Tweet
Well another TeXSive Lite rally is now in the history books.
Nancy and I started the day early. We climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn in order to get out the door and down to Galveston before 8am. We succeeded in our goal.
The morning was crisp and cool, the weather-man said it was going to be a beautiful day, and he did not lead us astray. The morning low as in the mid 50's and the high as mid 70's. Not a cloud one in the sky.
As we pulled into the Ihop on Seawall Blvd, Mike (Tinman) and Robert (GreyWizard) with his wife Linda were just climbing off of their bikes. We chatted in the parking lot for a few minutes and before long most everyone had pulled in. We had 11 bikes in all, 3 Valkeryies (including yours truly’s) an 81 Honda CB, and a very nice late model BMW 1200LT, an XJ1100 (a TeXSive first) and 5 XS11s both specials, standards and tourers. This was a nice looking bunch of bikes without a doubt.
My usual sweep rider, Danny Meyer, was unable to join us this time so I was in need of a new sweep rider. Greg steeped up and offered his services. I would later find that he was more than able, and would be put to the test more than once during our trip.
After breakfast we gassed up and headed southwest down Seawall Blvd. (TX-3005). I had let everyone know that there was a $2.00 toll to cross the San Louis Pass Bridge so everyone was ready for that. When we got to the toll some miles later, it took a while to get all 11 bikes thru the toll one at a time. Someone mentioned later that perhaps next time I just take everyone’s money and pay for all the bikes at once. That is a good idea for future reference.
As we rode along the San Louis Bridge we found that, while it was a beautiful day, it was windy. I don’t mean a nice breeze, I don’t mean a bit gusty, it was WINDY. This was the kind of wind that causes you to ride in a straight line while leaning at about an 80 degree angle. It made the ride interesting for sure.
San Louis Pass Bridge
Onward we went. The patch of road between San Louis and the small community of Surfside is called the Blue Water Highway. The road runs along the Texas shore. Many times the surf is no more that a few yards away. We had a blast with the Gulf of Mexico to our left and the South Texas marshlands to our right. The highway comes to an end in Surfside Beach, where we hung a right onto East Hwy. 332. Here we found another high bridge and more biting wind. No one was swept away but we were almost hit by a renegade five gallon bucket that was twirling like a dervish in the road. We all managed to avoid it without harm.
We were pulling into a filling station, and as I understand it, Keoki and Hippy Dave were pulling out from Galveston side by side. Keoki ran his bike over a Sprite bottle, which then burst and sprayed Dave and his bike quite completely. Dave had sprite from his leather jacket down to his foot-pegs. Fortunately we all had a laugh about it and Dave cleaned up a bit and we were off again.
From 332 we headed south on FM 523 looking for State Hwy 36. The Surfside/Freeport area is littered with industrial plants, the main one being Dow Chemical. While many find the plants ugly, distasteful and not very scenic, I actually find them quite interesting and fun to ride thru. The mass of pipes and tanks, switches and lights, smokestacks and burn off shafts can make for an interesting ride (at least every once in a while). Of course being in south east Texas, you really have little choice but to embrace the industrial plants as they are everywhere!
We crossed the 523 Bridge, yes another high and windy bridge, and come to Hwy 36. Going west on 36, guess what we came to, you guessed it, another high bridge. Was it windy? Yes. Did anyone blow off? No. Hwy 36 brought us to FM-2611 were we headed south. A few miles down the road we came to the entrance to the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. We entered and headed to the interior of the refuge. The road ends near the mouth of a Brazos River tributary entering the Gulf of Mexico. We all lined up for a photo op and hung out for a few minutes chatting and resting our posteriors.
On our way back out of the reserve, Mike, on his Valkyrie Interstate, pulled up to me and motioned back. I looked to see that we were missing several riders. I found a good spot to pull over and called Greg. He told me that Rich had lost one of his saddle bag tops. They had managed to go back for it and Rich used a bit of duct tape to secure it on safely. I told Rich later in the day that he now has a new Nickname, “Duct Tape”! (nancy gave me the idea to be honest)
Yes, we are a fun but sometimes brutal group.
After we were all back safely on the road, we continued down 2611 and hit Hwy-457 north to Bay City. We stopped at a little barbeque place for lunch and afterward gassed up the bikes. We took Hwy-60 South out of Bay City looking for FM-521 East. This little farm road was a beauty to ride. A few sweepers and dips with lots of ranch and farmland scenery.
