So today, I read a post on SoCal Cruzers that Dr. Phil, the politically correct nice guy television host, is looking for a "stereotypical Harley Riding Biker", and apparently one of the prerequisites is that you must wear chaps...

My name is Sheldon,

I'm an Associate Producer here at the Dr. Phil Show.

I am currently working on the show taping next Tuesday, October 9th featuring 6 guests that have skewed judgments against certain types of people. We are currently looking for a Biker such as yourself who enjoys riding in his leather chaps, but by day is a career man (shirt and tie). We are hoping to show these guests that their perception is not always reality. We anticipate that they incorrectly judge you based on your appearance and would request that you come dressed in your leather chaps as a stereo typical Harley Riding Biker.

Labels: Biker Stereotypes

They say that admittance is the first step towards healing.

Actually, before I use the word "biker", I'd like to say that I use that word loosely. Some guys deserve that label more than others based on their skills and their life-long devotion to riding motorcycles. Some of us just ride motorcycles for fun.

But anyways, I pretty much grew up around computers. My step-father was a computer technician, and repaired and built them as a career. I've used all kinds of computers.

In my teens, I came to the realization that I was a computer geek. You see these stereotypes represented on television sitcoms and movies and realize that they're doing the same things I was doing, playing computer games, writing software, copying and trading software with other geeks, and hacking into computer systems whereever we could find them.

The only thing, however, is that I didn't wear glasses, and I actually had girlfriends (who were not computer geeks). So, I always kept that in the back of mind as a way of making myself feel better.

After highschool graduation, my parents bought me a used motorcycle. It was my graduation present. The thing didn't actually run. But my step-father knew he could fix it, and even showed me how. So now, I'm riding a motorcycle.

That motorcycle got me several girlfriends. It was the best weapon I had for winning over the chicks. And it was just a little Kawasaki KZ400. But I guess women don't really understand the subtle differences that men see when it comes to motorcycles.

But anyways, these girls used to refer to me as a "biker". And at the time, I didn't think about it much. I rode a motorcycle, hence, I'm a biker.

In college, I studied music. I actually considered myself a musician. I rode a motorcycle, and I played a guitar. I thought that was cool. As it turned out, however, music was just a passing fad for me. I lost interest in it, and found myself going back to the computer.

I thought, "yeah, I guess I really am a computer geek".

But I still liked riding my motorcycle. Things changed however, as I got a full time job working in an office. I needed to wear a shirt and tie, and my motorcycle was still my only mode of transportation. When it rained, things got difficult for me. So, I bought a pickup truck. And then I got married. And then, riding that motorcycle just didn't happen much.

But fast forward to my life today, and I'm back to riding motorcycles again. I keep thinking back to those college days, how much I loved riding back then, and realizing how much I love riding now. I realize that it never went away.

So now, I find myself riding every weekend with the folks in our club, and riding during the week with other friends, and putting on 30,000 to 40,000 miles each year on my two motorcycles. I ride for fun, but I also ride as part of my business, and I ride to hang out with my friends, and ride to run errands even.

But I still love computers too. That's largely my business these days.

So I guess I'm a biker computer geek.

Let the healing begin.

Labels: Biker Stereotypes

I got a bit of amusement reading an article published in the Arizona Daily Star concerning the Arizona State HOG Rally in Tucson this weekend.

In particular, the article went into detail assuring readers that the bikers converging in Tucson are nothing to be afraid of...

There's no reason to run and hide when the bikers roll into Downtown.

These are not the misunderstood miscreants so shockingly chronicled by Hunter S. Thompson in "Hell's Angels." H.O.G., after all, is a corporate/ dealer-sponsored motorcycle riding organization.

"This isn't a biker gang," Durband said of the H.O.G. members. "These are average older middle-class citizens who just like to ride. Their mission is to ride and have fun. It's heavily middle-aged professionals. They are your neighbors and your co-workers."

Labels: Biker Stereotypes, Harley Owners Group

A new book is coming out entitled, "Kick Start: Cosmic Biker Babe's Guide To Life And Changing the Planet", by Carol Setters. Setters, who also goes by the name, "CosmicBiker" is a spiritual feminist and Biker Babe, who operates a website where "a community of radical women" get together and discuss ways to change the world through authentic and compassionate living.

Kick Start is essentially a self-help guide for women suggesting that taking on the role and persona of a biker chick will help them find inner-strength:

"By playfully trying on the identity of women who ride motorcycles, snub their noses at conformity and are unafraid to go where the road leads them, women become SheBikers," says Setters, "It's a term I've created to describe powerful and adventurous women. Many women relate to being SheBikers, whether or not they currently ride motorcycles."

"Women are looking for a way to redefine themselves, to incorporate the new ways in which they are evolving as a gender" says Setters. "Our culture sees bikers as rebellious, or at least maverick, individuals. By "trying on" that nonconforming identity, women can push beyond limiting perspectives to a new understanding of what they can become. Of course, if they want to be encouraged to ride a motorcycle, they'll find that in my book, too."

Labels: Biker Books, Biker Stereotypes