rolling thunder xxii…

finally changed up the routine of watching everyone head out for rolling thunder by actually participating this year…

it was a moving and amazing event. the masses of people, the number of motorcycles, the sites and sounds are unforgettable. unfortunately it doesn’t seem the same can be said of the pow/mia’s from the viet nam war.

the events recapped in pictures:

pre-ride festivities

gathering at a friend’s house before heading out… as always, thanks to wayne and theresa for their hospitality…

the ride out…

lining up…

…and riding to dc…

the “protest”

hanging our before the parade begins…

a hitch-hiker found it’s way to the rally – although i don’t think it fared too well…

our view of the parade…

 

miscellaneous stuff…

michelle smith sighting…

post rolling thunder party

and finally back at wayne and theresa’s for the after-party… not too much to report from the party other than this funny story. at least it was funny at the time. and probably funnier when you know the characters involved… with that, a quick introduction to jamie…

jamie’s not your normal homo-phobe… he likes to instigate trouble but doesn’t do so well when the tables are turned. for instance, he wanted to buy a helmet sicker to place on someone’s helmet. he wouldn’t even buy the sticker, sending me to do the dirty work. not only that, he had to be clear of the vendor’s tent when i made the purchase. now, if that sticker was placed on his helmet, he would most likely end up burning the helmet and getting a new one…

during a recent gathering, the guys were commenting and admiring the view on a well endowed female. jamie was jumping up and down in order to get a glimpse of sites. eventually the guys picked jamie up by his elbows to partake in the view.

to help jamie out in the long term, they devised a solution…

you can check out the 2009 ride map to see the route - this one in green...

patriot h-d…

catching up on some old stuff – i can’t believe i let this one go so long…

rode up to the washington area towards the end of may to attend my first rolling thunder, subject of my next post. patriot h-d holds their open house the day before…

a quick recap of the event in pictures…

barstools...

if it's barstool races, it's got to be the easyriders rodeo. fresh from wilson, nc...

remnants…

left over from last nights’ ride

it gives a new meaning to bug eyes!!!

put in a few miles…

the way the day was shaping up, it was looking more and more like i was going to have to make a late night run in order to rack up any miles for million mile monday. and sure enough, the sun was setting as i was starting my journey.

i didn’t really have a route in mind. and since it was much later than i expected, i made it a shorter ride. and to make things a little more interesting, i wanted to take a route i’d never taken before… note to self: in the future, unless there’s no other choice, don’t plan to ride two lane, country roads for the first time in the dark…

some reflections from the trip:

• the bugs and moths sure do love dusk. i thought it was getting dark awful quick until i realized that my glasses were getting covered in bugs. decided against stopping to clean them.
• it’s really cool having fireflies go buzzing by your head – kinda like little led lights flying through the air
• got to see a deer. not really a novelty, but when i first spotted it, it was crossing the road about a hundred yards in front of me. when it got to the tree line on the other side of the road, it stopped and watched me, almost like it wanted to be sure i kept going.
• i passed through a town i’d never been in before. it had one of those main streets with the big, old houses on either side of the street. need to go back in the daylight to see if it’s as impressive during the daylight.
• for the end of june, it sure was colder than i thought it would be.

i guess that’s about it. i did manage to squeeze in seventy five miles. when i added my miles to the hog site, there was only a shade over two million miles. guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the numbers come through… somehow i think they will…

million mile monday…

million mile monday is finally here. today, hog members worldwide will try to rack up five million miles. i had planned on doing my part by getting out early and racking up a few miles… unfortunately, the day has already started to spin out of control. although an evening ride may be the ticket…

‘nother ride…

seems as soon as son got up this morning, he was talking/asking about going for a ride. unfortunately i was booked all day with meetings and couldn’t slip away - even for a little bit. so he had be patient all day – an almost impossible task for a six year-old who’s just been exposed to the joys of riding…

after work, the wife and i are sitting on the front porch, sharing the events of our day. as son walks up, wife comments on how badly he and i need a hairscut. son, of course, is only concerned with squeezing a ride out of me. but not just any ride… seems he’s already progressed beyond the short rides around the ‘hood – he wants to hit the streets!!!

much to my surprise, wife mentions us going to get hairscuts on the bike. this was quite an offer from wife considering she was seriously not ready for him to start riding. so from being reluctant about him even riding the streets in our ‘hood yesterday, to offering to get him out on the roads today was quite a step for her. (thanks honey – you’re the best.)

of course son had no interest in the hairscut part – he just wanted to ride, out of the ‘hood and into the world. plus he knows the barber shop is only about a ten minute ride. i tell him we’ll get our hairscut and then we’ll head out for a longer ride… he agrees, knowing it was pretty much the only way he was getting a ride tonight. and let’s face it, even if the ride was only ten minutes, it’s still better than no ride!!

i think the short ride to the barber was also comforting to me. this would be the first time we really got any speed over twenty-five. i didn’t know how he would react. or how i would feel about it. only riding to the barber shop would give either of us an out – we could decide to head home and not have to admit we weren’t totally comfortable.

in hindsight, there was little chance of that happening!!! the ride to the barber only solidified his passion for riding.

after the barber, with son declaring how hungry he was, we decided to grab a bite to eat. me, not quite being ready to take him out on a major road, decided to take the back roads to the eatery. the added benefit being the longer ride. and the even longer ride back home after eating.

looking back on the evening, and yesterday, i’m thrilled i get to share the experience of his first ride with him. i’m sure he’ll be asking to go on a ride every day. unfortunately he’s got to share riding time with others in the family. i’m not looking forward to the disappointment, the look in his eyes, when he has to watch someone else riding off with me and he’s left behind.

i haven’t broke the news to him yet that wife/mom has first right-of-refusal on all rides. maybe that’s something i’ll let him discover on his own… for now, i’ll enjoy his excitement…

first ride…

took the little one on his first ride today. i’m not sure who was more excited, me or him. i do know his mom was a wreck, she definitely wasn’t ready for it…

since it was his first ride, i didn’t want to go too far, and definitely not in traffic. so we took a quick spin around the ‘hood. when we got back, i shut the bike off and all he could say was, “dad, i’ve been trying to tell you i want to keep riding.” not wanting to disappoint, i fired the bike up and off we went again.

he was thrilled and can’t wait for his next ride - tomorrow according to his wishes!!