TeXSive Rally 2002 Ride Reports

[Wayne]

TeXSive Rally 2002 Ride Reports, please post them here.
Thanks

[Dragonrider]

Urrr . . . hmmmm . . . well . . .

I finished my TeXSive 2002 Ride Report.

Seems to have come out a bit . . . different . . . but, I just drive the pen, the experience drives the story.

Ran up against the length limitation again. So I just posted a link.

You guys should consider removing that on the ride reports section. There is no chance at all that I will ever run short on hot air . . .

BTW, no ads, pop-ups ect on the link.

Anyway, check out my TeXSive 2002 ride report. As usual, riding is a bit primal for me . . . I would be interested in any feedback.

[jgalle]

Excellent story. I do believe I will accompany you on the next TexSive if you do not mind. Seems you always have interesting rides, and since it would probably be my first long haul ride, I can't see having any more fun than following "The Dragon."

[Dragonrider]

Originally posted by jgalle
Seems you always have interesting rides

I do have interesting rides. I beleive this is due to a combination of my riding style, and my attitude toward life.

When touring, I usually select the "Road Less Traveled", in other words, I take fast roads, but stay away from the interstates.

I usually stop every 100 miles or so for fuel, and most times, pull my bike off the pumps and grab a drink. This means standing around for 5-10 minutes or so at a small town gas-station . . . a crossroads so to speak, for physical travel, and for events in folks lives.

Almost always, someone stops to talk, riders and non-riders alike. Small towns are interesting places, and nobody that will stop to talk is going to be dull or uninteresting . . .

In the larger cities, mostly, nobody stops to talk at all.

Also . . . I do ride a LOT . . . and I don't usually write about the uneventful rides . . . .

You would be welcome to accompany me on a ride, TeXSive or otherwise. Riding in pairs is a bit different experience . . . not so many folks will stop to talk, but is interesting and fun nonetheless.

The world is a magical and interesting place. You get out of it what you are looking for . . .

[Mike Hart]

Great story well told, Danny!

Length limit is global, sorry, I wanted the same thing.

Look for a PM...

[Jerry]

Enjoyed the report. I was thinking of you guys as I was reworking the trailer wiring in my Cherokee that Saturday morning, trying to get the light on my trailer to work.....turns out the converter died.

Hope to make it next year if the event is again scheduled. Going to change jobs in about 2 weeks, was just offered a better spot at another company, so should have some vacation time coming about this time next year....

[Wayne]

Great Jerry, hope you make it next year. I am planning to do it again for sure.
Good luck with your new job.

[Wayne]

TeXSive Rally 2002 Ride Report: Part 1

TeXSive Rally 2002

Well this story starts with a hurricane. Not the motorcycle, the weather system with low pressure and high winds.

Isadore was looking me dead in the eye Tuesday morning. Living in La Porte, about 2 miles form the Gulf Coast, hurricanes can be quite unnerving. This, coupled with my mother-in-law in the hospital with a stroke almost stopped my travel plans completely.

Alas, by Thursday, It was clear that Isadore was more interested in partying in New Orleans than attending my rally. “A wonderful choice Isadore, I hear that New Orleans is wonderful this time of year.” As for my mother-in-law, my wife said I should go and have a good time, she would be ok for the weekend. OK so TeXSive is again a go.

I had decided it would be best to truck ‘The Mule” (my 1981 Yamaha XS Eleven Tourer) to Kerrville in Big Red (my 1991 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel Pickup). I had a lot of stuff to haul up there for the rally and I also wanted a large tow capable vehicle nearby, in case something happened to one of the bikes. I also wanted to get back home quickly and early Sunday morning.

Thursday “Preparation Day”
My original plan was to leave Thursday afternoon after work and head to Kerrville. With my wife spending a lot of time at the hospital and my kids needing me at home, I elected to leave Friday morning instead.

So I packed up Big Red. I decided to wait until Friday morning to load The Mule into the truck.

Friday “Loading and Unloading Zone”
Got up about 6 a.m. and helped the wife and kids get of the work and school respectively. I freshened up and went to load the bike.

