Fall Leaf Ride

Another Fall Leaf Ride under our belt. Another great riding weekend. Great weather, a little fog on the outset but was dry. Of course the ride home yesterday was a bit windy, but also dry!
The colors were top notch this year, the leaves were a bit dry in some areas but when the sun came out those colors brightened up a bit.

Total of 880 miles this weekend, on our way to 2 MILLION MILES!!! We got a couple more ABCs points including Missouri, got an A county but missed the S county.




On the ride up we did part of the Talimina higway but somehow missed the group picture. Saturday was a ride up to Pig Trail HD, then 5 of us, Tee and Carla, Buffy, Darlene and myself took off. Through Eureka Springs, down 21, 16 and finally onto 23, the "Pig Trail" itself. Unfortunately it was getting dark along the Pig Trail as we were riding so probably didn't enjoy it as much as we could have but it made for a unique experience with the dusk conditions.

Sunday was pretty much a straight shot home, but it was windy! I am not sure of our count of motorcycles or participants. We supposedly had 50 rooms booked at the hotel. That typically translates to at least 1 bike per room.

This trip had 3 breakdowns that we know about, 2 flats and a stator so nothing serious, thankfully. Of course I had a personal loss, due to stupidity. I am now sans iPod as I left it on my bike Saturday night and lo and behold it was gone Sunday AM.

Weekend Report - late

oops have been meaning to post just got side-tracked I guess. Was a very busy weekend.

Friday night we went to the Nascar Craftsman Truck series race. We hung out with Brenda and Charles and crew. Lots of fun, very exciting race, lots of wrecks, actually from that perspective one of the better races we have seen. Apparently it stayed that way through the weekend, at least on Sunday. The start and end of the Craftsman race had back to back accidents, and pretty significant at that with a red flag late in the race.

Saturday was the chapter meeting, annual Long Flyer check in. I logged over 18400 miles and Darlene over 15000 miles in the last riding season. After the meeting and pictures, we went on a ride to get a couple of more ABCs points. Buffy rode with us and is apparently addicted now!


Sunday was the Teddy Bear ride from Mckinney to Plano, it was a great day for a ride, we had quite a few Eagles in attendance and overall there was approx 1500 bikes.







Oh this weekend is the Fall Leaf ride, the weather is looking good and has been changing slightly, is likely to be warm... may get some rain on return trip Sunday.

ABC's of Touring

Was this another lost weekend? Not really but didn't achieve a lot around the house as we focused on putting on miles and getting ABC points. We did a great job of both! We put on 660 miles this weekend, 454 on Saturday and 206 yesterday. I dont know for sure but we must have gotten around 30 points over the weekend.

We went to Uncertain, TX, then crossed over into Louisiana and up to Arkansas. Another new state for my chart. Saturday ended up being a 12 hour day due to all the stops. Its an timeconsuming process. I think we should both be able to get 46+ points. We are close and have till the end of the year.

Saturday night we got stuck on the highway for 30 minutes or so behind a major wreck on 121. I couldn't find any news reports but it probably involved a fatality. There were at least 3 vehicles involved and one was tore up very badly.

I also turned over 25K miles so I can apply for that milestone patch. woo hoo!

Weekend Miles

Its getting close to our club year end. We turn in our miles at the Nov 3 chapter meeting meeting. I have exceeded my personal milage goal, Darlene is wanting to hit 15K and right now she is about 800 miles shy. We put about 200 on this weekend, we went for a little ride late Saturday afternoon then had the progressive dinner ride on Sunday. Darlene didn't ride the first leg as she was helping Buffy at the first stop. It was a great weekend for riding, although a bit windy on Sunday.

Saturday did a bit more cleanup, laid some sod so we can hopefully pass the final pool inspection, finished the street side fence and planted the rest of the greenery we bought. Still trying to plan out the final layout of the backyard. We need a shed and its going to take up some room.

Sat night on our ride, I figured it was a good a time as any, since it seems there really is no better time than any other. All my planning was falling through, Darlene has been sick for well over a month. So, at least we were on the bikes and having fun with something we share. Of course even those plans had to be changed mid ride as we cut short our final destination although we really didn't have a destination. But anyway long story short, Darlene's ring finger is heavier and no longer barren as she said yes.

Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

Doesn't it just seem so?

This weekend, Sunday actually, we are having a progressive dinner ride and poker run. Should be fun. I think we will have a good turn out, weather is supposed to be great and its a mid-day run. I just hope everyone's homes have plenty of facilities...

New Tire

Had to get some work done on the bike on Saturday. There is a known issue with the front motor mount and I had to get it replaced under warranty as it was shredded. I noticed it before the AR trip but felt it would be ok for that trip, but I didn't want it to go much longer.
There was a lunch ride that day and I figured I could get the work done and join that. Of course the eagle-eyed service tech noticed my rear tire was soon due to be changed. I had been hoping to keep it on for a while longer and it did have some more miles, but I don't know if it would have been smart to go on the Leaf Ride in November with that tire so I got it changed. That took longer than I thought so I was unable to catch up to the group.
I did a little ride around looking for a good place for photos, I may have found one in downtown Pilot Point. I took a couple of shots will have to look at them. I wanted to stay a bit west for the sake of Fran and Marybeth for thier christmas pics but unless they have a recommendation I'll have to come up with something.

