Born To Ride Southeast Motorcycle Magazine #198 - Feb 2022

FEB 2022 #108

read it/watch it/ride it

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Contents

FEBRUARY ISSUE 108

FEATURES

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A Biker Artist and Potter - David Meaders

10

Flat Track Racing

14

Choppertown Live Thunder By the Bay

20

The Great American Motorcycle Show Atlanta

25

COLUMNS

25

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Nefarious James-New Year

33

Craven Moorehead

36

CMA

40

DEPARTMENTS Contents Page

2

Letter From The Editor Dave Nichols

4

Movie Review-Choppertown The Sinners

35

BTR Kids

40

REPORTS

10

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Ride Safe Ride Smart

6

Letterfly Coming to Choppertown Live

23

ON THE COVER

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Richard Rucks Red Devil Show winning Shovel Head See it at Choppertown Live Sarasota Feb 18 19 20th Model Brittany Photo Erick Runyon

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The information contained herein is provided by Born To Ride Magazine or by its advertisers. BTR makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information in the issue. Born To Ride Magazine does not endorse, approve, or certify such information, nor does it guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness or correct sequencing of such information throughout this magazine. Use of such information is voluntary on your part, and reliance on it should only be undertaken after your independent review. Reference herein to any specific manufacturer, company, commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement of or recommendation of said by Born To Ride Magazine.” “Born To Ride Magazine (including its employees, contributors and agents) assumes no responsibility for consequences that may result from the use of the information herein, including the use of the information obtained at www.borntoride.com and it’s linked sites, or in any respect for the content of such information, including (but not limited to) errors or omissions, the accuracy or reasonableness of factual or scientific assumptions, studies or conclusions, ownership of copyright or other intellectual property rights, and the violation of property, privacy, or personal rights of others. BTR Magazine is not responsible for damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on such information. No guarantees or warranties, including (but not limited to) any express or implied warranties are made by BTR Magazine with respect to such information contained throughout the site.” No part may be copied without written permission of the publisher, Born To Ride, Inc. P.O. Box 3021, Brandon, FL 33509. 888-795-5779, Fax 813-689-2996. ­­

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Letter from the Editor

PUBLISHER

DAVE NICHOLS

Ron Galletti 813-785-3895 888-795-5779 rg@borntoride.com

CO PUBLISHER

Deb Galletti dgalletti@borntoride.com

FROM THE HELM

EDITOR

Dave Nichols editor@borntoride.com

ART DIRECTOR

Peter Soutullo art@borntoride.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Erick Runyon

ART DEPARTMENT

Juan Guzman, Jared Hartman, Erick Runyon , Peter Soutullo, Craig Miller, Beatnik Steve Werner art@borntoride.com

WEB DESIGN/ELECTRONIC MEDIA Juan Guzman

OFFICE ADMINISTRATION Nancy Ray nray@borntoride.com

HEARTS & FLOWERS HOWDY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! Shine up your scooter, it’s that time of year again.Our big news for February is the rowdy return of Thunder by the Bay this February 18, 19, and 20 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. Gate admission is just five bucks on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with ten dollars for Saturday only and kids under 12 are free! Come on out for the return of Born To Ride’s Choppertown Live ride-in chopper show.

You’ll see the coolest old school choppers that the south has to offer. Check out our interview with organizer Lucy Nicandry in this issue and learn about her amazing charity “ Suncoast Charities for Children” and why it is so important to support it to help the Children.

MULTI-MEDIA SPECIALIST Jared Hartman, Craig Miller Jasper Harris

SALES & MARKETING 888-795-5779

ROAD CREW

Vick Velosity, Mark Crowder, Doug Bright, Birdman Mike,

SCENIC RIDE CONSULTANT Steve Finzelber-Finz Finds

ON THE ROAD TEAM

The John & Heather Show

CONTRIBUTORS

JP Brady, Neale Bayly, Susan Hurst, Spyke & Mike, Eric Albright, Eric Vician, Myra McElhaney, Paul Murray, James Gladstone Greg Blackwell, Felicia Morgan, John Sullivan

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Ron & Selena Hawks, Chris Miller, Scott Odel, Eric Albright, Chopper Dave, JP Brady, Erick Runyon, Craig Miller

LAW FIRM

FRAN HAASCH LAW GROUP www.LawFran.com 866 LAW Fran BORN TO RIDE OFFICE

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Fans of Born To Ride will already know about our big hit with Choppertown Live and the Great American Motorcycle Show January in Atlanta, Georgia. Witness the wonder and the glory of this goosebumpproducin’ event in this issue. Born To Rides 2nd monthly publication is the Southeast edition supporting Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North and South Carolina. You can grab a paper edition in those states or click all over the online version. A special thank you to Chris

Wilson of Low Road Motor Co Atlanta and his personal friends who made Choppertown Live Atlanta such a great success.

