I just read this awesome article about the singer of The Lumineers, Wesley Shultz, and his thoughts on motorcycles and music.  I'm a big fan of their music and it's interesting that Shultz grew up in Ramsey, N.J., close to where I live and grew up.  As an artist, I completely agree with the connection between motorcycles and the genesis of ideas.  There's something meditative about riding that cultivates creativity.
  This article was sent to me in the Triumph newsletter which always has great content.  Click on the image below to read the article and to watch the video.

  I'm gathering some tips here for putting a motorcycle away for the winter.  This is the way I do it and I've learned this mostly from the Triumph dealership where I bought my bike: Locomotion Powersports in Mahwah, NJ.  I keep my bike in an unheated garage so these tips will be different if you keep your bike outside because you'll need a bike cover in that case.

  When my bike is ready to be put in my garage, I roll it onto two carpet swatches from an old carpet roll.  This is good for the tires because it stops the tires from developing flat spots.  Since my bike is over 500 pounds, it can be tricky to line up both tires onto the carpet so I measured out the distance between my tires and measured out the swatches on the garage floor before rolling the bike in.

  Alright that's it, now it's time to wait until riding season starts again.

  This past weekend I went painting en plein air with my friend Asem and ran into some frustration.  Sometimes a painting doesn't go well and there's nothing you can do except to learn something from it.  The weather was beautiful regardless and we had a fun time hiking to our painting spot.  If you live around Bergen County, NJ, then check out our PCD En Plein Air events that I host.
 With the frustration of yesterday, I realized the importance of painting what you enjoy and what you're inspired by.  I did a painting today of a scene that I've wanted to paint for a while and it came out great.  While I was painting, I was thinking about a Sargent painting, Venetian Glass Workers (1880/2).  I've seen the painting a few times in person in Chicago and it always stuck with me.

  I'm also proud to announce that our Pushing Colored Dirt fall 2020 courses are open for registration.  I'm teaching a bunch of different adult courses and you can check out all the awesome instructors that are a part of our crew.  If you have questions you can also email me at eric@pushingcoloreddirt.com
​  I'll be writing again soon because I haven't written enough recently.  Have an awesome week.

  I'm so happy that the weather's taking the turn towards spring.  This winter was brutal for me emotionally and now I'm so happy.  The main reason is that I love being outside because my favorite activities (including painting) are done outside.
 The main reason I'm happy now is that I can ride my motorcycle (and go skating).  I brought my bike out today and I needed to inflate my tires.  So I'm including this very positive review of a new air compressor that I got from P.I. Auto Store on Amazon.  If you're looking for a great tire inflator for your bikes, motorcycles, cars and anything else that requires inflation then pick up this compressor.  A huge perk is that it has an auto shut-off when it reaches the desired PSI (it also has other metrics for measurement if you needed).  For a little extra, you can buy an adapter to attach so you can use any regular outlet instead of a cigarette lighter end.  After I got the delivery, I also got a super nice note from P.I. Auto Store to make sure that the package arrived and that it works well (which it does).
  Another quick tip, courtesy of my friend Richy, is to inflate your tires when they're cold (as in before you ride or drive).  Enjoy the weather everyone and have some fun!