Headed out this past weekend for my
Dad's B'day in AR .... we had a great time together.
But as the weekend approached, Do I Ride(?) .. or .. Do I Drive(?)... .. that was the big question. I kept checking weather multiple times a day during the week ...and finally decided .. it was a 2 wheel weekend! Temps were forecast to be low; I can handle that. Lil' Rain was forecast. I can handle that. But, I had zero desire to deal with both .. on Day 1 and 2 and 3 all together! I own a vehicle with 4 wheels for a reason; comfort! Something about being in a near freezing environment .. that 's also wet outside... makes me opt for 'fair weather rider' title as necessary? . Two years ago I rode into Sturgis unprepared for a temp drop and froze my ass off; almost stopped for the night vs finishing the trip that day. Last year I rode back from the Hill Country when it was 34 that morning, not quite prepared. My legs, hands and body temp took a hit for the first two hours. This past March on a run to MS, my feet and fingers took a hit. Wrong gloves ... no Hwy Bar Covers ... lack of neck warmer. So, I was determined if I was riding this time with less than perfect temps, I was going to be prepared.. However, Mother Nature decided to play somewhat nice; the biggest hit I took was a constant cool temp that lowered my overall body temp. Still if one chooses to cage it , sometimes its tempting ...seems better ... in a vehicle blowing heat out the vents, defrosters .. heated seats and SXM Satellite Stereo? I'm a prick and point that out sometimes when folks are bragging about the snowstorm they rode through .. or the six hours of rain ... ..then bust my balls for caging. Really? Do they not realize my seats have lumbar support? That supple leather seats feel niiiiiice? I've already paid for the SXM? My bike is dry, clean and loves me in the enclosed trailer.... but .... I digress
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| Bundled Up |
Friday Morning I'm up at 0530 (a bad habit of mine) and sipping hot Java, slowly getting ready to head out. This is a quick 72 hour trip so only one saddle bag worth of clothing, other saddle bag is loaded with rain gear and winter gear ( gloves, etc) and not much else is needed. I'm leaving the laptop at home after prepping some work issues the night before, so I can 'unplug' from the corporate world and enjoy the ride. Krome is parked in the garage nice and 'warm' so it's just a quick back out of the doorway, some kisses w/ mama, and I'm headed down the road to top off the tank. As soon as I hit the main blacktop I realize this is going to be a chilly one; it's in the upper 30s, no chaps, nothing to keep my neck and face warm, but off we go! Ten miles later, topping off the tank in Greenville, I dig out a thick Neck/Face protector in addition to a thin one I sometimes wear, don 'em and ... I'm off!
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| Brrrr |
I'm not a fan of the Interstate, preferring to take 2 laners whenever possible but I've got a lil over 400 miles to do today and I don't want to spend all day getting it done. So, I drop onto I-30, set the cruise 10 over and I'm off. Temp is now at 40 and slowly climbing. It takes its' time rising throughout the day, finally up to about 57 in Little Rock before it decides to start dropping as I continue North to Pocahontas. By the time I pull in to the garage to get it parked it's back in the 40s and I'm friggin chilled to the bone. The problem wasn't so much the cold, but that I never warmed up. Sooner or later, you lose your body heat. I could have done a long coffee shop stop and probably helped things along, but like I'd mentioned earlier; I wanted to get there sooner than later. And scooting along at a high rate of speed wasn't making things any better? :) There is one lesson learned here. Had I worn a heated vest, and possibly heated gloves, I'd have kept my core warm. So, note to self for the next adventure!
Saturday Morning Dad and I are headed to his MC Clubhouse to meet up with his crew, then over to Paragould for a Veterans Day Parade. Dad is a lil' hesitant since it's 30 degrees as we are getting ready to leave. After the previous day, I'm not concerned about it since this is only going to be a 40 mile ride and we'll have opportunities to warm up. Still this is Dad's first time at this temp so I get it. We both bundle up, and hit the road. This is the first time Dad and I have ridden in about a year; feels good! I'm wishing we'd taken some pics for memento's or I had a GoPro mounted, but neither would
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| Parade Exit |
happen. It's his
80th B'day and I'm simply just glad to be here, celebrating this day with him. Less than an hour later, we roll up to the their Clubhouse and I get to meet most of the folks; good people! We've got a quick turnaround and head out on bikes for one of the members to pick up a classic car for the parade and then down to Paragould to assemble. I'm surprised how small the overall parade is, but it's special none the less. Turns out on alternating years, the school band and others , head over to Jonesboro to participate in their parade, so this is the off year. Again, I'm wishing I had a GoPro since we were at the back and we had two blocks of ROTC folks, car clubs, bikes clubs, Fire Department and Police Department folks in front of us.Well, we roll in and the work begins. We're moving just slow enough where I've got to get the feet on the ground 80% of the time. After several blocks of this, you begin to realize this 'walking' the bike stuff is brutal on the knees and hips! But, it was obviously all worth it. Everyone was waving flags and a lot of "Thank you for your Service" cheers. Hopefully they all enjoyed it, as much as the participants did? This was my first parade to be in, ever. Loved it.