Eric Albright will fill us in on a true biker legend in the form of a man who is an artist, a potter, a philosopher, and life-long rider, David Meaders who resides in the beautiful mountains of Georgia.

If that’s not enough, you’ll get a movie review by Phantom of Choppertown’s The Sinners DVD, get both barrels from Nefarious James and a few two-wheeled thoughts from Letterfly. All this and more is just a pager turn away.

Speaking of, you know, in a world of runaway inflation and overzealous consumerism, Born To Ride is still a FREE magazine. Yep, the one you are holding in your hands. You’ll notice it strives to be a quality publication with editorial content created to keep you in touch with the biker lifestyle you love. Motorcycles dealers, please support our efforts. Having Born To Ride in your dealership, shop, or bikerfriendly establishment will send the right message to your customers, draw more traffic, and helps create more business for us all. Get your business in Born To Ride.

Let us give you the value you deserve. It will also show all the bikers out there that you support this magazine and appreciate their business. Thank you.

Lastly, don’t forget to join our Facebook family every Tuesday night at 7pm for Born To Ride LIVE on Facebook and stop on by Boss Hogg Radio on FB every Thursday night at 7pm for good biker talk, special guests, and a kick-back good time.

For right now, just turn the page and let Born To Ride roll you away…

— Dave Nichols editor@borntoride.com

You are riding along in the left lane of a one-way street, with a car ahead of you on your right. As the two of you enter an intersection, the car swerves left across your path to make a turn.

Strategy: Because traffic was light, the driver may have forgotten that he was traveling on a one-way street and never looked in his blind spot for you. Since there was no traffic in the oncoming lane, he felt free to make a normal left turn (without signaling), inadvertently trapping you in his path. There was no way, short of watching for the non-existent signal, to predict that this driver was going to turn left. But remembering that intersections are always situations of increased risk, you might have prepared for this by taking actions to separate yourself from the other vehicle. By riding so close (and inside the driver’s blind spot) you effectively hid yourself

from the driver’s vision and greatly increased your exposure to danger.

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He’s a Biker, an Artist, a Potter and He May Be a Philosopher, Too

One of the best parts of my work for the last 30 years has been the people I have met and worked with. I have shot interviews with world leaders as well as icons of the music, film and sports industries. For the most part, these shoots are fun and every once and a while they’re exciting. But many times it’s the person I don’t know beforehand that will leave the biggest impression on me. Meeting fellow biker, David Meaders is one of those times. Now to hear David speak about himself, he’s just a “rednecked hillbilly” who would just like to “live up to his reputation as the second laziest man in this part of the country.” But he is also one of the last of his kind, especially here in Georgia. His family has been making pottery since his great-granddaddy built their first fire kiln in 1892.

I visited with David on a warm north Georgia afternoon and the first thing I see is four horses, I mean four dogs challenging Stuart and me as we rode up the gravel driveway to his home and potting studio. Nestled in a little wooded cove with a pasture across the drive, David lives and works on his grandmother’s old homestead with four British mastiffs—and recently he had a temporary addition to his family with five little pups. There are old pottery jugs sitting on top of the fence posts that surround his home. His Harley-Davidson Wide Glide sits outside his studio door, while Leroy, Sabra, Brutus

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and Number Five warn us to wait until David says it’s alright to come inside the fence. He comes out of his studio with a grin on his face and a hand in the air to greet us.

