Day Two – Saturday April 11, 2009

Up at 5am to get packed up and ready to roll. The bad weather has subsided and the skies are clear. I have a long journey to New Orleans ahead of me today. It’s about 750 miles and takes about 11 hours in a car. It took me about 13 hours on my bike. When you have to stop every 2 hours for gas, not to mention sitting on a motorcycle doing 80mph for that long you need take a few breaks. Not much else to say about the ride down….just a lot of riding.

Just after reaching Louisiana I had to stop to clean the bugs off my face and my glasses. I got pelted by a dragon fly and let’s just say he didn’t make it and he remains were all over my face. There are so many bugs through the south and I ate a few. When I was pulled off the side of the road cleaning off my glasses a guy on crotch rocket passed me going the other directions. About 5 minutes later he pulled up behind me. He said “hey bro, is everything alright?” I proceeded to tell him that I was just cleaning off the bugs. He laughed and said “dude, you need to put that full face on down here with all the bugs down here.” I laughed and said that I was a glutton for punishment. I thanked him for stopping to check on me and his response was “he bro, it can be a lonely place out here on a bike when you’re by yourself and I am just doing my duty by checking on a fellow biker.”

There is something truly special about riding. You have a whole new family. It is truly a lifestyle and a culture. Bikers almost always wave at each other when passing by out of respect. There is so much to more to riding a bike than just the thrill. I am truly grateful to be a part of such a great culture.

Upon stopping for one more tank of gas to get me to my final destination I met about seven guys on Harleys filling up at the same station. One of the guys asked me where I was headed with all that gear. I told him I was going to New Orleans then off to the west coast. He said they were from New Orleans and heading back that direction. They offered to ride with me in to town and they would show me where my hotel was. Of course I was thrilled about this. I got a nice escort to my hotel by 7 other Harley guys! That was freaking cool! That was a fantastic finish to a long day of riding.

Upon checking in to the hotel I went to the bar for a drink and some food before even heading off to my room. After relaxing with a couple cocktails and some good food, I went off to get showered up and ready to hit up Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street was fun. I pretty much started at the beginning and walked down one side and then back up the other side stopping in to places that peaked my interest. Mostly I went in to the bars that had live music. I’m a sucker for live music. I did notice however that there where a lot of performers and not actual bands. Basically they had all the regular instruments set up, but the where actually playing the songs on a sound system and there were a couple of guys up there singing the lyrics. Some of the singers were actually pretty good, but the whole thing was kind of disappointing. Aside from that it was a good time and there were lots of other “real” bands playing that were really good.

After leaving Bourbon Street on my walk back to the hotel I stopped Harrah’s Casino for a little action. I won a little money at black jack and roulette. Then it was on to hit the sack, I was exhausted and I have a long day of riding ahead of me tomorrow.

Let’s say you’ve got your attitude correct, the right skill set honed, and the right philosophy.  Great!  You’re on your way – somewhere.  If you don’t have the right direction planned out, you’ll simply wander aimlessly.

You don’t attempt even the smallest of construction jobs without a plan, and yet many people work in a field they just happened to “fall in to” because someone suggested it, or a friend was doing it, or even worse—they didn’t have anything else to do.

Wandering through your career can be just as deadly as wandering through a desert without a compass and canteen—in both places, you can die a slow death of thirst and exhaustion.

You must know where you want to go in order to set a direction for your life and career.  You’ve probably heard the adage, “No one plans to fail, but they do fail to plan.”  So determine where it is that you want to go (i.e., what you want to do) and set a course for it.

I recommend doing something you love.  Not something that you can tolerate or achieve a reasonable pension from after 30 years of work (do pensions even exist anymore?), but something you are truly passionate about.

If it’s music, think about how you are gifted in that area.  Do you sing?  Would your singing chip paint off a house?  Do you have an ear for pitch and tune?  Do you play an instrument?  Consider the field of professional golf for a moment.  Do you love to golf?  Would you be willing to commit days, weeks, months, and years to bettering your game to the point when you could hit the pro-circuit?

Do you have a means to support yourself (and your family) while you work on your dream job?  Would you be happy and content doing whatever you chose—for the rest of your days, if need be?  These are all questions you should ask yourself as you try to set the direction for your life, and ultimately, for your success.

Now that you know where you want to go, you must plan and prepare for your destination.  As you plan and prepare, it’s fair to expect that you will achieve that goal—expectations play a large role in success, no matter what the field.    If you plan well and are committed to the work involved, then and only then, can you expect to achieve the desired results in your life.