Riding season is drawing to a close (AE) so we are getting all our pics and mileage in order.

Beach Trip

The boys had Monday off from school, so we took a short family vacation down to Port Aransas this weekend. It ended up being quite an eventful trip!

Its about 420 miles so we left early Saturday morning and arrived about 2:30 pm after a short delay at the ferry. By the time we got settled and down to the beach it was after 4:00. We had just gotten into the water when Ryan let out a bit of a shriek with Marc beside him. I was in the water and about 12-15 feet away was a large fin! Ryan thought it was a shark and Marc didn't know what was going on, but it was quickly obvious that it was a 5-6ft porpoise just playing around feeding on the small fish. We hung out and watched the porpoise for a bit as it moved away. It never got that close again but was in the general area. A bit later we saw some other kids get even more freaked out as they all left the water as they were convinced it was a shark!
We also took a drive for several miles along the beach road as Darlene hadn't done that in Texas before.

The waves were ok but small. We were able to boogie board a bit and we picked up a couple of more boards for Sunday.

On Sunday we got up early and after breakfast and a short tour of Port A we headed to Mustang Island State Park. It was probably no later than 10 am when we got there and pretty much stayed there all day. We made some sand castles, ate some food, had the beach pretty much to ourselves. We had a couple of small jellyfish stings, maybe even just some seaweed. It was getting later in the day, we were going to start winding down sooner than later when Ryan freaked out and hopped out of the surf in absolute pain. He was in bad shape holding his foot up. We looked at there was quite a bit of blood and he said he walked on something and it stung him. The pain was getting worse so I ran him up to the ranger station and they said it was likely a stingray sting and to take him to ER so that was about 3:30.

Sure enough he had been stung by a sting ray, one of 1500-3000 such injuries per year. The doctor had treated 3 that day, all to "foreigners". Basically you have to immerse the wound in hot water, over 103F to neutralize or deactivate the toxins. We on the other hand had put ice on it! No wonder he was in so much pain.

I read a bit about stingrays today online, I didn't realize it was as painful as that.

Anyway yesterday was another 8 hour travel day home. Ryan is hobbling a bit as his wound is right on the bottom of his foot.

Great Weekend!

Well, survived another weekend! Actually I shouldn't kid about that but it was another full weekend. I left Friday at noon to help map out the Fall Leaf ride and got home Sunday afternoon with 985 miles on the odometer. Darlene had a busy weekend, besides trying to recover from her respitory problems, her and Ryan went to the football game Friday night then she went on the Girls weekend ride, the LOH LOH party. She beat me home by a couple of hours but didn't have as far to ride.

Our ride took some new roads for the Fall ride and I guess that is why they do the pre-rides. The fall ride is one of the larger chapter rides and we are expecting upwards of 60 bikes this year. New location, two nights in Ft Smith AR, instead of one night in Mena, and one night in Hot Springs.

First stop in OK was a problem, not enough gas pumps and certainly not enough toilets. The three gas stations in Tishamingo each only had one toilet, not even a mens and ladies rooms.

We lost Cowboy briefly at this stop, Ray Caul received a police escort back to our pod, and Marv somehow passed us as we went to the third station. Onwards to the lunch spot, where we had lunch last year, and lo and behold they had decided to shut the doors.... There was a sign announcing a new name, but no other information. Fortunately there was another restaurant in town that should be able to accomodate, however the parking was not great.

Talimina highway. Great weather, for a change.. and no traffic. Awesome ride. We only went half way then headed north on.... some state road. Finally got into Ft Smith around 8 pm then on to the restaurant. In bed by 10:30, or at least some of us were, myself included.

Morning came too early for some, but not all. Barnes had three routes mapped out, we decided on the mid lenght ride as that was the only one that went to the Pig Trail dealership.

More great roads, with terrible infrastructure for a large group. One stop even had an outhouse.... not gonna happen. Some some creative planning still to occur. Some ideas though, maybe multiple routes with warnings..

Only incident happened on this leg as Matt had a starter problem. He bump started and we got to the dealership. Very great service later, was only a bolt missing, that also provided the ground. We all met up with Rod Dean who none of us have seen since he left AE. He was very happy to see us all and we now have a lunch spot as the owner of the dealership commited to hooking us up for lunch, no doubt he will sell a few t-shirts!

Back to the hotel and a couple of miles before we arrived we had a chance to clean out the carbon so to speak. Bobby was riding the Joker bike and when he cracked the throttle, that thing barked and took off... nuff said right here but sufficiently high speeds were obtained.

This time I was in the some who decided to stay late. I got up at 8 am, on 4 hours sleep... Great ride home, did the other half of Talimina, not quite as good an experience as the trip up but fun nonetheless. And best of that, some great rides in north east Texas that I was unaware of.