The first time David remembers getting on a motorbike he was nine years old, “First time I got skint was about 1960, I believe about everybody’s been skint by a mini-bike, most dangerous machine ever made, most fun I ever had.” Since then he’s ridden everything from Bultacco to Norton to Triumph to Harley. His ride now is a ’02 Harley-Davidson Wide Glide with a dropped down front end and several other modifications, which basically make it a “hot rod.” He used to take it to the drag strip and consistently ran around 13.10 seconds in the quarter mile, which is somewhere around 107 mph.

David’s wife of 32 years, Anita, passed away in July of 2002. “Hospice came in to be with his father two days after Nita’s passing” and 31 days later he passed away as well. David never had time to grieve the loss of his wife because he had to take care of his father. “I didn’t realize how tired I was physically, mentally, and emotionally until after that was all over with.” Shortly afterwards he bought the Wide Glide and without it “I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you today.” Riding that Harley “gets me out of my head, totally and completely.”

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Sometimes David will throw a leg over his bike late at night or early in the morning and ride his favorite road, the Richard B. Russell Parkway. “My favorite time to go up there is when the moon is full and there’s no clouds.

Nobody around you, there’s no traffic. See you can run 20 mile an hour if you want to or you can run 50 mile an hour.” To David life is precious but simple, “Life to me is making a little pottery, riding that Harley and chasing those fair haired petite women.”

David is the nephew of Lanier Meaders, who is probably the most famous folk potter in the US. The Meaders family history of potting began in 1892 when David’s great grandfather John Milton Meaders and his sons built their first log shop and fire kiln in White County, Georgia. As early as the 1830s, as many as 70 potters were operating within a four mile radius of Mossy Creek in White County. Storage jars for food, pitchers, bowls and cups as well churns were all coming out of this small north Georgia region. John Milton hired some of these local potters and in turn they taught his sons how to pot. It wasn’t considered a folk art then, these were necessities of life. In 1967 the Smithsonian Institute came to White County to shoot a documentary on the old way of making pottery and (David’s GF) was going to be one of the subjects, but he became ill and his uncle Lanier stepped in to do the job.

One of the most well known styles of folk pottery is the face jug, and David is keeping the art form alive, but he likes to call his jugs “Goober Heads.”

The face jug evolved over the years into also being called the ugly jug. It is said that some people would store their alcohol in them and wanted to be sure to keep the children away. So by the 1920s they were making them even uglier to maybe frighten the children or at the very least be able to warn them off.

David says, “There has been a Meaders continuously, from the day they started (in 1892) until today making pottery.” And he is still doing it the old way. He gets his own clay from Georgia creek sides, makes his own glaze, mixes and hand turns the clay and fires it in his old brick kiln. Many people have asked him if there’s any difference in how he and his grandfather potted, and “I say yeah, I got a chainsaw and electric lights.”

For me the only bad part about my afternoon with David is when I have to wrap up what I’m doing, strap everything back on my Road King and say goodbye. But I always want to ask for one parting thought, one life philosophy you might say. With David it came easy, “Get up every morning and see what happens, I mean that’s it. What can you do about it? I have no control over nothing, the only thing I have any control over is my attitude.

You leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone. Don’t kick your dog, don’t hit women, and sure don’t hit kids.”

Eric Albright For more Info on David Meaders and his Artwork, www.folkpottery.com

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Letterfly and Choppertown

Now that Candyse and Letterfly are home at ArtPark for the winter months, many thoughts, ideas and plans for the future are occurring. We are making plans to resume our seven-month tour of providing old-school pinstriping at Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealerships nationwide in 2022, starting with the guests who attend Thunder by the Bay in Sarasota with special emphasis on making Choppertown a memorable feature of that event, and later at Space Coast Harley-Davidson in Palm Bay, Florida during Daytona Bike Week.

As we sit around the campfire in the backyard and recall the many fond interactions enjoyed with old friends, exchanges with new acquaintances and the many artwork transactions that took place across the country while living the dream, a new thought occurs that may be of interest to you. As you are well-aware: traveling across this land, creating artwork and making people happy clearly qualifies as a labor of love. After reviewing the variety of questions fielded this season past, many of which are specific about

our lives together on tour, I have been inspired to write an instructional booklet about our living, loving, and working together on the road.

