Texas Christkindl Market

A couple weeks ago on a Saturday night the weather was cool and clear so we took a short ride to Arlington, TX to visit the Texas Christkindl Market. This was the fourth year the market has been set up and we went with high expectations from the write-ups we found online about it. However, and I really don't like going down this road, it was a complete disappointment and nothing short of overblown hype.

The market is supposed to be based around a German American theme. German wooden toys, ornaments, wood works, beer, bratwursts, sauerkraut, you get the idea. We were surprised to find so many non-German shops rounding out the market. If you were looking for wool woven scarfs and head gear from Tibet, this was the place to go. If you wanted miscellaneous trinkets from the street markets of Nepal and China, you found it. There were geodes from the Texas hill country and jewelers that made your typical cosmetic bling, and of course Christmas tree ornaments aplenty. The primary "German" shops we found were a goblet maker, a wooden toy carousel shop, and a wooden cutting board craftsman. Other than those the majority of "German" related theme items to be found were the shop signs.

There was a marionette show that we wanted to see but we had just missed the start and they wouldn't let you in after it began. The marionette show was a unique attraction and one you almost never see. Though marionettes did not originate in Germany or America they have roots in German culture even today.

Aside from the 200 yards or so of world culture and general junk shopping, there were a few food vendors as well. Coca Cola was selling at the ridiculous price of $4 a bottle. Hot chocolate was a healthy $4 for a small coffee cup serving. Coffee was $2 a cup, finding itself being the only reasonable value of the night. There was the ever favorite Kettle Korn, not sure if that has German roots or not, but it is an American favorite so it had its place in the market. They did have bratwurst though, if you were willing to  pay $8 each for a small store packaged sized wiener on a Mrs Bairds bun. Definitely not the wursts I was accustomed to seeing when I lived in Europe. And I thought everything was bigger in Texas... There were side orders available too but at $4 and higher each it was unreasonable. They did have an excellent serving size of beer though that would cost you $12 and you got to keep the glass mug it came in. I don't mean to harp on the prices because it's expected that you usually pay more at a fair type event. The prices at this "German" market were simply unreasonable considering the commonality of the items being sold. In our search for Apfelstrudels, Bienenstich, Frikadellen, Currywurst, Bavarian Pretzels, and foot long Wursts which overflow generously from the ends of a bun, we never found satisfaction, leaving us dumbfounded as to how people were bamboozled into paying outrageous prices for non-traditional food you can find packaged, ready to microwave from Walmart. I have no problem paying a premium price for extraordinary food, but just because average food that is being tagged as German-American and is being served at a seasonal event doesn't justify price gouging.

The following video is more along the lines of what we were expecting. Take note of the giant wursts and buns at the far end of the serving counter and at the giant wurst the guy is walking with at the end of the video.

I am usually not this harsh about the events we ride too. Margaret and I have gone to craft fairs, street corner festivals, bike events and gatherings, country markets, peach festivals, strawberry festivals, and other types of craftsy things for years. We ride weekly to eating places all over North Texas and know what good food is and where to find it. We have never been more put off by one of these types of events. We did have a nice ride Saturday evening to and from the Market and made a nice dinner once we arrived home. I made a short video of the market and because it was supposed to be a "German" themed event I used a traditional German style music to get you in the mood for what the Texas Christkindl Market was failing to be.

Wise County Toy Run 2014

Yup! It was that time again for the Wise County Toy Run! What a great event to attend for the year and for a wonderful cause. Riders from all over showed up to give toys for children. It's exciting to see so many riders come together to support a great cause. 

The toy run starts in Decatur, TX which is the staging area. Admission and the ride is free if you bring a toy or $10 if you just want to pay. Margaret and I pay instead of bringing a toy. The organizers need funding to run the event so we contribute in that way instead. When the ride portion begins it is police escorted for the safety of the riders and heads to Bridgeport, TX. The Santa on the Harley leading it usually arrives at Bridgeport about the time the last of the attendees leaves the staging area in Decatur. The ride is 10.8 miles long so when you consider the amount of bikes it takes to cover that distance from end to end its quite impressive.

It's such a big event that people park along the road in preparation to see the bikes. You'll see people along the entire route taking video, waving, and enjoying the bikes as they pass. I like that its not just isolated to riders. When communities get involved the entire run becomes more of a landmark event than a bike event alone. Riders will carry bags of candy and throw it to the kids as they ride by which brings excitement for the kids. This really helps to make the ride a community event with everyone participating and showing their supporting. It's basically a 10.8 mile parade that stretches between the two towns.

Once you arrive in Bridgeport, TX and park you head to the pavilion where all the action is taking place. This is where you drop off your toys as well. It is incredible to see the amount of toys everyone is giving. The workers are almost frantic trying to keep up with how many toys riders are being dropped off. There is always hot chili to help take the edge off the chill from the ride. Various booths are scattered around that sell leather goods, patches, t-shirts, and other miscellaneous stuff. The usual 50/50 and raffles for items are present as well. One MC had a tent setup with support gear as well. I am also very grateful that the event organizers are still American patriots and pause the event for the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the National Anthem.

That's only an overview of the toy run. When your involved it becomes much larger. The attendance was huge this year. I can only speculate as to the number of bikes involved. I'm sure the organizers have a better grasp of this than I would possibly be able to. Suffice to say though, it seemed to be larger than the previous years I have attended. This year one of the Christian MC's brought a huge trailer and provided live music along with prayer at the staging area.

There was tremendous support from area MC's along with independents and riding groups. We tried to get pictures of as many of the clubs that rode in the event as possible so we could highlight their involvement. While roaming the staging area we took as many pictures as we could in an attempt to capture the essence of the event. The more media we can make available means possibly more attendance next year as people can better visualize whats going on.

Because Margaret and I were both taking pictures we decided to combine our photo media and link to the same album from both of our sites. Video however will be independent of each other so you'll have to visit each site for that, and our write-ups too! Visit This Lady Rides for Margaret's write-up and video. We uploaded the pictures at a very high resolution so you can download them if you see something you like and want to make a print from it. The pictures are free but we do ask if you use them that you give us credit by including the link to our sites as a courtesy.

Wise County Toy Run 2014 Slideshow

Wise County Toy Run 2014 Video

How Far will it Go

So I'm about to roll 60k miles on my 2012 Street Glide. I have had it for 2.5 years. As I mentioned before, this is my first Harley and I am the first in my family history to ride a Harley and I am still curious as to how far will it go?

It's interesting to hear the variety of opinions on the longevity of Harley's. I understand there were issues historically with Harley's. They required a lot of wrenching to keep on the road. But how about the newer Big Twins? I suppose we wont really know how long they will keep running until some future time when people begin looking back and talking about how good or bad they were. Right now about the only answers I hear are speculations.

The majority of riders I talk with about mileage of Harley's state they will trade in their bike between 20-30k miles. The usual response to my question of why are you going to trade it in that soon is the same. Because it's getting "Up There" in miles. Well......What does "Up There" in miles really mean though? The factory Harley Davidson warranty on a new bike without purchasing an extended warranty is 2 years, 75k miles (Which ever come first). That's actually pretty good in comparison to some other bike manufacturers. My Yamaha V-Star 1300 only had 1 measly little year for the factory warranty. So if Harley is taking their warranty to 2 years or 75k miles my translation of that is they believe their bikes can run pretty much trouble free for at least that amount of mileage. So why are riders trading their bikes in so early? Are they stuck in a programmed mindset from other peoples opinions and speculations that Harley's simply won't make it much past 30k miles? Was this opinion formulated over the historical problems Harley has had with its bikes that is still lingering in peoples minds? If I subscribed to this theory I would have to trade my bike in every year since I put an average of 25k miles on it per year. At that point it would be unreasonable to even own a bike.

It's fun to read forums over this question too! If you search" How long will a Harley run" you'll get days worth of reading and opinions. So many that you won't know what to think and you'll be more confused about the question than ever. The opinions can also place a lot of doubt in your head about how long the bikes will last leading you to consider trading it in to avoid future issues. All I can do is quote the well known saying "Opinions are like assholes and everyone has one".