LOH LOH / Fall Pre-Ride

Busy weekend coming up. I'm going to Ft Smith AR with the road captains on the Fall Leaf ride pre-ride. We are leaving Friday noon and will return Sunday. It should be pretty aggressive riding with these guys and not a lot of delays at gas stops. Weather is forecast to be pretty good with chance of rain Sunday but hopefully we will be ahead of that. Should be another 1000 mile weekend, give or take.

Darlene is having their LOH LOH all girls weekend, tagging on the Saturday lunch ride. They have a large group of the ladies and should have a great time at an East Texas "resort". Darlene has planned this one out and should be quite successful, the only thing out of her control is the timing of the lunch ride and the impact it will have on her agenda.

We are getting the pool plastered tomrrow and then filling with water if all goes per schedule. All things going well, we can probably be swimming late next week.

The AEHOG calendar year is drawing near, for the November chapter meeting its time to submit Lone Star Challenge (we have all 10 points, yah!) and the Long Flyer. I have just over 15K miles so have met my goal, although given the rides we did I'm surprised I didn't have more. Additionally I should turn 25K by the end of the year and get my HOG mileage.

Meers Burgers

Well this weekend we logged a relatively quick 556 miles. Saturday, quite early we met in Decatur at 8:00 am. We got there a bit early, in fact we were the 2nd and 3rd bikes there and the first bike was a new guy, so we were a bit concerned we had the right meeting place! We are never early.

Anyway we ended up with 21 bikes in 2 pods. I was tailing the second pod so had great view of all the bikes in front of me. The roads were nice, Meers is in a pretty nice and hilly part of OK, in the Wichata mountains. As we rounded the corner and crested a hill, there's a traffic jam in front of the restaurant. We arrived about 1:00 pm and had about a 45 minute wait before we got seated. Nothing around for miles but the restaurant is a destination. Supposedly the 8th best hamburgers in the US. They were very good. Meers is an old mining town and the restaurant has been around since 1901. http://www.meersstore.com/main.html




Several of the folks headed back home after lunch and a smaller group of us continued on Scenic 115 on to Quartz Mountain Resort in Lone Wolf. It was only about 80 miles and relatively uneventful ride. Our room was on the ground floor facing the lake with a patio door. When we opened the door there was a small snake and a small scorpion welcoming us!

Darlene came down with a bad cough so when we got up in the morning we took off early to get home. The drive out of the resort was great, through the grounds and along the lake. We saw 4 deer by the road and a bit further a flock of turkeys.

We got home just after noon.

Uncle?

I got a note from Annette yesterday that they had a new addition to the family. I guess that makes me an uncle again?

Well maybe not but its quite the addition. Dave bought a new Harley, looks like the Nightster. Congrats Dave, I know you will enjoy it. By the way, is it low enough Annette can ride it?

Rat in da kitchen

Well not really but in the AC unit. We were outside working on the fence when the upstairs unit came on and wham, wham, wham. the thing started making a racket. I was thinking oh no, I hate repairs!!!! I popped the breaker and went over to see what was going on. I was met with a horrific smell and obvious visual cues that a small animal had met its demise. Of course we can't just leave the poor thing there lest it really begin to stink, so I did the honorable thing and tore apart the unit to retrieve (what was left of) the carcass. It was actually a rat, and a fairly large one at that...

Gates done, final inspection can be done, keep fingers crossed.... After that plaster, and firing up the equipment.

Ride this weekend to Meers OK for lunch then on to Lone
Wolf to stay at the Quartz Mountain resort. Should be a nice area and if we get there early enough maybe some cool sights to see.

The gaming computer is coming along, a few hiccups along the way but its the first computer we (mostly Ryan) have built.

Work, work work work work

Pool is coming along, hopefully will be done in a couple of weeks dependant upon weather and who knows what else. Have started on the fence, I think its going to be a bigger, certainly more expensive project than I thought. Some more to do this weekend, get the gates up so that we can get final inspection.

Looking at ride calendar for rest of the year, there are only three big rides left, and one of them is after the Nov meeting, meaning after the Long Flyer turn in. So any miles will be in the next 6-8 weeks. Trip to Meers weekend after next will add a few miles but its not that far of a trip. Then the Ark Leaf Ride pre-ride will add some, likely about 1000. After the formal leaf ride in Nov will have to do another service. I just hope my tires get more mileage this time. That is one thing I haven't been impressed with, I can only get about 8000 miles on a rear tire.

Lets see, what else, oh yeah, we won our D league playoffs. Still in Semi's in C-league, tied 1-1. Next game Thursday night, will be a tough one. If we go, I'll miss the game next Tuesday night as we have tickets to the Henry Rollins spoken word gig.

Big Bend Trip pics

As a follow up to my yesterday's post, here are some trip pics that don't really show what a great ride, but hopefully do provide some sense.