Hit the road and thrive will be about the lessons learned during fifty-years of combining travel with creativity and adventure. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the book will be the description of the special connection that takes place when we let go of the daily distractions and keep our focus on the mystery of what is in front of us. Although I will be sharing experiences of being a traveling pinstriper, I intend to make the information contained in my book relevant to those of you attracted to the idea of combining your livelihood with the adventure of hitting the road.

I already know that many of you enjoy regular road trips as a diversion in your lives.You value the wind in your face, the exhilaration of adventure and a oneness that is both spiritual in nature, a form of therapy and has become an important part of your lives. But what I seek to share is the something special

Let Letterfly create amazing art for your home or business.t Call 813-505-5539

that Candyse and I have found since we turned our backs on everything familiar and enjoy our seven-month vacation.

We have found a rare connection with our surroundings, the moment we are in and each other due to being completely immersed in the adventure, mystery, and lure of the unknown.

Since the book is still in the embryonic stages and I credit you, our friends, customers, and allies with the inspiration to create such a work, I plan to expand on what is occurring to me by inviting you to participate as I write the content of this book. As I write each chapter, I shall post my progress in my “Tales of a Traveling Airbrush” newsletter. I invite you to give me your impression of each snippet, ask questions and encourage me to reveal specific concepts and items that perhaps haven’t occurred to me. That way when the book is done, it promises to be the best that it can be.

If you like this addition to the newsletter and want to be involved, please let me know. Simply stop by our booth at Choppertown and ask to be included on our email mailing list. We would love to see and hear from you. As you are aware, I savor the moments when I am in your proximity pulling beautiful lines on bikes, blending colors that become pictorial images, and crafting the letters that convey the message you want to get across to the world. In a way this book will be carrying your purpose into the world; to make this a better place for everybody. And by collecting all the thoughts that exist about the lure of the highway, we can make a handbook that will inform, entertain and inspire others to find what we have found; our way to not only succeed but thrive on the highway.

—Dave “Letterfly” Knoderer BORNTORIDE.COM | BTR 23

Georgia’s Biggest Indoor Motorcycle Show

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JOHN & HEATHER WEDDING SWEETNESS

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!

TUEDAYS LIVE ON FACEBOOK 9pm-10pm and OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

A LAND OF SHEEP Well, here we go with another month. I for one like to keep myself in the know, but unfortunately, I can get more accurate news watching the SYFY Channel. Pretty darn unfortunate, if you ask me. But as usual, it’s a sign of the times.

I think back to the way it was, not to date myself, the 1970s and 80s. Different times and different outlooks by everybody. Hard to tell how far back in history you have to go to see how divided our great country has become. We’re living in a time of mass misinformation, and what appears to be personal entitlement. It would make my grandparents turn over in their graves.

Unbelievable how sad that is to say.

Between misinformation on our news, to erratic weather, empty shelves in our stores, it’s definitely a tough nut to figure out. Restricted travel, higher minimum wage with higher prices at the pumps and at the grocery stores to boot. Could have seen that one coming. Everything is relative, people.

The people actually think that by giving somebody who flips burgers $15-$17 an hour, they weren’t going to raise the prices of everything else. After all, if you make more money, they could take out more taxes. If gas prices go up, again they tax you for more money. The price of everything goes up and the first thing they wanna do is blame the truckers on the road. Well, figure that out, if you’re charging twice the price for diesel fuel, things are going to go up in transportation costs.

Look, I’m not here to point fingers as to the reasons why all this is happening. That’s for everyone else to figure out on their own. I just know I don’t see any reasoning behind it other than somebody’s getting paid. Like they say, if you want to find the source, follow the money. I don’t understand the

reasoning behind telling farmers not to grow food on their land, and if they decide to go against that federal directive, they are then fined. Imagine the idiocy of punishing somebody for growing food when there are people starving in our country. Along with that, transportation manufacturing drops to a crawl because we have allowed ourselves to be outsourced so much to where they have their hand around our throats.

“MANY BIKERS WEAR THE AMERICAN FLAG TO SYMBOLIZE THEIR BELIEF IN THIS COUNTRY. DON’T YOU THINK IT’S TIME TO PROTECT IT NOW? I CERTAINLY DO!” I remember back in the day when you could buy a motorcycle in parts, a basket case,f or a couple hundred dollars and a new bike for $3,500 to $4,000. I never thought I would see the day where a new motorcycle could cost $30,000-$60,000.

