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Keeping Skor: Creativity, Curiosity, and the Things We Keep. A podcast about why people collect the things they love. Each episode begins with a collection - but the conversation quickly expands into something deeper: memory, imagination, and the choices we make about what matters. Through thoughtful conversations with collectors of all kinds, Keeping Skor explores the stories, passions, and meaning behind the objects people choose to keep.
Stephen Skorski: Cool, alright. Alright, ding ding, round two. Alright, alright, cool, dude, well, let's, we're gonna start over a little bit.
Stephen Skorski: So yeah, how's your day going?
Derek Toomes: It's going, yeah. Not a bad day.
Derek Toomes: It's, you know, I don't mind the dreariness. Keeps me inside.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, do you do, so it's Easter, it's Easter, the weekend of Easter, it's on Sunday morning,
Stephen Skorski: Any, chocolate eggs or chocolate bunnies in your… Immediate future or recent past?
Derek Toomes: Not… I mean, well, maybe… maybe some… maybe some, Easter eggs with a little…
Derek Toomes: Couple quarters hidden in them, some family traditions of, my mom still likes to hide Easter eggs.
Stephen Skorski: Do you think? Is that really a possibility? When you go to your mom's today, there might be…
Derek Toomes: Oh yeah, definitely. It's a tradition for sure, and I think now that there's a great-grandchild, it keeps the tradition going. I'm not too sure she would still do it if it was just me and my sister and niece, but, you know, now there's another young one.
Derek Toomes: She'll, hide a few eggs, stuff a couple dollars in each,
Derek Toomes: I remember as a kid, it used to be quarters, now we actually get some bills in there.
Stephen Skorski: Dude, it's crazy. If I would have ever gotten a dollar and an Easter egg when I was younger, I think I would have lost my mind.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, those are just special ones. Like, you know, obviously my sister and I would… it was a competition, see who could get the most money.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, I… you know, one of the bummer for me is… because I actually really… same thing, I love… I love Easter, I love Easter egg hunting, and yeah, my dad still does it, so, you know, if I'm up there, you know, we'll do it in the house, so it's not an outside thing.
Stephen Skorski: But each one of us gets a room.
Stephen Skorski: you know, I'll get the living room, my sister will get the dining room, you know, brothers get the, you know, get a different room, and yeah, he'll just hide eggs all the, you know, throughout the room. And they're almost always in, like, very, very similar spots, because it's a room. You know, how, you know, it's hard to pick, sort of, unique spots, but it's so much fun, it never gets old.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hopefully, I'll be doing that.
Derek Toomes: I need a certain room?
Stephen Skorski: What's that?
Derek Toomes: You each get your own room of, like, like, Steven's Easter eggs are in this room. Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Derek Toomes: Wait, there's no, like, fighting over it?
Stephen Skorski: Yes, exactly.
Derek Toomes: I think the fighting was sort of part of our experience, like, no, no, this is a free-for-all. Elbows are fair game, too.
Stephen Skorski: So even when you were younger, when you… because your sister's older, is that correct?
Derek Toomes: Hell yeah. She's, like, 9 years older, so it definitely had an advantage over me, I believe, but…
Derek Toomes: That's part of it.
Stephen Skorski: Did it make you tougher?
Derek Toomes: Darwinism, yeah, for sure.
Stephen Skorski: Well, that's good, actually, because I do want to get into young Derek, a little bit. So actually, I mean, in all seriousness, I was thinking about this, and it's really interesting when… so, okay, so for those who are listening, you and I know each other.
Stephen Skorski: And I would say, you know, it's weird, because…
Stephen Skorski: I've been working here 8 years. You've been here that whole time, but, you know, kind of working in the same, you know, department.
Stephen Skorski: you know, has been last, whatever, maybe 5 years or something. So I… on one hand, I'm like, oh yeah, I know Derek really well.
Stephen Skorski: But then, on the other hand, I'm like, oh no, I know Derek really well as Derek now.
Stephen Skorski: Right? And that's the interesting thing about when you meet someone when you're older, is that, you know, you know them from the moment you know them, and you don't know them from, you know, everything prior. So, I was thinking about, like, before I just get into, like, yeah, tell me about where you've been, who you are, I'm just curious as a general…
Stephen Skorski: thought. Do you think I would recognize young Derek?
Stephen Skorski: As opposed to Derek of today.
Derek Toomes: Whew, that'd be a… that's a tough question. I would… I would like to think so. I don't… I don't think I've, you know, gone that far from… from the grounds, but yeah, I mean…
Derek Toomes: I think a lot of my mannerisms have carried through the years. So I think that would probably be the dead giveaway.
Derek Toomes: I mean, yeah, the way I still sort of…
Derek Toomes: Well, now we call it collaboration, but, you know, in those days, we called it play.
Stephen Skorski: That's true.
Derek Toomes: the way I would play with peers, I think it's very much the same way I collaborate and converse and sort of share, you know, with peers and friends and colleagues now, so… so I think there's some things that would be recognizable. Probably a little less hair on my face.
Derek Toomes: So that might be weird for you. But that'd be the hard part.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, if I saw 8-year-old Derek with a full beard, That would be terrifying, actually.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah. I might be terrified with the 8-year-old, but yeah.
Stephen Skorski: But I think that's really interesting, right? Because that's kind of the way I feel, like… I feel like if people knew 8-year-old me, yeah, I mean, obviously some things have changed.
Stephen Skorski: But I'm not sure that I could point to…
Stephen Skorski: kind of really big changes? And I might be completely wrong about that.
Stephen Skorski: But I do always find that interesting to think about. So, so, so you… the way you work now,
Stephen Skorski: You know, at work, with your friends, with your artistic collaborators.
Stephen Skorski: you know, you think… same kind of energy as 8-year-old Derek.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I think a very similar vibe, similar energy, and yeah, I do… I mean, obviously there was the, the teenage Derek. That one might be harder to recognize.
Derek Toomes: You know, when you go through the more of the introduction to the punk years, the skateboard years, like, you know, the kind of FTW kind of… maybe that Derek was a little different. So that one might be harder, but 8-year-old, 8-year-old is still true to…
Derek Toomes: himself, I feel like.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, there's a lot of hormones that happen from, you know, 12 to 18, or 12 to whatever, but yeah.
Stephen Skorski: So, 8-year-old Derek, sweet little kid, 16-year-old Derek, Rotten bastard.
Derek Toomes: I'm a bit of a bastard.
Derek Toomes: My mom would probably even agree with that one.
Stephen Skorski: Well, along those lines, give me the… because these are things that I don't know. Give me the… give me the… give me the, you know, give me the Derek timeline. You know, where have you been?
Stephen Skorski: what have you done? And just to kind of ground this, we're eventually going to get to talk about, you know, your motorcycles, and your motorcycle collection, and, you know, your relationship with motorcycles, but…
Stephen Skorski: I think in order for us to understand what that is, we kind of need to know where you came from, because you have a pretty varied background in terms, like, professionally. But even before that, again, take me back to your earliest memories and go from there.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, maybe with a little bit of, like, knowing where the conversation may lead us, I'll give a little bit of context to some of that, but maybe not try to focus too much.
Derek Toomes: But, you know, young Derek.
Derek Toomes: And I won't get too personal either, I don't want to get too in the weeds with this, but I had a, maybe a less than ordinary experience with childhood in that I lost my father, like, when I was 7 years old. So I would say that my relationship to my mother sort of,
Derek Toomes: You know, was much… much…
Derek Toomes: faster track than maybe normal. Like, that was the parent. That was my kind of connection with… with adulthood, rather than having a father figure. And… and I, you know, we've already mentioned a little bit my sister being 9 years older than me, so I think that I lived in a… maybe an adult world sooner.
Derek Toomes: In some ways.
Derek Toomes: But in that, I think that…
Derek Toomes: A lot of my curiosity as a kid came from just sort of, you know, being out in the world, out in nature, as with a lot of kids in our generation, so sort of exploring, exploring, imagining, imagination. So I had a strong imagination, was my friend growing up as probably in childhood years.
Derek Toomes: Since I didn't have a lot of,
Derek Toomes: And again, this is also in a more rural setting, so didn't have a lot of friends in the neighborhood kind of thing. There's a few, but one.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, so, so, so yeah, just not to interrupt, but so this is North Carolina.
Derek Toomes: Yes, North Carolina, just… and actually not far from where we are now in Greensboro, so just about, you know, 30 minutes south of here. You know, so Greensboro was the… the biggest
Derek Toomes: city for us, the closest proximity city for us, then. Again, rural neighborhood land, a little bit of farmland, kind of tobacco country, if you will.
Derek Toomes: So Randolph County, and okay. Yeah, yeah, so… so, you know, where I grew up, there's about 5 acres, but then it was surrounded by, you know, like, some…
Derek Toomes: family members that have 20 acres, and, you know, grandparents with 50 acres, so it's a lot of land in the area. It's changed now, as the whole world has, but yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: So that's interesting. Okay, so you're… you're running around, you have a sister, but she's older.
Derek Toomes: And then…
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, I mean, so did you spend a lot of… I mean, obviously you had school and, you know, other activities, but, you know, on days that, you know, there wasn't something structured like that.
Stephen Skorski: Was it a lot of, you know, kind of alone playing time, or would your sister, you know, would you and your sister play? Did you have cousins around that you could kind of, you know, run around the creek with and, you know, I don't know, do whatever you're gonna do? Throw stones at frogs or, you know, whatever, whatever you're gonna do?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I mean, a lot of that, collecting the tadpoles out the creek, throwing stone. I had a few cousins, you know, one cousin was, like, 2 years younger, another cousin was, you know, again, probably 7 years older, so kind of a spectrum in that as well, that were…
Derek Toomes: close by, but again, a lot of the time is being spent outside. I think, maybe going back to the idea of the older sibling and older cousin as well, I was introduced to things maybe a lot earlier, so I remember, you know, maybe probably being 9 years old, Eddie Murphy Raw.
Derek Toomes: Listening to Eddie Murphy roll on vinyl, even.
Stephen Skorski: place.
Derek Toomes: sisters, and then I remember, like, my cousin having a cassette tape of Run DMC. So, so those sort of experiences as well, I… I think… yeah, and I think that sort of…
Derek Toomes: entered into my world maybe earlier than some, but… but still, I think as a… as a kid and growing up, I definitely was interested in… in being outside, and kind of,
Derek Toomes: hoping that I would get to camp, like, every weekend. That was my thing. That was sort of a reward for me, is, like, to get to camp in our woods. Like, you know, again, it was just a stone throw from the house, but just being able to be outside and be in that environment,
Derek Toomes: was a reward, and if I was a batter, didn't get the A's in school, that was my punishment as well. I was like, oh, well, you don't get to camp this weekend. You gotta stay inside and sleep inside.
Stephen Skorski: Really?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: And would you… I mean, would you typically camp by yourself, or friends, or what… how would that work?
Derek Toomes: I mean, originally, it was, like, you know, by myself. I had a tent, like, a small little tent, but then, you know, I did get some friends, we had some…
Derek Toomes: friends that would do weekend over… overnight stays and that kind of thing. So that… that led, that kind of developed maybe into 10 years old, that kind of age range, which also is about the same time I, you know, get a, a quad, like a four-wheeler. That was my sort of first motorsport introduction,
Derek Toomes: It was a motor, you know, kind of the four-wheeler… Honda four-wheelers, a 200SX, I remember it. But again, that just let me get farther into the woods and spend more time into the woods, and…
Derek Toomes: And, and I think when that happened, also, there's, like, a couple of neighborhood kids that had some motorcycles and another four-wheeler, and, you know, we would kind of
Derek Toomes: trade bikes, trade four-wheelers, do camping things together, build trails. So then it all… everything kind of revolved around that in the woods. I was like, oh, let's make some trails, let's try to get up this hill, or let's cross this creek right here, and try these new challenges, and that kind of… that was my…
Derek Toomes: That's when I probably became more of the, the Daredevil Derek, which, you know, I still definitely have some traces of that, I feel.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, daredevil Derek, that's a… was that ever a nickname?
Derek Toomes: Not quite.
Stephen Skorski: I think it might be! I think you might find a new nameplate on your office door.
Derek Toomes: My mom probably says that. Maybe it's my nickname that she didn't tell me.