Big Bend Trip Report

What a great trip. Texas continues to amaze and surprise me with great roads and sights. We traveled 1517 miles in 4 days. An early start Friday with us leaving the house about 5:45 am. We ended up in Ft Davis after miles and miles of West Texas travel, traveling a total of 551 miles that day. Those last 50 miles or so sure made the long trip enjoyable. We passed through Balmorhea State Park and along route 17 through the Davis Mountains. We had a couple of brief showers which actually made the trip that much more beautiful as we experienced not one, but three rainbows, one of which was incredibly brilliant. Of course once we landed at our hotel the skies really opened up, but even that was relatively short and the skies cleared up to a starlit night.

Saturday was a shorter and local day with the Big Bend Loop planned for Sunday. Darlene and I took off on our own, we went to get our Balmorhea point and went into the part to check out the scuba divers, who were of course, diving but we did chat with Karen and some others. One of that day’s highlights was our trip along 118 from I-10 back into Ft Davis which was a great road through the mountain range. We were going to continue on the shorter loop around Ft Davis, Alpine and Marfa, but on the way to Alpine we hit some rain and decided we’d done enough for the day and headed back. A 170 mile day, short but packed and once we got back to the hotel we did some work on the LOH yellow book. Saturday night several of the group went to the Ft Davis observatory for the star party and apparently had a great time.

Sunday was another long day, taking the long route and traveling about 480 miles to San Angelo, via Presidio and Terlingua, where we got out other challenge points. Presidio is a border town and the taking highway 17 / Hwy 67 down to it. We started the day with Breakfast at Indian Lodge before sunrise and had a great view of the sunrise. We even saw a mountain goat up on the side of the hill. Our ride down was incredible, some low fog in the fields, plenty of wildlife, I saw a couple of deer, several antelope and even saw a javelina, the first one I have seen, unfortunately he was heading away from me so did not see its ferocious head and teeth.

On Hwy 67 we passed through the ghost town of Shafter, a former mining community. I would have liked to have spent some time there, the road was very interesting as were the sights. A bit further we got into flat barren desert coming into Presidio. I think old cars go there to die….
Hwy 170, the River Road, what a great road, through the Big Bend State park. We passed those pesky Miata’s numerous times again. Why is it whenever we go on a ride we invariably meet up with some car club? We did not stop in Lajitas, an interesting town on the ride, but did get our challenge points both in Presidio and Terlingua. Next stop Alpine for lunch then on to San Angelo for the night. Hwy 17 was a more interesting ride than 118 into Alpine. We hit some more showers on this leg of the loop.

Monday Darlene and I headed home on our own, wanting to get back quickly. Of course it was very foggy, and I didn’t get good directions before we left so we “took a few extra minutes….” getting out of San Angelo. We had a bit of rain, with the constant threat so we had our rain gear on for a portion of the trip. About 318 miles and we were home just after 3:00 PM.

Big Bend and Beyond?

This weekend is our ride to Big Bend Country. It will be my first visit to that part of Texas. Its a bit of a hike, which is the main reason I've never been. We have +500 miles to travel on Friday to get to Ft Davis, near Balmorhea. There is a famed Texas swimming hole in the Balmorhea State Park. Some of the gang are bringing their scuba gear.

Its liable to be hot, however there are thunderstorms predicted throughout most of Texas for the next several days into next week. We will likely hit some rain and it may keep temperatures down somewhat, although it will increase the humidity.

Other points of interest will be the three remaining Lone Star Challenge points. Balmorhea State Park, Presidio and Terlingua. Presidio is very close to the Mexico border, very close.... Terlingua is a bit of a ghost town, a former mining community that is now a bit of a tourist destination on the outskirts of Big Bend National Park.

We will actual be in some of the older parts of Texas, Presidio was first settled by Spaniards in 1535. So there is a bit of history there.

Almost time to start packing. Need to load some more songs on my ipod for this trip I think!

20K service

Well, it was relatively painless, I have a couple of things left to do, lube cables, I think that may be all. Only one broken (overtorqued) bolt. Had to run to dealership to get that taken care of. Darlene got her fluids done same time. We did that Friday night on way to Last Call show and celebrating Buffy's birthday.

All in all a pretty busy weekend. Party Friday night, Saturday I finished my 20K, Darlene did some finish work on some of the renovations. I had a hockey game Saturday night, it was the 2nd game of the D first round playoffs. We ended up winning 4-3, after scoring late in the third. It was a closer game than it should have been. We outplayed them but made the typical mistakes that allowed them to stay in the game. But we won that series.

Sunday was a full day as well, we did some shopping, bought a water cooler, some more supplies to finish up some of more of the finish work, and we started on the fence. Bought the posts and supplies to install for the extension around the equipment. Last night we had fondue to celebrate the end of summer break.

Sliders recap

Good ride, we got caught in a very short torrential downpour. Just enough to get very wet. Round trip about 400 miles, with a straight shot home. I think it was hwy 174 that was a pretty good ride.

Krystals was the Sliders destination. I tell you what, those little burgers are pretty rank. Hopefully next year I will remember that and order something more palatable if that is possible. Actally the chicken ones weren't bad, I think real chick breast, compared to some Nasa Beef product.

