{"id":3025,"date":"2026-07-13T16:15:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moto2n.com\/braap\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:23:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:23:43","slug":"hi-my-names-aston-and-i-am-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/2026\/07\/13\/hi-my-names-aston-and-i-am-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Hi! My Name’s Aston, and I am a…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scooter and motorcycle mechanic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motorcyclist and moto enthusiast (that includes scooters!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motorcycle racer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am also an alcoholic<\/strong>. I’ve been into drinking for as long as I’ve been into motorcycles, maybe even longer. Drinking used to be so much fun, but, as I’ve gotten older, it’s become urgently obvious to me that drinking is not something I can continue doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time I tried to get help with my drinking problem was in 2020. I was 36 years old. Then Covid happened, and I lost access to the in-person meetings that were helping to keep me sober. I am not the sort of alcoholic who can do sobriety on his own. I need help with it, and I do not connect with people through screens. Zoom meetings make me want to puke. Those avatars on the screen are not real people to me, they are petty representations mediated by increasingly enshitified technology. The same goes for all forms of social media. I try to stay the hell off of it as much as I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Covid years were not good for me. I did not react well to them. I was living alone in Denver at the time, and I spent those years trying to drink myself to death. I would eventually get the help I needed again in early 2022. I spent 3 days in detox and lived at a sober house for 2 months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stayed sober from early 2022 all the way until late 2024. It was a good almost three years. I threw myself into my work and racing motorcycles. Everything got better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motorcycle racing was a huge reason why I wanted to get and stay sober, and it kept me sober until I crashed my first bike, bought a second much faster bike, and then won a couple of races on that bike without<\/em> crashing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You see, I thought I had taught myself some measure of restraint. I thought the restraint I learned through racing a fast motorcycle applied to drinking as well. I convinced myself I could “have just one<\/em>” and rat-holed 3 years of hard-won sobriety in an instant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It started with a healthy dose of moderation; however, all the while my interest in the things I love, like working on scooters and racing motorcycles, waned over time as my alcohol use inevitably increased. Eventually my drinking would make me so anxious and depressed that I could barely function, let alone think about participating in a high-risk, intensely focused activity like racing motorcycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did a few track days in 2025, showed up for the Legion\/MRA endurance round, and bought a cheap mini-bike to practice with at IMI. Even though I showed up, I was not as into it as I was in the years prior. I thought I was just getting older and over it. I maintained my weight, which was something I used to justify my drinking. “How bad could it be if I’m not gaining any weight?<\/em>” I asked myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By early 2026, I had lost interest in everything, and I knew I needed help yet again. My weight went from 170 pounds to 195 pounds. I was trying too hard to live in that grey, liminal space between mental and physical addiction. It needed to stop before everything started turning black like it did for me during the ’21\/22 winter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I planned for my “DAY 1” to include a visit to one of the local mental health clinics to seek treatment for alcoholism AKA Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), as it’s known clinically. I signed up for an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that I’ve been attending 2-3x a week ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IOP ends later this month, and my plan is to do three track days before heading off to High Plains Raceway for the MRA’s only “full course” round later this year. The goal is to ride well, use good judgement, avoid crashing, and, with any luck, beat my personal best of 1:57 and change. I’d love to put up a 1:55.XX on the club’s timing equipment. I love motorcycle racing just as much as I ever have, but I know now I have to be sober to truly enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was NOT at my best earlier this year, but I was very careful not to take anyone’s money for work promised in the future. There are still a handful of people I need to get back to about one thing or another. I’ve been making lists and working through them. If you’re one of those people, please reach out to me at (720) 634-6935<\/strong>. I will do what I can to get you back on my schedule ASAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why write about this in public? Why tell the whole world? I’ve always believed in radical transparency and telling the truth as I see it even when it hurts. My behavior as an alcoholic affects more people than just me. It affects my family, my friends, and my customers. I think people deserve explanations. That and maybe there’s someone out there who desperately needs help and doesn’t know how to get it or what their next move should be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that’s you, again feel free to reach out. My phone number is right here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As of today, I have 47 days of sobriety to my name for the second time in 4 years, and that means a lot to me. I still can’t sleep right, but I’m better about answering the phone and speaking to the people who call with courtesy, respect, and professionalism. That’s not something I can do when I’m drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes it’s still early days, but I have more experience with sobriety and recovery than I’ve ever had before. One step back, two forward. I’m looking forward to returning to the race track and racing. I know from experience everything will keep getting better as long as I stay sober, and I’m really looking forward to the future, especially the future where I fall asleep easily and stay asleep for a good 6-7 hours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, the best way to get on my schedule is to book online<\/a>. I’ve been really good about confirming or declining appointments soon after your requests arrive. If you would rather call or text, know that I’m getting better about answering and returning calls too, but I am far from perfect, which should be obvious at this point. The number you’re looking for, again, is (720) 634-6935<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you made it this far, help to keep me accountable by asking me if I’m still sober when you call or book online, and I’ll knock $15 off my hourly rate just for you. You can also ask me in person when I show up, that works too. I intend for my answer to be a resounding “Hell yeah I am<\/em>” from now on, going forward forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading! It means a lot to me! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scooter and motorcycle mechanic. Motorcyclist and moto enthusiast (that includes scooters!) Motorcycle racer. I am also an alcoholic. I’ve been into drinking for as long as I’ve been into motorcycles, maybe even longer. Drinking used to be so much fun, …<\/p>\n

Hi! My Name’s Aston, and I am a…<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-good-news","category-racing","category-the-passion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3041,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions\/3041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}