CVMA: Texas State Mtg 2019

 
I've been thinking about this one for awhile!  Last years was in Galveston, next years in South Padre Island, but this year ... Temple Texas.  For me that meant a short ride (less than 200mi), staying in a Marriott using points and riding down with my CVMA brothers the whole way.  Problem was, we had a cold front coming in the morning of departure!   We had a 1000 hrs KSU, but I prompted the commander to bump it two hours later to help with safety and well... warmth!   It was under 50 and raining out there!   Half Sack made the call, we pushed two hours and by the time I headed out the rain had stopped.  Score!

Head over to Reames where I connected up with Dutch and Tank, then we rolled down Hwy 34 to Buc-cees in Terrel for the rest of the group. Original plan was to do 2 lanes the whole way, but the roads were wet and the sky was teasing us with more moisture. So, a decision was made to change it up and take Hwy 34 to Interstate 35 and move quickly down the Interstate to our destination.   Only glitch was fucking Waco.   We hit slow moving (stopped sometimes) traffic and the plan worked; several hours later we all pulled in dry.  But before that, friggin Waco traffic took on a toll on us and Mario had to pull into Waco HD.  His brakes were fading quickly.  Good news is, they got him in ASAP!  Swanny and Dutch stayed back, so the rest of us headed the few miles left to Temple.  Thirty minutes later were have arrived!

Lesson learned here.  We pulled up to the Host Hotel (Holiday Inn), but I'm staying at the Marriott a 1/4 mile further on.  I'm using points, so made sense to me.  BUT, they big party is here, so I head down, check in, head back and we kick it up! Soon we're headed to the Horny Toad HD dealership for the party.  Great music, hundreds of folks, good times.  Then, back to the Hotel.  New few hours are a blast, but I've got to head out before I'm unable and have to Uber it.   Great times, lessons learned!

Next morning, up early and headed over to the Host Hotel to meet up with the guys so we can ride over to the State Meeting.  As I get on the service road, I grab some throttle. Since I got the crazy performance upgrades to this (120HP to the rear tire) I'm always banging through the gears. I get it up to 5700 RPMs, hit 2nd gear, the front end starts coming off the ground then ...BAM!   WTF?  Thought I blew the motor .. screwed up the tranny .. something..  As I worked my way to the shoulder with no power to the rear tire, my stomach is doing a few flips.  Fuck.  Good news is, the Host Hotel is about 100' down an incline in front of me.  The bad news is.. and it takes me a few seconds to figure it out.. my rear drive belt has broke.  Crap.  So, a CVMA brother gives me a push and I 'Flintstone' it into the parking lot.   After catching shit from everyone, I assess the situation and move forward.  Call into AAA and a flatbed is on the way.  Half Sack is a stud and throws me the keys to his truck.   I've got this, so everyone takes off to the meeting while I'm getting this done.  Soon, the wrecker is there, the local dealer 20 miles away has one in stock, bike is enroute, I'm in the truck and headed to the meeting.  A quick swipe of my ID Card to check in, say my greeting to a dozen folks and I head back to the hotel.   Few hours later, I'm in an Uber headed to the dealer, $550 later I've got a new belt and rear brake pads installed, and I'm on 2 wheels again!   I make it to the meeting for the last part ( missed all the boring stuff.. .. shucks!) and we're game on again.  As a chapter we head out for some dinner, then grab Half Sack's truck then make a decision that will cause me some pain.  We choose to cage it over to the VFW vs ride so we can partake of some liquor.  This is going to hurt!  My next brilliant move is to get caught up in a bidding war with the auction, over a wagon of booze.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but $750 later I find myself wheeling it around and the party goes to the next level with a few bottles getting passed around.  Ouch!   Fast forward to the truck ride back to the Hotel, and thank you lord we had a DD (Pickle was recovering from the night before) because by the time I get dropped off, I hit the wall.  Ouch.

Sunday is here quickly and a 1/2 dozen of us mount  up for the ride home. It's just couple hundred miles back and with nice warmer weather and sunshine, this is a breeze.   My booze (still had 16 of original 20 bottles) is getting back in Half Sack's truck, so I'll I've got to do is enjoy the ride.   And thats what the last two days were all about.  Well.. except for the crazy shit.  And that isn't getting posted here.

Next year, State is back on the coast, in South Padre Island.   I fee another good time coming on!