Unbelievable. It makes it more difficult with the prices the way they are to allow anyone, let alone motorcyclists, to travel and see this great country of ours.

The number of people who think they are entitled to all the free crap they can get their hands on, has caused quite an issue.

Don’t fool yourself if you think there are no jobs available. What’s unavailable are people who are willing to work. They’ve been trained so well to be given a free hand out instead of working, that they now take that as being commonplace and the norm.

I’m not telling anybody who has their eyes open anything they can’t see for

themselves. But how is this going to all turn around? I recently read a disturbing study that said the United States, under the definition of democracy, no longer qualifies as being called a democracy. How ironic is that? The home of democracy no longer qualifies to be called such. Another sad fact to point out is where a lot of the opinions come from that try to guide us in a certain direction. Why in the world would I allow a Hollywood actor or some sports figure or some talk show host or some musician to be considered an authority on who I should vote for or how I should see my country.

I remember fondly when the symbol of this great country what the bald eagle. Strong, majestic, and a symbol of strength. Just wondering how much longer it’s going to take until our National symbol is a sheep; an animal that follows mindlessly.

Hopefully, it’s not too late for “we the people” to get us back on course. It would be ignorant to think that we can turn everything around after all of the extreme changes that have been put upon us. But we have to try. For if we don’t, everything that our veterans and military service people have done to keep Americans free… will all be for nothing. Imagine that.

Remember when we used to stand up for what was right, not for what put money in our pockets and suppressed a great nation and its people for personal gain? I know this is some heavy Sh*t to hear, but more people need to say it and then act on it.

Many bikers wear the American flag to symbolize their belief in this country. Don’t you think it’s time to protect it now? I certainly do. Until next time, ride safe and enjoy your life while you can. You only get one time around.

— Nefarious James

American Biker

Tell Jim what you’re thinking, what do you want to say to him? editor@borntoride.com

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BIKER MOVIE REVIEW one of the things that has been exorcised out of the motorcycle market and media is the hospitality of the working grunge machinist.

Your local bike shop used to be a place where you could stop by on your way home from work with a 12 pack and share a beer with they guys who kept your life rollin’. You could sit in the petroleum thick air and BS about women and cars and women and fishin’ and huntin’ and cars and bikes and women and guns and. … The bike shop was a sanctuary.

Filmmakers Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla are good friends who love bikes and are insiders in the culture of motorcycle brotherhood in southern California. Over beers they decided the off-the-rack, buy-in mentality of the Sunday rider was eclipsing the truth and the authentic relationships of those who ride were being lost by distraction. There was a time when the denim jacket was enough to keep the wind at bay, or your work overalls would get you to the club with your good clothes under; but after a while the black leather jacket and vest became a badge of the masses. Conformity confounded the community and riding was reduced to a few highly organized bike nights through the week and a Sunday putt for some noble cause. ‘Nothing wrong with noble causes but noble causes comes in a variety of faces and need— meaning different things to different social circles. Sometimes the noble cause is helping a friend get his bike back on the road.

When the film was being figured out by Di Lalla and Coffman they fell into the perfect scene. They knew a guy who was a friend of a guy who was about to launch a build out of an Evo motor on a bobber frame using the support of junk yards and the collection of odd materials accumulated over the years by the Sinners. This guy

One World Studios, Filmmakers Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla are becoming iconic. They’re just a couple of regular guys who love bikes and like to tell stories as they occur. While there are planned events in their work nothing is scripted, and often stuff does not go off a planned. The films are pure and rough—lacking anything that might make them seem contrived or counterfeit. This not to say the films are without sentimentality. There are some extreme moments in these works and there is the expression of deep respect and love between friends forged in brotherhood.

To experience the beauty of craft, the support of community, and the celebration of life these guys will carry you kindly to the place where the truth about us dwells.

Following are three reviews of documentaries from One World Studios.

KC O’Dunn aka Chaplin Plato, Choppertown, The Sinners, a motorcycle fabrication documentary film by Zack Coffman & Scott Di Lalla Over the last 20 or so years, since Harley got Malcolm Forbes and Mickey Rourke to be the centerpieces of their We-Ain’t-aWorkin’-Man’s-Motorcycle-Anymore, shift of market consciousness,

Filmmakers Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla are good friends who love bikes and are insiders in the culture of motorcycle brotherhood in southern CA.

is a Sinner. The Sinners are what the riding life was and is still, but conformists would be very uncomfortable among them.