We were coming to the end of 521 some 40 miles later about to head east on Hwy-35, when once again I saw several of the bikes stopping on the shoulder some 30 yards back. My first thought was that someone had lost something again, but then I could see that a bike was down! A rallymasters worst nightmare (or any rider for that matter) is to have someone in your group go down. I got off the bike and ran back to see what had happened.
It turns out that Robert had began feeling faint and started to pull over, but was unable to get his Valkyrie Interstate stopped in time. His wife Linda was waving the riders behind them trying to elicit some help. She could not do much from the high rear passenger seat and so down they went. Robert had apparently managed to get the bike stopped, but couldn’t get the kickstand down in time before he went faint.
When I got back there, the guys had the bike back upright, Greg was providing shade for Robert and someone was calling 911 for help. Robert was lying on his back, white as a sheet, but was awake and talking. We all waited patiently for the ambulance to arrive. The paremedics helped Robert up and took some vitals. Linda explained that Robert was diabetic and had not eaten lunch earlier as he had been feeling at bit ill. Robert thought he could make the trip anyway.
Fortunately Mike lived nearby and he called a friend to help out. We got everyone and their bikes to a nearby gas station were Mike’s friend arrived to pick up Robert and Linda and help get their bike back to Mike’s house. I later spoke with Robert on the following Sunday, he was doing fine but was going to go see a doctor in a few day just to get checked out. I told him to get better soon so we can have him on all our future rides. Robert and Linda are Charter members of the TeXSives and we all want to see them healthy and riding again soon.
So, with everyone well and walking, we headed onward down 35,¬ and on through Alvin. With a gas stop near I-45 we continued on Hwy-517 to Hwy-146. There we headed north into Kemah.
Kemah is on the west side of Galveston Bay, and is home to the 3rd largest fleet of recreational boats in the U.S. It was also home to the pirate Jean Lafitte in the early 1800s. Kemah’s biggest attraction is the “Kemah Boardwalk”, with numerous restaurants, shops, games, a large hotel, and several carnival style rides.
We pulled into Kemah and parked the bikes. Keoki and a few others needed to get back to their families who were in Galveston, so they said their goodbyes and headed out. Nancy & I, David, Dave, Greg and Stan headed on to The Flying Duchman for dinner. We sat on the patio on the boardwalk overlooking the channel and watched to boats coming in and out of the bay. The late afternoon was beautiful as it had been all day and we ate, drank and talked about the day. Rich had his family meet him in Kemah, and soon they were all sitting at a table nearby and seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.
My fiancé, Nancy, is allergic to certain foods, one of which is shell fish. Nancy was very specific to the waitress, telling her that she needed her food to be prepared in fresh oil where no shellfish had been previously prepared. Cross contamination can be just as bad as if she ate the food directly. The waitress said she would get tell the manager and see to the request. Apparently she didn’t. As we were leaving and saying our goodbyes, Nancy started feeling ill. She was getting hives and her throat was getting sore. We decided to get to a pharmacy and get some benadrill asap. We wished everyone a safe trip home and headed out to the local Walmart.
I was worried that the benadrill would make Nancy sleepy during the ride back home to Houston Heights. So as we were riding I occasionally tapped her on the knee to make sure she was ok. She would respond, letting me know that all was well.
When we got home, she injected herself with an Epipen (an auto-syringe full of epinephrine). She normally keeps them with her at all times for just this sort of thing but she just happened to leave it at home this time. She sat down for a few minutes but it soon became clear the Epipen was not working; too much time had passed, so it was off to the ER.
Nancy is quite familiar with ER’s as this happens from time to time. I dropped her off at the door and parked the car. By the time I got into the ER, she was already in the triage area being seen. The ER was full to capacity, but she never bothered to sign in, she just waltzed right to the back and basically told the nurse to see her now! They can tell by her voice and breathing that she was in an emergency situation and did as she requested.
Well all went well, they treated her and we were out of the ER within a few hours and back home. Tired from the long day we hit the sack. I dreamed of motorcycle riding and beautiful spring days.
Ride safe all, we will see you in October.
More picts coming soon.
