2nd annual rally in raleigh...

attended the second annual capital city bike fest / rally in raleigh... i'm not really sure what it's called - it seems to go by both names.

the day started out heading down to the dealership for the charity ride. i ended up going down there early because i wanted to claim some warrenty work on my bike. i have some chrome chipping off one of the pipe endcaps. i wasn't going to claim it, but after talking to a qa guy from harley, he said it was contamination in the chroming process. soooo, i decided to talk to someone at the dealership to see what they could/would do about it. turns out the guy is going to file a warrenty claim for it - i'm not holding out much hope. even after talking to someone else who said harley hardly ever turns down a warrenty claim. i'll wait and see what happens.

after taking care of that business, it was time to wait around for the charity ride to begin. and after waiting, it did begin... it was a nice day for a ride - clear, sunny skies. the morning was a little cool, but by the time the ride started, it was perfect weather for riding. the charity ride was to support the united way - bikers seem to want to support charities. i actually think it just gives us another excuse to ride - like we really need one!!

it terms of time, the charity ride was a couple hours. in terms of stops, it was short - only two stops. well worth it, though. the first stop was harris wholesale - our local budweiser distributor. they were offering free drink, of the non-alcoholic variety. the closest they came to beer was o'doules. so i downed a monster drink that was pretty tasty - can't rightly recall what it was offhand. i think they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to make us feel welcome:



after giving us a quick thank you speech, it was time to hop back onto the bikes and head for the local caterpillar plant. this was pretty cool - of course it was more like big toys for big boys. while we were there, they gave us a demo of some of the equipment they manufacture at the plant - digging holes, moving holes, filling holes up... it was pretty cool - but you probably had to be there to really enjoy it. or at least be me!!! a couple of pics from the demo...





after being entertained at caterpillar, it was time for the ride back to the dealership. a couple notes/thoughts about the ride... fisrt, we had over two hundred bikes on the ride. i was kinda of in the first third of the pack. while i saw the beginning of the line several times, i never did see the end. this as easily the largest ride i've been on so far.

speaking of large groups of bikes - it's amazing how many highway drivers have a disregard for motorcycles - even when we're being escorted by police. i was suprised at the number of cars that would just pull into our lane - despite having bikes there. it was crazy. i guess they figured they had to get into the lane on the opposite side of us and just pulled on over. i'm sure that if we, as riders, hadn't been on the look out, some cage would have caused an accident. it amazes me how many cages don't pay attention to motorcycles on the highways. but haven't a group of two hundred bikes?? how can you miss that??

okay - enough about the charity ride. we did all make it back in one group and no one was wiped out - as least as far as i know.

while killing some time at the dealership, waiting to ride into the rally to kick it off, the occ caterpillar bike showed up. not really surprising since they had the bike made and they were also sponsoring the rally. while i can honestly say that i'm not really a fan of occ's, i do watch their show and seeing the bike was pretty neat. they do put some thought and detail into the bikes they build.




after killing time looking at the bike and snapping pics, it was time to ride into the rally to kick it off. kinda uneventful really. more or less stop and go riding - and not really that far. once i got there, i walked around for a bit before starting my stint volunteering. since our local hog club is sponsored by ray price, and he/they're really the ones putting on the event, they asked for volunteers. being the sucker that i am - i worked friday night. i ended up hanging out at one of the entrances - killing four hours.

didn't see much of the rally friday night, but went again saturday. there was more of a crowd saturday andi imagine saturday night was very festive - although i didn't stick around for that...

i think i've run of of things to day - or at least i don't feel like saying any more right now...

easyriders rodeo

decided to head to the easyriders rodeo today...


the rodeo was taking place in wilson, nc which is only forty-five minutes away. i was figuring that would be a good ride - especially for the ride back home after being out all day.

i got there on the early side which was okay since i had to leave early. my nephew is staying with us and i wanted to be back at the house to visit with him. since he wasn't sure exactly where he was going, i lead him out to where he needed. after that, i headed straight for the rodeo.