The Sinners are the ultra network of brothers who span hundreds of miles of California and support each other with everything a person might need; even haircuts. One of those rare republican societies where there is complete support of one another and the hierarchy is loosely defined but staunchly protected ... a sanctuary.

This is the sweet spot where Coffman and Di Lalla chronicle the love, the society, and the brotherhood. The meaningful details of wrenching and welding and dancing and singing and bar fighting and playing hard driving and soulful music.

This is a very good documentary and in fact has become the cornerstone of One World Studios. It was the European debut of this film that was the purpose of One World Tour Europe. The guys documented an amazing journey to the Old-World to show the film and to meet Europe’s underground rouges of custom bikes and cars. www.choppertown.net The Phantom

Do you have a favorite Biker Movie we don’t have? Let us know: info@borntoride.com

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Craven Moorehead

Angels are Real, Happy New Year I had a yard sale this weekend. I put signs out on the main drag and the other streets to direct people in. Just before it got totally dark, I jumped into the old Dodge pickup to go retrieve the signs.

I was at my 3rd stop (on RT 60 & Jerry Smith) when the truck ran out of gas. I’m standing in the turn lane realizing that I would have to walk back to the shop to get an empty gas can, and then walk back to the corner of Turkey Creek and 60 to get some fuel and then walk back to the truck. By this time it was dark. I swear to you, I could not believe what happens next. This isn’t Winslow Arizona – but a girl in a Ford Expedition rolls down her window at the stop sign and asks me “what’s wrong.” “I’m outta gas” I replied.

So she says “Come on, I will give you a ride.” “Lemme see if I have my gas can.” After a short search, I realized that the can was not in my truck. Knowing that I had run out of luck, I just walked to the passenger side of this really nice truck and got in.

Oh my God in heaven, I looked at her and she was absolutely beautiful!! Long blonde hair, perfectly dressed, hot body, and to top it all off she was within my wheel-house of maturity. I am really surprised that a woman of this stature and elegance would even stop and look at an old ‘scooter-trash’ looking dude like me much less actually wait around and piss people off at a busy intersection while I took the time to look for my gas can. But she did, and evidently she is very brave. After a short introduction and some small talk she asked me which gas station I wanted to go to – the RaceTrac or the Sunoco. So naturally I said, “RaceTrac.” She told me that after she picked up her friend on the other end of the road she would give me a ride back to the disabled hillbilly truck. She went out of her way to drop me off at the gas station, and I reminded her that she was truly an ‘Angel’ for giving me a ride.

When I went inside the store, I searched for a gas can. Yeah, there was only one left. $12.99 plus tax which equals almost all I made in the last two days of the yard sale. But I was on a mission to get the truck back, knowing that the battery would be dead soon because I had left the parking lights on. Anyhow, when I get to the counter a girl that I’ve seen in my frequent visits to the store (which is also very cute and extremely nice) is wondering why I am buying a gas can. I asked “Do y’all rent these?” to which she replied – “No, they aren’t for rent.” But she would go check her car to see if she had one that I could borrow. This was yet another effort by someone to help me with a problem, with no expectation of recompense. She BTR 36 | BORNTORIDE.COM

returned and apologized, which was not necessary and I paid for the can and headed to the gas pumps after telling her the story of the beautiful angel that had given me a ride. “I saw her drop you off and I thought maybe she was your girlfriend or wife.” “I wish” is all I could say, and we both laughed.

I get a few dollars worth of gas and started hoofing it back down 60 toward the truck. A fellow in a pickup truck stops and says “Man, I heard the story about you running out of gas, and I actually saw that hot girl that dropped you off, so if you want me to, I will drive you back to your truck – just in case she doesn’t come back to get you.” I accepted the ride and the man even offered to hang for a minute just to make sure that I could get it started. I thanked him profusely and told him that I was very appreciative. We conversed about the ‘paying it forward’ thing just like the beautiful girl that brought me there did, and of course, I also told him that he was also an angel unaware.

