Prime Mover behind SoC

Basic elemental
Instinct to survive
Stirs the higher passions
Thrill to be alive

Alternating currents
In a tidewater surge
Rational resistance
To an unwise urge
anything can happen

From the point of conception
To the moment of Truth
At the point of surrender
To the burden of proof

From the point of ignition
To the final drive
The point of the journey
Is not to arrive
anything can happen

Basic temperamental
Filters on our eyes
Alter our perceptions
Lenses polarize

Alternating currents
Force a show of hands
Rational responses
Force a change of plans
anything can happen

From a point on the compass
To magnetic north
The point of the needle
Moving back and forth

From the point of entry —
Until the candle is burned
The point of departure —
Is not to return
anything can happen

I set the wheels in motion
turn up all the machines
activate the programs
and run behind the scene

I set the clouds in motion
turn up light and sound
activate the window
and watch the world go ’round —

anything can happen

 

Few Rush songs stir my soul, my spirit and get me motivated more than does Prime Mover, and the link with how the lyrics overlap, in some respects, with the thrill of riding a motorcycle, well, it was clear that when I started riding, Prime Mover would be my username in various motorcycle forums and would be my "go to" for all things MOTO!  Below is a portion of a Rush inspired avatar for one of these motorcycle forums; I was quite proud of this! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How is this relevant to SoC?  It is at the center of it all!

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It would be impossible to unfold the history of the Sunlight on Chrome initiative (see link below), without first exploring my history with the band Rush, Neil Peart & his writings, and ultimately the development of my own insatiable LOVE of motorcycle touring!  I will try and be brief!

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Having grown up in the mid 80's (being ~16 years old when Moving Pictures was released), I like so many became enthralled with Rush!  I could go on and on about how various Rush songs formed the "sound track" of my life, but I will save that for another day (TBD: LINK).

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However, as the years wore on and I became preoccupied with the responsibilities of family, home and work, following the band had just fallen off my radar.  One day, probably in 2000, it occurred to me that I had not heard of a new album since Test for Echo (released in 1996) and I thought that was odd, given their typical ~2-3 year gap between releases.  I simply assumed that they had disbanded and didn't give it much more thought at the time.  Then, a couple years later I heard of the release of Vapor Trails (in 2002) and did a deep dive into the album and the reason for the ~6 year hiatus.

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Many know that that delay was the result of Neil's personal tragedies (first losing his daughter in 1997 and then his wife in 1998).  Indeed, Rush had broken up, in a way, but only because Neil had one single priority - nourish and protect his "little baby soul" (what he called the remnants of what could be good in a life without his loved ones).  In order to soothe that "little baby soul" and try to work through that horrible grief, he took to the road on his motorcycle and spent ~14 months (~55,000 miles) touring North America (Canada, America and Mexico).  He recounts these tragedies, this motorcycle trip and his ultimate "rebuilding" in his book, Ghost Rider: Travels on a Healing Road.  This is an inspiring book from many perspectives, and it inspired me!

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This is the point at which my connection with the band Rush, and more specifically, Neil Peart takes a very dramatic and personal turn.  True, Rush was "my band" all through High School and my young adult years, and yes, they had fallen off my radar after getting married, starting a career and family, but after reading Ghost Rider, everything changed!  Rush was no longer "my band" they, in some respects, became the ONLY BAND to me.  And this was driven by a very personal connection I had formed with Neil through his recounting of his personal tragedies and how he was able to come back from all of that darkness while touring North America on his motorcycle (a BMW R1100GS).  How could anyone come back from such a tragedy?  Could I?

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What follows is some background on a very personal and traumatic experience.  It could be triggering to some and is somewhat difficult to recount, however it has deep relevance to how and why SoC came to be.

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In the summer of 2000, my wife and children (daughter 7 years old and son 15 months, at the time) were in a horrible car accident.  Their car had been "T" boned on the driver's side, had flipped several times and had ultimately came to rest upside down.  Thankfully my son's car seat remained secured in place.   I was told that he was dangling safety from his car seat when the first responders arrived.  The driver's side of the car, having received the full impact was caved in so severely, that a six pack of soda would not have been able to fit between the now inverted rear driver's side passenger door and my son's car seat that was secured in the middle.  My daughter, who thankfully had been sitting on the passenger side next to her brother, would have surely been killed had she been sitting on the driver's side.  Beyond some scrapes from broken glass, by the grace of God (?) my children were unharmed.

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My wife however had taken the full impact.  I won't list all the injuries however they were serve, they were traumatic, and they, by all accounts, should have taken her from us.  Helicopter medevacs were involved (images and memories of that moment will never be purged from my mind), there were lengthy hospital stays involving ICUs and rehabilitation faculties, followed by at home nurse aids.  It was not until October of that year when life had started to get back to mostly normal.  In the end, she survived and with very little long-term impact.  Fate (?), the gods (?), random chance (?), pure luck (?), no matter, I was thankfully able to step back from a stairwell that lead down to a very dark place, and close that door in front of me.  Neil, he had to walk through it and down into that abyss, and he came out the other side.  How could anyone come back from such a tragedy?  Could I?

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Most certainly, at the core of this connection I formed with Neil was my admiration for his triumph over such tragedy, however, there was another more uplifting connection I had formed while reading Ghost Rider.  I had always wanted to get a motorcycle! ALWAYS! I had had a moped (yes, funny) when I was a teenager and had LOVED riding it around town!  However, I never moved on my desire to get a motorcycle (various reasons: money, time, married, kids!).  But while reading Ghost Rider and hearing of all of his motorcycle adventures, a tiny amber in me that had been smoldering for years had finally ignited, at once, all the combustibles around it and in what was likely only nanosecond, I had a FULL BLAZE on my hands!  I WAS GETTING A MOTORCYCLE!