Okay, so I am really late publishing my cross country journey, but it’s better late than never I guess right? So here ya go, day one!

Day One – Friday April 10, 2009

Well, after spending all morning packing up and trying get everything into my motorcycle bags I realized the I didn’t have enough room to fit everything that I originally planned on taking….like my computer. I had to go back to UPS store and ship the rest of the stuff that I couldn’t fit.

Then, it was on to the North Hills to pick up my full faced helmet that Cyrus was kind enough to give to me and to say one last good bye to my friends. Good byes are always tough, especially when you’ve made such good friends in one place.

Anyway, on the road I go… when I left Raleigh it was sunny and warm, well about an hour in to the trip it started raining, then it started pouring. I stopped at the HD dealership in Charlotte to pick up some new gloves. The gloves I had were not waterproof or warm by any means. So, an $90 pair of gortex gloves later….I had dry and warm hands.

After leaving the HD dealer, I stopped at a biker bar next door for some lunch and was trying to wait out some of the storm. At this point is was pouring so bad that there was zero visibility. After I finished my lunch, the rain actually stopped. Although I knew the storms weren’t over I had to get back on the road and try to get as far as possible. I had to be in New Orleans on Saturday night because I had reservations and I didn’t plan on missing them.

So back on the road I go. After about 20 minutes I hit rush hour traffic and with the storms, plus it being Friday….this was not good. I can sit in traffic, in fact I just drive up between the rows of cars anyway. J After bobbing and weaving through the traffic, I saw a bunch of flashing lights….there apparently were a couple of accidents up ahead. Well, back in line I go. L So as I sit the rain starts coming down again and hard. So I am just sitting in rush hour traffic which is literally not even moving and then it starts to hail. Yep, that’s right hail and it was big hail. The closest exit was off in the distance and there were police everywhere so there was no riding up the side of the road to get off.

I sat in this hail storm for about an hour until I finally made it to the exit. I got off the exit the hopes to find shelter. Luckily there was a gas station right off the exit. I hung out there for a while trying to see what was going to happen. The manager there informed me that it was only supposed to get worse. I checked with weather.com on my blackberry and he was right. I was driving right in to the storm, not to mention traffic was not moving. At this point I have been on the road for 8 hours and have only made it just about 30 miles south west of Charlotte….that’s not very good time. In fact, that’s about double what it should have taken.

I was in luck, there was a Holiday Inn right down the street. It was 7pm and I was wet, cold and tired. It was time to call it a day. I pulled up to the Holiday Inn, walked in the lobby and said to the front desk associate “I need a room”. She looked at me like I had 2 heads and said “well I would say so”. She among everyone else I encountered along the way thought I was crazy….not like I haven’t heard that before anyway. J Well, fantastic first day of my journey, this crazy guy will continue his journey tomorrow.

Okay so I am not a cute little mouse and nobody is making a movie about this, but I am heading west! As of last week it’s official that I took a new position with my company in Nevada about 20 miles from Lake Tahoe in the Sparks/Reno area.  My goal is to get a place at Lake Tahoe once I get settled. I normally have about a 30 minute commute everyday to my office right now so to live at Lake Tahoe and commute to work everyday is a no brainer really. Lake Tahoe is absolutely beautiful! It’s the kind of place that I have always dreamed about living. I am sucker for the mountains and I miss skiing in the winter months! I have travelled all over the west and always wanted to live there at some point in my life. Well, as it turns out the perfect opportunity to do so has presented itself to me!

The Journey!

So, I have decided to ship my belongings and my car out and ride my Harley across the country. It’s always been my dream to ride across country and whata ya know…..another dream come true! I am in the process of getting rid of all my unnecessary belongings with the exception of a couple bags of clothes, a few person items and a handful of books. I am only taking enough stuff to fit in a few boxed that will be send UPS and arrive just before I get there.

The trip will take me about 7-10 depending on weather and how much fun I find along the way .  I will document my trip daily on this blog and include pictures and videos. I hope that you check in everyday to watch my journey!

The Route

Below you will see the main route I am taking. I say “main” only because I don’t know where and when this journey will take me off course . It’s an open road, a lot of country and things to see and do along the way and I will enjoy every moment of it!
View Larger Map

The target departure date is April 11th @ 5:00am. The first couple of stops I will some escorts. Some friends are going to follow me to Atlanta and to New Orleans to have some fun with me for the weekend. From New Orleans on it will be just me and the Night Train!