Stephen Skorski: Well, okay, so tell me a little bit, because I actually find that pretty…
Stephen Skorski: Well, it's interesting, but maybe it's a little foreshadowing, I don't know,
Stephen Skorski: you know, you're 9 years old, you know, thereabout, whatever, whenever these solo camping, you know, trips started. Yeah. What did you like about that so much? You know, can you remember, you know, why you wanted to forego the warm comfort of the house?
Stephen Skorski: To get out into the woods, and even though it was close, you know, maybe it's, you know, whatever, you know, maybe you could even see your house from your camp, your first campsite, but what… what was the feeling? What was the driving motivator to get you out there by yourself?
Derek Toomes: I think it's maybe for me, like, where…
Derek Toomes: my imagination could grow in being in those environments where it wasn't so, you know, structured around the things that I was familiar with. Like, there was this sort of unfamiliar, and ever-changing.
Derek Toomes: you know, whereas that sort of domesticated life, it's like, well, you're surrounded by your things, your distractions that are… that become familiar, become part of your life, whereas when there's another world, which being that nature, world, nature, and ever-changing, like, not being able to control the climate, temperature, and… and this… I think there was a lot of…
Derek Toomes: You know, maybe adventure in that, and kind of possibilities of imagination, imagining new worlds.
Derek Toomes: But I was also really attached to this idea of, like, you know, the people before me, like, kind of, like, how they would use land, even as a kid, like, how they would use the land and create tools and things like that. It was really fascinating, and not… probably not really grounded in a lot of, knowledge other than my own sort of interpretations of, but to me at that time was really fun.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: That's… okay, what I find really interesting about that, I initially, you know, thought that maybe you would talk about… you know how when you're in the… you're in your living room, and you rearrange all the, the furniture, and the couch cushions, and you…
Derek Toomes: Throw about.
Stephen Skorski: blankets, and you make a four, and you have a sense of safety. You know, there's this feeling of, like, this is my space, and…
Stephen Skorski: And, you know, obviously it's just, you know, pillows and blankets, but there's something, you know, in your, you know, little mind that it feels very safe. But what you talked about was something totally different. Yours… I think you were almost getting to the point of, like, no, I kind of like going out there because…
Stephen Skorski: maybe it's not safe, or I mean, there's a sense of adventure.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: And that you get a chance to interact with the world around you in a different way.
Derek Toomes: Oh, yeah. No, I definitely think it was about the adventure. I mean… I mean, even maybe about that kind of, you know, easily, you could… your imagination could lead you into being scared as a kid, too. Like, that was part of it. I mean, being scared sort of excited me as a kid, I feel like. So having those moments of, like, oh, well, I am running inside, and I'm gonna sleep inside now, because I got scared of something, and heard something in the woods, or whatever.
Derek Toomes: I mean, those moments, I mean, that was sort of…
Derek Toomes: Those were part of it, I believe. So yeah, I don't know that it was, like, this necessarily kind of… I mean, we… I definitely created the forts and thought about that, and it's like, you know, had these imaginations of…
Derek Toomes: building these bunkers into the ground, and, you know, that… that was part of it, as well, but yeah, I don't know that that's what… it wasn't the, the safety aspect that led me to it, I don't think.
Stephen Skorski: Huh.
Stephen Skorski: So, you know, we're gonna shift in a second here to get to teenage Derek, but I actually think this is kind of an important question.
Stephen Skorski: If someone had kids, Would you recommend that they kind of let their kids…
Stephen Skorski: I don't know, kind of… kind of interact with the world the way you were? Like, can you look back and say, yeah, there were some real lessons that I learned
Stephen Skorski: you know, from, you know, my mom just being like, yeah, go ahead, you know, go do what you're gonna do, and if you get scared, you figure it out, and, you know, you can always come back, but yeah, go out and sort of wander as far as you can. Like, is there something that you look back on, and you say, yeah, I can see that in me now.
Stephen Skorski: You know, that I kind of grew that as a strength back then.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I mean, for sure. I mean, I'd hate for somebody to not encourage that. I think it's probably a harder thing to encourage with, sort of, our relationships. I think our relationship to friends is so different now, and it's, like, you know, more globalization idea of it, like, where a friend can be a phone call away, a text away, and…
Derek Toomes: Instagram post away, things like that, so we connect with friends in different ways. And I was even saying maybe…
Derek Toomes: And I'm not gonna argue better or worse, although I probably would say worse, but even the way we maybe connect to our imaginations often seems digitized, too, at this point. Our world creating, how they have to have some sort of… even though they're not physical form, they're just, visual form that are more affirmed by maybe technology, things like that.
Derek Toomes: I don't know how one would convince. I mean, I'm not a parent, I can't really imagine being a parent, but yeah, that would maybe be the challenge, but I would hope that…
Derek Toomes: Whatever that idea of, like, finding out for yourself meant, I hope that parents do sort of…
Derek Toomes: foster that, for sure, because I think it's a big part of who I am.
Derek Toomes: you know, and there's things for better or for worse. I think some of this childhood experience and, you know, reflecting on it now, I mean, might have led to me, you know, being a person that sort of is comfortable being alone, and in some ways, I have to have people, don't get me wrong on that point, but just these
Derek Toomes: I'm not, yeah, yeah, I don't feel a sense of loneliness, I think, even when I travel alone and things like that, being able to explore by myself is still exciting to me. But I see value in both, but yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah,
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, that idea of… I mean, I can really relate to the idea of being comfortable alone, and I think it's a great asset, but there are times when I even question it myself, like, why? You know, like, I don't know, you know, am I missing a gene? You know, that sort of…
Stephen Skorski: It sort of prompts me to be around more people more of the time,
Stephen Skorski: Okay, but that's great. I mean, that's really good, because I think when we get to kind of, like, you know, hear the rest of your, you know, kind of trajectory, just having that bit of a foundation really helps. So you move on, you become a teenager.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah. The punk scene, skateboarding… yeah, tell us about how you evolved from camping on the weekends into… what's the next thing?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I guess, you know, these things of camping on the weekend, riding the quads or four-wheelers, hanging out with this, you know, finding a connection and a community in that. I mean, then it led into my, you know, years of teenage
Derek Toomes: teenagers, being 13. I did have a big event when I was 13. It was… it was gonna be a camp, an overnight camp. It wasn't my house, it was at a friend's, it had a farm. Had several four-wheelers and motorcycles, and I was on a motorcycle, like a XR80, and…
Derek Toomes: We were riding in the woods. An XR80 is a trail bike, or more of an MX, so it didn't have a headlight, but there was a guy in a four-wheeler behind me, so I could see where I was going. But then, I guess, I don't know if things didn't compute to him, but he passes me, or left me, and I can't see anything. So I'm just barely going down this dirt road at a farm. And then another guy on a motorcycle comes, and we hit head-on, like, over
Derek Toomes: over a hill on a driveway, and I break my femur. So that was my…
Stephen Skorski: God.
Derek Toomes: That was my, welcome to 13. Yeah, so, broken femur, broken arm, concussion.
Derek Toomes: then I had to be in traction with a broken femur for a month in the hospital, so then I'm homeschooled then for this rest of the semester. So that was… that was an experience, and again, this kind of daredevil Derek, if you will, if we want to keep going with that, just sort of gets more instilled, and that's… that was sort of the,
Derek Toomes: the life that I was living, it seemed like. But yeah, so that, I think, maybe changed some of my relationship to
Derek Toomes: school, and even an immediate connection to friends, because I sort of lost out, like, a, you know, a whole semester, of having those people be in my life daily.
Derek Toomes: So I think… and I mention this because that's maybe when the kind of punk Derek starts to emerge, and… and and again, we talked about that sort of hormones changing, but… but I think also…
Derek Toomes: having that time alone, but in a more forced way, I don't know that it was as healthy for me, but I did go in this kind of a darker punk stage at that point. And then when I did recover from this, actually, I started… that's when I started skateboarding more than anything.
Derek Toomes: And remember, this is more of a rural town, and even the high school I was going to, or middle school, high school, was more of a rural town, so I think that a lot of those people I was hanging out with are, you know, going through teenage years and getting more interested in, like, rodeos, more…
Derek Toomes: That's like cowboy shit, if you will.
Derek Toomes: And I'm kind of going the opposite direction, where, even though it's not a city, but that's what I'm craving, I feel like, as this, you know, teenager inks, is, you know, the world doesn't get me, I'm alone in it, which is where the punk scene and skateboard scene come in. Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: So was it, and again, probably a little hard to get back into, you know, 13-year-old Derek, but…
Stephen Skorski: How much of it do you think was the evolution of you wanting
Stephen Skorski: You know, kind of that adventure in your life at sort of a… maybe a more intense level than, you know, camping in the backyard.
Stephen Skorski: Or was it,
Stephen Skorski: I don't know, kind of the culture surrounding, you know, the punk scene, the skateboard scene,
Stephen Skorski: and wanting to be a part of that culture, or maybe it's, like, even just the aesthetic of it. You know, is there a way to… have you thought about it? Have you looked back and said, oh yeah, the thing that I actually was craving most, you know, getting into that was this, or was it just the whole… the whole picture was sort of attractive to you?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I think for me, maybe, you know, looking back, it was sort of my escapism as, like, a way out, perhaps? Like, oh.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: if I crave this thing, I'll do other things. So it was a way of maybe having the adventure and making sure that I could reach other areas, perhaps? And there was something about, you know, that fringe life, or the sort of…
Derek Toomes: alternate, communities and underground, like, that was special to me, and I think it was… especially at that age, too, to kind of know something that your friends don't know, is exciting.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah.
Derek Toomes: be able to share something that, like, oh, I don't know that band, or oh, I've never heard of that, or I don't… what are you talking about? What is… what is a skateboard? You know, not that they don't know what it is, but still, it's not something that everybody else is doing.
Derek Toomes: So there… I think that is empowering at that age, to have something that's kind of yours and not everybody's.
Derek Toomes: And it wasn't that I was…
Derek Toomes: not wanting to share those things. Like, I wanted to be a part of my life, and, you know, I showed it with the things that I did, the attitudes I had, the, you know, clothes you wear. I mean, that, you know, is part of that, but… but… yeah, I mean, I think, again, it's that maybe…
Derek Toomes: More of looking for something different, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, no, absolutely. Okay, so that's… that's… that's helpful, that gives us a snapshot of… would you say that's sort of high school… high school years, or when did you… when did that either get more intense, or when did you kind of transition into the next phase of your existence?
Derek Toomes: So, I guess the kind of, you know, skateboard punk, that was transitioning from, you know, middle school, high school, during that time.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, and then it… that sort of just continues until I get 16, and then I'm… now I'm thinking about, you know, having a car, having the freedom, and I did get a car when I turned 16. I also got a job right away, so that was a really, you know, different… and I was working in Greensboro at the time, so it was a drive away.
Derek Toomes: So it was having a sense of freedom, feeling like this kind of connection to another place, you know, meeting friends that had lived in the city for the… when I say city, I'm talking about Greensboro, but lived in that kind of environment, you know, their childhood, and…
Derek Toomes: And meeting people like that outside of maybe the,
Derek Toomes: the typical school system, which I think most of us are probably connected with at that age.
Derek Toomes: Yeah. And again, I think I'm also meeting people at different ages and age groups and things like that as well, which I feel like I'd already been fairly accustomed to.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: What was your first car?
Derek Toomes: It was a S10 truck, yeah, a 4.3 Vortec. I was really big into… I mean, at the time, I'm, like, studying cars and motorcycles and bikes, as well as, like, the skateboard scene, so all this kind of happening at the same time. So I don't think I've lost my love for the,
Derek Toomes: for the multi-wheels and the engines and that kind of thing as well. That curiosity stays in the background.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, alright. Did you love that truck? Do you wish you still had it? Do you still have it?
Derek Toomes: Oh, no, don't still have that one. That was a total wreck in a snowstorm, so that's like, another, another story. But yeah…
Stephen Skorski: Injected in a snowstorm?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, it's like, you know, the inevitable tale of a southern person driving in a snowstorm, not knowing what to do. Real-wheel drive, manual transmission, that kind of didn't take much.
Stephen Skorski: Oh, that's a bummer.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, so by the time you're 16 or 17, you're breaking bones, you're wrecking cars… Yeah. You're driving your mom absolutely insane, I suspect.
Derek Toomes: For sure.