Nancy and I started the day early. We climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn in order to get out the door and down to Galveston before 8am. We succeeded in our goal.
The morning was crisp and cool, the weather-man said it was going to be a beautiful day, and he did not lead us astray. The morning low as in the mid 50's and the high as mid 70's. Not a cloud one in the sky.
As we pulled into the Ihop on Seawall Blvd, Mike (Tinman) and Robert (GreyWizard) with his wife Linda were just climbing off of their bikes. We chatted in the parking lot for a few minutes and before long most everyone had pulled in. We had 11 bikes in all, 3 Valkeryies (including yours truly’s) an 81 Honda CB, and a very nice late model BMW 1200LT, an XJ1100 (a TeXSive first) and 5 XS11s both specials, standards and tourers. This was a nice looking bunch of bikes without a doubt.
My usual sweep rider, Danny Meyer, was unable to join us this time so I was in need of a new sweep rider. Greg steeped up and offered his services. I would later find that he was more than able, and would be put to the test more than once during our trip.
After breakfast we gassed up and headed southwest down Seawall Blvd. (TX-3005). I had let everyone know that there was a $2.00 toll to cross the San Louis Pass Bridge so everyone was ready for that. When we got to the toll some miles later, it took a while to get all 11 bikes thru the toll one at a time. Someone mentioned later that perhaps next time I just take everyone’s money and pay for all the bikes at once. That is a good idea for future reference.
As we rode along the San Louis Bridge we found that, while it was a beautiful day, it was windy. I don’t mean a nice breeze, I don’t mean a bit gusty, it was WINDY. This was the kind of wind that causes you to ride in a straight line while leaning at about an 80 degree angle. It made the ride interesting for sure.
San Louis Pass Bridge
Onward we went. The patch of road between San Louis and the small community of Surfside is called the Blue Water Highway. The road runs along the Texas shore. Many times the surf is no more that a few yards away. We had a blast with the Gulf of Mexico to our left and the South Texas marshlands to our right. The highway comes to an end in Surfside Beach, where we hung a right onto East Hwy. 332. Here we found another high bridge and more biting wind. No one was swept away but we were almost hit by a renegade five gallon bucket that was twirling like a dervish in the road. We all managed to avoid it without harm.
We were pulling into a filling station, and as I understand it, Keoki and Hippy Dave were pulling out from Galveston side by side. Keoki ran his bike over a Sprite bottle, which then burst and sprayed Dave and his bike quite completely. Dave had sprite from his leather jacket down to his foot-pegs. Fortunately we all had a laugh about it and Dave cleaned up a bit and we were off again.
From 332 we headed south on FM 523 looking for State Hwy 36. The Surfside/Freeport area is littered with industrial plants, the main one being Dow Chemical. While many find the plants ugly, distasteful and not very scenic, I actually find them quite interesting and fun to ride thru. The mass of pipes and tanks, switches and lights, smokestacks and burn off shafts can make for an interesting ride (at least every once in a while). Of course being in south east Texas, you really have little choice but to embrace the industrial plants as they are everywhere!
We crossed the 523 Bridge, yes another high and windy bridge, and come to Hwy 36. Going west on 36, guess what we came to, you guessed it, another high bridge. Was it windy? Yes. Did anyone blow off? No. Hwy 36 brought us to FM-2611 were we headed south. A few miles down the road we came to the entrance to the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. We entered and headed to the interior of the refuge. The road ends near the mouth of a Brazos River tributary entering the Gulf of Mexico. We all lined up for a photo op and hung out for a few minutes chatting and resting our posteriors.
On our way back out of the reserve, Mike, on his Valkyrie Interstate, pulled up to me and motioned back. I looked to see that we were missing several riders. I found a good spot to pull over and called Greg. He told me that Rich had lost one of his saddle bag tops. They had managed to go back for it and Rich used a bit of duct tape to secure it on safely. I told Rich later in the day that he now has a new Nickname, “Duct Tape”! (nancy gave me the idea to be honest)
Yes, we are a fun but sometimes brutal group.
After we were all back safely on the road, we continued down 2611 and hit Hwy-457 north to Bay City. We stopped at a little barbeque place for lunch and afterward gassed up the bikes. We took Hwy-60 South out of Bay City looking for FM-521 East. This little farm road was a beauty to ride. A few sweepers and dips with lots of ranch and farmland scenery.