I have a few nights planned in hotels and the rest I will be camping. I have mapped out some great places to camp along the way and really looking forward to this! Knowing me though I probably won’t spend too much time in a hotel. I for see myself in a hotel in New Orleans only because I will tearing up the town…..New Orleans is after all a great place to have some fun!!!! From New Orleans there is a good chance that I won’t see a hotel until the night before I arrive at my destination. After all I don’t want to show up smelling like and looking like a homeless person!

Although I will be exploring some new areas that I haven’t been, I am really looking forward to riding up the coast of CA on Route 1. I have driven the entire Route 1 in a car, but was always envious of the guys riding there Motorcycles! If you’ve ever driven it, then you would know why! With my favorite stops being in Lucia and Big Sur, I plan on visiting some places that I have already been. Check out some of my pics on facebook. There are tons of photos from my last trip down Route 1.

Here’s a few old pics from my last trip!

Well, I hope that you will come back to visit my blog from April 11th til who knows when I get there! Until then, take care!!! I have lots of things to sell and plans to make!!!!

It’s a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don’t. The power of innovation. If you’ve ever marvelled at somebody’s creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or drive or to never commit the same mistake again? It’s the same with innovation. It takes a  bit of practice and a lot of time before this mind function comes easily  when called. This article will teach you a few tips on how to bring innovation into your life.

Don’t listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. Allowing for the input of other people will only bring cacophony to the music you are trying to make. If you have an original idea, don’t waste your time and effort trying to make people understand. They won’t. And the help you will probably get comes in the form of negative feedback. If all those geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.

Spend time on it. I cannot stress that enough, although, please do not mistake this tip to tell you to quit your day job entirely. Do not. This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you’ll be able to squeeze both in.

Exercise. Take a walk. Run a mile or two. Send all those endorphins coursing through your veins. Exercising certainly clears and relaxes your mind and allows for anything to pop up.

Record your dreams. Aren’t some of them just the craziest things that your conscious mind would never have thought of? If you’ve had these dreams before, and I’m sure have, this only shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. Those dreams may just create an innovative spark in you.

Find your own style. You can always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse. You’ll know Hemingway wrote something by the choice of words on the paper. So it is the same with you. People will appreciate your innovation more because it is uniquely yours and that no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. That will let people see how valuable an asset you are.

Don’t hide behind nifty gadgets or tools. You don’t need the most expensive set of paints to produce a masterpiece. The same way with writing. You don’t need some expensive fountain pen and really smooth paper for a bestseller. In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter Series on bits of tissue. So what if you’ve got an expensive SLR camera if you’re a crappy photographer? Who cares if you’ve got a blinging laptop if you can’t write at all? The artist actually reduces the number of tools he has as he gets better at his craft: he knows what works and what doesn’t.

Nothing will work without passion. What wakes you up in the mornings? What keeps the flame burning? What is the one thing that you’ll die if you don’t do? Sometimes people with talent are overtaken by the people who want it more. Think the hare and the tortoise. Ellen Degeneres once said that if you’re not doing something that you want to do, then you don’t really want to do it. And that’s true. Sometimes you just want something so bad you become a virtual unstoppable. And that is passion. Passion will keep you going.

Don’t worry about inspiration. You can’t force it; inspiration hits when you least expect it to, for those unpredictable yet inevitable moments you should prepare. An idea could strike you on the subway, yet alas, you poor unfortunate soul; you have no sheet of paper to scribble down a thought that could change the world. Avoid these disasters. Have a pen and paper within your arm’s reach at all times.

I hope this article has helped you bring more innovation into your life. Keep in mind that you’re doing these things for your own satisfaction and not anybody else’s. But soon enough they will notice, and everything should snowball from there.

Because we can never fully tell people how we feel so that they comprehend it……………………

As we all celebrate and honor Dr. King’s Birthday, we wanted to point you to some of his amazing but lesser known speeches and good works, particularly his anti-war and anti-poverty initiatives. It is rarely talked about that Dr. King was not a perfect leader. His work to address the abject poverty of African Americans in the north and fight to end the escalation of the Vietnam war were largely unsuccessful campaigns. Without diminishing the importance of his work, the civil rights movement, or the dynamic person that he was, Dr. King’s great but imperfect life reminds us yet again that we don’t need to wait for elected officials nor to be perfect to make change in our world.