I built a ramp for loading the bike into the truck. As a factory job is about $200+. I made one earlier in the week out of a 2x10 a 2x4 and some flat stainless steel. I took the 2x4 and glued and screwed it vertically under the 2x10. This gave me a very sturdy ramp with very little give. I then attached two flat straps to one end and bent them into hooks that, when placed on my tailgate, would keep the ramp from sliding forward or backward. I also had a 2x8 with a strap to walk up along side the bike when loading it.

This setup worked well except for one thing. I should have put some sort of grip tape or rungs on the ramp. I loaded the bike by putting it in gear and walking her up along the ramp while I walked up the second ramp. But halfway up I had to break to get a better footing and the bike, with nothing to grip the wood, began to slide back down the ramp! With the front tire at the ramps edge and several feet above the ground, I saw in my minds eye a flat XS on the ground. But divine intervention was there to save me and I got the bike stopped and loaded with no incident.
So on the Kerrville I went.

Had a fast food breakfast on the road. Headed out of Houston on I10 West. A few miles east of San Antonio, I took the Anderson Loop 1604 around the city back to I10 west of San Antonio. Made it to Boerne where I stopped at the local Wal-Mart for a few supplies. With only a few miles to Kerrville I headed up I10 to Comfort and took a left onto highway 27, which took me right to the Kerrville Shriner State Park.

Checked into the park and told the nice folks in the office to expect more bikers looking for me. The lady said no problem. And so I went to pitch camp.

The park is really nice and I had the entire place to myself for several hours. Not a person in sight. I pitched my tent and then commenced the unloading ritual, which went very well. I found a high knoll next to the park road where I could pull the truck up to and unload the bike with very little elevation on the ramp.

“Ok, first things first.” My wife says she has never seen anyone who likes to polish a vehicle as much as I like to polish The Mule. I don’t think she understands the connection one has with his bike while rubbing and scrubbing the chrome and aluminum to a sheen that rivals a diamond. It’s like rubbing the magic lamp with the promise of three wishes, the wish of riding and riding and riding.

So that is what I was doing when Daniel Meyer came rumbling over the hill with his Valkyrie (aka The Dragon). Danny was the only person at the rally whom I had met before. And I knew the bike from the many pictures and stories he weaves on his website.

He unloaded his bike and set up camp. We then sat around and chitchatted about this and that. No one had showed up to the camp so before 7:00 pm we set out to find some eats.

We ended up at a Mexican café with a parking lot full of bikes.

“Lots of bikes in Kerrville this weekend” I said.

“Yep, the Valkyrie rider’s group is here this weekend” Danny replied.

Well it seemed there were a lot of different groups in town, Harleys, Goldwings, Valkyries, V-Stars and XSives. It made the whole town seem like one big rally. The Texas Hill Country is a bikers Mecca so it was no surprise to me that so many were there.

We ate dinner at a long table full of other riders. Great bunch of people who let us sup with them and chat the meal away.

When we returned to the camp “Shack”, John Shakleford, was there waiting patiently for our return. After introductions, we helped Shack unload his bike from his truck as he too had trucked his 79 XS11 Special to the rally. We sat and got acquainted around the camp fire, looking forward to tomorrows ride.

We were expecting others but they never showed up. We tried to call Lanny and others but the cell phones worked sporadically at best.
“Can you hear me now?”… “Nope”…
“Can you hear me now?”… “Nope”…

We later said good night and went to our beds.

Sleep came only with a little work. As I am not a small fellow, and I have a bad back, the ground is not exactly the Sealy Posturpedic back home. But it was a nice cool night and all in all the day ended well.

(more to come soon...)

[Wayne]

TeXSive Rally 2002 Ride Report: Part 2

TeXSive Rally 2002 continued

Saturday “The Ride”
Woke up to my Wal-Mart battery alarm clock about 6:30 am. Started getting ready for the trip into town.

I had set the meeting place, The Hill Country Café. It was a great little hole in the wall on Main St. Kerrville. They had great food and nice service. Mike Campbell along with Robert and Linda Moore were already there. After the introductions we had breakfast; they make a mean Spanish omelet.

