"BORN FREE 5 DUAL CARB 1952 PANHEAD BUILD" . . . . KEVIN 'TEACH' BAAS AND A PREVIEW OF HIS BF5 CONCOCTION, TWO OF ANYTHING IS ALWAYS GONNA BE MORE RAD THAN ONE . . . . THE WORLD'S BIGGEST GIG IN CONTEMPORARY, INDEPENDENT, CUSTOM BIKE BUILDING IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY . . . . AND YET AGAIN, I'M NOT WITHIN COOEE OF THE THING, THERE WAS NO POINT GETTING PSYCHED TO BE THERE THIS YEAR . . . . BUT MY TIME WILL COME.

Like many of you who have never been to what has always looked to be a gathering of many of the coolest custom bikes in the 'real world', I've been eagerly 'following' the shebang since it first came to light as a small, indy operation five years ago. Now it's become a gargantuan indy operation that still appears to maintain the integrity and spirit that Grant Peterson and Mike Davis envisioned when they first put it together. I had hoped to actually make the flight across the Pacific last year but it was not to be, this year went the same way, only I chose to recognize the reality of the omens early on rather than play it out in blissful ignorance when all along I knew deep down all was folly.

So, here I sit once again, having read the latest updates, checked out any new vids being posted on PooTube and drooling over highlights from the BF1 through 4. And I still find myself drawn to this single event like a moth with a heavy masochistic streak, my love of all things two wheeled is pretty fucking diverse and entrenched, yet there is something about the Born Free caper that captures my passion every single year and it doesn't subside, rather it intensifies and continues to grow . . . . hopefully Mike and Grant will still feel inclined to do it again next year, hopefully everyone will have a fat time at BF5 this year, and hopefully, by the time I get my shit together the Born Free flag will still be flying over some patch of dirt in Southern California . . . . so much to see, so little time.