We hope these speeches and links will inspire and engage.

Anti-War:

“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”

I have had a lot of friends talk to me about starting their own businesses and wanting advice on it. Many of them ask me the same questions in regards to whether it’s necessarily for them or not. I would say most of them did not go in to business for themselves based on fear. They may believe they weren’t born with the necessary skills.

Although it’s important to ask yourself why you want to go in to business for yourself and what you want to get out of it, it is not true that successful entrepreneurs are born that way; in fact, anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. However, there are some specific entrepreneurial traits a person must have to be successful in the field of business. Of course, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But with these particular character traits, you can see if you really have what it takes to succeed in the highly-competitive, world of business. What are these essential entrepreneurial traits that anyone who is interested in starting a business must possess?

1. Independence – This is the most common denominator of all entrepreneurs. They want to seize control of their future; thus they decide to become their own boss instead of laboring under the gaze of a master. An entrepreneur has a strong sense of independence and will march forward with a purpose and that is to earn money through his own means and hard work.

2. Persistence and Determination – The world of entrepreneurship is fraught with both success and failure. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the doggedness to continue pursuing his goal despite some setbacks and obstacles that he may encounter on the road. This persistence and determination is fueled by a burning desire to achieve his goal of succeeding in his chosen field of business.

3. Self-Confidence – Along with independence, an entrepreneur possess self-confidence. They believe in their capabilities and makes sure that they will put in their best effort into their particular endeavors and likewise expect the best results from it. The business world is very competitive and is not a place for the half-hearted. Belief in one’s capabilities is very important in achieving any goal – especially in the world of entrepreneurship.

4. Creativity – In the business world, you can not afford to be complacent and un-creative unless you want the competition to move up on ahead of you. Thus, you really have to be very creative – you should be able to create new ideas as well as find new ways to solve problems. By this way, you can make sure that you stay ahead of the competition. Creative people are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly flexible when thinking. They keenly observe their environment and have an eye for spotting new trends that could potentially be a business opportunity.

5. Organized and goal-oriented – An entrepreneur knows the value of organization in a business endeavor. All efforts must be focused towards achieving the goal. A good entrepreneur systematizes every move he/she makes so that less time and other resources are consumed in achieving the goal, yet the goal is the best expected result, nonetheless. A good entrepreneur has the ability to consolidate his resources.

6. Visionary – An entrepreneur has a vision for his future. He/She is guided by this vision in everything he/she in his business endeavor. This vision may be for short, middle or long term, but all visions are to ultimately succeed in expanding one’s business.

7. Risk-taking and Tolerance for Failure– A good entrepreneur realizes that loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavor. Thus, an entrepreneur must always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences those risks might have. Entrepreneurs must have the courage to face failure and start again despite these setbacks. As in all fields of endeavor, the characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.

8. Perseverance and Hard Work – These are perhaps two of the most important entrepreneurial traits. In the world of business, there can be no real success without perseverance and hard work.

9. Commitment – An entrepreneur will not achieve success if he/she gives up at the first sign of trouble. Commitment to his business and to its success springs from the urge to achieve the goal.

10. Honesty and Honor – Another very important mark of a good entrepreneur is his being honest and honorable in all his business dealings and interpersonal relationships – whether it is between business partners, employees, peers and investors.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? Make sure you have the above mentioned entrepreneurial traits and qualities and I assure you, you definitely have what it takes to succeed in the world of business.

So over the last few weeks I’ve really been thinking about what 2009 is going to mean for me. I’m not one of those people who have a whole new plan on January 1st and that’s my New Years resolution.  My new years resolution was to put some serious thought in to where I wanted to go and what I wanted to accomplish in 2009. To have some purpose behind my actions. Today was a day I specifically set aside to work on my dream line. For those of you who don’t know what a dream line is, it’s basically a chart of your goals which includes specifically what you want to accomplish and how you plan to accomplish it with specific actions.

I have been dreading this because my last dream line that I did totally fell apart in a short period of time.  I only accomplished one of my many goals for the 6 month time frame of my dream line. I pretty much had forgotten what I wanted in my life. The whole purpose of the dream line is so that your goals are clearly defined and you set your intentions to accomplish those goals. Nobody ever trained me on what to do when I failed!

Over the past couple of months I’ve really hit a wall. I’ve lost a boat load of money in Real Estate, Software that I purchased to re purpose for resale and had my biggest ad campaign canceled and all of my ad revenue from my websites went to ZERO!