So with stomach full and everyone mounted up we set out for the days ride. I had asked Danny to take the sweep position, as I knew he had plenty of riding experience, while I took the lead. He was gracious enough to accept and we were off.

We headed west/southwest on H16 out of Kerrville. This highway is a wonderful introduction to the Texas Hill Country. Lots of climbing twisties and beautiful scenery, some of the tightest turns in our 200+ mile ride that day. We then turned right on Ranch Road 337 heading west.

Anyone who knows this area knows that the best roads for riding are the Ranch Roads and the Ranch Road 33’s are considered the most beautiful. There is RR337, RR336 and RR335. All of which twist and climb into the hills. And RR337 didn’t let us down.

We then headed south on RR187. We stopped at a local filling station to top off the tanks and stretch the legs. We then headed west on RR1050. We found a little place to stop along the side of the road to snap a few photos. We then hit US83 North, headed for Leakey, Texas.

With hunger setting in we gassed up the bikes and I asked the station attendant where to get some lunch. We ended up at a little Mexican/Burger/Whatever joint. The food was good but the service was questionable (Just ask Robert and Linda about their tacos and straws incident).

With lunch digesting, we set out to continue our ride.
We found ourselves, once again, on RR337 West. It is on this road that we came upon a rather large group of riders. We brought up the rear of this line, at least ¼ mile of motorcycles. We then reached Camp Wood. Here we took H55 North. The large group in front of us pulled into a parking stop, and we once again had the road to ourselves.

A few miles up H55 was the turn to RR335, which was the road I planned us to take.

I missed the turn!

I really hate it when I do that, especially when I have several other bikes following me. If I had my new friends believing I knew exactly what I was doing, it all changed here. I took the group a few yards up the road till I found a decent place to turn around. Ok no harm done.

We headed north on RR335. All I can say is WOW..Wooowww! This was, without a doubt, the best riding of the day. I called this road the concrete roll-a-coaster. Up and down, twist and shout. This was a motorcyclist dream road. High cliffs and lots of curves, we had a great time on this piece of pavement.

RR335 hit H41 and we headed east back to Kerrville. After one last gas stop we were on our way to the camp. Here I let Mike take the lead and I took the sweep. I enjoyed the last leg of the trip lagging in the back and takin’ it easy.

We got back to the camp and the others joined us there. We took some great photos (posting soon) and talked about the days ride, and each others bikes. I also handed out all the prizes. Everyone got a couple of bags of bungee cords as a door prize. Danny won the longest traveled prize, which was a Green Light Trigger for his bike. The ‘wimpy’ prize was a baby pacifier, and went to John, who trucked his bike in. (I know, I know, I trucked mine in too, but hey, I’m the rally master OK!)

Later, we set out to find a steak in Kerrville. We didn’t find the place we were looking for, but kismet lead us to a great steakhouse none the less. Once again, great food and great company and the night was upon us far too quickly.

Danny, John and I said a fond farewell to Robert, Linda and Mike. They headed back to their hotel and us to our camp.

We again sat around the fire for a time chatting quietly and listening to music. Suddenly a truck pulls up and a flashlight breaks the soft light of the fire.

“You need to turn that radio off. We have quiet hours between 10 pm and 6 am.”

“Ahh, ok, no problem SIR”

Now I’m not one to fight the power, but get real. The radio was so low we could barely hear it. I know for a fact he didn’t hear it until he walked up to the camp. As Danny said. “I think he just wanted to see if we were drinking beer.” OK, no biggey. We laughed and joked about the whole thing and went on with our conversations. (We were drinking cokes and water btw)

Then Danny helped John and I load our bikes back into our trucks. John wanted to leave with me in the morning and follow me down I10 to Houston. I told him that would be great and that I was planning of getting up about 4:30 am and leaving by 5.

So off again to sleep I went. Got a call from my wife later that night. She was worried about her mom. I consoled here and said I would be home early tomorrow. I dreamed of riding RR335.