Stephen Skorski: Oh my gosh, okay, so, alright, so that's cool, so you're, you're gaining some independence, you're driving around, you know, eventually, again, what does this turn into as you kind of go from high school to college, or, you know, how long do you stick around Greensboro before you're like, okay, you know, my world needs to get even bigger than it is now, like, what's, what's the next, what's the next thing here?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, then, let's say the next thing is, like, I mean, you know, still in my… and I'll wrap the high school years up, still in my high school, I actually get my first, street bike. I get a motorcycle, a CBR600.
Stephen Skorski: Nice.
Derek Toomes: 1993 CBR600, yeah. Which was really… and this is before I turned 18, even, so that meant that my mom had to consent for it, she had to sign for it. I don't know how I convinced her to, because she really was against it.
Derek Toomes: She was really supportive of, like, the bikes, probably until the femur break, but even then, she still learned to manage, but yeah, she somehow signed for me to get my first road bike at 16 and a half, or maybe I was 17 at that point, but it was definitely before 18.
Derek Toomes: But yes, I mean, I didn't proceed still to stick around the area. I moved out on my own before 18, so I ended up in Greensboro in some weird situations, living in some sort of, you know, very DIY, kind of punk ways, and living by myself.
Derek Toomes: And with a group of friends in Greensboro.
Derek Toomes: Then I end up going to a junior college, a couple community colleges, and end up actually getting an undergraduate degree, at UNC Greensboro. So, yeah, a BFA is what I ended up… and in my mind, I was going to get a BFA and then go to
Derek Toomes: State College and do the MARC degree, which, that never happened. I got the BFA and found a love for the visual arts, and kind of stayed in that world ever since, and somehow found my way back to this idea of architecture, space, and
Derek Toomes: But yeah, so it's been a funny world in how those things overlap, but but after grad school, I did move to Los Angeles, so I was there for about a decade.
Derek Toomes: And I will say, too, that the Los Angeles thing we didn't talk about earlier, but came as a… like, in my mind as a kid, I was going to collect a car full of cans.
Derek Toomes: And… and put them all in… in my mind, as a kid, it was gonna be a Volkswagen van. It was gonna collect bottles and cans that would… that would lead me to riches when I got to California, because I remember seeing on the back of… on the back of bottles, it's like, you know, you get these cash… it's cash money for bottles, like 5 cents or 10 cents. In California, though.
Derek Toomes: So… so this, I started this kind of idea in my mind as a kid was, like.
Derek Toomes: Well, if I collect all these free bottles in North Carolina.
Derek Toomes: and fill them up in a car, take them to California, cash them in, and then start a new life.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, so that ended up happening, but just quite not in the same way. I didn't take the bottles, but I took everything that I owned and put into a car and went across country. So I ended up in California for a decade.
Stephen Skorski: Dude, I love that. I love the… first of all, I think that fantasy, like, if you… because same thing, I lived in a state where there was no return bottles for money, like, you see that.
Stephen Skorski: And if I remember correctly, like, it was, like, 5 cents in some states and 10 cents in, like, another.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: And yeah, I mean, when, you know, when you're of a certain age and, like, you know, 60 cents is… like, we were talking before, like, you know, you get a quarter in your Easter egg, the idea that you could find 10 bottles and get a dollar? I think crazy.
Derek Toomes: That was exciting, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Oh, that's cool, I love that fantasy.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, so we're kind of weaving two things here. I just want to make sure I'm kind of tracking these things. So, around 10 years old, you get a quad four-wheeler.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Is that right? Okay.
Stephen Skorski: Sometime around, like, 12, 13, dirt bikes kind of fold into the equation.
Derek Toomes: Yep, yep, so dirt bikes, squad and dirt bikes, doing both, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, okay, and then 16 and a half, 17 years old, the first, first road bike.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, okay, cool.
Stephen Skorski: So you head out to California, I mean, is… are bikes a continuous sort of thread at this point from, you know, 10 years old on, or when you get out to California, is there a big gap, and, you know, you don't ride for 10 years, or… or does it intensify? What happens when you get away from North Carolina?
Derek Toomes: So, from North Carolina, I mean, I go to LA, and so… still, I don't have a bike at the time, and I actually never owned my own bike while in California, so I do break away from it to some degree, but I do ride with others, and a friend that had multiple bikes, and would ride with him while in California, which is a… it's legal to lane split, so you can split lanes.
Derek Toomes: in California, which was very exciting. I mean, well, when I first got, it was terrifying. I remember I first got to California on the highway on the 10, and I was like, a bike just, like, zooms past me in between me and another car. I'm like, what in the hell's going on here? That can't be legal. I had no idea. You know, this naive mind, and and then see, like, you know, cops doing it as well, and cops on motorcycles, like, oh.
Derek Toomes: this must be a thing. So yeah, so lane splitting's a thing in California, and and I, to be honest, I think that's what piqued my curiosity again about motorcycles and being on a bike, because…
Derek Toomes: You know, the stories are real. I mean, Los Angeles is the worst traffic I've ever experienced at the time, and to me, to have to go 3 miles meant you might be in your car for 45 minutes. However, if you're on a motorcycle, that's a lot quicker.
Derek Toomes: So yes, that's… that's sort of maybe what reinstilled some of that… these, previous loves for bikes. But again, never… never owning one, never committing to a bike while there, because you also had… I had a tiny apartment, and parking was a pain in the ass, and all that, so… Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: So…
Stephen Skorski: Okay, before we get to, moving from California to, you know, I think you're coming back, I think, right? Is that right? You come back to North Carolina?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, so I'll be back in a few years, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, okay, so before we get to that, you said something earlier, and you know, you could say what you want to say or don't say anything, but you were saying that you had some unique
Stephen Skorski: situations when you moved out of your house prior to 18? Was that… I mean, I'm sure there were, you know, were there… were there good… I mean, we're talking, like.
Stephen Skorski: good, good adventures, I mean, you know, things that you look back on now and go, oh my god, I can't believe as a 17-year-old, like, I got to do this, or I experienced this.
Stephen Skorski: And I'm kind of thinking about it, because a lot of people think, well, you know, there's not much going on in Greensboro, so when you go to LA, oh man, it's gonna get crazy out there, or when you got to LA, where you're like, ugh, this is nothing. You have no idea what I was doing when I was 17.
Derek Toomes: Well, I mean, definitely LA has a life of its own. I mean, very, very different place during… and, yeah, I had the LA experience, this is, probably unrelated to maybe the 17-year-old squatting.
Derek Toomes: kind of house experience. So that was probably the experience I was referring to then, is, like, literally had a friend who's…
Derek Toomes: grandmother…
Derek Toomes: Was in… I guess they're sort of assisted homes, but it's, you know, you had to be at least maybe 70 to… to live in the apartment complex, but you… is your own…
Derek Toomes: home, like, your own apartment. But she was staying with him and his mom, so she never stayed in the apartment, so I was squatting in her apartment.
Derek Toomes: However, she would visit the apartment, you know, about once a week, and he would just give me a heads up, and I'd have to move all my stuff out of it, for her to come check on her apartment and make sure it's clean. But also I couldn't be seen by other people in the apartment complex.
Derek Toomes: So that was the… the kind of experience that I alluded to, but, and then there's sequential ones, like, different ones that kind of happen after that, but… so very a different, I believe, very different type of adventure. so not… not the similar…
Derek Toomes: I think…
Derek Toomes: the LA experience was not that similar kind of, living arrangement, punk scene that I was referring to. But still, I think LA did open my eyes to a lot of… a new world of…
Derek Toomes: you know, still a CNN.
Derek Toomes: closely associated with music, punk, DIY, at this point. Very… and I think my interest at the time, you know, kind of in that… that, technology hacker world, which, you know, led me to the… probably the jobs that I had while I was there, like, you know, ended up working for Apple Computers, for… for about 6 or 7 years, things like that.
Derek Toomes: Meeting… meeting new people from that, and kind of…
Derek Toomes: falling in and out of that sort of scene, and its relationship to art and design and things like that. So, again, still plays a big part in where I am and what I'm doing now as well, but maybe not directly related to some of these other connections, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: So, this, this old woman. Does she know you're living there?
Derek Toomes: No, not at all. That was the part, that's why I say I had to, like, you know, have all my stuff out anytime she's gonna visit.
Stephen Skorski: It is so funny.
Derek Toomes: Oh, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Would you… would you put… like, I'm sure, like, the first couple times, you, like, cleaned everything out, but then, like…
Stephen Skorski: you know, by, like, the 8th, 9th time, you gotta, like, move everything out? Do you… do you start pushing the envelope and think, well, if I leave those Yoo-hoos in the, refrigerator, she's not gonna notice, like, you know what I mean? Like, was there… you know, is she really gonna notice there's an extra toothbrush? Like, or were you really good about getting everything out of there?
Derek Toomes: I mean, I was essentially living out of my trunk at the time, like, I had all… all my clothes, all my belongings were sort of in this trunk of a,
Derek Toomes: Pontiac, what was it? What's it called? A Sun… Sunfire? Yeah, Sunfire. Pontiac Sunfire. So it was, like, I was pretty nomadic. I could quickly, you know, leave one place and go to another. That was part of that… that life at that point, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Okay.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, so, I mean, did eventually get caught. I can't remember what gave it… oh, you know what, it was a neighbor. Someone seeing me coming in and out, enough that started to ask her about me and who I was, that kind of thing.
Derek Toomes: And we tried to play it off like it was her grandson, which was a friend that I knew.
Stephen Skorski: I thought you were gonna say you were her boyfriend.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, he was just coming in, checking on the place, but yeah. The cat was out of the bag, and that was kind of one of those things, like, you can't be doing this! This is considered fraud because, you know, it's a subsidized home, and that kind of thing, so it's… yeah.
Derek Toomes: life moved on, and I moved to other scenarios of crashing friends' couches, and yeah, that became the new life, until I kind of managed to get my own place.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. Okay. Alright, cool. Alright, so let's wrap up this part, so then we can really get into the motorcycles, but you're in LA, and you make a decision to come on back east to North Carolina, is that right?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, so I kind of, you know, living in this world of LA,
Derek Toomes: mentioning being stuck in traffic all the time. I was living in a world where I was working a good job, like I said, mentioned on Apple computers, but my time for myself and my own work, you know, which this time is more two-dimensional art making and painting and drawing, was just…
Derek Toomes: little… less and less, to the point where I was like, I gotta make a change. And I had a friend in North Carolina, it was in Raleigh, that had a studio, and he's like, listen, come to North Carolina, come back to Raleigh, you can have…
Derek Toomes: you can be in the studio with me, I won't even charge anything for the studio, rent's super cheap, so I was, you know, had some savings, I can… thought I could make it work, and I did. Packed everything back up, and… and made the trek back to, to North Carolina, in a good way. I didn't feel any sort of remorse about it, like, I felt like it was the right move.
Derek Toomes: And yeah, landed in Raleigh, North Carolina, and essentially hit the ground running. Had, like, a studio, he had, more freelance design work than he could handle, so I was just doing the work that he was getting, he was just giving me the money for it, that kind of thing, and this…
Derek Toomes: lended me the time to make the work I wanted to make, and just helped me… I was able to afford to kind of live that life and make that work, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm, okay, cool. So now, and so would you say much has changed since then? You know, like, were you like, yep, you know, once I landed in Raleigh, you know, now, you know, kind of in Greensboro, back and forth, or, you know, is there a big jump in there somewhere?
Stephen Skorski: Again, a shift of some sort, or…
Stephen Skorski: do things… am I caught up with, like, the Derek of today is kind of the Derek who lands in Raleigh?
Derek Toomes: I think so. I think that Derek today is that… very much that same Derek. Again, finding community in these places, whether it's here or there, you know, making friends, collaborating, you know, having these sort of…
Derek Toomes: creative inputs that are shared, creative ideas that are shared, and, you know, outlets that are shared as well, with some sense of community and connection. You know, I think…
Derek Toomes: there was a time where I… this is the time where I'm starting to realize what I do need, and what I crave as an individual, and as a maker, and as an artist as well.
Derek Toomes: So those types of things, I think, feel pretty grounded at this point.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. Okay.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, I mean, the thing is, first of all, as your friend, I… so, you know, I'm really interested in hearing all of that, because I didn't… I mean, a lot of that I had no idea about, and…
Stephen Skorski: you know, next time we go out and get sushi, I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions that, you know, time does not allow me to do right now. So, you know, there's just sort of this very personal, you know, kind of reason why I'd like to hear those things. But in relation to your motorcycles and this motorcycle collection,
Stephen Skorski: one of the reasons I wanted to kind of dig a little bit deeper than maybe some other guests.
