Following recent events I would like to share this video with you as I thought the lyrics could maybe help some people out in a time of grief and sorrow.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHNfiHNCMcQ   Maybe others could share poems or songs too (with appropriate credits where necessary).   Please don't let this thread become a slanging match where people air their dislikes of another persons ride or beliefs but instead let's try and make it a place of peace and contemplation for those who have lost to come and mourn their brothers and sisters or just to remember the risks we all take when we choose to ride...                                                                                                                                                                             

Well said and a good idea. I think many of us that have ridden for most of our adult life have many friends that time and the road have taken but who live on in our hearts.                                                                                                                                                                              

He Rolls on

Towards the West,

Bright orange setting sun

Guiding his way to rest.

The sun forever shine

On his weathered face,

I know this friend of mine

Is speeding to a better place.

On wings of Rolling Thunder

No one else can see,

He rolls roads up yonder

He rolls on, Free

  T C that link works but the vid isn't loading, for me.                                                                                                                                                                             

Sandi - maybe just a local computer problem as just checked and it works on my phone and 2 other computers.   Maybe try turning it off and on again?                                                                                                                                                                             

  I think you're right T C, I tried to view another vid but the same thing happened, I've no idea why as I've not had trouble viewing them before. I'll try again later, thanks.                                                                                                                                                                             

Nice thread Teecee, thanks!!! Vid loads fine for me sandi hun!   A biker rides their bike Not because he/she has to get somewhere but because he/she wants to because it is what he/she loves, he/she is not afraid to take the inherent risks because their life is to be lived without worrying about when it may end. Every day he/she swings his/her leg over her bike he/she realizes it may be her last time and yet he/she still does it. He/she has had friends and brothers lost to the road and he/she has ridden in funerals for those lost n yet he/she still rides because it is what he/she is and he/she will not change!                                                                                                                                                                             

I agree, nice thread Teecee. Vid worked ok for me too although for some reason YouTube usually crashes my PC.

Used to got to the annual Bike blessing and St Georges day parade at Dunham Massey near Altrincham in Cheshire.  I wouldnt describe myself as a "religious" person really, more of an Agnostic.  When I have been, I always drew some comfort from being there and sensed that others did too.  Always enjoyed the fellowship and general togetherness it seemed to generate.
  They gave us a little laminated card, with a prayer on it, which goes,

May God bless you and keep you safe on this machine.
May you encounter the Lord in your travels. In the freedom of the open road, the fellowship of other bikers and in each person you meet.
May the Lord be with you at home and on the road.
May He accompany you when you start on your many journeys.
May He fill your life abundantly with his many blessings.
May he keep all your riding safe.
May His mercy, grace and love shine upon your every road.
Let it be now and always.
Amen.

On the other side,

God sends each person into the world

With a special message to deliver
With a special song to sing for others
With a special blessing to bestow

No one else can speak my message
Or sing my song
Or offer my blessing

They are entrusted only to me.

Needless to say, in spite of my lack of faith, I always feel comforted when out on my bike and I feel that little card in my pocket.

Ride safe, ride long, my friends.  God bless, whatever that may mean to you.

My favourite one is:   May God bless you and keep you safe on this machine.   May you encounter the risen Lord in your travels, in the freedom of the open road, the fellowship of other bikers and in each person you meet.   May the Lord be with you at home and on the open road.   May He accompany you when you start your many journey's.   May He fill your life abundantly with his many blessings.   May He keep all your riding safe.   May His mercy, grace and love shine upon you forever.                                                                                                                                                                             

Did you know;   Recently the Pope gave bikers their very own patron saint.   Saint Columbanus. Born 540AD and died 615AD.   He was an early Celt and was born in Co.Wicklow, Ireland.   He was by all accounts a ruggedly handsome man. Like many bikers he was irresistable to women and left home to join the cloth after being constantly pestered by laviscous women.   His most notable miracle was to turn 2 fishes and a small amount of beer into a lavish knees up for some hungry and thirsty Monks he came across one day.   I think the Pope got it right in choosing him                                                                                                                                                                             

What kind of bike did he have though, Bomb?!!                                                                                                                                                                              

common prayers for bikers....all preceded by-please god,let it start,dont let me slip on this gravel in front of all these people,dont let that be the last of reserve,let there be a petrol station in the next 2 miles,please let the next size down tap on there,please let her come over and chat,dont tell me i didnt bring it,dont let it rain till i see some trees,dont tell me that rattling's getting louder,dont tell me i spent it all last night,blue lights behind,go past.....all these contained in one huge flash back from the last xxx years on bikes,jinx57

Well Clarke, he didn't actually have a bike cos they weren't invented  But scholars reckon that because he pilgrimaged to itally and set up Ministries there, it would have beens something like a Ducati or a Guzzi  Deffo not a Vespa                                                                                                                                                                             

Bomb, if he ran away from women, it probably was a Vespa                                                                                                                                                                              

PMSL, you gotta remember he was a man of the cloth, don't think he could have had it both ways