Picked up some of my fluids to do my own 20K service. I am pulling my hair out (what's left of it) trying to find my manual. Getting frustrated....

Sliders

Time for the annual Sliders Ride. A spiritual journey for the ultimate belly bomber, also known as those tiny bite-sized hamburgers know to induce gastric discomfort. And of course to settle our stomachs after lunch, we will have supper at Buzzard Billy's, a Cajun buffet... Hmmm, I predict some "pit stops" on the way home Sunday.

Next weekend I plan on doing my 20K service at home, at least my fluids. Been doing my normal researching, and I think I'll go with Mobil 1 V-twin, maybe figure out how to get Amsoil for my next change after that. Am hoping the different fluids will lower the bike temp and shift a bit better.

Plumbing is in on the "big dig".

2007 Bug Run

Well this year's run had more bugs than last years, thats for sure. Another good run, we had 4 pods, I don't know how many bikes but there had to be 40 or so. Beautiful night, once it cooled down to the mid 90's! It was hot getting there, we left about 5:30 pm, it was probably about 101F at that point.

Ride was about 100 miles, over a couple of lakes. The bridge over Ray Roberts had a lot of bikes, we turned our high beams on for a few seconds, it was almost like riding in the snow! Final destination was the Flying Pig Roadhouse in Lake Dallas, so it wasn't too far a ride to home, but still never got home till after midnight. No prizes for either of us, just a good ride.

96 Degrees in the Shade

Real hot, in the shade... (Third World)

Well summer is finally here. The rains have stopped and anyday now, likely today, we may hit triple digits. I think yesterday, at the official heat detecting station at the DFW airport, it hit 99F.

Its the annual Bug Run tomorrow night. Last years run was practically bug free due to the drought. This year should be different, but the temps may keep the bugs down. There is certainly a lot more water around, both in the lakes and standing water.

The dig is coming along very well, at least on schedule. Moving faster than I expected actually. gotta post a couple of pics of the progress. Other housing projects are moving along at our typical pace. We are not contractors by any means and do have full time jobs you know!

Big Dig

Making some headway, have the first arch almost complete, the "kitchener" is nearing completion. The "Big Dig" is underway, there is now a large hole in the backyard. They should be inspecting the steel today hopefully then pouring the gunite. I'll have work to do after that.

Did finally get to do some riding this weekend. Saturday I went to Thurber with the group. Darlene stayed home as she had a busy weekend both work and personally. Put on about 300 miles on Saturday, its warmed up but it wasn't too bad. Hopefully for our Balmoreal ride at the end of the month it won't be too hot. While Darlene was at the LOH pool party I took a little ride northeast and found a cool little hole in the wall will have to check out further.

Departure

Not my usual trip report, in part because there's not a lot to report! AEHOG summer party tomorrow at Circle R ranch, we'll likely drive. Breakfast ride Sunday morning we may go on. We have 4 or 5 more overnighters for the remainder of the year, including 2 long ones, Labor Day will be the Big Bend trip, and later in the fall will be the leaf ride to Arkansas.

So what to talk about, well in personal biking news, Darlene was searching for the women and Harleys issue in DMN that featured her interview and my picture, and her search returned at least a handful of references where the article appeared in other newspapers and industry web sites and blogs. So that was pretty cool!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/062407dnbuswomenbikers.2a69417.html

Other than that it was a rather newsworthy week if you're into celebrities behaving badly! Micheal Vick entered his not guilty plea in federal court related to his dogfighting charges. Lindsay Lohan fell off the wagon and ended up in jail on DUI and possible cocaine possession charges. And of course in the epitomy of white trash, Britney Spears had another public and well publicized meltdown at OK! magazine. Thank goodness for entertainers!

Black Widow

Very few miles this weekend as it was another busy one on the home front. It was Marc's 13th birthday this weekend so we had a little party on Saturday night. I think this is the first time we had young girls in the house. Scary stuff when there are also young boys going through life changes! All went well, the girls went home about 10PM and things settled down slightly. Marc got a new left-handed guitar for his birthday.

We had our chapter meeting on Saturday, that is all the riding I got in this weekend. Spent my HOG bucks on a smooth fuel door release and installed it on Sunday. No more searching for my key at fuel stops!

Sunday spent quite a bit of time outside trying to get the backyard in shape. Had to tear apart the lawnmower again and clean out the carb. I think the gas I have is a bit old and is probably gumming up the carb. Next it was on to the storage unit. Make some room in it to put the outdoor stuff in it until I build a shed. So off to the unit to get the Christmas decorations.

Well I opened the unit and about head height was a spider. It had built a web/nest in the chair and was a bit of a unique looking spider. I tried to get a good look at it but there's not a lot of light in the unit. So trying to throw it out into the hallway, I instead knocked it down into the boxes.... Oops. I was thinking it looked a lot like a black widow, although I don't believe that I have positively seen one before.