Sunday “Homeward Bound”
4:30 came and went. The alarm did its best to wake me but I just wouldn’t have any part of it. I finally got up around 5:30. I stirred John from his slumber, and I broke camp. We were on the road before 7 am. Not too bad I guess.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful. I waved John one last goodbye as I exited the freeway and headed on to my home and family. As I got closer to home I realized I missed my family, but was also refreshed by the events of the past weekend. A much-needed getaway was just the ticket for me. And I made some great new friends in the process.

My sincere thanks to Daniel Meyer, John Shackleford, Mike Campbell, and Robert and Linda Moore, you guys were great fun and made the TeXSive Rally 2002 what it was.

See you again next year.

[Tinman]

TexSive Ride Report

Howdy everyone!

Well after Wayne and Danny I have no hope of topping thier reports....;-P
I would just like to say that it was a BLAST!!!
Everyone I met for the first time are first class in my book.
I was so pumped before and during the ride that I didn't notice I was tired till we stopped at the campsite and sat and chatted a bit.
I'm looking forward to next year already.
If anyone wants to meet for a ride some weekend just let me know. Barring any prior obligations I'm ready!...

Good Riding!
Tinman
aka Mike Campbell

[Wayne]

Hey Tinman!
Welcome to the forum.
Its great to see your post. I am looking forward to getting together again for a local ride. Don't know when yet but keeping it in mind for sure.

Ride Safe

[Dragonrider]

Hey Mike,

Twas good riding yes? Had a great time and enjoyed meeting you.

Glad you enjoyed the reports.

Where's my warp engine?

[Tinman]

Originally posted by Dragonrider
Hey Mike,

Twas good riding yes? Had a great time and enjoyed meeting you.

Glad you enjoyed the reports.

Where's my warp engine?

Well when I took off in the lead from what I saw you already have one!

[Dragonrider]

As those of you that are following the TeXSive ride reports know, I won the "longest traveled" prize for the TeXSive 2002.

Side note--more people gotta come next year, I should not have won that! I only live 350 miles away! (I did drive over 400 miles to get there though . . . seems Holistic Navigation had me driving over 50 miles out of my way to bend a tire iron . . .)

Anway, about the prize . . . What? . . . Oh . . . you want to know about Holistic Navigation . . . .

Sigh.

Ok. Holistic Navigation is a concept I borrowed from Douglas Adams and highly modified. Essentially, you may not get where you wanted to go, but you will eventually get somewhere you needed to be, and it is bound to be interesting . . .

Anyway, about the prize . . . What? . . . Oh . . . you want to know about the tire iron . . .

Sigh.

Ok. I drove 50 miles out of my way to bend a tire iron . . . I was . . . oh never mind! You wanna know, read the darn REPORT .

Anyway, about the prize. I won a "Green light trigger" which is essentially a powerful rare-earth magnet that you wire-tie to the bottom of your bike. It is supposed to help those detector wire thingys in the street at the stoplights see you, and thus trigger the light for you.

I have never had a problem with triggering the lights . . . The Dragon is 775 pounds dry, and a fair bit of ferris metal, but I can see how lighter bikes, or all aluminum frames could complicate this.

Anyway, it does seem to make a difference on the few lights that I had noticed were slow.

<insert tongue in cheek>
Couple of side affects though:

Seems The Dragon only wants to go north . . . except yesterday when the truck carrying steel coil passed me, and I made an unwilling but spectacularly rapid turn to follow him. Got great gas mileage though . . . Too bad he was loading the steel coil on a barge in Houston that was in route to New Zealand . . . The bay is kind-of brown and gucky this time of year. Does not taste like chicken.

When I finally managed to get home, I had to pry a VolksWagon Bug that was stuck to the magnet off the bottom of my bike. Also a small dog with one of those metal "chain choker" collars (little pissed off "yip yip" dog), and at least two (pierced nose, tongue, belly-button, labia, nipple) studs. (Ouch!!!)

</insert tongue in cheek>

Keep the shiny side up folks!

[Wayne]

Well Danny, I knew you would get the most use out of a highpowered magnet attached to the Dragon. Now all you need is a forked stick so you can tell us about how the Dragon became a submarine!!!