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Editorial

Monday Morning Editorial

Welcome To The Metaphysics Of Motorcycling

Editorial By: Chris Callen

Originally Published In The January 2015 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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My editorials are always a bit strange and unusual compared to the other mags you might read and this one will probably go a little off the deep end into my hippy roots. I say “Welcome To” because this issue marks the largest expansion of Cycle Source Magazine in its eighteen-year history: two hundred and fifteen times, including this issue to be exact. We have grown from a free local publication into one of the largest national custom motorcycle magazines in the US. Still, this may be the first issue that many of you have ever seen so I figured a good dose of our philosophy was in order right from the start.

The metaphysics of motorcycling is a term that I use constantly in my editorials and in describing what it is that we do here that makes the motorbike culture such a special one and different from the consumer experience. I have had the benefit of growing up in the southwestern Pennsylvania area around very good men and women that instilled some strong values in me. I constantly refer to these people as warrior poets and journeymen philosophers. To them the motorcycle has always been a M vehicle used to get from place to place where the secrets and stories of life drew them together. Growing up one man was like my father, hell to this day he still is. His name is Keith and he is now referred to by the next, next generation as Pap. As I was growing up he seemed to be ten feet tall and bullet proof. He rode quite a few sick ass choppers and as a kid, a young man and on into my adulthood, he was the kind of man I wanted to be. As I came into my own and started to figure out a few things in life Keith became my brother and we shared time. Now as we both get older I am still learning about life through his experiences; now the lessons are about how to get old with class and still keep your chin up. He’s still the kind of man that will slap ya in the mouth in two seconds flat; rides as hard as the devil does, and God willing has many years left to share with all of us. He goes a little easier at things today, works a little smarter and constantly reminds me to do the same so that when time does catch up with me I’ll be ahead of the game.

You see, one of the hardest things for a man, a strong willed man especially, is to give up that alpha dog position and admit that time is catching up with him. I hope that I can do it with as much grace and dignity as the men I grew up around and for the most part they all have. Keith still bitches, no more or less today than he always has, from time to time its’ just about different things. But you see, that’s how it works, or anyway how it should work. Keith teaches me, we both teach the younger guys coming up behind us and so on. In doing this we insure that our way of life, our culture and the qualities that make life and the motorcycle so much more special are preserved. In short, that’s the type of thought provoking parable that we refer to here as the metaphysics of motorcycling. I believe that there is a spiritual side of motorcycling and that once you get over the hype that is on the commercial surface, a lifelong journey begins that’s filled with beautiful lessons, personal growth and gifts from Mother Nature that will blow your mind. If this is the kind of trip that raises your eyebrow then stick around and check us out. But like I said we’ve been doing it this way every thirty days for eighteen years so there is little chance of us changing things up any time soon. Now set us next to the throne, or beside the other important documents that need to be read day to day and let us know what you think! See ya down the road.

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