the ride out was nice. still a little cool, which i was already enjoying because i knew it was going to get into the nineties today. the ride was also peaceful - not many people out this early. i got to enjoy a mixture of two lane roads, four lane roads and interstate. i don't really care for riding on the interstate. but in this case, i wasn't on it too long, so it didn't really matter. on the ride out, i was debating whether i really wanted to go to the rodeo. i mean i knew i wanted to go, but i also knew i would have to leave early. i also knew i was going to be hot. i was thinking i could just ride around for a couple hours and then head back home. i'd be fine with that...

i got into wilson and started looking for the fairgrounds. i knew it wasn't too far from where i got onto 301, i just didn't know how far up. i saw bikers riding in the opposite direction, looking for coffee and breakfast. of course there were those that were also picking up beer to start the day. i was kind of surprised i saw as many bikes out, it was only 0900 and i figured a lot of them would still be sleeping.

i keep riding north, looking for either the fairgrounds or signs for the fairgrounds. as far as i knew, it was on the left directly off 301. i ride for about five miles. i know now i've gone too far. well, i don't know that, but it had to be closer than this. i turn around and go back - i had to pass it and didn't realize it.

on the way back through, i see, for the first time, fairground parking on the left side of the road. now i'm wondering why they would put parking on the opposite side of the road. i'm guessing it's more or less overflow parking and they don't have enough space at the fairgrounds. just then, i see the fairgrounds. on the left side of the road - the opposite side i thought it would be one. okay, now i'm thinking i missed it because it was on the opposite side that i was looking for. but them i'm looking at how big it is and seeing all the campers and bike, how did i miss this the first time through??

i pull up to the ticket booth and purchased my day pass. i ask where i should park the bike. the girl tells me to keep going around the fairgrounds. i hop on the bike and go around, which leads me to an entrance at the camping area. the due asks to see my arm band - which is how they can easily tell who's allowed into which areas. i don't have the right arm band for the camping area. i ask him where i can park - he tells me up front, where the ticket booth is. damn - i was just there. why did the dumb blonde tell me to go around back?? why was i dumb enough to listen to her??

the place looks deserted, except for the camping area. but i guess that's expected this early in the morning. some of the vendors are still setting up. i guess they're not really worried about starting this first thing in the morning since it runs into the wee hours... i walk around checking out some booths and bikes.





they had bikes from kendall johnson, randy simpson (milwaukee iron) and paul yaffe. i usually don't care for paul yaffe's designs, but i like the supertrapp bike he built - i think the paint is what caught my attention. kendall johnson's bike was for sale. it was the bike he built during one of the biker build-off shows. nice looking bike.

as the day went on, the crowd started to pick up and more and more bikes were showing up for the bike show.






the preliminary rodeo events started at 1300, with the main events starting at 1700. which was kind of a bummer because i was planning on leaving at 1700. i went over and watched some of the preliminary pulling events as well as the tire pull and bar stool races. i came close to entering the bar stool races - not sure why i didn't. still thinking maybe i should have. oh well, there's always next year!!

i spent the rest of the time wandering around, looking at the sights. it wasn't as crazy as i expected. but it was still early. and i'm sure a lot of the fun picks up in the evening and really gets rolling after dark. i'll have to catch that next year too.

not sure why, but i was kind of surprise to see a trough urnial in the men's room. i guess i didn't think they were still around... but it makes sense - better than all us guys using the sink when we gotta go!! i figured i had to get a picture of it...



i left a little earlier than i expected - pretty much saw what there was to see. besides, it was hot and i was ready to get moving on the bike. overall, i had a good time. was expecting to see a little more craziness like the smoke out. but again, it was probably too early. the ride home was nice - two lanes pretty much the whole time. the wind blowing felt great - it was a warm wind, but it was moving. next time i'll probably ride with the windshield off - that should make it a little cooler.

here are some other pictures from the day...

smoke out vii rally...

what a weekend!!! here's a not so quick recap of the weekend including some pictures.