I believe in riding or driving my vehicles into the ground. I want to pay them off, and then get my money's worth out of them afterwards. I don't mind repairing or if its beyond my capabilities, paying to have repairs made. Every bike will eventually break down in some way. But does a breakdown mean the bike is at the end of its life? To be discarded and left to die in some motorcycle graveyard? I have had a few breakages on my Harley which were covered under the warranty which the dealership repaired. The list is short and I find it quite acceptable considering the amount of miles on the bike.

-Rocker box gasket leak

-Broke engine mount (the rubber mount cracked and had to be replaced)

-Voltage regulator failure (this was a known issue and was a recall item on some bikes)

-Oil filter housing leak

-Wire that stopped conducting current and caused my speedometer and tack to stop working

Should I have given the bike up at any one of these breakages and purchased a new bike? At what point does a breakage warrant a trade in? Again, it's a matter of opinion. One of our Chapters Road Captains has over 160k miles on his Road King. He refuses to trade it in. Like myself, he performs his own maintenance and has had no major breakdown issues. One of the parts employees at our local dealership has over 150k miles on his bike, does his own maintenance, and wont even consider trading his bike in.

How many breakages are caused from maintenance neglect on the owners side too? That is a very good question worth investigation. For instance, my bike will burn 1 quart of oil between every 5k mile oil change. I check the oil level every week and over the course of the 5k miles and keep it topped off. It doesn't leak, it just burns that 1 quart and has done so since it was purchased new off the showroom floor. On our summer trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway I checked the oil at 2700 miles and sure enough, it was half a quart low so I topped it off. I know of one time when riding with someone, they checked their oil level while stopped at a gas station and it was showing a half quart low. So my bike isn't the only one that does this. Keeping that in mind, consider the rider that does nothing maintenance wise on their bike. They take it to the shop for everything. If they are not checking and possibly topping off their oil they could be riding with an ever increasing low oil level before it goes in for the next oil change if their bike does the same thing. Low oil means more wear on internal parts which will translate to breakdowns earlier and possibly to an extensive repair. And there are a LOT of riders that wont do any type of maintenance on their bikes. Owner neglect that contributes to break downs don't apply to the reliability or longevity of the bike in my opinion.

What I do know is my Street Glide has been a good bike. It's fun to ride, comfortable on long trips, and easy to maintain, and has been reliable up to this point. I am also happy to have proven nay sayers wrong who say a Harley wont run much past the 30k mark, or that it needs a rebuild at 50k. We shall see as we move forward past the 60k mileage mark into the unknown and speculative future of How Far Will it Go!

How to Change the Rear Brake Pads on a 2012 Harley Davidson Street Glide

As stated in the title this post is about another maintenance necessity. We were working in the garage last weekend cleaning out stuff we had stored for years and never used. I had to move my bike out of the way and instead of starting it, I just put it in neutral and rolled it around. That's when I noticed a soft grinding sound coming from the brake area at the rear tire. I never would have heard it if I had started the bike over the sound of the exhaust. Oh my! It was kind of embarrassing because of all the maintenance videos and posts I have done. But truth be told, I simply didn't pay attention to the rear brakes lately.

Sunday morning we headed to Harley and bought new pads. I figured this would be a good time to make a video that might help someone as well. Even though I have a video of doing the front brakes and bleeding the brake lines, performing the pad change on the rear is a slightly different process.

I won't go into details on this post in writing about the process. It's all covered in the video. Hope this helps!

How to Change the Rear Brake Pads on a 2012 Harley Davidson Street Glide

How to Bleed the Brakes on a 2012 Street Glide

I thought it might be a good post to talk a bit about brake fluid and show the process of flushing your brake lines. Obviously brakes are a critical system to your bike and some care needs to be taken on them at regular intervals.Something I have discovered in the Official Harley Davidson Service Manual for my 2012 Street Glide is that every maintenance point is not listed on the maintenance interval chart. What? You would think it would be but it's not. Brake fluid is one of those maintenance points they do not list. I can only speculate as to why they would leave this critical point off.

The average rider from what I have seen might put 8-12 K miles on their bike yearly. This number might be disputed by some readers and that's fine, but this is the average that is clocked on the odometers from the 900 or so members of our local HOG Chapter per year. This means their not riding enough to wear their brake pads down enough to need them replaced every year or even every 2 years. If the brakes aren't being replaced, you can almost be sure the fluid isn't being flushed either. Now put 2 years, around 20 K miles on the same bike, it still doesn't need brake pads but now the fluid needs replaced. If the owner doesn't do it themselves or take it in and specifically pay to have the lines flushed and refilled with new fluid they may begin to experience a difference in the braking of the bike. So even if your not changing out the brake pads, you still need to keep up with flushing the lines and refilling them with new brake fluid. This maintenance point should become a regularity at the minimum of every 2 years and be taken as seriously as changing your oil.

Why brake fluid needs to be changed

Glycol-based brake fluid  is hygroscopic. This means that the fluid will aggressively absorb moisture. As soon as the seal is broken on the bottle, the brake fluid will begin to absorb moisture from the air. Even once it’s sealed in your system (though it’s never truly sealed) it will continue to absorb moisture from things like rubber seals and hoses. So don't use a bottle that has had the seal broken because it will have already absorbed enough moisture to affect the brake fluid.

Over time as more and more moisture is absorbed you will get a build-up of water in the system, and it is the water that changes the performance characteristics of the brake fluid.

Fluid in its natural state is not appreciably compressible, but when that fluid is vaporized by high temperatures the resulting vapor can be compressed. This means the fluid is then less able to convert force into pressure. It is for this reason that brake fluids have very high boiling points to combat this, but when moisture is absorbed into the fluid the boiling point drops dramatically. This can cause your brakes to have a squishy feel. You may even have to push harder on the brake pedal or pull the brake handle in further to get a brake response.

DOT 4 brake fluid has a boiling point of around 445 degrees Fahrenheit, but once the fluid absorbs enough moisture to the point where it is then made up of just a few percent water, the boiling point can drop as much as 175 degrees F.

This is why it needs to be changed.

How to Change the Brake Fluid on a 2012 Street Glide

Waxahachie TX- Texas Hill Country Reporter Festival 2014

The weekend looked good for riding all week. I kept a close eye on the weather hoping it wouldn't change so we could take a trip somewhere. At first the plans were to go with a group to Cranfills Gap, TX. It just didn't play out though. It was short notice and most of the group couldn't make it. I had a backup plan though! And for Margaret, it was one of those secret destinations that I keep her in the dark with.

The destination? Waxahachie TX for the Texas Hill Country Reporter Festival! I remember watching Bob Phillips and always liked the clean purity of reporting on people and towns throughout Texas. That kind of reporting shows an entirely different side of people and places that you hardly ever see on the news. The history, sites, trades, and artists in the reporting were always portrayed with a positive outlook on the world.

From his travels over the state of Texas Bob Phillips and crew would invite these tradesmen to the Waxahachie Festival. It brings in craftsmen and artists together for an entire day of shopping, music, and eating. If your looking for crafty items, this was the place to be. Margaret and I try to find these craft festivals and visit them when we can. This one however was the largest we have been to all year. We spent almost 5 hours visiting booths and shopping and not once passed the same vendor twice.

The Waxahachie Historical Society was in full swing too! As we were taking pictures of the beautiful historic courthouse a member asked if we wanted a tour. "Absolutely!" I responded. Soon we had a very knowledgeable and exciting guide that led us first around the entire perimeter of the courthouse to give us a very intriguing story about the history of the construction and how city politics greatly influenced the construction results. There are 21 faces of people and gargoyle type creatures carved into the stone around the outside of the building that were a result of the politics. There was also an interesting love story about one of the stone masons that influenced the carved faces. I won't spoil the details by posting them here, you should make the trip to downtown historic Waxahachie, TX for yourself and take the tour. It's far more exciting that way!

After the tour and history lesson about the exterior of the building we moved inside and again learned even more about the history of the courthouse. One of the restored doors inside has a bullet hole from an attempted escape that resulted in a shootout and death of the inmate. The bullet hole was left in the original restored door for historical significance. We watched a short movie that detailed the history of the 3 times the courthouse was upgraded and finally restored into its current condition. In the basement the first stone that was laid for the foundation was still in place and was kept preserved with the date carved on it. There were many other sites and stories but again, this was such a wonderful tour it's better if you make it a ride destination for a day and see it for yourself.

