there, vests, helmets and logos there, coffee, good breakfast and friends I hadn't seen in the 4 1/2 years since I left the tables. It was my old sponsors 20th birthday and my day to be vigorously honest to a group of people that I had spent many of my first years with in recovery...nothing much had changed except me a little older, worn and wiser and the parking lot! Dah! What a relief for me on many levels.
Thank you all for your tips. I probably was looking at all this these past few years yet forgot to see. Another Dah...
May your Higher Power keep you all safe, happy and riding on the Smith and Wilson roads. Thanks again, juls
P.S. Come visit! I know a great welcome commitee now....

[greeneyedjul]

Lost my place on the back of his bike after one too many. It's not like falling off the back into a mud hole or getting a muffler burn or going down as a team because of the stupidity of the guy on the cell behind the wheel. The demons of addiction took a freedom away, drove it away on two wheels into the sunset. He could tell stories of drinkin and ridin and doing dumb things, his best friend's laid up with a severe fractured leg from one too many...he could ride, he could hike, he could ski. He could cook, he could dance, he could rope and ride. He had an inner beauty and outer strength, yet no compassion for an addiction of mine. Buck up juls. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. And in all this dispair and gloom? A bright new future emerging... Should have my own bike by early summer though and then I'll be riding clean and sober, bright eyed and high spirited in the right sense of high spirited. That AA logo will be on my bike and my back...and I'll probably flip him off next time I see him! (oh well, can't help it...the thought makes me feel better )

[best]

Not supporting his choices but am saying that when I learned to stop having a compassion for my addiction is when I made the choice to stop.
I understand that no matter how you look at it, it may still hurt.
But hold onto that dream... Sober and riding your OWN bike.
Would that be something that would be in your future if still on the back seat?

[greeneyedjul]

Jeez Best, probably not...DAH again. You are right. Thanks for your comment.

[greeneyedjul]

"when I learned to stop having a compassion for my addiction is when I made the choice to stop." best

I've been really thinking alot about that statement, best. It made me realize that even though I have quit...I still hold the compassion. Jeez.
I did something today which I should have done immediatley after the big fall five day's ago. I prayed to my God, this time not kicking and screaming. Got down on my knees and asked for forgiveness and a clear vision into the future.
Four day's ago, I took the bottle that had ruined me and a great relationship, emptied it into the Portland city sewer, placed it on my dresser with the torn picture of my best friend and lover, lit a candle and have been exploring all the feelings that it evoked in me. Some were pretty ugly...the anger and resentment and finger pointing in any which way but at me. DAH again... I think this morning, I cleared the worst of the feelings away and have gotten to the point of humility... the point of truth.
I went to the computer and wrote a long letter to that man and cc'd it to his best friend who is still recovering from a bike accident several months ago. It felt like the right thing to do...to put my shame out there for both of them to witness. It felt like an amend from the heart with a witness. The letter was finally my apology in the most honest way I could do it (as he isn't communicating with me at all, and I really don't blame him for this at all now- finally) with no strings attached and no resentments or grudges. I felt the weight lift immediatly and can truly feel the hope in the wind and in my heart. I may have lost a wonderful friend and riding buddy yet I have won a freedom back I took for granted.
He used to call me his goddess. He used to say he put me up on a pedestal and I would caution him not to do that. Well, the goddess has fallen big time and is broken and covered in dust and tears and is getting up off her ass and shaking herself off and shining stronger than ever...ready to do battle and finish the fight with people like you and this forum and all the AA, NA, CA, Alky A's- whatever A's are out there...the real soldiers in this war.
So, you all are right. The freedom, one day at a time, is here for the taking, also near in the future, freedom of my own bike and those back roads and donut shops and destinations to paradise.
Ride clean, ride safe, ride happy, ride free...

[best]

WOW!

Thank you for that share. Does the heart so good to see the steps in action.
Yes your dreams are closer now for sure.

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by greeneyedjul

Ride clean, ride safe, ride happy, ride free...

Amen, sister!

Do you have a sponsor yet?

[greeneyedjul]

I got lost on a side road..."thing's you see...",

Yes Bill, I did find a sponsor last night. Her story is much like mine in many ways. She is wonderful and she hung up her helmet last year. OUCH. She told me that her only really serious concern now is not the drinking or drugging....it's getting old and wrinkley....


Today I had fun joking around on that "side road" with a few familiar goofs I met here. The "not taking thing's so seriously" kept me in good form today and I couldn't wait to get home to see what they would come up with next.

BAck to here...day 6, a few laughs and some misplaced tools put back to use. Read the first three words on page 112 and began again with pages 86-87 of the Big Book. Went to work with a clear mind and a renewed love of life and to top it off, my good friend Holly and his back from the shop after biting the pavement dragon-harley just dropped in to "see what condition my condition was in". You never know when one of your good old riding buddy's just may tell you they are one of the family...and he is!

When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA (and all the A's) always to be there. And for that I am responsible. (and eternally grateful)

By the way, I was given a 24 hour coin by a long time friend of Bill W and he instructed me to put it on my tongue and when it melted, then I could drink. I know for a fact that coin isn't going to melt....