Stephen Skorski: Into your background, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there just seems to be something…
Stephen Skorski: fairly special about people who are really into motorcycles, you know what I mean? I don't mean, like, you know, the casual person who just, you know, kind of one day wakes up and goes, like, hey, I got some extra money, I'm gonna buy this thing, you know, but someone who's really kind of invested,
Stephen Skorski: into motorcycles. It feels to me, at least my experience has been.
Stephen Skorski: that there's something different. You know, there's a little… there's a different perspective on life with a lot of those individuals. So, I think that's why I wanted to really kind of figure out a little bit more about where you come from.
Stephen Skorski: So, when I say that, when I'm saying something like, yeah, you know, my experience is, you know, people who are really into motorcycles.
Stephen Skorski: it feels like they have a different perspective than maybe some other people. Does that… does that ring true to you? Does that sound right, or am I just sort of romanticizing something that I'm just not really involved with the way you are?
Derek Toomes: No, no, I think you're kind of right on it, and I'll be completely
Derek Toomes: To be honest, we've been weaving this story, and I'm like, sorry, I don't know what the hell this has to do with motorcycles, or my collection, but I… but you're right on the money, and, like, I think that the things that I've found, and the reason I'm in the world of motorcycles, if you will, is… is…
Derek Toomes: has so much to do with the things that we've been talking about, and I don't know that I've made the connection until, like, right now when we're talking about it. But again, it's like… now that I've… we've told those stories, or I've told those stories, I can kind of start to see, it's like, oh, wait a minute.
Derek Toomes: that… that motorcycle culture is that sort of fringe, it is sort of that underground still, it's that connection to a… to a smaller community, if you will. You know, they're highly popularized, they're not, like, as rebellious as the Hell's Angel days, but they're still very much, you know.
Derek Toomes: in some ways, that lowbrow society still, probably, that I get associated, but I… again.
Derek Toomes: seeing that I do have interest in that… those types of cultures and those worlds, and seeing that connection, maybe even with the younger, Daredevil Derek.
Derek Toomes: Seeing that, it's kind of… it's kind of fun to kind of think about that now, and just have that realization. You know, I think that, yeah, there's a strong connection between those worlds, but the view of the world on a motorcycle is like no other as well. Like, I think when I'm riding.
Derek Toomes: The amount of…
Derek Toomes: the things that just leave my mind, escape my mind, I mean, it's crazy. You know, we… and you'll hear, I'm sure, a ton of people talk about it, but, you know, it's either their therapy is what they call it, or their church, or their whatever. It's like…
Derek Toomes: the thing you're doing, it's all about being on that bike, and sort of understanding, being aware of your environment, paying attention, being aggressive, as well as cautious, like, simultaneously. You're…
Derek Toomes: 360… or not 360, but your kind of complete view of the world that's very different from that in a car. You know, you're experiencing the world on the horizon, but at a speed that's not walking. Yeah, there's so much unique, I think, to that.
Derek Toomes: That it becomes a really special place, and I find it again, kind of. And when I find it again is when I come back to Greensboro, actually. Yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: What, so there's two things I want you to kind of follow up on. Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Maybe we'll do the first one just first. Not being a person who is in the motorcycle culture, right, can… you know, and I suspect a lot of people who are listening aren't either.
Stephen Skorski: you know, give us a… you know, to the best of your ability, what is that culture, you know? Or, you know, how do you relate to it? What are the things about it that you're attracted to? Because I think in some… in many ways, it is a,
Stephen Skorski: It's not that it's elitist, But…
Stephen Skorski: there's a barrier to entry, you know, and I don't know that it's just having a bike, you know what I mean?
Stephen Skorski: So, you know, for someone who hasn't been able to kind of cross over into that world a little bit, you know, from your perspective, what is it? You know, what is it? What are you attracted to? What kind of energy, you know, do you get from it, or fulfillment? You know, what are the things that you love about being in that world?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, well, I mean, I think it's sort of, again, even going back to the conversation earlier, it is the…
Derek Toomes: one, it's all about you, and being alone in this world. You really are… you're paying attention to yourself, the road, the bike, and you own the bike. So it's, like, this hyper-awareness of you as an individual in the world. So there's that… that part of it in the riding. But then there is, like, the community part of…
Derek Toomes: of, like, you know, being on a bike, riding a bike, and sharing maybe those vulnerabilities, and sharing those experiences with, you know, a community, in a smaller community. And, I mean, you mentioned maybe not having, like.
Derek Toomes: sort of an immediate connection by just owning a bike, but… but I would say there… you kind of do, just by having… just… just by being on the bike. Maybe it's not by owning a boat, but, you know, when you own a bike, I mean, you see somebody else on the bike, you're sort of… you have a connection. There's an immediate connection there. You're both choosing to… to…
Derek Toomes: to be in the world in a very similar situation, with similar vulnerabilities, and… and I… you also would probably assume that you have some sort of, you know, you share a value in adventure,
Derek Toomes: If… if nothing else. Yeah, yeah. So I think there's… that… there is a sense of immediate connection.
Derek Toomes: But I think there's, like, the flip side of the coin, though. There's also the…
Derek Toomes: individual, you know, having the individual experience as well. Like, you know, obviously when I'm on the bike, I'm alone. I'm in my… my helmet. I mean, sure, I could connect to a headset with other people on a ride, but still, it's about me, and… and being okay with being alone in that world.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. Yeah, that's actually really interesting, in a sense that I…
Stephen Skorski: I mean, I haven't thought about it to this depth until right now.
Stephen Skorski: But it's like, if you join…
Stephen Skorski: You know, first of all, when I think of, like, motorcycle culture, I mean, I do think of, kind of, clubs, you know, and whatever that club is, right? There's obviously, there's, I guess, outlaw-type clubs, and then, you know, social clubs, and kind of everything in between.
Stephen Skorski: But I guess somehow, in my mind, I was almost thinking, like.
Stephen Skorski: You know, when someone joins, like, the Boy Scouts, right, as a kid, you know, they join because they want to learn how to live in the woods, you know, they want to learn how to, you know, start fires without, you know, a lighter.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: But what you're saying is this is kind of the opposite. It's like, no, no, we all know how to make fires without lighters, and therefore we're gonna kind of get up together, because we all kind of understand each other in a way that other people don't. Is that right?
Derek Toomes: I think that's a part of it, yeah. I mean, I think that's one… that'd be one perspective, to think about that.
Derek Toomes: Type of connection,
Derek Toomes: Yeah, that's a… that's a hard one. Maybe I wasn't… I didn't… I wasn't a very successful Boy Scout. I made it to… to Weeblos, and that was it.
Derek Toomes: Maybe that's why it's so hard, even though I love camping, I don't know why I did. But I think, you know, now you're thinking… now that you mention that, it's getting me into sort of this, you know, thought of, like, the type of riding I might… I am into now is that adventure… which we call adventure writing.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: So it typically pairs with camping as well.
Derek Toomes: So again, now you're sort of… because there is this world of motorcycles, you have the alcohol clubs, you have this sort of,
Derek Toomes: off-road riding, you have the street race, you have the track race riders, so you have these different, I guess, nuances or smaller sectors of…
Derek Toomes: The motorcycle world. And they feel very… yeah, there's so many different ways to narrow some of those down.
Stephen Skorski: Okay.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, so… so yeah, I think there's a lot of… there's a lot of smaller…
Derek Toomes: ideas of what it is to be in that kind of motorcycle community as well, but there is still, I think, the larger connection, where it's like, I'd feel, you know, fine pulling up on a, you know, my vintage triumph to, like, a group of
Derek Toomes: Arley riders that are Hells Angels or whatever, like… like, well, we probably wouldn't have a lot of the same political views or things like that, perhaps, but… but I wouldn't feel out of place talking to anybody, kind of, in that world of the bike world, the motorcycle world.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. Yeah. Okay, so, you know, so let's jump into the kind of present day, and the bikes that you have. And really, I don't, you know, I think maybe you know this, or maybe you don't, but…
Stephen Skorski: you know, before we started, you know, we were working in the same building, but we weren't working in the same department, so, you know, I knew you, but I didn't really know you. And
Stephen Skorski: you know, I would sort of, you know, it'd be a nice day outside, and I'd pull up to the…
Stephen Skorski: you know, pull up to the building, find a parking spot, and I'd see a bike parked, and I'd think, man, that bike is awesome.
Stephen Skorski: And later on, I'd be talking to somebody, you know, and I'd be like, whose bike is that? And they'd be like, oh, it's Derek's. I'm like, oh, cool, you know? And then, I don't know, a week later, kind of the same thing would happen, but it would be a different bike.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: like, oh, that bike's awesome, whose is that? And they'd be like, oh, that's Derek's. Like, wait, what? He's got two bikes? Well, alright, that's cool. And then, you know, I don't know.
Stephen Skorski: Couple weeks later, it'd be the same story, different bike. So, yeah, I was like, oh my god, what's going on here, you know?
Stephen Skorski: So, you do have some really, really cool bikes. So, what is the current stable of bikes that you have? You know, maybe go through just which ones are running, which ones are not running, but give us just a pretty clear picture of
Stephen Skorski: You know, what you have access to right now in your stable of motorcycles.
Derek Toomes: Well, yeah, I probably can't name them all by memory, which is… maybe that makes it… maybe that makes it a true collection. It's when you can't even recall them all. But I will say that the majority, like, what I call my prides, if you will, are the ones I really love.
Derek Toomes: which is mainly vintage British bikes. That would be the ones that… that I kind of, like, oh, that's… that's the thing I'm in. But then you start to tell me to name it, and I'll start naming all these other things, like, wait a minute, that's not British or vintage. Why did you, you know, why did you say you vintage, British vintage? But if I could name them, so I have… I have my modern bike, so it's usually easier for me to
Derek Toomes: go through by timeline. So I have some.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, and I was gonna say, when you say, you know, without getting too, too technical, but when you say vintage, you know, British, or modern, you know, what time frames are we looking at here?
Derek Toomes: So, the… the oldest, oldest bike have the, British BSA 1949, but then I have, like, some, you know, 2022 KTM 1290. So that… that's my, sort of, range, if you will. That's the spectrum.
Stephen Skorski: 1949 to 2022. This is the range of bikes that you have.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Wow, cool. Okay, great. That's cool.
Derek Toomes: Yeah. So… so the… so yeah, you want me to go through and name… name a few?
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, yeah, yeah, just so, you know, while we don't have, you know, video on this, you know, if someone could… because I'll tell you what, the bike that you have…
Stephen Skorski: I don't know, you'll have to remind me, but… do you have one with a, like a British…
Stephen Skorski: I don't know if it's a BSA with a silver tank?
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: We also have them with a blue tank?
Derek Toomes: Yep, I have a…
Stephen Skorski: Those two, I love those bikes, you know, so I'm just saying, you know, if you name them, you know, someone could look them up as they're listening to this, and so yeah, yeah, be specific in, you know, kind of the year and the model if you're able to.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, so, I mean, I guess the… if we… we start at the… let's start at the top, usually easier. The KTM, this is the 2022, is, that one's a bigger bike, a touring bike, it's the 1290 Adventure, so that would be… if I had to go across country, that's the one I would grab. If I had to pack all my camping gear, that'd be the one I'd grab.
Derek Toomes: Then I go into, like, I have another KTM. KTM's also a Hungarian, or, Austrian, sorry, not Hungarian, Austrian company. So that one's, the, KTM 690 Adventure, so that one's gonna be much more nimble.
Derek Toomes: I can carry some stuff, not as much stuff, but it's a lot, lot more fun on the trails, tighter, tighter tracks, more adventure riding, off-road, with some on-road capabilities.
Derek Toomes: Then I'm going into… let's see, what's next? See, I got a pretty big gap. Probably next is, like, a… I have a Yamaha flat tracker that's from the 80s.
Derek Toomes: Oh, I missed one in the middle. I have a BMW, a, an R100 GS Adventure, so that one's gonna be, again, another adventure bike, so early for its days, 1000cc. So that one's a 93, I think. Yeah, sounds about right. Then the…
Derek Toomes: Then the, flat tracker, that would be the Yamaha XS650.