it started out friday with the crew finally arriving. i was expecting them around 5:00pm, including the scheduled stops they had to make. around 1600, the skies opened up for about an hour and dumped so much water. i was afraid they were caught in it. by bro called at 1700 saying they were about an hour away - and hadn't run into any rain. cool!!! at that point, i was expecting them at 1800. but they didn't show up until 1900. little did i realize when my bro called, they had just stopped for gas and beverages. not only that, they did in fact run into rain the last part of the trip, slowing them down slightly. anyway, it was good sight to have them show up...

we managed to cram all eight bikes, plus mine, into my garage, as evidenced below. although we didn't need to, we could have probably gotten one more in if they would have parked a little closer together...




after they unpacked, changed out of their wet clothes, it was time to dig into the bbq and beer, sit back, relax and give each other a hard time. good food, good friends, good times...



my neighbor, stanley, - the one who's planning on traveling out to sturgis with us - finally got a chance to meet the "gang." this would be the determining factor whether he would actually go on the trip with them or with his own riders. as most guys do - they'll start to give each other crap about whatever... but frank's comments usually go over the top - he usually goes for shock value. not to worry, stanley fit in with the guys. we all laughed, joked and feed each other crap...

the next morning arrived and it was time to head to the smoke out in salisbury. we weren't sure about the weather - they were calling for thunderstorms throughout the day... but that doesn't stop us!! as usual, this crowd will sit around, talking, drinking, and kibitzing all morning long. but you better be ready to leave in thirty seconds. once someone gives the word, these guys jump on their bikes and are out of there quick... finally at 1100 the word goes out and we're outta here. sometimes i wish i could be a bystander and hear the racket that goes on as we leave - i'm sure there was one. but, i wouldn't trade that for actually being on the ride...

in all, we had eleven bikes. and i got to lead them all as i was most familiar with where we were heading... it was a good experience leading a group that large. i don't mind doing it as long as i know each of the riders in the group. i wouldn't want to lead a large group like that if i didn't know everyone - too much to worry about. so we headed off on some back roads until we got to interstate 85. it was a nice ride through the two lane twisty roads. it wasn't necessarily a cool morning, but it was cooler than expected. then we hit interstate 85. interstates aren't the fun to drive along and the only real reason i like to take them is if i have to get somewhere quickly. this was obviously a reason to take the interstate this time.

other than a couple of bozo cage drivers, the ride on 85 was okay. twice, a cage almost wiped out a couple of us. you would think with a group this large, it would be hard to miss us. but i guess some cagers have their heads so far up their asses they don't notice anything. a couple times we'd come up on a slower driving cage. as usual, we'd pull into the left lane to pass. then the cage would speed up, not letting us pass. we could have been asses ourselves and just throttled past them, but no, we'll just putt along at our speed. this happened a couple times and made me start wondering why... why do people do that?? they're content to go slow until someone tries to pass them. oh well - i wasn't going to let it get under my skin and ruin a perfectly good day...

so we get to salisbury and make the requisite beer and gas stop before heading into the smoke out. everyone loads as much beer and ice into their saddle bags as they can fit. we also pick up a few snacks and consume a beverage or two at the gas station. once we're satisfied, we head into the smoke out.

now the smoke out is what i like to think of as a grass roots rally. you won't see many high dollar choppers that you're used to seeing on tv - unless of course builders like kendall johnson, billy lane and paul cox bring theirs along. which they did. no, at this rally, you'll see a lot of true choppers - the kind that have been built in garages, from left over parts of other bikes. and that's what i like to see. although some of the bikes looked like they might not run at all.

the smoke out is also about buying and swapping parts - lots of used parts. enough parts that you could build a whole new bike using parts from all the different vendors.

and of course the smoke out is about see all the scantily clad hotties walking around. and watching all the redneck guys, who act like this is their first time out, shouting for the women to get naked on the mechanical bull.