We took back roads home and stopped in Maypearl, TX to shop at Big B's Leather Shop. They have a huge selection of leather goods for riders and the craftsmanship is superior. We probably spent and hour there talking with the owner and trying on some vests and jackets. I found 2 items I will be going back for when were done spending money on home repairs. There was a vest the owner recommended when she saw my frustration in finding a good fit. She said "You need a tall size" and picked out a couple for me to try. She was right, the tall size fit well and felt really good in comparison to my current vest. It can be difficult sometimes to find gear because of my tall torso but Big B's has the answer.

As we left Big B's we knew the day was coming to a close for us. That sinking feeling you get when you know the excitement and fun is almost done began to set in as we got closer to home. Days like this are the type you wish would go on without end. As we pulled into the garage and shut the doors it was somewhat symbolic of closing out the day. The pictures and memories of Saturday will stay with us for many years to come though and keep us searching for new destinations for the next riding adventure.

Waxahachie TX- Texas Hill Country Reporter Festival 2014 Slideshow

Fort Worth HOG Chapter Picnic 2014

This years Chapter Picnic was once again as fun and exciting as the previous years that I have attended and it is one of my personal favorite events. The Road Captains and Officers again worked very hard so the members could have a wonderful time and I want to thank them for their commitment.

The yearly event begins by gathering at the dealership followed by a parade style ride to Canyon West Golf Course where all of the crazy stuff begins! Our Chapter has worked with the owners for years to be able to hold the picnic at this location. The unique experience of this location is the owners allow the Chapter to ride all 18 holes of the golf course on the cart paths. It's fun and funny at the same time! Nothing like seeing 50+ Harley's rolling across the golf course! The golfer's also have fun with it while they wave, laugh, and take pictures. It's nice to see everyone involved enjoying the scene. Just watch out for flying golf balls! We also stop midway through the golf course at a beautiful waterfall and pond for a Chapter picture.

After the golf course ride we begin the bike games. This years games consisted of slow race, 2 up slow race, ball drop, road kill toss, and wiener bite. The first 3 are more of a riding skills game while the last 2 are fun games. The road kill toss is extremely difficult though because the passenger has to put on special goggles that blurs their vision. While not being able to see properly they have to toss stuffed animals from the bike into circles as they ride past. The wiener bite is a hot dog dipped in either ketchup or mustard (passenger preference) and dangles from a string above the bike. The passenger has to bite off as much of the hot dog as they can as they pass under it. This is a hilarious game for all involved. It's messy for the passenger as they get sauce all over their face while trying to bite the wiener.

Our monthly Chapter meeting followed the bike games where future events, food, 50/50, raffle tickets for prizes, and awards for the bike games are given. Lunch was catered by Canyon West Golf Course and delicious deserts were bought or baked by Chapter members. It was nice to relax after all of the excitement of the riding events and I soon discovered how tired I was getting.

There were 2 non riding games after the meeting consisting of poke & run and a water balloon toss. This year the men carried the poker while the woman held the toilet paper roll. You can only imagine the things people laughed and said about that sight! The video below gives you a good idea of the game...

When these 2 games finished it marked the end of a fun filled exciting day. I tried to close out the video without a lot of wind noise and we mounted up and headed home. Temperatures were now falling, a heavy wind had rolled in bringing with it dark clouds from a storm that was to hit late in the evening. We were both exhausted and did almost nothing once we got home. We both spent the evening going through all of the media we took at the event to post for everyone to see. Because Margaret and I are both writing about this event you can visit her site to see photos.

Fort Worth HOG Chapter Picnic 2014 Video

Fort Worth HOG Skills Day September 2014

I was a little late posting this one! Sorry about that. Got behind on posts for a couple weeks. Life can get busy and set other things back sometimes.

Fort Worth HOG skills day is something Margaret and I try very hard not to miss. As I have stated before, what you take from learning on skills day to the road is invaluable. Until you get your bike out on these different difficulty levels of courses and experience pushing your riding skills to new limits you won't understand how much it can improve your daily riding on the road. I push myself every time to test my personal riding limits and the bikes performance limits based on my abilities at every skills day. The September skills day was no exception to this! Actually, I pushed myself a bit too far this time and dropped my bike 4 times. Up until this skills day I had never dropped my Harley. It was good though to really find that point of no return when you lean in hard and begin driving the floorboards into the pavement. Now I know! I did hurt my wrist and elbow a bit and suffered with some pain throughout the next week from the falls. No permanent harm done though.

This months courses were quite varied and it was awesome. Our Road Captains always set up a general beginners course which is the bulk of the courses offered.  They will also set up a couple of harder courses for more advanced riding for those interested. These can consist of circles of varying diameters, figure 8's, offset cone weaves, shamrocks, snowman, and a variety of other setups. This time they set up a short course called "The Pitchfork" which I had never done before. I liked it and after a few runs was able to manage it all right. It pushed riding techniques and combinations of maneuvers to be implemented in succession for successful navigation through the course.

As always our Road Captains are there to assist, encourage, educate, and help if you drop your bike. They will also do demonstrations to show you how to navigate a course and show you that it is possible if your looking at those cones wondering if it can be done.

We took a lot of pictures this time and got some nice time lapse frames of people as they are going through parts of the course. Margaret took some video with her Canon this time of me doing some of the courses. She wanted to begin experimenting with the video capabilities of her Canon Rebel t3i.

Again, I want to encourage anyone that hasn't been to the skills day events to come out and try it. You will benefit from it.

Fort Worth HOG Skills Day September 2014 Slideshow

Fort Worth HOG Skills Day September 2014 Video

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014

Can we say Hell of a Weekend?!?!YES we can! This weekend was a very active, exciting, and fun. We did so much that I'll be breaking it into two posts so be sure to come back next weekend for the finale of this weekends post!

What did we do and how did it all come into play? Well, earlier in the week Charles from the Protectos LEMC called and asked what we were doing Saturday night. "Not a thing" I responded. Then he asked if we wanted to go with him and his wife to the Lewisville Western Days Festival. He had extra tickets if we wanted them and he knows Kevin Fowler who was performing and we could meet him after the concert too! Well hell yeah we wanted to go! Who wouldn't?! Unless you don't like country music I suppose. A nice ride, nice festival, nice concert, good friends, an all around good time!

We met up Saturday evening and rode to Texas Roadhouse for dinner to begin the evening. Then we headed to the festival and because we were on bikes we found free parking right outside the entrance gate. HA! we didn't have to hike for miles to get to the festival! We were scanned for weapons and security gave Margaret a hard time about her camera. They tried to tell her professional grade cameras with removable lenses were not allowed in the event. We persisted that it wasn't a professional camera even though it was an SLR and they called a manager over to make the decision of whether we could take it in or not. The manager came by and after all the crap they gave us said there were no restrictions on cameras. Now that the camera gestapo let us through we began cranking up the media capturing. This was an arts and craft festival as well as live music. Craft booths were humming with activity and vendors promoting their wares. Lots of kid stuff too but we kind of veered away from all of that.

99.5 The Wolf Country Music Station was set up next to the main concert stage. They had a gigantic display was showing different activities of the festival. When the concerts were live they showed the concert on the screen as well for those that couldn't or didn't want to get up close to the stage. We signed up for prizes and personal meet and greets with Thompson Square who was also playing Saturday night. As usual, we didn't win anything, we never do, it's just how it goes with us.

There were a couple other smaller concert stages scattered about the festival grounds to keep you entertained with live music as you meandered about. We had some beers and some rum shots from a local rum company. They handed out those green glow sticks so we all grabbed one. I wrapped mine around the brim of my hat figuring this was all part of the entertainment and why we were here! There were lots of fried foods which we didn't eat but wanted too. Funnel cakes are a favorite of ours but we didn't want to put our bodies through the withdrawals from the fry and the sugar in them so smelling the things had to do. We met quite a few people that Charles and Janet introduced us to. They seemed to know half the people we passed by in the festival! I'll never remember all the names but if they read this then I want to say again "It was nice meeting you!"