Derek Toomes: Oh, man. And I'm sure I'm skipping some in the middle. I have, like, a couple little Honda XR… I'm gonna say… yeah, XR400…
Derek Toomes: Another… I have a 70s Yamaha Enduro, like a DT125, 150. Again, I can't even remember half of them. It's like, the list goes on, and that kind of oddities. And these, when I'm getting into the… the DT's not quite running. That one's a project bike for me.
Derek Toomes: So I have some of those in the mix. The others are… the others are all running. All these are for sale, by the way, if you… if you want. If any of them interest you, let me know.
Derek Toomes: I'm sort of kidding. That's another problem I have, that's why I have a collection, so I have a hard time selling any of them. Then going down the list, it's probably… now is when I maybe are getting into the,
Derek Toomes: British, the British vintage. So, the earliest, actually, latest, British vintage would be my, Norton Commander, 850. So that one's gonna be a 74, I believe?
Derek Toomes: So… and that's… that's the creme de creme. That's probably one I won't get rid of. You know, for a vintage bike, it just… so smooth, such a.
Derek Toomes: Like, it is still right-hand shift, that one's also GP shift meaning, like, that the…
Derek Toomes: First is up, and the rest are down, which is reverse shift for more modern bikes, but…
Derek Toomes: That's maybe a whole other story, I don't want to get sidetracked, but the…
Stephen Skorski: Heh, alright.
Derek Toomes: The time in which the shift changes from, you know, the modern bikes are your left-hand shift, so your shift is on the left side, whereas all the, vintage bikes are gonna be on the right side.
Derek Toomes: So then I go into the triumphs, so I have…
Derek Toomes: a number of Triumphs. 650, which is a little later oil and frame. I have, 3 T100 that are the, 500cc Triumphs. The latest one I have is the 72 model, and the earliest one I have is a 65…
Derek Toomes: 5 or 64 or 64. So I have too many of those. And then I… the British, the BSAs are in the mix of that as well, so I have a, an A50, two A65s, and then the…
Derek Toomes: B30… two B33s, or B31 and B33, that would mean the… the earliest, which is right now for me, that one's a project bike, so I need to get the, Magneto going on it and get it running.
Derek Toomes: So that was on my rough breakdown. Wow. Like I said, I probably missed a few.
Stephen Skorski: No, this is, you know, no, that's great. I mean, it,
Stephen Skorski: So this is what's so interesting, and I think it's why it takes a while to kind of get to even a good question, right? Meaning, you know, if I don't know about your background, if I don't know about what you have, if I don't know…
Stephen Skorski: you know, I don't even know how to… if I don't know that, I can't come up with something that I think is really interesting, you know, as a question. But now that I think I have a better picture,
Stephen Skorski: I mean, one thing that kind of floats to the surface, because you are an artist, you know, you are a professor.
Stephen Skorski: you, have a technology background, but I know a lot of your art, incorporates technology, but there's also a lot of analog thing, you know, so you have, you know, you kind of have a foot in the analog world, a foot in the digital world, you know.
Stephen Skorski: technical world, the very, sort of, philosophical world. So, I'm curious, like, when you think about motorcycles, or you look at your motorcycles.
Stephen Skorski: do you see them more as machines, or do you see them more as works of art? You know, what exactly are you… you know, through your eyes, what are you seeing when you look at these motorcycles?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think both. I mean, not to… not to… so…
Derek Toomes: maybe a cop-out of an answer, but I think it's both. I mean, it's all of the above. I mean, I love this idea, and again, my artwork is all about this, too. It's about a system. It's about these systems together. So I think it's the machine, like, how it works in unison. It is the…
Derek Toomes: the shapes, the beauty of the actual bike itself, the level of engineering that goes into them, but also yet so simplistic, easy to work on. So I think there's a deep connection to them and my own practice, but at the same time.
Derek Toomes: it's also a… it's a way for me to turn off one thing in my mind and focus on another. So they… they do become sort of this,
Derek Toomes: world in their own, but also, surprisingly, and maybe not surprisingly, maybe because it's still part of me, but still, you know, they are connected to the same things that I think I think about and that interest me in the world of art and design as well.
Derek Toomes: So I think there is, you know, it's an escape or a, a moment of, you know, taking a break from one thing, but also deeply connected to it simultaneously. Which I think is why, like.
Derek Toomes: why I can live in both worlds so easily. Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, I'd love for you to explore that a little more, and…
Stephen Skorski: maybe… and I don't know if this… I don't know if this helps to kind of…
Stephen Skorski: stimulate that… the thinking more, you know, or telling us a little more, but when you work on a motorcycle.
Stephen Skorski: You know, are you… are you adding to it in the way that an artist kind of…
Stephen Skorski: adds to the world. You know, so you have this object that is really beautiful.
Stephen Skorski: It is a feat of engineering, you know, there's something really incredible about just the object as it is when you receive it, but then you can work on these things, right? And you can make modifications, and you can keep them running, and you can, you know, put yourself into it,
Stephen Skorski: So yeah, I don't know,
Stephen Skorski: Is there a bit of that as well?
Stephen Skorski: Yeah.
Derek Toomes: What?
Stephen Skorski: relate to the art, you know, production, and I guess maybe what I'm trying to get to is, what is that view of the world that you're exploring
Stephen Skorski: in your artwork, and how it crosses over into the… your life with motorcycles, because I think that… yeah, I mean, you're alluding to it, but I… that there's… it's there, and I just want… I just want to understand what it is as best I can.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, there's a… I think it's multifaceted and multi-layered now. I think maybe the strongest connection in the work that I make in artwork might be more connected to the actual writing, moments of writing for me as an individual.
Derek Toomes: But then there's the actual making of the artwork, and then also the working on the bikes, and I feel like those two are connected in a ways in which it's often…
Derek Toomes: both of them explore… it's exploring the idea of a system, or an existing system, when you're talking about, like, you know, those technologies that I work with and things like that.
Derek Toomes: I think in the motorcycle world, I'm understanding them so that I can repair them, so that I can get them running, and get them to become a machine again.
Derek Toomes: Because, you know, I should preface that too, a lot of the bikes that I'm buying, and the reason I have such an extensive collection is because I… I'm buying them when they're either not running, or been discarded, or need a lot of work. So I'm use… I'm bringing them in as, like, projects, and then…
Derek Toomes: I see the beauty in the design of what you kind of mentioned this in the question, but I often don't find myself trying to aesthetically change them in any way. Like, I actually want them to exist in the life that they've lived, thinking… which I think, you know, you also mentioned of philosophy, like, this kind of idea of phenomenology, if you will. Like, it gets connected into the motorcycle, working on a motorcycle. It's like, no, no, I want
Derek Toomes: I want one to see its history. That might not have been me, but there's still a, you know.
Derek Toomes: I'm adding to that history, as we all do by existing in space together. So I think that's maybe the more philosophical connection to the motorcycles and those relationships.
Derek Toomes: But I'm often, you know, and again, my work often takes form of, like, one, me identifying a problem, and then solving it. And I think that my collection of motorcycles is that as well. Like, I have to…
Derek Toomes: understand what the problem is, what that, you know, what's going on with the machine, why it's not working, and then go through this process of, you know, fixing that, solving problems.
Derek Toomes: Which is not always a mode of creative making for people, but I think it's always been at least a part of my creative making, is, it tends to be problem solving in some ways, and even if the problems aren't real, I create the problems, which is part of the mode of making.
Derek Toomes: And I think that's also maybe, you know, tying it a little bit to the more professional
Derek Toomes: art side is, like, why my artwork also is strongly connected to the idea of design and architecture, because usually those are about solving something, solving a problem.
Derek Toomes: So that, that might feel like a long-winded answer.
Derek Toomes: but just kind of how I could think about those two connections. And I think, again, there's so many different layers that I… that I think I could draw on, and probably talk more if one's of more interest.
Derek Toomes: But even, I mean, I'll even preface, too, that
Derek Toomes: how I got back into the world of motorcycles was… I mean, one, I did purchase a motorcycle, it was a 1979 Kawasaki KZ. So I purchased a motorcycle when I was in Greensboro, so I just didn't have quite the many friends and community here when I first got here, and it's like, oh, let me just get back into the bikes and start riding again.
Derek Toomes: But then my sort of falling into that, rabbit hole, or maybe it's a wormhole, I don't even know which kind of… it was definitely a hole, how about that? Right. Falling back into it was because I went to a motorcycle shop, and, I needed some help on getting some parts, and I went to a shop, and a guy asked me what I did, and I told him, and, you know, told him what kind of world I was into, and he's like, oh.
Derek Toomes: well, I need some things designed. I need some help on some t-shirts. If you help me screen print, I'll do the bike work for you. So we made this kind of connection exchange with, like, I would do design work, help him with his creative outputs, and he would help me with my, you know, kind of motorcycle, and this specific motorcycle, get it running better, that kind of thing.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: And that led into, then, you know, fixed that bike, and then got another bike, and did more design work for him, and then I was doing work, and he would give me a free place to store bikes, and, you know, you give me… you give me space, my collection grows. I mean, it…
Derek Toomes: That's the collector mindset. Like, all my collections would grow if I had more space.
Stephen Skorski: Did you, yeah, I mean, it's so interesting, because you, in the last 5 minutes, you've said a lot of things that we, you know, a lot of roads that we could go down, and all of them would be really interesting.
Stephen Skorski: And so I'm trying to pick, and I'm like, which one of these.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Well, let me ask you, this is actually a fairly basic one, but the way, you know, the way you're kind of describing this, or maybe the way I'm understanding now, the crossover between your artistic life and the motorcycle life and, you know, where these things kind of merge.
Stephen Skorski: Do you remember, you know, you listed the motorcycles you have now? Was there a motorcycle…
Stephen Skorski: in your past that it was the first one that, you know, really felt like yours. You know, this was… it was something… it was something different, right? You know, maybe the first quad that you ever had, you know, like, oh, this is sort of a fun, fun thing, and I'm getting around.
Stephen Skorski: But, you know, maybe you didn't have all those kind of philosophical kind of, you know, kind of thoughts, you know. So what was… is there a bike in your mind that really stands out as something kind of transitioned when I got that bike?
Derek Toomes: Man, that's hard. I mean, I feel like… I mean, I could almost say that every bike I own has been a first love.
Stephen Skorski: Oh, okay.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, like, I don't have the one. I mean, I… and again, it goes back to that, you know, I sort of joked about selling one and have a hard time with it. It's because I love them all. Like, I don't know…
Derek Toomes: And you know, really, if I think back, it's like, the love of them all is probably, like, the joy that they give me. And again, that's another, you know, talking about multi-layers, another thing where it's like, it gives me joy not only to…
Derek Toomes: get them running, but keep them running, keep them in a shape where they can ride at any time. But then, just like…
Derek Toomes: The… the thing that their output, which gives me the freedom of just getting on the road, like, being… being that kind of, you know.
Derek Toomes: person in the moment. Everything else shutting off?
Derek Toomes: Like, that's… that's the first love as well. I mean, I think that's part of it, which you then attach to the… to the one that you're on that moment,
Derek Toomes: And, you know, and again, I think that might be the connection, you know.
Derek Toomes: Before realizing it, and at the early age is, like, sort of…
Derek Toomes: I think there is a… I mean, there's an excitement and exhilaration that comes with getting on any motorcycle. It doesn't matter if it's, like, the… oh yeah, I have a minibike, forgot about the minibike. But yeah, it doesn't…
Stephen Skorski: Mini.
Derek Toomes: Like, it doesn't matter if it's the 1200, it's like, any of them are exciting, they're fun. And that, yeah, that was with the first bike I got on, you know, as a kid. It gives you the opportunity to… to not…
Derek Toomes: To not be in this place, to be in any other place, to kind of move through the world.
Derek Toomes: To move through the woods, to go to a campsite you couldn't get to on foot, in a quicker amount of time, or, you know, whatever that is. So again, I think it… it's that…
Derek Toomes: possibility of being anywhere.
Derek Toomes: So that… and I'm… that might not have been a direct answer to your question. I think I got off on another tangent, which seems to be a running theme.