After the Parade we rolled back up to the MC Clubhouse for a setup they do every year. They put together an event where all Vets are welcome for Food and Drinks, no cost. This years was Catfish, fries and Hush Puppies; and they was good! If I wasn't trying to shrink my belly, I'd have gone back for seconds! While eating I had time to look around me and soak in the clubhouse. I always love being in places like this that reek of Patriotism. Of lot of signs and flags and pics adorn the walls with military themes. There are glass cases with military items from Viet Nam. I''m sitting in a mini museum surrounded by vets and patriots and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right then. Over on the side is a full bar, with a donation system to ensure compliance with state laws; needless to say I felt the need to donate to the cause and damned them Bloody Marys were good! Towards the end of the event they had an auction; they had one USAF related item on the table so you know I had to do it. The room was loaded with jar heads and ground pounders and a few squids. Pretty sure I was the only fly boy; I've got a USAF blanket now to keep me warm at night on the recliner. By the time we left a few hours later I got a chance to talk to most of the MC members; great bunch of guys and has me looking forward to my next trip back that way which I'll ensure has me there on a Friday for their club's family night!
Had some good quality time with Dad Friday night and Saturday .. but . .time to hit the road. Good news is, the temps are in the 50s and rising today. After Friday's ride, this is going to be a cake walk. After hugs and goodbyes I'm off and headed South. It's 55 deg and feels 'warm'. By the time I hit Little Rock the temp hits 70 and I've got clear skies for the first time all weekend. Some of my IIRA family knows I'm headed down I-30 and reached out to me, so I'm scooting on a schedule and keeping a good pace. Donnie and Jill Donihue are meeting me south of Hot Springs for a quick bite and to catch up. We had a great week down at
LSR the previous week so it seems somewhat surreal to be seeing them this day! Guess I was burning gas a lil' more than I thought because I got there
about 20 minutes early. No problem; gives me a chance to catch up with mama on the phone, current events and.... turns out to be a blessing. Donnie and Jill joined me soon enough and we're soon scheming about out next get together in the near future. I'm liking the details; I feel another epic weekend coming on. Soon! Well, I've still got another 200+ miles to go , so they kick me out of the booth, allow me a couple hugs and my ass is headed back down the road. No sooner have I gone fifteen miles I've got dark gray clouds ahead of me and I've got standing water on the shoulders of the road. Never occurred to me to check the weather since we had blue skies at the restaurant. It's about a hundred miles to the border so I get there quickly, knowing I may have to seek cover to put on some rain gear as necessary. I pulled up at the state line for some fuel, and had to navigate my way through ponds to get to the pumps. A quick check of the radar on my phones weather app points out that I was incredibly lucky the last 100 miles and I'd stay dry the next 100. A small storm system stretching out across most of the Interstate I'd just traveled was now just south of it and moved Southeast. Score! Top it off, drain the bladder, hot cup of java.. and .. I'm off! The good part of riding alone is you can zip through traffic easily, not worrying about the bike(s) behind you having room to follow. Feet on the hwy pegs, lean into the back rest and simply grab some throttle whenever you have an opening. As much as I hate the traffic, I was having a good time. Okay .. maybe I was a "notch" above 10 over the limit .. It's interesting how whatever speed you do for an extended time, becomes 'normal' and starts to feel 'slow'. So it creeps up and up and you realize your passing everyone .. and that a triple digit number may be hard to explain to Mr State Trooper ..so.. once in awhile you've got to back down and reset the baseline. In no time, I'm thirty minutes out from home so I jump off the Interstate and take an alternate path to get me away from all the semi trucks. It's dusk, the sun has given up most of it's light and my headlights are making this a breeze zipping along on the two lanes. Opposing traffic is easily seen up ahead I'm able to push it quickly. This seems easier than riding the same road in the daylight thanks to all the reflectors guiding my path, like an aircraft coming in for a landing.
Finally, I'm home. It's a perfect 62 degrees. Darkness is finally upon us. Roll Krome into the garage, grab my single bag of clothing ... and ...into the house for a hug from mama and some puppy love from Peanut. Another riding weekend in the books.....
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