Later in the evening when dark fell Thompson Square performed. We had never seen them before and it was an incredible show. They are very good artists and their music is wonderful. We managed to get into a couple different places up pretty close where we could even see the expressions on their faces. I took some video with the GoPro and because I'm on the tall side I was able to set the camera on manual settings using the Time Value setting and manually adjust the shutter speed. The pictures came out wonderful and I hope you'll enjoy seeing them. The GoPro clips are short but they were just for short segments to enhance and give an idea of the concert performance.

Next up to close out the concerts at the festival was Kevin Fowler. We have never seen him before so I was happy to get up as close as we were able so as to get some good media of his performance.  I have heard a couple of his songs and like them but did not expect the show he put on for us! He is a self professed beer band, not a romantic, and his music is energetic. Thompson Square was a good show for sure, but Kevin is a much better entertainer. He was funny, energetic, lively, and he knew how to motivate and engage the audience. There was much more cheering, hands and arms uplifting, screaming, and singing when he performed. All in all I enjoyed his performance far more. When Kevin Fowler finished I felt fulfilled. I know that sounds odd but his show was so good that when it was over there was a complete sense of satisfaction from it.

Charles bought Margaret a Kevin Fowler T-Shirt because she is working on getting her CHL and Kevin Fowler signed it for her. The picture below will explain how that is significant. After the show Charles and Janet introduced us to Kevin and we were able chat with him for awhile. Not only does he put on a great show hes a down to earth guy off stage as well.

Unfortunately the evening had to come to a close, and as with anything your having a good time doing, it ended too soon. Time accelerates when your having a good time, and slows when your not. We parted ways soon after leaving the festival and headed home. It was almost 2 AM, the roads were nearly clear, it was cool but not cold, no wind, clear skies, we took the George Bush Tollway most of the way home and since its a toll road it was even more deserted than other highways. The rumble of the Harley's under us was soothing as we cruised at a steady 75 mph for the hour ride back home. It was an absolute perfect afternoon and evening and we'll not forget the good time we had with good friends.

Thank you Charles and Janet for inviting us and having a great evening together.

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Slideshow

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Video

Mary's- Strawn, TX

Saturday again consisted of working on the house. Were trying to get a lot of exterior work done over the summer so we can focus on interior stuff this winter. Margaret had to work all day Sunday so we weren't able to do anything together the entire day.

However, while she worked I met up with the National Chapter and Fort Worth Chapter of the Protectors LEMC and rode with them to Strawn, TX for some Mary's chicken fried steak. It was a good ride there and we spent a couple hours hanging out and eating some of the best chicken fried steak there is.

Afterwards the two chapters went different directions and I went with the Fort Worth Chapter President and his wife. We wanted to get a few miles in on some back roads since it was such a beautiful day so we headed out north from Strawn and rode to Graford, TX and then back to Weatherford, TX. The roads around that area are very nice and the open landscape with the large hills in the far distance make for beautiful scenery to ride through. There were just enough clouds to give off some shade at times to offset the scorching sun and to cast nice shadow patterns on the landscape.

After the laborious work on the house Saturday the ride with the Protectors on Sunday was the perfect close to the weekend with good company and a relaxing ride on a fine day. 

I want to thank the Protectors for having me along as their guest on the ride!

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014

This weekend was Fort Worth Harley's annual Water 4 Life Ride. This is the 5th year running for this charity event and my 3rd year participating. Water 4 Life is a program through World Vision that drills clean water wells for villages that have none in Africa. For every person on a bike Fort Worth Harley donated $50.00 to the charity. All you had to do was show up, sign in, and they would donate.

The day was cold and overcast which affected attendance this year. It was still a good event and turnout even with rain in the forecast. The ride began at Fort Worth Harley and took a 20 mile route to get to Billy Bobs Texas. There was a police escort to help with safety and block off intersections as the procession rode through. We enjoyed the ride and it was especially exciting riding through the Fort Worth Stockyards. The time was about 12:30 pm when the procession rolled through the stockyards and it was packed with tourists and sightseers. The noise was deafening from the bikes as the exhaust noise echoed off the buildings as we rolled through. People didn't seem to mind though and were waving and taking pictures and video as we went through. 

Upon arrival at Billy Bobs we took our seats in the bull riding arena and listened to a short presentation about the charity. There were drawings for prizes if you had purchased a raffle ticket. Prizes included a cruise, leather jackets, gift certificates, and a 2014 Harley Davidson Street Bob. Between raffle ticket sales, corporate sponsors, and the amount donated by the dealership for each person on a bike, $34,000 was raised.

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014 Slideshow

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014 Video

Back on the Road for Labor Day 2014

3 weeks to the day I got my bike back from the shop. Harley had quite a time with this problem. They found that a power supply wire coming out of the power relay box had stopped conducting current and had to replace it. Faulty copper was the cause. It's interesting because that same problem occurred years ago on my Ford Explorer with a wire that supplied current to the ignition switch. Anyways, I'm happy with the work and Fort Worth Harley for taking care of the problem for me. As always, they have been wonderful to work with and have always taken care of our bikes when we've had any problems.

With the bike running again we decided to take a ride on Labor day since it has been almost a month since we have been able to go out together. I didn't plan on riding as much as we ended up doing. If we had gone on any day but Monday it would have been better. The day was scorching hot, we left at 9 am and didn't get back until 6 pm. Normally that would be fine but I had to go to work the next day and it left me with no recovery time from a long hard hot day.

We started the morning by riding to Burleson, TX to have breakfast at The Porch. This little restaurant has become our favorite morning ride destination and it puts us in a great location for continued riding afterwards. I had planned on riding to Jacksboro, TX to try some lunch at The Green Frog restaurant since they have very good reviews. From where we were it was about 130 miles to get there. Margaret still wanted to go so I decided to go through Granbury, TX and stop there to take a break since the day would be heating up quickly. When we got to Granbury there was a bike event taking place that we didn't expect.

The Biker Bash Texas is put on by Full Armor Biker Church, and is a Christian bike ministry event. We were there on Labor Day when the event was beginning to wind down. As a result we missed the bulk of the action that took place on Saturday and Sunday. I talked shortly with Doc who was an integral part of putting this event together and he said on Saturday there were over 900 bikes that showed up. That's a very nice turnout. There were still things happening though which we were able to enjoy. The band was playing and there were still a lot of booths set up. Leather goods, patches, clothing, tattooing, pin stripping, food, bike contests, prayer tents, and more were still going strong. We wandered around for a couple hours, took pictures and video, and talked to various vendors, tradesmen, and riders while we enjoyed the event. Next year well be sure to go earlier when things are going full force.

It was about 2 pm when we left and now the heat was really coming down on us. It took an hour and a half to get to Jacksboro, TX only to find out The Green Frog was closed! That's not what their website was showing in the morning before we left. I had no idea if there was another restaurant in Jacksboro that might be open and by now we were both so hot we didn't want to ride around the town looking for something. I knew a place in Springtown, TX which was 30 minutes away that would be open and has some personal historical significance to it as well so we headed out for that restaurant.

The restaurant we went too is Howells Cafe. I don't know how long its been open but the last time I was there was 40 years ago. It's not gourmet specialty food, it's just simple home cooking at a great price. Every thing was fresh cooked to order, not frozen, canned, and microwaved like many restaurants seem to do now out of convenience. The historical significance of this place is that I grew up in another small town about 30 minutes away until I was 11 years old. My father rode a Goldwing and we would often ride out to Howells in the evening with a couple of friends that also rode to have coffee. Obviously I was a passenger with my father at this age. The ride to get coffee was more of a reason to take a short cool evening ride than anything else. Our parents would talk about riding, dream trips on bikes, and wild tales of all sorts while we kids would eat homemade pie and listen to their stories intently. We would often wonder if some of the crazy stories they would tell were real or made up and even to this day I don't know. I just know it was always fun, interesting, and allowed us to stay up late on school nights. It was nice to show Margaret a place related to riding that I had frequented growing up that was still open.