I poured the gas in the tank leaving just a little to dump into the carburetor for good measure. After grinding the battery to the point of death, she finally fired up and as usual the old worn out hillbilly Dodge didn’t let me down. It’s been a very long road with me and that truck. I picked up my signs and went home.

This isn’t a fabrication or fantasy by any stretch of the imagination.

This is a TRUE story that you should ALL take heed to. I don’t care if you believe in God or whatever deity it is that you worship.

It’s none of my business. I can tell you this; there are good angels walking this earth, paying it forward every day that they live and breathe. Personally, I try to help people whenever I can, and I am not prophesizing or preaching here so don’t get the wrong idea. But do yourself one favor – help people if you can. Your reward may not come immediately, so have faith and push on. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, but you only take with you what you have put in.

Here’s the kicker. That beautiful woman did come back to look for me, she slowed down, got into the turn lane and after seeing me pouring gas into the tank she just blew the horn and drove away. It is what it is, but I believe that you should take every opportunity that presents itself to you. Perhaps I should have been more patient and had a little more faith in humanity, but alas I did not. Sometimes it is hard to make the right decision based upon faith alone, but I did accomplish the mission and made it back home intact.

My agent called to get me booked for some gigs coming up in the near future. I told her this story. She may not be impressed, but she questioned me about why I didn’t get this girl’s phone number. I should have. I learn something every day and my faith in people has been restored to a great extent. Angels are everywhere regardless of your religion. …

Everything happens for a reason I suppose. But if anyone knows who this beautiful angel is, then let her know that she has a fan that would love to repay her in so many ways. Later that evening. …

The woman somehow tracked me down. I was in my shop, working on an old computer when I saw a truck pull in. It was her! I went over to the window and she, in a sweet as sugar voice asked me if I would mind checking on what the strange ticking sound in the motor was. I of course obliged and after she opened the hood, I began examining the motor. The truck was so tall that I had to sort of get up on the front tire and lean under the hood. I had only been under there for about 20 seconds when something moving behind me startled me and I glanced over to see her standing behind me. All of a sudden, she began pulling on my leg, just like I’m pulling yours!

CRAVEN

R.I.P. Craven Moorehead, Your Words Will Live On Forever

RONNIE and EMILY’S

CHRISTIAN MOTORCYCLISTS ASSOCIATION For my 50th birthday my wife blessed me with a new Harley Road King Classic, I was flying high! Previously I had a competitive bike, but it just didn’t sound like a Harley, it didn’t look like a Harley, and most of all, it didn’t ride like a Harley.

I absolutely loved the classic retro look the new bike had.

My wife and I loved riding it, but over time we discovered that the bike was limited for use as a ministry ride. We needed more storage room to carry ministry materials, and when we rode two-up it was not comfortable for longer trips. Whereas we were content with the bike when we got it, we came to a point where we had to consider making a change.

When we replaced the Road King we searched the different models of bikes, accessories, storage, and riding comfort.

We relied on advice from several friends, as well as seeking guidance in prayer. By becoming open to advice, we went from challenges the Road King presented to being more contented with a new Ultra Classic Limited.

A similar issue occurred when we decided we needed to replace our truck. It was a gas driven F350, and it used a lot of fuel. We also found in some of the steep hilly roads in

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North Georgia, pulling a heavy toy hauler and bike, that the truck almost bogged down and quit. It was a great truck, but we really needed the diesel torque to get the job done. Again, we had been more than contented when we got the gas truck, but once we started going into hilly terrain, we had to make a change.

The Bible tells us, in Philippians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty, or in want.” This lesson teaches us to focus on living contentedly, not just concerning our physical needs or wants, but our spiritual contentment as well.

We can find that level of contentment by trusting Jesus.

With Him staying close by, we can gain a sense of peace and calm as He leads us through everything. By calling on Jesus as our Lord, we have an advocate that oversees all that occurs in our lives. By studying the Bible, and praying, we can learn and grow in our walk with Jesus. Over time, as our love for Jesus and living our lives for Him, we go from having a lack of contentment to growing a joyous peace.

If your life is lacking in happiness, call on the One that can show you the way. Jesus not only wants to fill your life with pleasure, but He is also waiting for you to call on Him to make the difference in your life.

In the Wind, Denny Dingler

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