A Cyclist's Compass

At the first mention of the word 'tattoo', most people ask why. Well, I had a bad ass design, the money, and the time. Other than that, YOLO. Maybe I wanted one because single speeders are known for having them, as are sailors, but I don't think that's it. Mostly I felt I would've regretted not getting it. It perfectly symbolizes my passions in life: cycling, sailing, travelling. Even if those passions fade and something else takes their place, it will be a reminder of a great time in my life.

I started the design with a compass rose but wanted it to be unique. This was tough to do, since there are thousands of variations of the compass rose. Eventually, I came up with the chainring idea based off the Race Face single speed ring on my mountain bike. To my surprise I could only find one other drawing with the same idea, and it didn't look even remotely close. I found the traditional north star to be plain and a little boring and came across this variation after searching around on Google Images. I played around with the shading some, but most of that credit goes to my tattoo artist. I think it came out pretty sweet.

The pain really wasn't too bad. For the most part, it was like a fingernail scratching me but sharper and hotter. It was a little worse where my shoulder blade sticks up and in the southeast corner where the skin is a little more tender. What really hurt was the last 15 minutes when he was going back over it filling in the light spots. Of course for a day or two afterwards it felt like a mix between sunburn and road rash. Then, it started to itch, and you're not allowed to scratch. That might've been the worst part.

Most likely this will be my only one. I can't think of anything else that I would want permanently on my body that's worth the pain. I can't wait to show it off though!