We stayed at Howells for a couple hours and chatted about whatever came to mind. Not quite the same far out stories that we heard when I was a kid here but this time the stories were ours. It was nice to talk about memories and make some of our own before heading home.

Labor Day 2014 Slideshow

Labor Day 2014 Video

Broke Down Blues

As you probably guessed, the bike is still in the shop. They received the new speedometer, stuck it in, took the bike on the road for testing and it stopped working too. Now they are stuck. Our service rep called us and said at this point they had no idea what the problem could be. After calling some other service centers for help and still receiving no solution they put their master tech on the case who is now working with a Harley corporate electrical engineer to troubleshoot the problem.

They have no idea when the repair will be complete because they don't know what the problem is. Even though I have the broke down blues this is probably one of the best times of the year for a problem like this to happen. It's over 100 degrees almost daily now and that makes for some pretty hard riding. Especially if your out in the afternoon. This is also giving us the opportunity to continue doing maintenance on our home. It's easy to decide to take a ride instead of work.

If your ever debating whether to extend the warranty of your bike then this is a good example of why you should. Many questions came to mind when the factory warranty was close to ending. Will it be worth it? What if nothing happens and we waste all that money? Will we regret it? Will it pay for itself? All I can say about an extended warranty is....Get It. I don't know yet how much this break down would have cost without a warranty but the bikes been there for almost 3 weeks. Labor is the big cost at this point and that adds up quick. You have to look realistically at your own financial situation and determine if you could pay out of pocket for something like this. And keep in mind, this is only one major problem that happened. What if a couple more happen? We will still have to pay our $50 deductible which I will gladly pay for something like this. I purchased enough warranty to get this bike through May of 2018 and its looking like this one repair might actually pay for the cost of that 4 years warranty.

To all of the riders whose bikes are running...

Ride Strong Ride Safe

Still Broke Down

Yup, as the title states, still no bike. After waiting all of last week and hearing nothing but silence on the status of the repair, Margaret got frustrated and called late Friday afternoon. At first there was some confusion to the status of the repair. The service department didn't know why the speedometer hadn't been replaced yet. Our service rep quickly found out why and informed her that the part had still not arrived. The new speedometer is supposed to come in today which is Monday 8/18/2014. The service department also said if it arrived today they would try to get the bike in the shop and get it installed. We shall see.

I do understand the situation Fort Worth Harley has been put in by having to order the part. A speedometer is not a common part that is kept stock all the time. At least not a Street Glide speedo. Once the order goes in their hands are tied while they wait for it to arrive. It is frustrating though. Wednesday will make 2 weeks the bike has been in the shop.

Sunday was our Chapters skills day which we both almost never miss attending. Margaret didn't want to go alone so we decided to make the best of the weekend and do something else. We've been working hard on the house every weekend for almost a month and decided to have some fun. We headed to the firing range and spent a few hours trying some different pistols. Margaret proved herself to be a far better shooter than I, often hitting in the center point of the target while my shots continually landed outside the image. Now I have to hear her gloating and prodding about her superior pistol skills over mine. I was proud of her though, she handled the firearms very well and with confidence.

It was a good weekend even without riding, though it would have been nice to ride to the firing range! I had wanted to work on a couple more maintenance videos but again that didn't happen. I purchased a special tool to remove the assembly inside the fuel tank to show how to change the fuel filter. I also want to do a video on bleeding the brake lines. They will happen, just not as soon as I hoped.

Until next time!

Breakdown

Well crap! We have spent the last 3 weekends working on the house, replacing trim, painting, etc. and haven't done much riding outside of my work commute. We took a very short ride one morning to The Porch restaurant in Burleson, TX to get breakfast before we started working but that's been all. I had planned a decent ride for last Sunday but when we got up neither of us had the energy to go. Between our regular work and the added work on weekends on the house in the heat our bodies simply said "Your not going anywhere buddy". So we did absolutely nothing to give our bodies a break. I spent most of the day playing Eve Online, yes, I am a MMORPG gamer and have been for over a decade. It kind of goes along with my IT background. 

We were planning on riding this weekend but then, disaster occurred. While riding to work Wednesday I noticed my speedometer and tachometer lights were flickering. I ride every morning in the dark so the flickering was very noticeable. Great, whats going on here? At first it was just a few little flickers on and off, but as the commute progressed the flickering became very pronounced and everything that is powered on both gauges were also losing power. I asked Margaret to set up an appointment at Fort Worth Harley to have it looked at. Without an appointment your bike might sit there a few days until they have time to work it in. I was supposed to drop it off Thursday evening but on the way home it got even worse. In the daylight I wasn't able to see the lights flickering to know how bad it was. I didn't need to though because half way home the indicators started flopping around and finally went dead. No power to both speedometer or tachometer. The odometer wasn't even displaying anything. Apparently both gauges are on the same power feed that had gone out. I pulled over and called Margaret to meet me at the dealership because I was going to go ahead and drop it off instead of waiting.

Late Friday Nick from service calls and gave me the good news and the bad news. The good news was they promptly found the problem. The speedometer had gone out. Dead. The tach went out because the power feeds through the speedo first and then the tach. Easy enough to replace. A wire connection and a few screws. The bad news was they had to submit the warranty information and order the part. It was too late to do that on Friday so he won't be able to order it until Monday. Nick also needed my mileage so they could program the new speedometer with the current mileage. I had just done an oil change at 52,500 and had ridden some since doing it so we decided to have it set at 53,000.

Fortunately I had made the decision to purchased a 4 year extended service plan. I talked a bit about that in the Loco Coyote post and video. An electrical issue is one of those breakdowns that I don't want any part of trying to troubleshoot and repair. It was for this exact type of breakdown that I purchased that extended warranty. This will cost $50 which is the deductable. This single problem alone will end up paying for my first year of the extended service plan. So this weekend we didn't ride again due to my bikes issue. Again we worked on the house and got a little bit more done...

Distracted Riding

In past posts I have written about or mentioned issues on the road caused by drivers. Texting, eating, putting on makeup, etc. while driving have led to thousands of accidents on the road. Some of them with other cars, and unfortunately accidents with bikes. We all know the risks of riding, accept them, and continue to ride despite the idiots behind the wheel. But, are close encounters and accidents always the fault of a cager?

Distracted riding is a very real and serious problem for riders. We take riding for granted by hopping on our bike and riding off into the sunset because we do it with regularity. We see getting on our bike the same as someone getting into their car and taking off down the road. And then when a accident occurs it is often immediately assumed the driver was doing something to cause the accident and should be flayed and thrown in a dark cell never to be heard from again. That may be the case often enough but riders get distracted too. On our recent trip to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway I was almost the victim of a head on collision with another bike. We came around a curve and another bike was coming head on at me in the middle of my lane. Fortunately he wasn't riding fast, I was alert and was able to respond quickly enough to avoid a collision by a few inches. It startled him and he promptly moved back to his lane. It's obvious he was distracted. Possibly looking around at the beautiful scenery, lost in thought, who knows, but it happened.

Let's assume the following scenario. You're riding far away from civilization down a nice repaved two lane road, no tar snakes, mountains in the distance with beautiful flower blooming fields spread out before them, not a car to be seen, and the road spans before you in the distance. It's 78 degrees, the motor is rumbling smoothly under you, the air is thick with wonderful smells, there hasn't been any roadkill for a month, there are nice puffy clouds evenly spread out to break the sun at times and cast an interesting shadow pattern across the landscape. Now the scene is set, it couldn't be more perfect, and this has gone on for over an hour. Then before you know it you wake up. What?! Wake up?! No, this is not a dream, you really are on this road and suddenly realize that time has passed, miles have gone by, you're mind was wandering on a myriad of thoughts (probably good ones), but suddenly you snap out of a stare that you didn't even realize you were in until...you realized you were doing it. You were deep in thought most likely induced by the perfect riding world you could be in and enjoying every bit of it but were still distracted. Yup, this has happened to me and I know it's happened to others and that's when we become our own danger. It wouldn't take much while in this state of mind for an accident to happen without a car even being involved.

