Sacred Ground Memorial Ride

Today on the anniversary of 9/11, seventeen years ago, I decided to pay tribute to the anniversary by riding the Sacred Ground memorial track. My friend Crow joined me from High Rollers MC, and I rode on his new 9/11 memorial bike that he had created. This sim hosts several different memorials for various wars and battles fought, and pays tribute to many men and women that served. One of the things that I love about Second Life is how much it values veterans and soldiers. There are many that play this game that have served, and there are several sims like this one honouring them and their valour.

Personally, today not only hits me when I think about the tragedy that happened that day in New York, and watch the videos and remember the horror, but I also think about all of the lives that were changed since then - those of the families of the soldiers that have gone to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and other locations because of this incident. So many lives have been lost because of this one, single day in our history. Let us never forget the sacrifices made, let us never forget that when one suffers we all suffer, and let us never forget to hold close our loved ones and cherish each day we have with them.

Legends MC Ride at Eternal Shadow Wolves MC

This afternoon I joined Legends MC for a ride as I do every week. I have known President Jairus Silvercloud and the Legends for about a year now, though I have known Jairus himself for a lot longer. He has been a big support for me over the years in the MC community.

We met at the bottom of the track and were welcomed by the road captain from ESWMC. A group of six of us then rode up the track. There were a few members who were away because of illnesses or lack of power from storms going around the States.

The track was a great ride and started out with some untamed tracks that the builders took from the typical box tracks and just put out tracks without the walls around them. The tracks were clearly marked with arrows for navigation and there were no jumps or loops to contend with.

We ended the track at the top and did a free ride around the square tracks, running into one another and dodging each other's bikes. We then stood around talking about vacations and the weather due to the wild fires in California, where one of the members lives.

It was a lot of fun as always, and was a good distraction from the rainy day outside.

Ghost Mountain

As riders, we have a lot of ghosts. Now, I'm not one to believe in or put much stock in real ghosts... and I don't really think it's a good thing to delve into that world of which we do not understand, however I do believe in the metaphorical ghosts that haunt us down our life's journey. These ghosts challenge us, inspire us, and helped to shape us into who we became today.

Personally, I have a lot of ghosts in the MC world. My story is not one that I want to focus on here either, as this is a journal about moving forward in spite of the past. I cherish every hardship, every joy, every tear and every moment of laughter that has brought me to where I am today. It wasn't always easy, but I do believe that it prepared me for this next phase of my SL life... After three years of being in the MC world, I have met a lot of wonderful people, and ridden a lot of awesome tracks. This is what I want to hold onto, and this is what I want to share in this blog.

Today I went back to an old landmark that I knew as Ghost Mountain once before. I haven't been here for a few months but the place had always seemed to be under construction. I landed in a city sim with armed trucks and other vehicles which proceeded to run me over and catapult me into the air. The sim owner, a friendly woman who messaged me almost instantly, asked if I was looking for the track. I told her that I was, and she sent me a landmark to the top of the track which was some meters into the sky. The track was now independent from the city which she claimed she hoped to become a roleplay area.

The track begins with a city landscape, winding through the streets of what she said were aimed to look like New York. Once I found the way up, I began the ascent through the covered parking lot up to the mountain.

I then rode through the mountain tunnel and up the rocky incline towards the top of the track, through the small village.

The track wound up through the mountain, and though there are no arrows to point the way it was a familiar track so I was able to navigate my way easily enough.

At the top of the track, the roads continued to circle through a grassy area with lots of trees and then turned around to go back down the track. It took about twenty minutes for me to reach the top, which ended at an elevation of 2355m.