Too Broke for Sturgis

Too Broke for Sturgis is an annual get-together of Harley riders that meet at Mormon Lake, Arizona, about this time of the year. The original idea was to have a rally close enough for most Arizona motorcycle riders who couldn’t afford to travel to the huge rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, to be able to (in some small way) duplicate the “Sturgis” experience in Arizona.




The event at Mormon Lake has grown into a good-sized rally, with riders from all over Arizona joining in the fun. The draw to this place is beautiful pine trees in the high country and a chance to get out of the scorching heat of the lower deserts. Mormon Lake has a saloon, lodge, restaurant with good eats and a country store. There is plenty of room to pitch a tent or even pull in motor homes. There are vendors selling leather goods to jewelry and everything in between. It reminds me of the Buffalo Chips Campground in Sturgis, only smaller.




There will be no more Too Broke for Sturgis. Friday night’s partying was suddenly interrupted by gunfire. No, it wasn’t rival bike chapters shooting it out like the incident that happened at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, some years back. This deadly shooting was of domestic violence in nature. A drunken, irate man opened fire on another man and his wife, killing them both. He then also shot another woman six times in the chest and she was air-lifted to a hospital and is in critical condition. The gunman then pulled the trigger with the gun pointed under his chin. Three lives violently taken and no more July party in the pines at Mormon Lake.




I don’t blame the residents of this small, historic community for being up in arms. I always found it strange that the town would allow a motorcycle rally in their back yard to begin with. During the day, there are children riding bicycles and young people riding quads around town. There are many cabins and small houses, and the people who live in them are not bikers. The families who own cabins at Mormon Lake have the same idea in the summer; let’s get out of the heat!




It will seem strange not to have Too Broke for Sturgis anymore, but I suspect the organizers will come up with a different venue next year. After all, Harley riders bring in a lot of money to small communities and businesses that desperately need revenue for survival.

I personally will continue riding in the area. The cool pines and fresh air remind me of the Colorado Rockies and the Black Hills of South Dakota. I can’t go to the more exotic locations every weekend, but riding our own high country is a close second!

Ride on,

Mittster

Tattoo Anyone?

Now is an excellent time to get that tattoo you have always wanted. My son, the tattoo artist, is pictured above left. I know it’s against company policy where you work and your job is all you have to pay the rent and buy food, which is about all your money buys now-a-days. To some, the only reason they haven’t gotten a tattoo is because it will hurt and they don’t deal with pain very well. To those I say, “Yes, it hurts, but that’s part of the challenge. Get off your butt and have an artist put something on your body that tells the world what you stand for.”

When I was a construction manager and had to meet with clients, you would have never guessed I had tattoos. I would make sure they were all above my short sleeve dress shirts. That way when I would ride my Harley on weekends, I could wear body shirts and show off my style of tattoos. Screw company policy; what they don’t know won’t hurt them. I even had a magnetic earring. Having a pierced ear with a dangly hanging was really against Standard Operating Procedures! I finally got up the nerve to get my ear pierced for real and never looked back. I finally realized that if women can have earrings in the work place, so can a man and to say we can’t is discriminatory. I only had to use that argument once, and it worked.

Why am I standing on the soap box about getting tattoos? Mainly because in today’s chaotic world where governments would have us reduced to nothing but numbers so they can keep track of us, I want to stand out a little. I want people to know that I am different. I’m not talking about full body coverage (that’s just not my thing), but instead, just enough art to let the world know where I stand. I finally got the sleeve tattoo (pictured right) I always wanted and I have never regretted it. There is now no question that I am unique among men…my tat says so.

There are some who have no desire to have their skin become a billboard and that’s OK, I respect the fact that it isn’t for everyone and that we have the right to choose. But, for those of you that have always dreamed of wearing permanent art, there is no better time than now because the economy is down and tattoo artists have to eat too. Therefore their work is less costly and that means a big savings to you. If you are ever in San Luis Abispo, California, go to Traditional Tattoos and let my son Jon give you the best tat you will ever see! Go ahead, take the plunge…do something just for you. You’re worth it!


Write on,


Mittster