Stephen Skorski: No, I gotta tell you, this is… this is awesome. This is… this is why I love having these conversations, because…
Stephen Skorski: first of all, I will never look at a motorcycle the same again. No, but I mean, I really mean that, right? I mean, there's…
Stephen Skorski: I don't know, the way you… I don't know, just hearing the way you interact with these things…
Stephen Skorski: is very eye-opening, and it's also… it's also very attractive. I mean, it's really like, oh my god, I mean, you know, it's pretty hard for me not to think, like, yeah, I should go get a motorcycle, right? I mean,
Stephen Skorski: because it… Because I think it, it, it,
Stephen Skorski: like you said, it's so multi-layered. It sort of touches so many aspects of a life, your life,
Stephen Skorski: you know, it's not, I think, okay, most people, right, if they don't have a motorcycle, and let's just say they're not car people, right? They're not into, like, you know, cars or whatever. You know, you think of your car as this thing that gets you from point A to point B, and some people enjoy that more than others, right? So I get it.
Stephen Skorski: But the idea that
Stephen Skorski: you know, you… and there is… there's a question here, too, because I'm almost going to, like, kind of throw out some categories here, right? So, it feels like there is the… the visual, the aesthetic, the artistic kind of side of the motorcycle.
Stephen Skorski: There is, the philosophy of the motorcycle, you know, or the way of life, you know, kind of, again, how you break that down is, you know, up to somebody else.
Stephen Skorski: there's the mechanics of it, you know, the appreciation of the mechanics and the way that you might appreciate, you know, a mechanical watch, you know? There's the being able to work on it, you know, kind of add to this thing in some way, or at least maintaining, keep it going. Then there's the riding.
Stephen Skorski: you know, meaning the moments that you're actually on the bike, and you're moving, and you're seeing the world in a different way. Then there's the community, you know, and then, then, after all that, you get to this… the collector part, you know what I mean? Like, there's so much of that. So, my question is…
Stephen Skorski: You know, of all of these things, is there one
Stephen Skorski: That kind of floats to the top in terms of…
Stephen Skorski: importance or connection to you, meaning…
Stephen Skorski: if you had to get rid of all the others, like, you know what, you can't work on the bikes, you're not gonna be part of a club, you know, you're, you know, you can be in the club, but you can't ride the bike, you know, you can be the mechanic, but you can't be the rider. You know what I'm saying? Like, is there one aspect of this motorcycle life
Stephen Skorski: that rises to the pinnacle of, like, yeah, but that's my favorite part? Or you're like, no, it's all even. You know, if I can't work on them, if I can't be with a group of friends when I'm not riding, then I don't even want to be involved.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, that's… that's a great, great question. And it's a really hard one to answer. I mean, I do think that the reason I love them is… is all of those. It is sort of the… it's, you know, it's the working on them, it's the…
Derek Toomes: collecting, the collection, it's the restoring, reviving, it's that sort of being that savior,
Derek Toomes: It is the… the sense of community. Man, it's, you know, it's the… it's the art of the machine, it's the… the zen of the mechanic, it's all of it. I think that the one…
Derek Toomes: That it… oh, wow. Yeah.
Derek Toomes: If I had to put one on the top, it still is, like… I mean, yeah, it's the… me being on the bike and riding as an individual.
Derek Toomes: It still is that time, it's that moment that I have with it and being on it. That's the one that… that I just couldn't… I don't want to be without. I think if there was some reason I had to be, whatever, it's, like, health-rated or whatever, I think I'd find joy in the other aspects.
Derek Toomes: But the one that really…
Derek Toomes: keeps me interested in all the aspects, I think, is the riding and being on that bike as an individual. Whether I'm actually riding alone completely, or whether it's, you know, me and one other friend in the woods, and I can't see where he is, and he can't see where I am, but we know we're gonna meet up together, you know, for that camp dinner.
Derek Toomes: I think it's…
Derek Toomes: that's… that's the part that… that would be hard to be without. I mean, I think it fuels… it fuels all the other curiosities,
Derek Toomes: And it fuels all the other, like, the love of all the other.
Stephen Skorski: I think that…
Derek Toomes: You know, the others feed that, maybe, that desire, that connection, perhaps.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah. Yeah, you know…
Stephen Skorski: I want to ask… I want you to really kind of tell me about the riding experience.
Stephen Skorski: But before… but… and you have, right? But I… you know, I want you to be as sort of descriptive as possible, but I think that's going to be the wrap-up question. So there's a… just because I… you know, hearing you say that now was sort of a speculation that maybe that's, you know, kind of the…
Stephen Skorski: the top of the pyramid, and I'd love for you to tell us
Stephen Skorski: You know, again, through your eyes, your perspective, exactly what that is, you know, from the moment of, like, thinking about going for a ride to…
Stephen Skorski: to, you know, getting off the bike and hearing that engine, you know, shut off. Like, I want… you know… but before you answer that, there's just a couple of maybe short little things that I just want to kind of fill in quickly.
Stephen Skorski: You know, you talked about being hurt on rides before, you know, there's risk involved. Does that, you know, is that something that…
Stephen Skorski: Does it play a big role, or is it something you just put to the side and go, yep, it's just… that's just a part of life?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, it's not something that I've ever fixated on, or been able to fixate on, and, you know, I think that obviously maybe has come through with even my childhood stories as well. It's like, I've never really been a person to fixate on the fear or consequence, to maybe even a level of being…
Derek Toomes: You know, maybe at a level that one needs at times. So I think…
Derek Toomes: it's not something that I think about, and I… now, I do… I have found that I was in certain types of riding, really being the off-road riding. Like, I used to ride a lot more heavily in the off-road sessions or seasons.
Derek Toomes: I was competing, not, not in a really professional level, but like, you know, upper C-class level, B class,
Derek Toomes: Where I was going and riding more enduro rides, so this is all off-road, so, dirt bikes. And… and the dirt bike thing is, like, it's not… it's not…
Derek Toomes: when… it's not if you're gonna fall, it's just like, well, when are you gonna fall, and how are you gonna save it, kind of thing. And…
Derek Toomes: Though I love something really about that type of writing, it's very technical. That one, you're solving problems as you're writing, at the speed you're writing, is really… that one's exhilarating for different reasons.
Derek Toomes: However, it comes with big consequences, because again, you are gonna drop the bike, you're gonna get thrown from the bike, or leave the bike at some point, but it's just… and then this is where it goes back to maybe that sort of skateboarding, too. It's like, you gotta learn to fall. I mean, that's part of it. Learning to ride is learning to fall.
Derek Toomes: But, you know…
Derek Toomes: I'm in my 40s now, I'm getting there. I'm of age where those things matter. And it's, you know, maybe kind of a young body game. So that's probably one that I pulled back on. Like, I'm not riding competitively at all for the dirt bike. I still will get on a dirt bike, and I still have a dirt bike, or dirt bikes, plural. Oh yeah, I forgot about another truck.
Derek Toomes: I am for that.
Derek Toomes: But yeah, anyways, so… yeah, that might be the only time I've been…
Derek Toomes: more aware in the recent with the risk, so I've stopped riding at any kind of competitive level.
Derek Toomes: You know, I suffered, like, some injuries to my knees recently, or recently being the last decade. Had, like, a heat stroke and a concussion one. So there's those types of things where I'm like, okay, let me pull back on some of that type of writing.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. Yeah, that makes sense. You,
Stephen Skorski: You said something in there, which probably should be a t-shirt if it's not already. Learning to ride is learning to fall.
Derek Toomes: Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Dude, that's awesome. I mean, is this, can we relate that to life in general? Is that something you've thought about? Like…
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, no, it's true. I mean, I'm sure it exists in t-shirts in some form, but I didn't get that one off the t-shirt, but yeah, maybe. Yeah, no, it's true. I mean, that's… that can be a life lesson for sure, but yeah, it's definitely a technical part of it. And again.
Stephen Skorski: Dude, I love that.
Derek Toomes: Same thing with skateboarding. That was the first thing. If you're scared to fall in skateboarding, like, you can't skateboard. I mean, and that's why a lot of people don't, I'll be honest. I mean, it's like, if you… if that's something you can't get over, then you just can't do it. But, I mean, yeah, like you said, maybe that's with everything in life.
Derek Toomes: If you can't… if you can't be okay with failing at that thing, then you probably just shouldn't do it, or maybe you can't do it.
Derek Toomes: No.
Stephen Skorski: Well, it's interesting, because earlier, when I asked you about, like, you know, kids and, you know, would you, you know, what would you say to parents about letting your kids kind of go out in the woods and, you know… I mean, it seems to me that so many people now would not let their kids, camp in the woods.
Stephen Skorski: Even if it's right behind their backyard.
Stephen Skorski: Or behind their house, because, you know.
Stephen Skorski: people are afraid. They're just really afraid, right? And, you know, the parents, they're not going to stay up all night long staring at that tent, right? So, you know, if you're not under the roof, then the parents aren't comfortable, right? So, it's interesting now that, you know, an hour later, you know, we're getting to this thing, you know.
Stephen Skorski: which actually sums it up really nicely. Learning to ride is learning to fall, and what that means, I think.
Stephen Skorski: in the bigger picture, I mean, yeah, I think 100%, I think you could apply that to anything in life. You know, and if you… if you aren't willing to learn how to fall, in some things, you could just say, well, I don't want to skateboard, right? But in terms of, like.
Stephen Skorski: making friends, you know, getting into a, you know, romantic relationships, you know, going after the career that you want. Like, then it actually becomes really critical that you have the confidence
Stephen Skorski: to learn how to fall. I don't know, that's… yeah, I think it's great.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I think there's that sort of philosophy of, like, even designs, like, you know, fell fast, fell often, or fell first, fell often, or fell first, fell fast, like, all those.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah.
Derek Toomes: Super, super relevant.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, yeah. So, so in terms of the, you know, again, kind of another quick one here,
Stephen Skorski: Do you prefer the kind of casual ride, or… I do know that, you know, you've been in races before, you know, races of kind of varying degrees, I guess some more friendly, some more competitive, but, you know, if you could… if you had to pick one, you know, what do you prefer?
Derek Toomes: Oh, that's so…
Derek Toomes: I mean, my all-time favorite would be, like, a, I used to ride this race called the Vintage 500, Vintage 1000. It's like the, vintage class, so everything's pre-70… well, I've been in ones that were pre-70, but also, I think the… one of the cost was pre-78, but anyways,
Derek Toomes: That race and type of riding is more the adventure riding, but it's like, you have to have everything packed with you, like, all your camping gear that you need. You don't have to have your food, but you have to have all your camping gear packed with you. It's usually a race of either 500 miles or 1,000 miles.
Derek Toomes: Which is multi-day, so you're looking at the 500, vintage 500s are 3 days of vintage, thousands are, 5 days.
Derek Toomes: The…
Derek Toomes: goal in that race is really just to finish. So it is… you're… you're sent out in kind of a team of 3 to… three to five, so if one person breaks down in that team, you wait, help each other get going again, and then finish as a team. And then there's other sort of teams that are behind you, or hopefully behind you.
Stephen Skorski: Right.
Derek Toomes: Sometimes they're ahead of you. But that one… that would be, I'd say, my favorite type of writing, so it includes more…
Derek Toomes: off-road, so probably 70%. And when I say off-road, I'm thinking, like, we're talking about, like, fire trails, dirt roads, so, 70% unpaved, I guess, is probably a better way of saying it. It can include, like, you know, hill climbs, creek crossings, things like that, but a lot of times they are,
Derek Toomes: I'll say, air quote, like, state-maintained, in that they have some level of gravel, but they do cross creeks and things like that.
Derek Toomes: So, I love the multi-day, where you're carrying camping gear and camping, and so you're sort of in that thing
Derek Toomes: for a longer period of time, even, you know, overnight, and sort of staying in that same mindset. And, you know, your campsites are often without cell service, so you're not on the phone, not sending emails, checking emails, texts, or anything like that.
Derek Toomes: you know, having the campfire, having the meals, then waking up the next morning and starting bright and early at 8.30 in the morning, the race begins again. So…
Derek Toomes: Yeah, that would, by far, would be my preferred ride.
Derek Toomes: And there's another one where this one's no GPS either, so this is a roll chart only, so you have a little roll chart that you're following, so, you know, go 5 miles, turn left, go another 3 miles, turn right.
Derek Toomes: Go 1.4 miles across a creek, that kind of direction, sense of direction.
Derek Toomes: And then, you know, I think everything from that still…
Derek Toomes: I think the type of riding I prefer is based around that. Like, I like the… the more scenic route. Like, there's a sense of speed that's with it. It's not slow riding, but there is a sense of adventure with all of it. So that would… that would by far…
Derek Toomes: Is my favorite style of writing. And again, different ways to approach it, whether it's through race, or even… there's also this thing called the BDR, which is…
Derek Toomes: Back road discovery routes, I think? I could be messing that up.
