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The first Motorcycle Clubs were founded in the late 1940’s by veterans returning from World War II. They were men who had been in combat. They had seen things and done things and experienced things that only other veterans understood. Those listening in from the outside could hear the stories, picture the images, and maybe catch some vague glimpse of emotion from these men. Those listening from the outside, however, could not in the fullest sense share the experience these men had. Only other veterans could do that.

These Motorcycle Clubs were founded by veterans who had tasted the thrill and horror of combat. They had something of a wild side, which was bred into them through their military training and experiences in war. It was hard for them to return to the mundane after what they had gone through. They needed something to fill that void of adrenaline rush that they had tasted in combat. So they rode motorcycles, raced them, got together for parties and weekend runs. They just wanted to be with other men who had shared this common experience of war and wanted to have some fun.

The idea of the “outlaw” motorcycle club was not a tag that was put on these groups by the police. It was put on them by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA). These veteran bikers would participate in and hold races that were not sanctioned by the AMA. Admittedly, they tended to be a little more rowdy in their activities than the AMA preferred, but, hey, they had just fought in war and seen their friends die to preserve our freedom. Who could blame them for wanting to blow off some steam? Their parties consisted of riding motorcycles, racing motorcycles, and alcohol consumption. It was bound to get a little rowdy.

The AMA, who didn’t like the fact that these clubs would organize races outside of their “authority,” quipped that most motorcyclists were good, honest, law-abiding citizens, but it was the one percent of motorcyclists who weren’t that gave the rest a bad name. Thus the “1%ers” were born. The “Outlaws.” Hollywood, beginning with Marlon Brando and “The Wild One,” ran with it. The image of the American Biker as an outlaw, someone outside of main stream, run of the mill, white-picket-fence-and-car-in-the-garage-America was born. And these veteran bikers loved it.

Society saw a ragtag band of bearded, unbathed, and uncouth men with bad manners and worse behavior. For the bikers, "the outlaw" meant freedom, the very thing they had fought and their brothers had died for. They became Robin Hood's fighting the oppressor; the Pirates sailing beyond the horizons; the Crusaders who would fight for freedom and wouldn't be bound by society's narrow limits and laws.

The original clubs were for men who had common experience surviving the horrors of war and earning the freedom just to have a good time. They got together with each other in that bond of brotherhood and had some fun. Nothing more.

That’s what New Breed Motorcycle Club means to me. I’m a prospect with New Breed Motorcycle Club, and I’m proud to be one. These men have invited me to get to know me, and let me get to know them, with the possibility that I can join them wearing the full patch someday. New Breed Motorcycle Club is a Clean and Sober Club, meaning that the members are in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. That’s why they came together in the first place. Recovery first.

One can understand recovery by thinking of it as a program of self-improvement, but don’t let that analogy diminish what recovery means. For those in recovery, self-improvement is not a hobby, or a book written in pop-psychology that people read, get a couple of good ideas on how to reorganize their cabinets since the last book they read, and then put on a shelf. For those in recovery from addiction, this self-improvement means life or death. If they stop their program of recovery, they will eventually die. In addiction, there is no sitting still and being satisfied. There is only the daily work of moving forward and getting better…or relapse to death. These men are together because they need each other to save each other’s lives. They support one another’s recovery.

This common experience of having survived the loss of nearly everything (including their lives) (and sometimes multiple times), has drawn them together into a brotherhood. Their recovery means putting each other first. The reason they are club is because it gives them some ability to guard who comes into their brotherhood. They will only allow in and tolerate those who will participate in their recovery with them.

The men of New Breed MC have survived their addictions, bonded together to make sure they are all working their recoveries, and they want to have fun. They want to ride motorcycles, go to rallies, participate in activities, and do it clean and sober. They help each other do that. They help each other have clean and sober fun.

And I’m honored that they’ve invited me to be a part of it.

We are the “New Breed” of bikers, but really, our story isn’t that different than the story of those who have gone before us.

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