That was a perfect ride scenario, but now put yourself in a situation that all drivers face, stress. Weekday rush hour is a prime example of this problem. People are in a hurry to get to work, in a hurry to get home, pissed off about work, dwelling on personal issues, and they get behind the wheel or handlebars and head down the road. Their minds are completely distracted with every personal issue and commitment to safety on the road simply doesn't exist. It's very easy for this type of problem to affect a rider and can cause accidents in a variety of ways. When your distracted like this you might ride faster, ride erratic, try to make a yellow light, not come to a complete stop, fail to look both ways at intersections, fail to yield, fail to avoid the cager that just made a driving mistake, and probably a laundry list of other things you might think of. Then "BLAM" an accident occurs and it really had nothing to do with another drivers inattentiveness, it was all your own doing because you, the rider, were distracted.  I want to put blame on automobile drivers as most riders do because most drivers don't care about what their doing behind the wheel. But, sometimes it's simply the riders fault.

What about group riding distractions? You're out with your MC, RC, RG, or maybe out with a couple friends taking in the scenery and the next thing you know your in the other side of the lane, out of formation, and possibly putting the rider in front and behind you in danger because you were looking around. It can be overwhelming especially for newer riders to group ride safely. There are a lot of distractions in groups that don't play into solo or even couples riding. Staying in your side of the lane, hand signaling, mechanical signaling, staggered formation, the person in front of you, behind you, to the front/back right or left of you, decisions of whether to go through a changing light or stop, will the rider behind me hit me if I do? Then throw in the riders that are sightseers and keep taking their eyes off the road causing you to have to focus on what their going to do instead of paying attention to riding safely. New riders that your not familiar with, are they experienced, what can I expect them to do in a situation, are they going to stay in their lane. Riders in groups that just want to be noticed as they rev their engines to make noise and look around to see if anyone is noticing them. Maybe their checking out woman, or men, desperately searching the crowds of onlookers hoping to see someone running to them in a lust driven state of mind because they heard the rider rev his engine and saw him sitting on his/her bike in all of their irresistible glory!! Yeah, right, reality check! That rider is far beyond distracted, their delusional. All of these situations are distractions while group riding that can be the cause of an accident and must be taken into consideration. I was in a charity ride one year that was open to anyone and the rider to the front right of me kept swerving across the lane. The guy was all over the road, gunning the engine to show off, slamming on the brakes, waving at people, head up his ass basically without any concern for the other riders around him. I finally got tired of it, pulled up beside him and yelled "STAY IN YOUR LANE AND STOP SCREWING AROUND". It startled him and he jumped out of his seat a bit, but he got the idea and began paying attention. There are LOTS of distractions for riders in groups which can cause accidents that solo riders don't have to be concerned with.

Another type of distraction are weather conditions. When it heats up in some of the southern states and gets 100 degrees or more your gonna feel the effects while riding. No matter how fast you ride in extreme heat your body will not cool down. You may feel cooler but in actuality your not, the temperature is still the same. Then the sun baking you from above, the sweat is flowing, possible heat related conditions take hold of the body and now your riding distracted and impaired. Your mind is reacting slower, you're staring straight ahead with limited if any attention to your surroundings, you might become dizzy and have increased fatigue as your body fights against the heat. Your thoughts may be dwelling on how thirsty you are, how hot it is outside, how hot you are, the heat coming off the bike, where you can I pull over, how long till you find a place to cool down. All of these thoughts now become mental distractions that pull your focus off the road. It's tough to maintain safe riding practices when your body breaks down from the heat and you become a danger to yourself.

Rain is often a distraction for riders too. As the rain hits your face it can hurt and causes distraction. As your glasses, goggles, or face shield fog up it becomes a distraction to wipe them while riding or see through them. Concentrating on the wet road conditions, what could be under that puddle coming up, limited visibility, all of this causes distractions for the rider that they wouldn't have to encounter in ideal riding conditions.

I think the point has been made that riders can also become distracted in their own ways while riding. Just as drivers cause the greater part of their own distractions as shown in this post Cager Danger, riders can also cause risk to themselves and others. As riders we need to be constantly aware of our own distractions even more than drivers. Our alertness is critical to our safety and life and we already have enough danger with uncaring drivers to throw our own distractions into the mix.

Ride Strong Ride Safe

Who We Are

After 2 years of write ups I thought it might be interesting to introduce who we are. After a particularly negative comment about Margaret on the Blue Ridge Parkway post it really hit me that people are forming opinions of us that could be incorrect.  The blog focuses on our riding activities but still leaves a blank when it comes to figuring out what kind of lifestyle we live outside of riding. When I was buying parts for my bike at our local dealership one of the parts counter guys said, "you're always in here buying stuff, what do you do for a living?" That question came from someone we know in person that we see at least weekly, so I figured anyone reading this blog might be wondering about us outside of the ride. So, here we are.....

Margaret and I have been married for 20 years but were together far before the "official" marriage took place. We have 3 kids. Our daughter recently graduated from college with a bachelors degree in marketing, our first son is a body builder and just finished his second year towards his physical education degree. Neither of them live at home and are fully independent. The youngest still lives with us and has finished his first year in college and for now has his sights directed at entering police academy after he acquires an associate degree.

Neither of us have careers as executives that make hundreds of thousands of dollars before ridiculously high bonuses are applied. Life just didn't play out that way for us and as a result we have had to work very hard to make ends meet and pay for what we have. It would be nice to have an abundance of cash flow that we could lavishly spend at will but we don't. We have struggled as blue collar middle class working Americans and fought through the mental and financial burdens during hard times. We know what its like to live from paycheck to paycheck and not have the income to pay bills at times. Through the grace of God, we persevered, paid things off and got out of debt. We slowly improved our skills in our trades and worked our way for many years into a better financial situation.

I went to college and studied Information Technology, passed the CCNA certification through Cisco and passed an MCP certification through Microsoft. For 15 years I installed fiber optic and network cable systems for companies and newly constructed buildings. Most of that work was done on construction sites and because of that I learned a great deal about project management, construction trades, and process. I became a project manager for a company for a few years in the design and installation of communication networks before ending up where I am now. Currently I am a construction project manager/ communication tech/ maintenance tech working for CBRE in a contract position for a division of a Fortune 500 company. I serve as the general contractor and project manager for all construction projects onsite. I am also responsible for all communications in regards to our Cisco switch and router network, VOIP, cabled infrastructure, and building maintenance such as plumbing, lighting, electrical, painting, HVAC, and most facilities oriented tasks. Like most people, I work long hard hours and most of it is physical labor related. It can be exhausting and I look forward to weekends to unwind by doing something riding related.

Margaret has a degree in the medical industry and worked for many years in sleep research. Eventually she turned her hobby of sewing into a business and now runs that full time. She has multiple online outlets for selling her items and teaches sewing classes outside of the home. An entire room of our house is dedicated to her work and it's loaded with embroidery machines, sergers, and sewing machines for a variety of sewing related needs. Most weeks her work load from online orders and fulfillment of stock for some companies she works with keeps her working all day and all week to complete so we can have time to ride our bikes. Often she is putting the final stitches on items just minutes before we head out on a ride. She also has a pattern line of little girls clothes that she designed which a company purchased this summer and is marketing for her for which she receives royalties from the sales.

We live very conservative, not frivolously spending money on our every whim and desire. We simply don't have the income to do so. If we want something, we save and pay cash for it not wanting to put ourselves into debt. We are both hard working and have had our up's and down's with employment as have many Americans. Through the hard times and good times we were careful financially and weighed our spending decisions carefully. We often wanted to try and fulfill the American Dream and move to a nicer house on a bit of land in a nice area, purchase nice new vehicles, and fill that home with eye candy. That was until we put the numbers to paper, calculated the interest, and was able to see the deep amount of debt it would have landed us in and how long it would take to crawl out of that debt, if ever. Life has a way of hitting people hard at just the wrong time, we understood that, and didn't want to get so deep into debt that if something happened it could ruin us for the rest of our lives. So we stayed in our older home that was built in 1963, paid it off years ago, and have slowly made home improvements on it especially in the areas of the things you don't see but take for granted, basically the engineering of the home. The plumbing is new, the electrical has nearly been completely replaced including the breaker panel, we had central heat and air installed, new roof, attic insulation, etc. Because of my profession in trades I was able to do most of it myself.