Derek Toomes: But it's a known sort of community of riders that are into the adventure that have maps that go, let's say, from upstate New York all the way to the Canadian border. So they have the Northeast, the Southeast, they have the Midwest, West Coast, BDRs. So that's the type of riding that I love.
Stephen Skorski: So, so your favorite bikes in your collection are these vintage BSA bikes, and…
Derek Toomes: Let's say in triumph. Let's say bid it. Let's get them all.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, sorry, British, yeah. Okay, so the British… Vintage British. Yeah. The ride that you just described, was, like, pre-78, you said? Is that right?
Derek Toomes: They have two classes. I think they have one that the bikes has to be pre-78, and then they have another class where it has to be pre-70. Okay. Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: So, so is there something,
Stephen Skorski: Do you think that that sort of subset of motorcycles for you, is a bit of an escape?
Stephen Skorski: Of our, you know, kind of current digital world, or is there something about, you know, kind of older machines that
Stephen Skorski: have more of a, I don't know, a connection or a sense of, you know, a feeling of honesty, you know, with those things that are kind of void of, you know, all of our modern digital
Stephen Skorski: you know, bombardment. Like, is that part of the draw to that type of riding, or that type of motorcycle?
Derek Toomes: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, it's the kind of, simplicity in it. So there's a simplicity in it as far as lack of technology, but then there's also the sort of ability where you have to be able to maintain and work on it.
Derek Toomes: So that's definitely part of the challenge, you know, talking about what's your favorite part of…
Derek Toomes: you know, the kind of… when we're narrowing down the sections of the riding, the beauty of that race is that it's all of the things. Like, you have to be able to work on the bike, you have to have a sense of community and share knowledge, help each other out, you have to be able to be in alone in your own head and ride the trails and do the technical
Derek Toomes: the technical ride.
Derek Toomes: So… so yeah, so I think that's…
Derek Toomes: that's all of it, and that… and then also, I think in the… the kind of classifications, why they do it in the 78 or pre-78, pre-70s, is the technology that happens in motorcycle suspension changes, and it sort of changes the…
Derek Toomes: rider's game. Like, things become a lot… roads and, challenges become a lot easier with a lot more development and suspension and geometry.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: So they don't… I don't think they do it in a way of, like, trying to make it… I mean, it is more abusive on your body, I'll argue, but the… the ride… the rideability and knowing how to ride
Derek Toomes: technical sections with older technologies, like suspension things. It's more about you and the bike, not the bike doing it… not the bike getting you through it, like, you have to get the bike through it.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: So there's a little bit of that as well that I think happens in that type of ride. So, you know, we talk about technology, but I think it goes… it's more than just the digital technology, it's even, like, the kind of other levels of technology for those rides.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. That must be so interesting. I mean, everything you said, of course, is, you know, so interesting and fascinating, and, you know, for somebody who wants their mind and their body to be engaged that way, like, that's… it's incredible.
Stephen Skorski: So it seems like when you're doing these different events, or going, you know, with these different groups of people you ride with.
Stephen Skorski: you're… there's a… what's the right word? There's a variety…
Stephen Skorski: in the types of people you're riding with. I mean, is that right?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, for sure.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, which again, makes it so…
Stephen Skorski: interesting that, you know, you kind of have this… this motorcycle, and in some ways, it's your kind of ticket to entry, but it's not always the, you know, you're not always entering the same… the same world, you know? It's…
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, there's this common thing, but the people who are interested in the ride that you just described versus, you know, being at, like, Bike Week in
Stephen Skorski: I don't know, Daytona or something, right? I mean, there's a different, right? There's a different vibe.
Derek Toomes: Very different vibe, yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Okay, which is cool.
Stephen Skorski: So, just a couple more things, and then I want you to wrap it up with that again, that description of the ride.
Stephen Skorski: Would you say that bikes have different personalities?
Derek Toomes: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think… and every… every bite gives me a different personality, I would even argue.
Stephen Skorski: Well, that was actually the real question, and you get… you beat me to it.
Derek Toomes: Oh, really?
Stephen Skorski: Do you have a different personality on each of your different bikes?
Derek Toomes: Oh, completely. I mean, you put me on the smaller KTM 690 and send me downtown. Oh, I'm a complete hooligan.
Derek Toomes: you know, grandmother's nightmare. Like, I'm just like, oh, you can't get out of my way fast enough, and I'm probably riding a wheelie past you.
Derek Toomes: And it makes me a person sometimes I'm not proud of, but it's just a fun bike. Like, it's a fun bike like no others. It's not a vintage bike. It's, you know, it drags me down the road. I'm not dragging it down the road. But again, like, I think it's… that's also part of it, like, it's,
Derek Toomes: Like, I'm… Yeah, that one… those bikes make me do things I probably shouldn't do.
Derek Toomes: I'm a person who talked about, like, you know, fears. I don't have them until it's too late. I was like, oh, man. And I will reflect. I mean, I'll… I did something even on this last ride I did last weekend in the mountains on some dirt roads where I was like, hey, I'm gonna leave the group. I gotta get this out of my system. And I started riding so fast down this hill, and came to a curve where I was like.
Derek Toomes: I think I may be going off this mountain.
Derek Toomes: I didn't have enough back brake without sliding out to get me down to the speed I needed to. But I made it, I'm here, I'm here, I made it. But it was one of those moments, like, after the fact, I was like, whoa, that was… that was really dumb. Like, I need to slow it down.
Derek Toomes: So I think that, you know, again, every bike has its personality, and that gives me a new personality, which is part of the fun of it, and probably why I have so many.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah, isn't that something?
Derek Toomes: Each one's good for something different, and does something a little different, and, you know, it's like, no bike's the same, and every ride's different based on the bike, you know? Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: That's… again, this is what I mean when I say, like, I'll never look at a motorcycle the same again. I never thought about… I mean, you know, I guess there's something on the surface that you go, oh, look, that guy's on a Harley, that girl's on a Harley, you know…
Stephen Skorski: they're dressed a certain way, you go, clearly there's a connection between the bike and the personality, but I have never thought about the next day that person gets on, you know, a BMW.
Derek Toomes: I mean, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: You know, and the… you know, like, it didn't… yeah, that had never occurred to me. That's so… that's really, really interesting. So before we get to that last… that last ride description, if somebody wanted to get into this, I mean, you obviously, you know, have been… you know, you got introduced at a fairly young age,
Stephen Skorski: But maybe, you know, someone… it didn't happen that way, and someone has listened to this, and they… they're like, oh man, that seems kind of cool. I want to put my toe in the water, I want to, you know, kind of try this on a little bit. Would you have any advice for a…
Stephen Skorski: beginning motorcycle enthusiast, and, you know, kind of advice for anybody from, you know, whatever, 10 years old to, you know, 80 years old. Like, just some things that they might want to think about, and how they might
Stephen Skorski: Get into this world a little bit.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, I mean, one, I would encourage anybody, especially listening to this podcast, definitely should be on… should get on a motorcycle at some point in their life. I think that… I mean, I'd love to see everybody try… it's probably not for everybody, I should probably also say that, too. But…
Derek Toomes: You should, you should always, give an opportunity, throw your leg over a motorcycle with some…
Derek Toomes: I think proper level of concern for safety, too, though. Because, yeah, I've been fortunate to kind of go through the things that I have and still be in as great shape as I am.
Derek Toomes: But I think that I would always encourage people to ride. I mean, I think it's something that just cannot be compared to other experiences, which I'll save for the last ride.
Derek Toomes: But I think if somebody wants to get in it, probably the best way, and even if you have a best friend that knows how to ride and is offered to, you know, show you how to ride, I think taking that… the safety course, the rider safety course.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: Because they… most of them, I mean, you can usually find them at, local community colleges, like GTCC here has them. They're also at a lot of the Harleys. I'm… I'm not a… I've had Harleys, and I don't… I don't have… oh, no, I do have one, never mind. I can't say that right now. I do… craps.
Derek Toomes: Oh, I forgot about that bike, too. But anyways…
Derek Toomes: Most Harley dealerships and community colleges offer rider safety courses on the weekends. They're typically one day where it's, like, half classroom, and then the other half is, like a training course. But very patient people, they go everything… go over everything in a great amount of detail that I think a rider… a first-time rider needs.
Derek Toomes: And if you don't want to go that route, then just start on a dirt bike. Get in somebody's field. That's also a safe bet, or safer bet. But those would be my two sort of suggestions, and, like, first-time riders, I think you should try it, and with some level of safety and precaution. Always wear a helmet.
Derek Toomes: put on gloves, don't… don't wear shorts, wear proper boots, shoes, closed-toe shoes. I mean, I'm kind of adamant about that as well. Even as somebody that rides like the hooligan, I'm still gonna be in some level of gear, and maybe not all the gear I should be in, but… but I'm gonna have a helmet, I'm gonna have gloves, pants.
Derek Toomes: And, and boots on always, yeah, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: And, dude, that's great. I mean, that's such good advice. And is there a type of bike? Again, imagine… imagine really a beginner, right? I mean, you know, in the… beginner in the sense that,
Stephen Skorski: they're just not steeped in the knowledge that you are, because I know myself, you know, when I do see…
Stephen Skorski: a bike that I'm… the first thing I'm attracted to is the visuals. Yeah. But that bike might be too big, it might not… it might be too small, it might not handle, you know, the way it needs to be for a beginner. Is there a type of bike that you would say, like, hey, you know what, for the first 6 months that you're riding.
Stephen Skorski: get on, you know, this type of bike. Is there something that you could point to… for some… point someone in that direction?
Derek Toomes: I mean, I would say that any… really…
Derek Toomes: if you think about, like… I might… if somebody were asking me as a friend, I might be like, oh, we'll go with something reliable, that's easy. Like, you're talking about your Japanese bikes, Honda, Kawasaki, those kind of things. So probably, to me, I don't think as…
Derek Toomes: visually or aesthetically appealing as pieces of machines or machines. You know, obviously the Italians do it right when you look… for the looks, like Ducati, Germans, well engineered. But my thing is, like, the bike you feel comfortable on is probably the best bike. And you might not know what that is when you're first looking, so maybe, you know, talk to some people.
Derek Toomes: throw your leg over one, even if you're not riding it. Like, what feels comfortable to you? Because you're probably gonna do the best on the thing you feel most comfortable with or on, and that's not the same for everybody. Like, you know, I have a pretty big inseam, or a pretty tall inseam, so I could throw my leg over pretty much any bike and be okay, but I don't know, maybe you're a little shorter than I am, or maybe you have a low inseam, so finding a shorter bike will work, so maybe that is something
Derek Toomes: something like a, you know, Honda… I don't even know what they are now. Bolts, or Rebels, or whatever. You know, I think that, yeah, finding the bike for you, that… or the comfort… one you feel comfortable on, that's probably my… that would be my recommendation for a first-timer. It's like, what do you feel comfortable on? Typically, it is a smaller CC bike than most people
Derek Toomes: think. You know, you might be like, oh, I'm, you know.
Derek Toomes: 40-year-old guy, and I gotta get a 1,000cc bike or bigger. Well, I mean, I have friends that ride on 450s, or I'll ride a 450 with a group of people on 1200s, and they don't leave me until we are hitting, you know, above a speed limit. So we're going 90 miles an hour. So any bike is capable, I'll say that too, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm. And last kind of question in this little, line of thought, is there a…
Stephen Skorski: Reason to stick with a more modern bike, because it'll…
Stephen Skorski: you know, stop quicker, accelerate faster, have better balance, or is it actually the opposite? Like, no, no, start on a vintage bike, you know, I don't mean like a 1940s bike, but, you know, something more vintage because, you know, maybe you feel the road in a way that you can't on a newer bike. Like, do you have a feeling one way or the other? What would be preferred?