So carefully I picked up each box and lo and behold there was the spider, a bit stunned, I must have given it a bit of a knock.
I was able to put it out in the hall for a better look and sure enough, the little red hourglass. Yes it was a black widow. Note, key word on was....

Renovations

We had great weather this past weekend, but too many projects on the go to go riding. The "kitchener" is nearing completion, its looking pretty good. The backyard is looking different as well as we prepare for the "big dig". We also hung a couple of ceiling fans and did some browsing.

Tonight is some riding skills practice, I think I'm going to try to do that if the weather holds.

Weather Report

Well, it looks like the weather is breaking a bit. This past weekend we actaully had an opportunity to ride. We had a short run up to Cumberland Presbyterian Children's Home, which is our sponsor charity, then a short ride to Decatur for Lunch. We presented the home with school supplies. This Wednesday for our dinner ride its back to the home where we will present our check from the Pass The Pigs event and the kids will provide us with barbeque. Hopefully the rain will hold off. Its supposed to rain in the am I believe.

This Saturday is the Lunch ride to Hico. That was my first group ride last year.

We have had a lot of rainfall so far this year in North Texas. We were about .25 in short of a record for June (at DFW) although some communities had much more rainfall. Most of the area lakes are full or over-capacity, well all of them actually, and many have parks and access roads closed. The water will remain high for a while, especially if we keep getting rain.

Ryan went out to check out Texoma, the Dennison Dam, where for only the third time in its history its breached its spillway. Apparently it was a bit anticlimatic as its only breached by about .10 of an inch, but we had some pretty significant rainfall last night north of the lake so it may rise a bit.

Also on our ride on Saturday, we took 720 over Lewisville lake, it was in danger of being closed and in fact Saturday night, we had some rain and they did close the road due to water.

Sat night was Cowboy's 60th birthday. We went out for a while, it was in Justin so a bit of a hike, but a good time.

Updated States Visited list

I guess I can update my states visited graphic now!



create your own personalized map of the USA

BHR Day 1, June 23 – Decatur, TX to Raton, NM

We opened the Garage door at home at 5:30 to rain. Checking the radar, it was a small cell, but still, its wet. We put our rain gear on and headed out. It quickly ended with one other brief shower close to Denton, arrived at IHOP to meet up with everyone prior to 7 am.

On the road, ready for lunch at Western Sizzlin’ in Amarillo. Oops, its closed, who knew, fortunately there was a willing Texas Roadhouse right next door.

We continued our way through the Texas Panhandle and into New Mexico. We went by the Capulin Volcano on our way to Raton, NM. It was pretty cool to be in an area that had actual volcanic activity that you could tell by the terrain.
Arriving in Raton and low and behold, we were met with cold beer courtesy of Paul and Lisa, hooray beer!

Approximately 568 miles.

BHR Day 2, June 24 – Raton, NM to Winter Park, CO

Sunday, actually a pretty good day. Trip up through Colorado. What beautiful country, trout fisherman everywhere and I mean everywhere. Glen saw a red fox early in am in parking lot, we passed one running alongside the road by some lake. Our original route plan is changed as we take a detour to Bishop Castle in Colorado. It’s a medival castle that has been contructed by a single man, with the only additional funding of donations.

We also did Berthoud pass, which was over 11,000 feet.
We see a few antelope as well, I thought I may have seen some elk but more than likely it was antelope. Lisa has a deer jump over her while riding.
We hit a snag, an accident in the tunnel on I-70. We don’t need to go that far, so we decide to take the “fast lane”. Twenty three bikes on the shoulder of the highway, slowly passing cars that are barely moving, to our exit, back on the road again and on to Winter Park, CO.

Supper was at probably the nicest restaurant of our trip. Good meal and lo and behold we had a mystery dinner santa who picked up the tab for the group, what a pleasant surprise

Approx 330 miles, that is a guess as our route changed for Bishop Castle detour (worth it!)

BHR Day 3, June 25 – Winter Park, CO to Deadwood, SD

Long trip and long day. We did Rocky Mountain National Park in the morning, it took about 3 hours to travel the 60 or so miles. Darlene was suffering from altitude sickness, did not get much sleep at all the night before and was struggling on top of the mountain. On our way into the park I saw a cow moose and two calves and we saw a lot of elk on the top of the mountain. We hit 12,200 feet. It was quite cool on the mountain and there was snow still around. At a stop on top, we took a group picture. We saw a lot of other bikers, and several of them did not appear to be prepared for the change in temperature. No helmets, sleeveless shirts. They would have definitely been cold since it was likely 50F or less at the top. There was a vintage Ford group doing the mountain as well. Actually there was a lot of them and we passed several of them for several miles. Some of the cars seemed to be struggling a bit with the grade.

Back on flatland the temperatures warmed up quite a bit. We stop in Loveland at the Thunder Mountain Harley dealership, they are getting ready for the Thunder in the Rockies rally and its busy. Eat lunch in the conveniently placed Hooters restaurant. Boy will they have a busy week!

