A Great Weekend of Riding!

I got home Sunday at about 12:40pm... 659 miles after leaving here at 11:45 on Thursday morning.

Seven bikes made up the group of us that went over there, three of which were couples. The weather was very, very good for riding--Not too hot, not too cold. Everyone's bike performed well, and nobody had problems with their bikes. Well, unless you count somebody's brake light being stuck on for a while... I was very surprised at how many times someone complimented me on the look of my Harley throughout the weekend. I like it, but I certainly didn't expect any compliments on it. After all, it's pretty nondescript. Evidently I underestimated the appeal of the "hot rod look." As usual, I was the only rider with no windshield (my macho thing). Although everyone calls me brave, I know in their minds they're probably saying, "What a fucking idiot." Fine by me... I have an unobstructed view, and in my opinion, it's worth the occasional B-52 bug or needles of rain pain.

It seems that every year we end up stopping at a meat market somewhere. Not just any meat market, but a jerky/pepperoni type market. This year was no exception. We were led off the beaten path to the little town of Roslyn to a little bitty nondescript meat market called Carek's Meats. Everybody bought themselves a hefty supply of "mystery meats" to get them by. Great stuff! I told Steve we should rename this annual event the Beef Jerky Run.

Thursday and Friday were both excellent weather days, but Saturday was drizzly and rainy. That didn't stop myself and Steve and his wife Maria from riding. We went to see Chelan Falls and explored the length of road that runs along Lake Chelan almost to the end, stopping at the "summer place" of one of Steve's coworkers for a visit. We ended up getting very wet on the way back. Although Steve has a windshield on his bike, neither of them had their chaps on like I did, and ended up getting pretty wet. Back in town we stopped at a Mexican restaurant to warm up and get some drink and food. When we arrived back at the motel, I explained to everyone there that we had just earned our rain riding merit badge.

The main reason for the ride on this weekend was the Mansfield Rally as I've said before. Mansfield was about 25 miles out of Chelan, across the Columbia and up on the mesa on flat land. We rode up there to scope it out and register on Friday morning and spent a couple hours wandering around the town and exploring. It was a very sleepy little farm town, and according to some, not everyone there was happy about bikers "taking over" for a few days. Others welcomed it. Anyway, the main reason we wanted to go was to see Edgar Winter perform on Friday night. We were not disappointed! We went back that evening just to see his show at 6pm, and let me tell you, that guy put on one helluva show! His band was very tight and precise, and it was made up of some very, very good young talent. Because of the small size of the event, it was a very intimate setting--Even for an outdoor event. We were able to walk right up to the stage while they were performing and stand only 3 feet from them. I got some great pictures!

One of our little jaunts of the weekend was our trip to Dry Falls between our visits to Mansfield on Friday. I mentioned going there, and only half of the people had ever heard of the place, so off we went. The road was long and flat and after a little while I decided to shake it up a little and pulled out of the group (I was 2nd from the rear) and kicked it up to 95mph and flew by everybody. After a bit here came one of the couples flying past me on his Buell (for the informed reader, a Buell is a high quality crotch rocket with a Harley engine in it). Right after that, another rider on his Gold Wing. After we all met up a few miles farther at the "T" in the road, Jerry the Buell rider said his GPS showed 111mph and just wouldn't go any faster. His girlfriend said that was quite fast enough! Sean, the Honda Gold Wing rider, said his speedo showed 110 and he wasn't gaining on Jerry. See what kind of trouble I can cause? I just couldn't help it. We got some great pictures of Dry Falls too, and when I ever get them all posted I'll put up a link. From there we took a circuitous loop back to Chelan, taking a good hour and a half or so to get back. It was an awful nice day and a nice ride, but I paid for it by my new found need for Chapstick...

Our group had all the rooms on the lower floor of one motel wing, with myself and one other guy also inhabiting two rooms above. When anyone was there in between rides, you could usually find them outside on the lower floor. Because it was about 2 feet below ground level, we affectionately called it "The Dugout." You could usually find someone there at any given time of the day, drinking, eating, or just resting between rides. Because we had our bikes all lined up in front of the motel, bikers going past would always see our bikes, then us... And usually wave.

We left Sunday morning to come home, and the weather was flawless pretty much all the way to Cle Elum, where it started to take a slight turn. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make me wary--We were still quite a ways from the pass. Just in case, I put my "neck sock" on before we left Cle Elum after getting gas. It's basically a turtleneck sweater without the sweater. It enables you to reach down and tug it up over your lower face while riding if you start getting pelted. And boy did I get pelted. The rain really came down, and with no windshield and running at 70mph on a 4-lane freeway, you pay attention. At one point I had it actually running down the inside of my goggles a bit. Little by little, myself and Steve & Maria ended up being out in front, and after at least a half hour, we finally out-distanced the rain. We ran together until I finally exited the freeway at home.

After stripping my clothes off and wrapping myself in a bathrobe, I just couldn't get warm. Finally I ran a tub and soaked in it for a half hour or so. All better. But was it time to relax? Nope.

I drove up to Bea's house (Teresa's ex sister-in-law) for her birthday. I wanted to deliver two computer programs that I had for her, and I also wanted to see her new house and meet her significant other. She seems to have it going for her. The house is beautiful, and her boyfriend seems to be a great guy. I had a good time with them and their friends that were also there.

From there I hopped back on the freeway and sped all the way to Burien because it was also my sister Denise's birthday. Whew! By the time I got there it was 8:45. I visited with them for a while and finally limped on home... Showing up at about bedtime.

Too pooped to even properly get ready for bed, I just turned the light out and crawled in.