So today while sitting down and refocusing on some things, I came across this video on the blog of Tim Ferris. Tim is the author of The Four Hour Workweek, a book that I highly recommend you read if you have the Entrepreneurial itch. Anyway, Tim posted this and I really wanted to share it with my readers. I haven’t wrote anything in a while so I might not have many left, but if this inspires one person……like it inspired me today then it was well worth it! Enjoy!

So what did we learn from this video? If we fall down, we need to get back up no matter how hard it is…..right? The truth is that I have fallen down many times in my life and have always found the strength to get back up. To get back up and attack the very things that knocked me down. When we don’t get back up , we are giving up! We are accepting defeat! We are settling for mediocracy!

I have read and learned a lot of things about a lot of people in my lifetime. Every successful human being on this planet has failed at something, but they succeeded because that got back up and tried again. They learned from their mistakes and made better choices next time.  Pro athelets, Real Estate tycoons, Business Giants, Movie Stars……they’ve all failed, but they never gave up!

Because I lost money in Real Estate, does that mean I will not invest in Real Estate again? NO…..I lost track of how many times that Donald Trump has gone bankrupt!!! He never quit…..and I sure in the heck don’t plan on quitting either…..at anything!

In the words of Tim Ferris…..

Business icons, superstar professional athletes, billionaires — it doesn’t matter how rich or how accomplished — I’ve had them all tell me the same thing…

There are moments when you feel the world is too much. Days and even weeks when you want to (or perhaps do) pull up the covers and half-sleep in bed until nightfall, avoiding a feeling of hopelessness that seems insurmountable. Long-awaited deals fall through without warning, haters attack you without reason or fact, circumstances turn good decisions into awful realities — sometimes it just feels like the deck is stacked against you and there is nothing you can do about it.

I’ve felt the same on more than a few occasions, and more are coming.

Entrepreneurs in particular seem prone to feeling on top of the world one minute, only to feel crushed by it the next.

To this breed, I assure you all: in our species, it’s normal.

It’s an integral part of building anything remarkable, whether a business, a relationship, or a life. Expanding your sphere of comfort and abilities comes with a cost: repeated self-doubt.

I thank my mother for forwarding me the above video to put things in perspective. In your moments of self-doubt, I encourage you to watch it and meditate on all of the things you’ve done that you once considering impossible. The odds you’ve overcome, the critics you’ve proven wrong, and the small defeats that — through making you stronger and smarter — made huge victories possible later.

Get back up. Bigger and better things are waiting for you.

So, this is my comeback speech (Post)! I am refocusing this year on some new dreams! Bigger and better dreams……and I will accomplish them and I will write about my jouney here.

See ya soon!

Pat

Alright, I haven’t had time to post the winner for the simple fact that my ass hasn’t been off the bike long enough to do so and using my laptop doesn’t work on a motorcycle.

So, I actually didn’t buy either one of the bikes that I listed on the last post, but instead bought a 2009 Softail NIGHT TRAIN. I couldn’t help myself really. Once I seen this one and sat on it…I instantly knew that it was the one. So…..Here it is!

Air-cooled, Twin Cam 96B™
96.00 cu. in.
3.75 in. x 4.38 in.
87.90 ft lbs @ 2750 rpm

Okay, so I have to make one of the toughest decisions in my life! Below you will see 2 bikes and only one of these will come home with me tomorrow….which one will it be?

This is the Harley Davidson Night Rod! Choice number 1.

The aggressive speed screen visor framing the headlamp tells you they better be ready. Mid-mount controls set you up with a riding position that screams “go.” New black, five-spoke cast aluminum wheels, optional ABS brakes and a liquid-cooled 125-horsepower, 1,250-cubic-centimeter Revolution® engine leave no doubt about the hot rod inspiration behind this beast. Optional chrome engine covers provide the sparkle. If you haven’t gotten the message yet, one twist of the throttle clears up any doubt.

2009 H.D. Custom “Chisel” XL1200N Nightster / Option #2

What a HOT paintset! Additional features include all new HD Black Diamond grips, black mini-apes handlebars, black forward controls, and black diamond clutch, brake and throttle cables.

So which will it be……I don’t know, but I will be happy to tell you as soon as I bring one of these SEXY BEASTS home tomorrow!!!

Awesome bike descriptions courtesy of Rocky Mount Harley Davidson.