We were coming to the end of 521 some 40 miles later about to head east on Hwy-35, when once again I saw several of the bikes stopping on the shoulder some 30 yards back. My first thought was that someone had lost something again, but then I could see that a bike was down! A rallymasters worst nightmare (or any rider for that matter) is to have someone in your group go down. I got off the bike and ran back to see what had happened.
It turns out that Robert had began feeling faint and started to pull over, but was unable to get his Valkyrie Interstate stopped in time. His wife Linda was waving the riders behind them trying to elicit some help. She could not do much from the high rear passenger seat and so down they went. Robert had apparently managed to get the bike stopped, but couldn’t get the kickstand down in time before he went faint.
When I got back there, the guys had the bike back upright, Greg was providing shade for Robert and someone was calling 911 for help. Robert was lying on his back, white as a sheet, but was awake and talking. We all waited patiently for the ambulance to arrive. The paremedics helped Robert up and took some vitals. Linda explained that Robert was diabetic and had not eaten lunch earlier as he had been feeling at bit ill. Robert thought he could make the trip anyway.
Fortunately Mike lived nearby and he called a friend to help out. We got everyone and their bikes to a nearby gas station were Mike’s friend arrived to pick up Robert and Linda and help get their bike back to Mike’s house. I later spoke with Robert on the following Sunday, he was doing fine but was going to go see a doctor in a few day just to get checked out. I told him to get better soon so we can have him on all our future rides. Robert and Linda are Charter members of the TeXSives and we all want to see them healthy and riding again soon.
So, with everyone well and walking, we headed onward down 35,¬ and on through Alvin. With a gas stop near I-45 we continued on Hwy-517 to Hwy-146. There we headed north into Kemah.
Kemah is on the west side of Galveston Bay, and is home to the 3rd largest fleet of recreational boats in the U.S. It was also home to the pirate Jean Lafitte in the early 1800s. Kemah’s biggest attraction is the “Kemah Boardwalk”, with numerous restaurants, shops, games, a large hotel, and several carnival style rides.
We pulled into Kemah and parked the bikes. Keoki and a few others needed to get back to their families who were in Galveston, so they said their goodbyes and headed out. Nancy & I, David, Dave, Greg and Stan headed on to The Flying Duchman for dinner. We sat on the patio on the boardwalk overlooking the channel and watched to boats coming in and out of the bay. The late afternoon was beautiful as it had been all day and we ate, drank and talked about the day. Rich had his family meet him in Kemah, and soon they were all sitting at a table nearby and seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.
My fiancé, Nancy, is allergic to certain foods, one of which is shell fish. Nancy was very specific to the waitress, telling her that she needed her food to be prepared in fresh oil where no shellfish had been previously prepared. Cross contamination can be just as bad as if she ate the food directly. The waitress said she would get tell the manager and see to the request. Apparently she didn’t. As we were leaving and saying our goodbyes, Nancy started feeling ill. She was getting hives and her throat was getting sore. We decided to get to a pharmacy and get some benadrill asap. We wished everyone a safe trip home and headed out to the local Walmart.
I was worried that the benadrill would make Nancy sleepy during the ride back home to Houston Heights. So as we were riding I occasionally tapped her on the knee to make sure she was ok. She would respond, letting me know that all was well.
When we got home, she injected herself with an Epipen (an auto-syringe full of epinephrine). She normally keeps them with her at all times for just this sort of thing but she just happened to leave it at home this time. She sat down for a few minutes but it soon became clear the Epipen was not working; too much time had passed, so it was off to the ER.
Nancy is quite familiar with ER’s as this happens from time to time. I dropped her off at the door and parked the car. By the time I got into the ER, she was already in the triage area being seen. The ER was full to capacity, but she never bothered to sign in, she just waltzed right to the back and basically told the nurse to see her now! They can tell by her voice and breathing that she was in an emergency situation and did as she requested.
Well all went well, they treated her and we were out of the ER within a few hours and back home. Tired from the long day we hit the sack. I dreamed of motorcycle riding and beautiful spring days.
Ride safe all, we will see you in October.
More picts coming soon.
She and my dad will be joining us from Tulsa, OK to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday during the ride.
Comment