Derek Toomes: No, I mean, I would say probably something modern. I mean…
Derek Toomes: the modern geometry suspension has gone a long way and made people safer riders, I think, on the first start. So, like, having ABS, having good suspension, that's probably a better first-timer bike than the vintage. Vintage are great because they're slower, perhaps, but that comes with a big cost of, like, you know, the ability to
Derek Toomes: maintain, if something breaks… something's more likely to break on a vintage bike, and being able to control the bike when there's some sort of breakage, or, you know, linkage falls out, or whatever the case might be, I think that runs a higher risk in that sense. So, I think, you know, probably a more…
Derek Toomes: modern bike with the modern accoutrements, if you will, having ABS, good suspension, being able to stop… stop well. But also, again, probably not a bike that's overpowered for your, kind of, ability. That might be sort of a more…
Derek Toomes: practical sense. I think a lot of people will buy bikes thinking they'll grow into it. Well, you just… you can just get a new bike, or you can have multiples like me, or you can, you know, trade that one in and get a bigger bike, you know, I think. I wouldn't… you know, I kind of…
Derek Toomes: you will have just as much fun, you know, when first riding on that, you know, 250cc bike as you will that, you know, 1250cc. And maybe more fun, because it's… you can kind of…
Derek Toomes: Yeah, you can ride the bike, not the bike ride you kind of thing.
Stephen Skorski: Yeah. Okay, that's awesome. That's really helpful. Alright, let's wrap this up. So again, you know, you're talking to someone who… I mean, I've been on a bike, but minimally.
Stephen Skorski: I, have never ex… and never confidently, so, meaning I've never ridden the way you have ridden.
Stephen Skorski: And I'm sure a lot of people who are listening have not had that opportunity,
Stephen Skorski: But after hearing you talk about this.
Stephen Skorski: It's, you know, it's really,
Stephen Skorski: we want to see things and feel things through your eyes, your perspective, you know. So, start me… start me pre-ride, you know, you know, you're gonna pick a bike.
Stephen Skorski: You're gonna get on a bike, you know, give me the feelings of anticipation, and then, you know, whatever happens during a ride that you think
Stephen Skorski: you know, we should know about, you know, the beauty, the magic, the… you know, whatever those things are. And then, like I said, take us right through to, you know, turning that thing off, and the feeling of…
Stephen Skorski: I don't know what the feeling is, achievement, exhaustion, relief, elation, you know, whatever it is. Like, just take us from beginning to end to kind of put a little bow on this conversation.
Derek Toomes: Oh, man. That's a really hard experience to share, but I do think it's like no other, which I have already mentioned, but, when I… when I go to ride, I kind of…
Derek Toomes: I mentioned all the bikes have different personalities and bring different personalities on me. I might have a goal in a certain ride, but typically, I'm riding the ride. Like, it's a day that I want to unplug from something, I want to take a little mind break, I want to, you know, be by myself, or explore, or just…
Derek Toomes: you know, be a part of something else. I want to disconnect for a bit, perhaps. I think that's the way… that's when I'm craving a ride, that's usually the way I start.
Derek Toomes: So at that point, it doesn't matter what bike I get on, because any of them that I get on, I can… I can be in that mindset pretty quick. You know, this shares a little bit of the prep, getting ready for the day, knowing what the weather's gonna be, how to gear up. You take a… sometimes throwing darts on that one, but yeah, there's always that.
Derek Toomes: But, you know, once you get on a bike, kind of…
Derek Toomes: Getting it started, warming it up, checking the tire pressure, there's all those types of things that come part of it, and again, you're slowly pulling out of whatever world you were in the moment before.
Stephen Skorski: Does that feel… does that feel ritualistic?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, yeah, sure, there's definitely a ritual to it, you know, kind of going through that prep, but I don't think it's as… I'm not maybe as consciously aware of the ritual part, the pre-ritual, if you will, of it, but I think that's all good.
Derek Toomes: prepping myself for it, like, I'm getting there as I'm doing those things.
Derek Toomes: And it's, you know, sometimes I plan the ride, I might plan it… I'm a fairly spontaneous person, I should add, too, though, which maybe drives my partner up the wall at times.
Derek Toomes: But I don't have to have a solid plan. I can just decide that's what I needed to do today, and just throw my leg over the bike and go, and sort of decide where it leads me afterwards.
Derek Toomes: But I think every time that I do, it really is, like, that moment of… of disconnecting from whatever's going on and being present then and there.
Derek Toomes: I have roads that I love to travel, but I'm also… I love to just find different roads to travel, and like, oh, I haven't… I don't know what that road is, let me… let me, you know, sneak down that one for a minute, and realize it's a dead end, and I turn around and go back the other way, and, you know, I'm okay with that. Like, that's part of the ride for me. Now, if I'm riding with other people.
Derek Toomes: that's a different ride. I feel a little bit more like I gotta have those planned out. But it's still, still, even when I'm riding with people, I often will talk to them, and they're like, hey, did you see that road back there? Let's go check it out.
Derek Toomes: So there is always the adventure, or sense of adventure, or even possibility, even if I don't take the adventure, because I'm, you know, trying to get an airland done, but still, there's the possibility of adventure for all of them.
Derek Toomes: But I would say every ride, kind of, again, you're…
Derek Toomes: you're in your head in a way that I'm not in the studio, because I'm… it's just me, I'm focusing on what I'm doing, the
Derek Toomes: things around me, they don't really become people anymore. The other cars aren't really people, they're just obstacles to watch out for, get around, navigate. So there… there is that kind of mentality…
Derek Toomes: But I think the most… probably the most special part of it is, like, when I'm on the kind of more country roads and… or on those, like, fire trails and dirt roads, and it is just me riding,
Derek Toomes: being aware of, like, the surroundings, the bird flying beside me, which you would never see in a car, or, you know, the hawks in the trees, or in the field, or whatever, like, I feel like I have…
Derek Toomes: so many other things that I see in the world that I don't experience in a car.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Derek Toomes: And there's other things, and they're coming at a level that is still, I think, very stimulating.
Derek Toomes: Versus, like, maybe, you know, to compare it to, like, maybe a hike in nature. So there still is this, like, really, I think, exhilaration, or kind of, like, yeah. I mean, it's just such a faster pace as well. But not in a… not in…
Derek Toomes: technology, kind of fast-paced tech world, if you will. I mean, I think that… but it's just, like, this constantly…
Derek Toomes: Reassessing the environment, reassessing, you know, possibles, like, you know, is that thing gonna jump out in front of me, or is that… where is… how big is that curve coming up?
Derek Toomes: Do I need to slow down? Can I speed up? You know, what's my lean angle? So there's all those things happening simultaneously. There's so much, sort of, happening.
Derek Toomes: But then, you know, to contrast it, still, the stillness of it in your own head, where I…
Derek Toomes: I don't know what it is, like, you know, every ride I go on, there's always a moment
Derek Toomes: Where, like, I'm like, oh, shit, this is the reason that I do the things in life, is so that I can have these moments. Like, it's the reason I work that job. This is the reason that I pay those bills, or rent the studio space to hold all 20 bikes, whatever it is. I don't want to count. But, you know, it really… there's, like, a moment in the ride that…
Derek Toomes: that reminds me of the reason I do all the other things.
Derek Toomes: And it's… it's more than the ride, it's… it's just, like, it's kind of like a moment of life realization, really. I mean, maybe I'm sounding really kind of…
Stephen Skorski: No, dude, this is great, keep going. Oh my god, this sounds… no, please, keep going, this sounds amazing.
Derek Toomes: Because I'm not a… I'm not, like, I wouldn't say I'm a super spiritual person, but there's something about…
Derek Toomes: like, I often ask why we do things in life, and sometimes I find that in the ride, which sounds really… I don't know. It's just kind of… it's special.
Derek Toomes: And yeah, it kind of makes me realize, like, oh, this is it, this is why. This is… this is a moment that I… that I…
Derek Toomes: don't want to be without. And this is… this is why my life is mine, and what… maybe what makes my life different from others, too. And… yeah, and there's just things that I couldn't predict, and I don't know how to…
Derek Toomes: describe… I mean, it's… it's a moment of euphoria, excitement, connected to a… to a world, yeah, that I don't think I get from a lot of other things.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: What, before you describe the… the ending of the ride and the dismount, is there…
Stephen Skorski: Do you think there's a connection between the state of heightened awareness that you're describing.
Stephen Skorski: And then the subsequent, state of heightened clarity, potentially?
Derek Toomes: Yeah, no, I definitely think, I mean…
Derek Toomes: You… you get clarity in sort of having to be completely focused and
Derek Toomes: I think the travel, and the mode of… in the, kind of, journey.
Derek Toomes: But I think the other things, you know, when you're… if you're comparing them, or now, if I'm kind of bringing this into maybe more of the group setting, too, is, like.
Derek Toomes: you know, then sharing that with somebody afterwards and talking about it, whether it was the challenges along the ride, or the moments, or the things you saw, I was like, oh, did you see this, or did you see that, or, oh, how'd you get up that hill, or how'd you get through that creek, and those types of moments, too, happen, that I think become part of the experience, and…
Derek Toomes: And I'll say that, you know, in that sense, too, every ride becomes different, which, you know, I think is another…
Derek Toomes: Idea, the sort of… the specialness, or the quality of it, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: So, you know, you describe that ride, you know, in a really beautiful way, especially… to me, again, the thing I keyed in on was, you know, you're riding, and like you said, you're looking for dangers, you know, obstacles maybe is a better way to say it.
Derek Toomes: Hmm.
Stephen Skorski: And you're talking about, you know, the birds, you know, in the trees, and flying with you, you know, and that awareness, and then the clarity that maybe comes out of that, you know, when, you know, all of a sudden life kind of makes a little more sense, or… you know, so that's amazing.
Stephen Skorski: So you pull into wherever you're gonna pull into, you know, the ride is… the ride is over.
Stephen Skorski: Is there, you know, You turn the bike off, is there something that happens in that moment that…
Stephen Skorski: kind of takes you out of where you were, or is it a continuation? You know, and I'm really thinking of that moment where
Stephen Skorski: you get off the bike, you know, whatever, you turn the bike off, and the whole world just changes acoustically, right? Yeah.
Stephen Skorski: What's that moment like?
Derek Toomes: Well, I think that's the moment, too, where you kind of come back in… I mean, I wouldn't say you're just back into the world as you were, but I think that's where…
Derek Toomes: you reflect back on the ride, and think about, sort of, you know, that as the experience. But then, I think it also brings me back to the bike then, too, and my connection to the bike, and then I'm starting to think about, like, oh, you know, the bike did really well on that ride, or this was feeling a little weird on the bike. And then I start, sort of, picking apart that part of the ride, you know, thinking about me and the bike, and
Derek Toomes: And it's like, did it… was everything running the way it was supposed to be running? You know, was I getting a wobble when I was, you know, going around a certain thing and doing certain things? Is there something I need to…
Derek Toomes: change about the bike, look at the bike, you know, then I started to think about, like, oh, you know, what kind of maintenance do I need to do to the bike? So it becomes a little bit… you flip back into the other mode of it, which, again, you asked me to sort of…
Derek Toomes: pick which one I found more, you know, most monumental or special about the experience, but they, again, they all feed into each other, so I go back into that other world, which still is, I think.
Derek Toomes: you know, part of a therapy in its own as well, like, the working, like, the zen of the working is that kind of… that moment as well. But it goes back into that… that kind of mode, if you will, yeah.
Stephen Skorski: That's awesome. This has been so fun.
Stephen Skorski: Hearing about your collection, But…
Stephen Skorski: I knew the fun part would not be just hearing the list of bikes that you had, you know? The fun part was kind of everything else around that. So, man, this has been awesome. I have appreciated this conversation, and I've loved it.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, this has been great. I mean, I think you've put out things that I wouldn't have really connected, and I thought the beginning was… felt a little strange for me to have to… or to talk about, but even then seeing some of the connections, I think, with the… with the collection in my world of motorcycles, and…
Derek Toomes: And then maybe also just making me realize I forgot so many bikes to list.
Derek Toomes: Collection or addiction, I don't know.
Stephen Skorski: Right, collection reduction. Well, that's okay, that's the beauty of this. You don't have to make a distinction.
Stephen Skorski: But, well, thanks, Derek. Really, this has been… this has been awesome. I've absolutely loved this. You know, I know, I know you're gonna head off to… to your mom's house and have a… have a nice Easter dinner.
Stephen Skorski: So, yeah, dude, I… again, fantastic. Loved it.
Derek Toomes: Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, yeah, this has been great, and yeah, I gotta go collect that money, find those Easter eggs, and see if I can…
Derek Toomes: It's been big this year.
Stephen Skorski: Cool. Alright, man, well, have a great rest of your afternoon, and we will talk soon.
Derek Toomes: Alright, thanks again.
Stephen Skorski: Yep, bye.