At 10:16 on August 27, 2013 I crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont. This completed my multi-year quest to ride my motorcycle through the 49 states accessible by land. It was early in a long slog of a day, so there was only a short stop to take a few pictures before continuing west for the day. Realization of the goal built over the rest of the days ride and I was elated by the time I stopped for the night in Western New York.
Completing this meant something to me. But, to say this was remarkable would be misleading. Lots of people have done this quicker, in one or two trips. Lots of people have done it and spent more time in all the states. A few of my forays into passing states have lasted little more than a couple hours. Lots of people have made the trip on bikes that could be considered more challenging. I have respect for people who have toured extensively on a Harley Davidson Sportster or on a Honda CBR1000RR. I have unapologetically and thoroughly enjoyed my touring bikes.
I’m just an average guy and this was my adventure. Many memories of the states are burned into the long-term storage or my brain and I can always recall some of the experiences vividly. There are an equal number of roads that are forever gone to the ether.
Most my my more recent trips are preserved in perpetuity by writing and blogging on a near-daily time schedule while on the road. This has allowed a more honest preservation of the true nature of motorcycle travel; the good and the bad. In retrospect, it is almost all good. Many states were surprisingly interesting. A few states seem to go out of their way to ensure they have little in the way of redeeming qualities.
In many circles, tattoos and motorcycles go together like, well, tattoos and motorcycles. A casual stroll around Daytona Bike week or anywhere in the Black Hills region near the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally would demonstrate this. I’m not sure the same correlation exists within the average Goldwing Crowd, although it may within a few subcircles.
Since forming the idea that it may be possible for me to ride a motorcycle through all land-connected states, I’ve also tossed around the idea that once completed, a tattoo would properly commemorate the event.
Surprising even myself, I’ve followed through on this. I had several ideas on how to properly show this in ink form. I’ve seen people who have a map tattoo and filled in states they have been to, but that wasn’t quite right. I thought about a tattooed road with all the states in order crossed as an option, but since I’ve concentrated travel on some of my favorite areas, it didn’t seem the right option. Another idea of the outline of the US with the number 49 inside or below was just too boring.
One of the great things about motorcycle travel is the seemingly infinite amount of time for thought and my thoughts continued to stray to what the tattoo might look like as I rolled down the road. I kept coming back to the idea, that the shape of the united states can almost be a motorcycle shape. Or, more specifically, allowing for a little discretion on what the shape of a motorcycle should be plus discretion on the exact shape of the country, the two could be melded together. Florida obviously looks like front forks, Maine makes a great headlight, the bulk of the country makes a faired body, Alaska almost looks like a helmet. In my mind, this worked.
The States-Motorcycle would need a rider. It couldn’t be me, nobody should be immortalized while still alive - not even me. There is always a chance, no matter how small that living people can do unexpected things and sully an otherwise good name. People like Tiger Woods (golfer turned publicized sex fiend) and Jerry Springer (Cincinnati Mayer turned smut-show host) being two well-publicized examples.
I’m a dog person and more specifically a beagle person. Since 1993, I’ve had at least two beagles and at times as many as 4. A beagle riding the States-Motorcycle would work well.
Once back at home after the August 27 border crossing, I started shopping around for a tattoo shop. I found this terribly intimidating.
First, some of these places are not too friendly. I can only assume that the full-body tattoo and piercing crowd is where they make their money. In fairness, I’m sure there are a lot of people who chicken out so there is a reluctance to spend time and energy on someone who will never become a paying client.
Second, a tattoo is nearly permanent. If it is wrong, it may be able to be fixed, but once inked, the commitment is real.
Third, there is a health aspect. I’m pretty convinced that most tattoo shops operate safely, but infection (or worse) is not an impossibility.
One place stuck out. Or rather, the tattoo artist Steve stuck out. He understood what I was after and had a pretty realistic no BS attitude. On my first visit to his shop, he was working with two inebriated college students who were impaired to a point of annoyance. But, he suggested coming back and trying to draw something up together.
On a subsequent visit, we set to making some drawings, but it was impossible to go from what I saw in my brain to what he could draw with his hand. Some of Steve’s artwork on the wall is impressive, but going from my brain to his talent was probably asking too much.
I have no artistic ability, but I could envision what I wanted. My answer was a considerable amount of time spent on my computer. By mixing tools available in PowerPoint and Photo Pos Pro along with clip art and images pilfered through Google Images searches, I was able to put together a pretty good facsimile of what I was after. Using clip art in tattoo design is pretty awful, but it was a very powerful enabler to ensure the final design would actually work. To the best of my knowledge no images used had any stated copyright issues.
Many iterations later, I had what I thought I wanted in a final design. It looked like I had imagined in my head. A few things were needed to make it work. First, the US is too “tall” and I had to squish the country in the north-south direction to keep the “motorcycle” from looking too much like a scooter. Second, while Alaska as a helmet has merit, I couldn’t make it work without looking like the dog had a salad on his head; Alaska became a sissy bar with luggage flying off it.
Emailing the image to Steve, his response was, “I think we can make this work!”
Two important changes were needed. First, the design was not cohesive and it needed to be more cartoon-like. I was obviously not going for some sinister looking biker-dude tattoo (maybe the next one).
Second, while I originally liked the multi-colors of the states, Steve suggested this would look very busy and be near impossible in the smaller New England states I had just been through. Steve suggested some shading (and he was right) while the dog should retain its coloring.
When it came time to actually get the tattoo, I was on freak-out level 7. My brain wouldn’t shut up - is this the right thing to do? Will it look good in the end? Will the states actually look like the US? Will I get hepatitis? Will it actually look like a motorcycle? And, doing a Google Images search on “Bad Tattoos” a few hours before leaving was probably a mistake.
Once the actual tattoo process started, I quickly felt calm about the whole thing. I could easily see the shape coming together well. Getting tattooed didn’t feel good, but it really didn't hurt either. What was odd was that in some spots I really didn’t feel anything. In other spots very nearby there was some pain. I’m not sure I would want to do an all-day tattoo job, but the actual tattoo process was very tolerable.
As the design came together I really started to like the way it looked. Steve was right on the colors and the shading adds a lot. With the overall shape, two wheels, handlebar and dog position, the motorcycle is evident. With the overall shape, and the state outlines, the map is obvious. Mission accomplished and I couldn’t be happier.
I’m not sure what is next.
Motorcycle-wise, I’ve got enough travel ideas to last five lifetimes. My life is (statistically) half over so I guess I just need more vacation. One family member suggested I could now slow down and spend more than a night or two in one spot. That is probably not going to happen (and no I do not see a trailer in my future). Needless to say, completing the goal of riding through 49 states does not mean an end to two-wheeled travel. I may have to find room on my leg for Hawaii - although probably a rental.
I don’t think I’ll become the next tattooed monster, but having gone through the process and seeing the results, I understand why people who have tattoos, often have more than one. I’m not sure the next tattoo will be for something quite so momentous, but I’ll also not commit to saying my dog-states-motorcycle tattoo will be my only one.