After lunch and in Wyoming, on I-25 the temperatures reached about 100F. Combined with the altitude sickness and high temps some of the riders struggled. Along the way (hwy 18?) we hit some road maintenance and a slight delay. Last stop before Deadwood some of our party desperately needed a break. Back on track and into South Dakota and major change of scenery. Trees, hills, and now after 6PM so it starts to cool off. A lot of deer on the side of the road, eyes wide open! Five bucks, antlers all in velvet. Five does, up and down the side hill, a couple of singles in the ditches. Finally got into Deadwood, cool town, and settled into the hotel about 7:30 PM. Darlene is exhausted, grabbed a sandwich and ate in the hotel room asleep by 9:30 at latest.

Approx 460 miles

BHR Day 4, June 26 – Black Hills National Forest.

Our shortest ride of the trip, but by no means did it make the day (much) shorter. Yes we probably got back to the hotel by 5:00 pm.

Incredible roads today, definitely the most challenging I have ridden. In particular Iron Mountain Road, and Needles Highway. First destination was Mount Rushmore. Very impressive. On Iron Mountain road we went through several tunnels including some that opened to Mount Rushmore. Into Custer State Park where we ate lunch. Herds of wild buffalo, a couple of deer, some wild burros and even some mountain sheep. After lunch we did Needles Highway and stopped at one location for some pictures. We caught up to the smoke from the fires at the south end of the state park and it was getting fairly thick. More tight roads, tunnels and buses almost getting stuck in tunnels.

We stopped in Hill City to visit the HD store then on to the Crazy House monument. Actually I think Hill City was after the monument, no matter.

I don't know, the number 153 miles sticks in my head, was definately the shortest distance and the shortest day.

BHR Day 5, June 27 – North Dakota Border

Another beautiful day. Today we went through Spearfish Canyon. Another great road. Hit a bit of traffic to slow us down as the turns were a bit easier to take than some of the other roads. Gorgeous road. On to Devils Tower. Another very impressive landmark. I can only imagine back in the day what these landmarks meant to travelers and the native American population. We ate at Belle Fourche, where they had had 4 inch hailstones the day we arrived in Deadwood. Some of the group departed on to Sturgis at this point and the North Dakota Dozen continued on to the North Dakota border. Quick stop for ABCs touring pic and a turnabout in ND. On to Sturgis, past the Broken Spoke saloon, Crazy Horse saloon, into the dealership for a quick trip and back to Deadwood for our last night. Time to back up everything again…

Approx 360 miles

BHR Day 6, June 28 – Deadwood, SD to North Platte, NE

The beginning of the end. Seems weird that we are heading south to go North… Hit the road for a quick stop at Rapid City Harley Dealership, which is definitely gearing up for the Sturgis/Black Hills rally.

On to Wall to the Wall Drug store, decisions do we take a short break or keep riding. We decide to take a short break which of course extends slightly. Oops, ride into Darlene’s bike upon exiting the parking lot. Minor damage, broke a signal light cover.

Enter the Badlands National Park. We are behind schedule and don’t take any stops in the incredible terrain with alien landscape. Thankfully we have lots of passengers taking pictures.

We stop in Murdo for lunch. Take a quick tour of the town as the restaurant is marked differently than its name. Murdo is definitely a stopping point. Several restaurants, motels and other attractions that are mostly car related.

Unfortunately we enter back into Central time and lose another hour. Our destination of the North Platte Harley Dealer prior to closing is in jeopardy and in fact we get in well after closing. Oh yes, watch out for unmarked curbs. They snagged both myself and Carla’s kickstand springs.

Nebraska isn’t as bad as I expected, actually on Hwy 83 we traveled through a wildlife preserve (waterfowl) and the terrain was sandy and rolling.
Supper was a lousy Mexican restaurant. Very disappointing as we were all looking forward to it.

Approx 405 miles.

BHR Day 7, June 29 – North Platte, NE to Woodward, OK

Not a lot exciting, just a bunch of miles. A late start since we hit the North Platte Dealership when they opened at 8:30 am. Our trip took several changes to original plan, not the route but the stops. No gas needed in Norton, oops. We have a couple of close calls, low gas indicator and reserve, but everyone makes it to a gas stop. Mike Taylor struggles with stomach issues and paints new lines on the road. We stop at Dodge City HD. Kansas is flat and boring….

We arrive in Woodward in what appears to be Truck Stop hell with no restaurants in stumbling distance. The Pizza and Beer santa shows up and we all have a great final night together.

Approx 400 miles

BHR Day 8, June 30 – Woodward, OK to home!

Wake up at 5:30 am to… Rain. Figures, we are back in our neck of the woods. Hit the road at 6:15 am, another long day and looking longer with the rain. We ride about 2 hours in light rain/mist before the skies ease up a bit and the road dries out. By the time we hit I-40, we decide to take the interstates. On to OKC, to I-35 and south. Crazy roads these interstates. 75MPH, high winds, traffic, ugly stuff, but gets you there quick. We stop at the Red River to get our TX and OK ABC points. Not the safest stops we have done. Lots of water in the Red River. More than I have ever seen. Its hot and we still have our raingear as the skies kept threatening, finally on 380 we stop to disrobe. Lots of water. Greenbelt park is closed, the parking lot is flooded and the water is almost to the highway. We get home about 2:30 and about 30 minutes later we have a thunderstorm, but we are inside and dry!