Both of our vehicles are paid off and we have no plans of trading them in for a "New" vehicle just to begin assuming payments again. Our philosophy regarding vehicles is pay them off, save the payment you would have made to make repairs as you need to. My Explorer is now 16 years old with 195K miles and it still runs great. Margaret's Explorer is 9 years old with 100K miles. I do all of the maintenance on both vehicles and most of the repairs unless its electrical. Could we get new vehicles? Yes, but it would again mean debt which we don't want. We have one credit card which has a zero balance that we carry for emergencies. Everything thing inside our home is paid for. We believe debt is enslavement. Your not free when someone else, a loan company, credit card company, or a banking institution owns the things in your life. I have heard many people talk about the things they have and "own" yet they are making payments on those things. How many people have you heard say they "own" their home but are still making payments on it? If your making payments on them, then you don't own them, someone else does until its paid off. Try not making anymore payments on those items and see how long you keep them. It's an older home but we own it and are not enslaved to a bank that can put us on the street by foreclosing on us if we miss a payment.

The only debt we have is our bikes which we are working hard to pay off early. Financing them was the only way we could both have the bikes we wanted. We could have purchased used metrics at a third of the price, but for this one desire, we went ahead and got the bikes we wanted. We figured since they were the only debt we had, if something bad happened financially we could always give them up and we would still have our vehicles.

We are conscience of our diet as to what we put into our bodies. We want to live as long as possible and we believe what we consume is a major factor in life longevity and prevention of continuous medical issues. We are somewhere between almost being vegetarians and vegans, eating meat only 1 meal a week and not having any dairy products or eggs. This post Healthy Living for Healthy Riding goes into much greater detail on this subject.

During the time the kids were still at home our focus was on making a living and raising them. Now that only one of them is still at home and he is pretty much independent we have more time to do things together. It can be difficult for some couples to adjust to the change in life outside of children. Once the focus of raising them is gone many couples seem to have a hard time with their relationship because of different interests. We were fortunate because we already had many common interests and eventually Margaret developed a desire to ride which has given us another activity that we can enjoy together.

This post was completely unrelated to riding and is out of the norm but it will give you some insight as to who we are and how we live. It just seemed the appropriate time to put it out there. I also hope it will be an encouragement to others that might be having a hard time as we have had and know they're not alone. This is who we are, just average people trying to make it and do the best we can through life.

Blue Ridge Parkway

We began planning this ride over 6 months ago with the purpose of riding the entire 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway from end to end. During that 6 months we slowly booked B&B's to stay at and payed for them in full. We also stopped eating out once a week and took what we would have spent and put it aside for the trip. We purchased touring packs for both bikes and smaller necessities for a long trip. This ride took us 3149.5 miles in 11 days through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma before returning home to Fort Worth, TX. We managed to ride 3 scenic parkways during this trip which included the Cherohala Skyway that spans across both Tennessee and North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs across North Carolina and Virginia, and the Talimena Scenic Byway that runs between Arkansas and Oklahoma. We also rode the Diamondback Motorcycle Route (226A) at BRP mile post 334  in the Little Switzerland area. We rode the entire trip and had a lot of memorable experiences along the way which I will try to express in this post with write-ups, slide show, and video. One of the days during this ride marked our 20 year anniversary for which I am grateful to have spent with Margaret. I made accommodations at Bed & Breakfasts for most of the trip as a nice touch of appreciation and celebration for our marriage.

Day 1: Fort Worth, TX to Jackson, MS

Pretty much uneventful, cool, overcast, beautiful riding weather until just before the Mississippi border where a sudden thunderstorm hit and we were engulfed water. Lightning, high winds, and a torrential downpour completely soaked us. It came up so quickly and there was no place safe to pull over to put on our rain gear so we just rode through it. We stopped at the visitor center just across the Mississippi river bridge and took some pictures before heading into Jackson and settling in for the night.

Day 2: Jackson, MS to Chattanooga, TN

Pretty day but some of the worst city highway roads I have ever experienced. Birmingham, AL was like riding on a camel trail until we left the city limits. We would have been better off riding Enduro bikes instead of our Harley's. After that the road into Chattanooga was very beautiful and scenic even for an interstate. Upon arrival in Chattanooga we took time to visit Ruby Falls and tour the cave with the underground waterfall. This was nice because by mid afternoon it was getting a bit warm and spending a couple hours in the cave allowed us to stay out of the afternoon heat before heading to our hotel.

Day 3: Chattanooga to Asheville, NC

This was the start of our planned scenic ride and we began by riding the Cherohala Skyway. Along the way we met some riders from Ontario, Canada who were on their way back home via the BRP. They were a great group of people and we really enjoyed sharing stories and laughs with them. We took pictures of each other for lasting memories down the road. They were the first of a whole lot of memorable people we met throughout this ride. From the Skyway we moved on to Cherokee, NC which is the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and began our 4 day 469 mile ride along the parkway. The BRP is a very interesting and unique 2 lane road. There are no stop signs, no traffic lights, no white lines to mark the edge of the road, no businesses, no gas, and a 45 mph speed limit. It was designed to be as minimally intrusive as a road can possibly be in order to highlight the natural beauty of the forest. Any service you may need has to be found by exiting the parkway and finding a town.

We rode the parkway from south to north and the ride began with a steep ascent as the road worked its way into the mountains. Scenic vista stop points were abundant and the views were magnificent and worth the stop. Mimosa and Magnolia trees were in full blossom as well as Rhododendrons, wild lilies and many varieties of wild flowers. The temperature decreased rapidly as we ascended to higher elevations to a very comfortable riding condition. That was until we rounded a sharp corner into the next valley where we stopped at the Waterrock Knob visitor center which is the southernmost visitor center on the BRP at mile marker 451. We were looking across the landscape at a huge dark cloud that was moving directly at us at an alarmingly high speed. The winds had accelerated and we could feel the moisture in the air. We quickly donned our rain gear in preparation for the storm. It moved in so fast we barely finished gearing up before the rain came down. We went onward for about 30 minutes in heavy rain until we passed through a tunnel into another valley. Coming out of the tunnel the rain ceased entirely and we were enveloped in a heavy fog. I could hardly see 10 feet in front of the bike and had to slow down to almost a crawl for safety. You couldn't even see the lights of oncoming vehicles until they were nearly on you it was so thick. After about another half hour of this condition we rounded a sharp corner that took us into another valley and the fog disappeared as the sun and clear sky opened into the valley below. This was how the entire first day on the BRP took place. Off and on between rain, fog, and sun. We met a few local riders that said you never know what the Blue Ridge would bring in terms of weather and what we were experiencing was the typical ride on the parkway. Another danger that I found out about on the parkway was other drivers. I rounded a sharp mountain curve at one point only to be staring at another rider coming head on at me in the middle of my lane. I quickly swerved and was able to prevent a head on collision. Fortunately the other rider either woke up or realized he was riding into oncoming traffic and moved back into his lane before Margaret had to encounter him. That shook me up a bit being so unexpected and we pulled over at a scenic vista so I could regain my composure. We closed out the day at A Bed of Roses B&B in Asheville, NC and had an enjoyable evening wandering the historic downtown area, eating dinner, and watching the various street performers throughout the area.