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The first, and biggest hurtle I had was, yes, convincing the Mrs!  It went much smoother and quicker than I had expected!  I then signed up for the MSF training class.

 

 

 

 

As much as I had wanted to get a BMW (like Neil had!), that was beyond my reach (in terms of skills and dollars).  Instead, I found myself a nice old used motorcycle for what some call a "trainer."  It was a 1978 Kawasaki kz305 and it severed its purpose - train!

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I had that for ~1 year and was then ready to move on!  A friend at work had known that I was looking to upgrade and had asked me what type of bike I was looking for.  I told him that I had wanted a BWM F650GS, the "little brother" to the BMW R1150GS that Neil was riding at the time.  He actually had a lead on one, and I got my F and was as a happy as a lark!

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Here is one of a very few action shots taken a few years after getting it.  What FUN! 

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After reading Ghost Rider, I pretty much devoured all of Neil's books and other writings (particularly his News, Sport and Weather blog)!

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Reading about his motorcycle touring, intertwined with the band's activities, was just so engaging for me!

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As time progressed and I gained more experience (and "road craft" skills, as Neil called them), I ever so slowly, but steadily became more and more adventurous with my riding.  First just riding around town, then around the state (NJ), then adding in PA and NY.  At one point I ventured to VA and then WV, capturing other states (DE, MD) along the way!  After that, I took a trip to VT, and added in CT and MA!  By this time I had ~24,000 miles, 10 states and ~4 years under my wheels and I was ready for a MUCH BIGGER ADVENTURE!

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While all of this Neil inspired riding was taking place, I had won a pair of tickets to see Rush (front row) at PNC, in NJ in the summer of 2007 when they were on tour in support of their Snakes and Arrows album.  During this show and because of a shirt I was wearing, Neil sent a stage hand (or perhaps his drum tech) to give me a pair of drum sticks!  What an incredible surprise and honor, and I will cherish those sticks and the memory of that day forever!  I describe all of this in the link ("The Magic Show") and include below a picture of the drum sticks.

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A further honor (and surprise) was that when I went to a concert in support of the Clockwork Angels album and picked up a program, I found THIS PICTURE towards the back!

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Me (yellow shirt with camera in front of my face) and my friend (white shirt) front row.  This wasn't the show that I got my sticks at (it was a couple years later), but my buddy got his own sticks that evening!  He also wore a t-shirt with a special message to Neil it said: Chef Ellwood's' Bird Brained Café.

 

[Back to motorcycles!]

In the Spring of 2009 I was fortunate enough to have some flexibility with work, so I planned an EPIC (Neil Peart inspired) motorcycle adventure to tour the Southwest of the US!  For those who are interested, I chronicled this trip in the below linked blog (it may still work).  When it was all said and done, over the course of ~2 weeks and ~5000 solo miles I added NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT and CO to what I call my "sphere of influence" (recorded on a US state map on one of my side cases)!  The trip and associated scenery was simply magnificent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The only pictures I will share here from that adventure will be my GPS routing (as below)...

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and my feeble attempt at recreating one of Neil's Ghost Rider pictures (on Route 66, near Amboy Crater in CA!).  Its clear which one is his vs mine!

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Since that trip in 2009, I've added a few more states (and parts of Canada!) to my map....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at one point even grabbing a NICE photo op... 

 

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and in 2013, I moved those side cases from my F650GS to the type of moto I had wanted EVER since reading Ghost Rider (an R1200GS)!  Of course I HAD to wear a Rush shirt when I picked her up!

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By the end of 2019, I had logged more than 64,000 miles on my various motorcycles and for a large majority of those miles I had Rush, and Neil's lyrics playing in my Ipod to keep me company along the way!  OH WHAT JOY! And I owe all of that great fun and those wonderful adventures to Neil and his story telling!

 

My long-term goal is to fill out my state map (including Alaska, if I can!) before parking my motorcycle for that last time.  To that end, in late 2019 and early 2020 I was in the process of planning my next BIG ADVENTURE!  A motorcycle tour from FL to IA, by way of TX! (you will note that I added the upper Midwest afterward this).

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In what is some very sad irony, on the afternoon of January 10, 2020 I had just finalized plans for this trip, arranging to ship my R1200GS from NJ to FL; I would fly down mid March*.  After hanging up the phone with the shipper, I put Prime Mover (my song for all things "moto") on the Sonos and cranked it!  It was an exciting and happy day!  Until I got a text from a friend...

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The Sunlight on Chrome initiative sprang from all of the above.  I knew that there would be tributes of various kinds, but for my part, I could think of no better way to honor his memory then to try and organize motorcycle charity rides in his name.  Yes, he was a drummer and a writer and a musician, but also was just a man who LOVED RIDING HIS MOTORCYCLE! [like i do!]  And that love came through in his writings, and was absorbed by many, including myself!  SoC is my way of saying "Thank You."

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"When I'm riding my motorcycle, I'm glad to be alive.

When I stop riding my motorcycle, I'm glad to be alive"

(Neil Peart)

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This is how and why it all started. 

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This is how it developed.

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* in the end, that trip never happened, as COVID brought most of the world to a standstill, including the initial efforts of SoC (as explained at link above)