the day was spent walking around the rally looking at bikes, parts, people, bands, whatever there was to see. we lucked out with the rain, as it didn't. it was hot, though. just stepping into the shade seemed to drop the temp ten degrees. every once in a while, a breeze would blow by.

during the smoke out, some dood was riding his bike through a field and dumped it. i'm not exactly sure what he was doing, but apparently his bike flipped end over end a few times. he spent some time in the ambulance - luckily he got out of there with only a bandaged arm. his bike wasn't so lucky. i saw him riding around later (unfortunately i didn't get a picture). he looked okay but his bike was torn up. from fairing was missing the headlight and scraped up on one half. both saddlebags were torn up. he'll probably be hating life when he sobers up.

so we walked, and walked, and walked around for hours. didn't sit as much as i wanted. it seemed every time i got back to the bikes, someone would come by and offer to walk another loop around the rally. of course, fearing i might miss something, i couldn't just sit there...

about 2300 we all had enough and decided it was time to head to the hotel. we get our gear on, get everyone gathered and head out. the hotel we stayed at was about 20 miles from the rally. on the way there, we have to pull over for clarifications on the directions. wayne and frank are looking over the directions trying figure out where they are. i head over to offer some assistance. the confusing part was we have to get on interstate 85 business. which we were on, until we pulled over to clarify the directions. it was confusing because the directions, as most mapping services will do, adds another line item each time the road changes - even though you may actually still be on the same road. our directions had interstate 85 bp, bl and br. in reality, these are the same road. they were confused over this. i told them it was all part of the same road - we just need to stay on 85 bypass until nc8. off we head...

we go riding along... however, to stay on 85 bypass, we actually had to take an exit. i wasn't sure if frank knew this or not - he was just looking for nc8. it wasn't actually an exit, it was more of a split. as we get closer and closer, i'm not sure frank realizes he needs to exit. i'm about fifth in line. i break out of the line on the right and race to the front. i'm trying to motion to frank to follow me. as i'm doing this, i'm starting to take the split. i'm looking in my mirrors and some of the bikes are following, but frank it heading straight on the other road. bummer...

here we are - separated and not really knowing where we're going... and now i'm leading... i stayed on 85 bypass until we got to nc8. once we pulled off there, i didn't know the rest of the directions, so we pulled over. this was also a good time to figure out if we lost anyone else. we did - jamie decided to follow frank. jamie, when will you learn?? we decided to head on to the hotel and frank and jamie could catch up to us there. unfortunately, getting to the hotel wouldn't be that easy - the directions were crap. we ended up calling the hotel and getting good directions. we finally made it to the hotel. while we were checking in, frank and jamie called the hotel and were getting directions. they weren't too far away.

by the time we pulled our bikes around the back of the hotel, frank and jamie were pulling up. of course, getting split up and lost became a lot funnier when we were all back at the hotel.

the next morning it was time to head back home. the skies looked a little overcast and they were calling for thunderstorms. would we be as lucky as the day before, or would the skies finally open up on us?? stanley, donnie and i decided to take a different route home - rt64. which would be a nicer, non-interstate ride for us. they rest of the crew too the interstate.

the ride home was awesome. we did manage to get a few sprinkles, but not enough to make us pull over and don our rain suits. we were in and out of sunny and cloudy skies about half the ride. then the skies cleared up and we had sun - making for a great ride. we got home about 1100. luckily, because about an hour later, the skies opened up and it rained the rest of the day. unfortunately for my brother, they hit rain most of the way back. and what would have normally been a six hour trip took them nearly ten hours. but, they made it safely home.

the smoke out was fun - as usual. but it didn't seem as good as last year. didn't seem like as many people, and the vendors seemed to pack up a little early. but it was still a good time. riding with my brother and friends - how can you not have a good time??

here are some pics of the rally.

again - a special thanks to my wonderful wife. she does the majority of the work in getting the house cleaned, all the food together and making sure everyone is comfortable when they're here. not only that, once we all leave for the rally, she gets stuck with the mess to clean - including all the wet towels. thanks boo... you're the greatest...