Day 4: Asheville, NC to Sparta, NC

We headed out a lot later than expected because our B&B breakfast didn't even start until 9 am which put us on the road at 10:30 am, about 3 hours later than expected. Our first stop along the BRP was Craggy Gardens. We had planned on visiting the gardens because they were supposed to be in full bloom at this time of the year. The first issue we had was rain and fog again. As we pulled up to Craggy Gardens a fog had settled in eliminating any scenic views from the area. The park ranger in the station told us for some reason the flowers failed to bloom this year. He said we were welcome to wander the gardens but we wouldn't see anything memorable. Since it was foggy and drizzling we decided not to stay and get wet just to see leaves without blooms. Our next stop was Crabtree Falls. We didn't realize what we had gotten ourselves into on this stop. We thought you just pull over, walk a couple hundred feet and see a waterfall. BAH! I wish. It was a strenuous hike down and back up a very steep mountain trail that you often had to fumble across shale, logs, and loose rocks. It was 1.5 miles to get there going down hill and 1.5 miles back up the mountain side to get back plus it was humid and warm. This stop set us back another 2 hours and were exhausted after the steep climb and still had a long ride ahead of us. We had planned on eating in Little Switzerland and riding the Diamondback Motorcycle Route next. When we arrived it was 3:30 pm and since all of Little Switzerland closed down from 3-5 pm so we couldn't even get a meal. We wanted to ride the Diamondback but it was raining hard again so we reluctantly skipped that ride. We still had about 100 miles to go to get to Glade Valley B&B in Sparta, NC and mileage doesn't add up quickly on the BRP. 5 hours behind our planned schedule we arrived at our B&B, hungry, tired, and still had to find a restaurant and wash clothes. It was almost 10 pm before we were able to settle in. This was disappointing because it was a beautiful log cabin B&B and we had wanted to wander their property and relax during the evening on the large wrap around porch. The day just didn't work out as planned.

Day 5: Sparta, NC to Roanoke, VA

This day was just a fantastic relaxing day. The weather was nice, cool, and we didn't encounter any rain or fog. We stopped at Mabry Mill to visit the historic water mill and take pictures and video. Later at a scenic pull over where there was an old fort structure a couple pulled up on their Goldwing Trike, saw my Fort Worth HOG patch and asked if we had rode or trailer-ed our bikes from Texas. They seemed to like it that we actually rode the entire way and asked if we had eaten lunch yet. We had not so they told us where a local farmers market and sandwich shop was a short distance down the road and they would meet us there for lunch. We had a very yummy lunch with them and a couple of men who also rode that worked locally at a hydro electric dam in the area. It's instances like these where people that ride just meet and share adventures and good times with each other like they've been friends for years. In the early afternoon we arrived at Rose Hill B&B and were able to relax in the afternoon on the front porch. One of the wonderful sights we had seen at all of the B&B's we stayed at was fire flies. We don't have those anymore in Fort Worth and it was nice to sit outside in the evening and watch for the flashes of light from them. Margaret wanted pictures and spent the better part of the evening trying to get a picture of them right at the moment they lit up. That didn't work out too well...

Day 6: Roanoke, VA to Waynesboro, VA

Another fantastic day without rain or fog. Just beautiful cruising through the mountains experiencing the sights the Blue Ridge has to offer. We stopped at one scenic vista and noticed some hikers with a dog. They were hiking the Appalachian Trail and had been on it for 2 months with another 3 months to go. To hike the Appalachian Trail is an incredible feat of stamina and endurance so I was quite interested in talking with them. They have a website that documents their adventures which I found very interesting reading. You can follow this link to find out more: Boots To Birks. After riding for another hour or so we pulled over to take a break, stretch, and drink some water. The scenic vista we stopped at just happened to have a couple people preparing to fly off the cliff on hang gliders. We stayed there to watch one of them take off and get pictures and video of it. Neither of us had ever seen this in real life so it was a new experience for us. We made our last stop at a restored historic farmstead where we explored the old homes and barns. Before heading out we met Chris (Doc) who we enjoyed talking with at length. Doc had completed 2 tours in Iraq as a medic for which I want to give my thanks for his service to our country. He was moving soon to begin a new life and career and just enjoying riding before heading out. Our best wishes go out to you Doc in your endeavors. Soon we arrived in Waynesboro, VA and arrived at Belle Hearth B&B. Our B&B was just a few blocks from the downtown area so we walked to a local restaurant where we ate dinner and I had a couple of Fat Tire beers to finish out the day. Afterwards we spent the remainder of the evening lounging on the porch of Belle Hearth and watched the rain as a storm came through.

Day 7: Waynesboro, VA to Spruce Pine, NC

Our riding plans had to be changed on this day after our experiences on the BRP. We had originally planned on riding 321 miles on the BRP back down to Spruce Pine where we had reservations at another B&B. Since we had so many setbacks due to weather and slower than expected traveling speeds on the BRP we took an interstate for part of the way. We figured even if we were able to maintain 40 mph, which was unlikely, it would take 8 hours of continuous riding on the BRP to get to our destination. Add in more time for lunch, possibly dinner, rest stops, and gas stops and we could easily be up to 10 or more hours which would be in ideal conditions and that was unlikely on the BRP. We took I-81, then I-77, then US-221 to Blowing Rock, NC where we hopped on the BRP. US-221 was an incredibly nice ride and had some great twisties and scenery on it as well. It was a good decision and turned out to be a fun ride as well. Seeing as we made up quite a few hours doing this we headed to Little Switzerland so we could eat lunch and try to ride the Diamondback Motorcycle Route again. The day was sunny and cool and we thought for sure it was going to work out. Within 10 minutes of getting on the BRP the sky darkened and we rode the 40 miles to Little Switzerland in the rain. We ate lunch there hoping the rain would stop which it didn't, so we rode the Diamondback in the rain so we could at least get to experience it. Afterwards we headed to Richmond Inn B&B in Spruce Pine which was only a few miles away and checked in early. Shortly after leaving the BRP and arriving at our B&B the rain ceased and the sun came out.

Day 8: Spruce Pine, NC to Nashville, TN

Took some very nice scenic and curvy back roads to get to I-40 which would take us to Nashville. We encountered some heavy rain once and had to pull off the interstate until it passed.

Day 9: Nashville, TN to Dickson, TN

We had planned on going to Hot Springs but shortly after leaving Nashville we were confronted with a huge black storm front looming before us. It was wicked looking so we pulled off the interstate into Dickson, TN and had breakfast at a local restaurant. Our waiter found out we were heading through Memphis and said "Whoa! Memphis is getting flooded right now, those people are swimming!" That was enough for us to cancel the rest of riding for the day and get a room. There were quite a few hotels in the area and the Best Western allowed us to check in before noon and we stayed in Dickson until the next morning until the storm subsided.

Day 10: Dickson, TN to Hot Springs, AR

Sure enough just as the weather channel from the hotel room was reporting, Memphis had been hit hard. As we neared the city and far past it the fields and rivers were flooded. Sometimes it seemed as if we were on a bridge going across a lake area there was so much water. Many houses along the interstate had water up to the foundations and crops were under water. It was good decision to have stayed in Dickson instead of trying to ride through that monster storm. The skies had cleared and it was a pretty day for the entire ride to Hot Springs.

Day 11: Hot Springs, AR to Fort Worth, TX

One of the reasons we chose to go out of the way to get home was to avoid any rush hour traffic we might encounter going through DFW. I ride through it daily and wanted no part of putting Margaret through that mess. Instead we decided to ride the Talimena Byway again from Arkansas into Oklahoma and then back into Texas on the same back roads we took on our Memorial Day weekend ride to the Talimena. The distance was longer but the scenery and roads were beautiful and we didn't encounter any traffic congestion. When we came out of the mountains into Oklahoma the sun began baking us. For the last 10 days we had been riding in cool, overcast, sunny but not hot, fog, or rain and we didn't experience any hot temperatures. Now however we were back in our home area and the sun was scorching our flesh. We both got a bit of sunburn from the final afternoon riding from Oklahoma back home.

Final Thoughts:

Overall the trip was an extraordinary experience and we are both happy and proud to have made it. Spectacular views, wonderful encounters with riders, good food, great lodging, and nice roads made this a trip of a lifetime for both of us. The only downside to the ride was the weather, which is unpredictable under any circumstance. It's also more difficult for us to have a good understanding of the weather conditions since we live in a region that has a completely different year round climate than that of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was just frustrating because it seemed that every time we accessed the BRP it would rain and soon after we pulled off the BRP the rain would cease. The positive feature about that though is we were able to experience and take media of sun, clouds, rain, and fog along the BRP. Outside of snow and ice, we saw it. I would encourage every rider to make this trip at least once because it will bring a lifetime of memories in so many good ways.

Cherohala Skyway & Blue Ridge Parkway Slideshow

Blue Ridge Bound & Cherohala Skyway

Blue Ridge Parkway Part I

Blue Ridge Parkway Part II