Approx 340 miles

BHR Summary

Incredible trip. These notes don’t come close to describing it. Each day was long but we looked forward to each next day. We roomed with Kim and Glen Christopher and had a great time. Great friends, great roads and great times. Minimal bike issues. Darlene’s taillight, Carla and my kickstand springs, Lynn’s battery and stator. I think that was it, except for a couple of saddlebag issues. 3005 miles door to door. 526 pictures. Countless gallons of gas, bottles of water, skittles and sunflower seeds and Red Bulls.

Safe and Sound at Home

nuff said.. Actually too tired to write anything, will have to spend some time organizing before I post.

Friday

All downhill from now. Great weather to date. Tomorrow is Saturday. We are in Woodward, OK. Likely rain on way home tomorrow.

Tuesday - Day 4

Well, Day 4 already.

Missed a couple of postings, obviously. so this is a bit of a placeholder Will fill in the blanks later.

we are in Deadwood. to get here yesterday we did go through the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Pretty cool roads today, lots of wildlife, Mount Rushmore....

BHR - Day 1

We arrived in Raton NM about 6 pm. I think we have close to 30 bikes. 500+ miles, have to verify tomorrow. Great ride but long, New Mexico is beautiful Lots and lots of antelope

Countdown has begun!

Less than 48 hours to go.... We have to be in Decatur at 7 am on Saturday. Have been getting ready, have most of my clothes packed, I need to see what other bag I have to take. I'm pretty well at my capacity, but want a little more without overstuffing everything. I hope our trip is relatively dry, we have been having a lot of rain here in North Texas. Gainesville had over 8 inches and major flooding earlier this week. We did not get that brunt only about 1.5 inches. Rain or threat every day. As long as we get on the road dry I will be relatively happy!

Here is our high level plan.

Day 1(512 miles)
Decatur to Raton, New Mexico. Basically 287 over to Amarillo, then 385/87 to Raton.

Day 2 (317 miles) the scenery begins to improve!
I-25 North to Walsenburg
Hwy 69 through Westcliffe to Hwy 50 (The Sangre de Christo mountain range will be on our left as we ride this valley)
Hwy 50 west to Hwy 285
Hwy 285 north to Leadville (Highest in elevation incorporated town in the United States)
Hwy 91 from Leadville over Fremont Pass (11,313 feet)
Pickup I-70 at Wheeler Junction and head back east through the Eisenhower Tunnel
Pickup US40 at Empire and take it over Berthoud Pass (11,307 feet)
That will bring us into Winter Park where we spend the night.

Day 3: (459 miles)
Follow US40 to Granby and pickup Hwy 34.
Hwy 34 goes through Rocky Mountain National Park. It is also called Trail Ridge Road. We will go over several passes. The highest one being a little over 12,000 feet.

At Loveland we will pick up I-25 and head North
We will stay on I-25 all the way to Ammon where we pick up Hwy 18, Hwy 18 to Hwy 85, Hwy 85 to Deadwood

Day 4: (153 miles)
Mount Rushmore, the Iron Mountain Road (famous for its pig tail curves), Needles Highway, lunch in Hill City and Crazy Horse Monument in the afternoon.
We will be in Custer State Park. It is a state park of South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore is a National Monument vs. a National Park.

Day 5 (373 miles)
Spearfish Canyon, Devil’s Tower and run up to North Dakota for those that want to say they have ridden in that state. The plan is just to cross the border and come back down to Sturgis. Visit Sturgis HD on the way back to Deadwood

Day 6 (402 miles)
Depart Deadwood, stop at Rapid City HD, stop at Wall Drug Store, ride through Badlands National Park, then start heading south through Nebraska to North Platte.

Day 7 (381 miles)
North Platte to Woodward, OK

Day 8 (485 miles)
Woodward, OK to home via Turkey, TX for those that need the LSC point. This can be shorter if you don’t need the LSC point in Turkey

BHR preparations

No riding to speak of this weekend. Took bike to the shop, had to get two new tires and oil change. Probably could have went a few more miles, although there wasn't a lot left on the rear tire and with over 3000 miles expected before the end of the month, it had to be done. Also picked up a fairing bag that everyone seems to like so much for all the small miscellaneous stuff that needs a place to go.

The BHR, or Black Hills Rendevous, will take us through 9 states including Texas. In order, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and back home. We will be gone Saturday through Saturday. It will be a long ride through incredible scenery.

We also did some work on the house this weekend, working in the game room to install a fridge/microwave built in.

States ridden map

Well I found this link to create a map of states I have ridden. Not many so far but after this month it will change quite a bit.



create your own personalized map of the USA