RIdes with LOTS of Bikes

 Find myself looking at a few pictures of a couple of rides that have a LOT of bikes in the mix.  At first glance looks somewhat awesome.  Then .... you notice things.  Remember situations.  Shake your head and say 'oh fuck no'.

I've done way too many rides with hundreds and hundreds of bikes.  In the moment it has a cool factor. Then... the group takes off and the bullshit begins.  

Almost always...  the clown leading the mess has no grasp what is going on behind them.  They accelerate too quick out the gate and now ... EVERONE in the rear is grabbing throttle to catch up.  Come to a stop, pull out with traffic coming...   yeah, that works well. Rarely do I see someone do all this correct.  Hell, I have to remind myself to keep it in check when leading a dozen or two dozen bikes.

Spacing.  Seems like there is always somebody behind you lagging.  Then those behind them are pissed.  I used to get pissed.  Now, when the clown in front of me is lagging ... I just go around them and take their spot or pick up the slack.  Honestly drives me batshit.  If you can't sync with the group, don't ride with them.

Trikes.  Simple as this.  Trikes go to the rear.  Not in the front.  Not in the middle.  In the rear.  No discussion.  That goes for Spyders as well.  You bought it, now get to the rear off the pack.  This is where folks always seem to get butt hurt. Brought a Sling Shot?  Ummm.. they are not a motorcycle.  I get the whole thing... but guess what.  WAY in the back after the Trikes.

Stops.  Now, my real pet peeve.  You pull up to a joint for fuel, food or a piss.  If you've got 2 dozen bikes... yeah that's fun.  Shitty service, wait at the pumps.... not enough holes in the johns.  NOW... imagine pulling up with 100 ..  200 bikes.  Complete fucking chaos.  Parking lot full of bikes looks cool.  The line in and out look cool on the road.  But  have fun parking that shit.  Want a beer?  Yeah .. that's fun. Everyone want's a burger?  You're fucked.   I try to bring a cooler of ..... stuff... for these BS days.

Yep .. reminds me why I despise bigger rides.  NOW .. I have been on a few where everyone has their shit together on the ride. Where the location you are stopping in prepared and ready.  And that folks, is RARE.  So ...  I prefer .. to just say NO.  Now a twist is .. poker runs.  You know first bike out, and last bike out a few hours later?  That way at each stop people are coming and going.  Historically, has worked pretty good for me. I was on one last week .. worked okay. Hell, I'm on another one this weekend.  Hopefully it goes smooth as silk (yeah .. like that'll happen)..   but hey .. gives me shit to blog about, if it doesn't? :)

11th Annual Bug Run

Been planning this one for awhile.  I chose it simply because I needed a third out of state event.  That being said, SO GLAD I WENT!   Overall a great event put on by 10-1 in Oklahoma City.  Chief and I would head up Saturday morning for about 230 miles on 2 lanes, in the friggn hot temps of August.  By the time we roll in around 1430 hrs, we're up to 100 deg.  Still, wasn't too bad.   Check in to the Grand Palace Casino, quick freshen up, change the shirt and we're headed to the Start Point; American Legion.

Get swiped in, register for the ride and we're grabbing some cold beers.  Cool part of this trip would be that Scalper lives nearby and is also attending. We've crossed paths the last nine years, but never had time to truly get to know each other better until this trip.  Great guy and looking forward to some future visits back up there.  Well, since Scalper is local he's leading the ride.  We'll hit several spots on the outskirts of the City and find our way back at the Casino.  Chief and I are now free to have some whiskey and cool off, take that vest up to the room to get some breathing room so to speak, and ..... off to the Grand Ball room for the final event.  

Local Chapter did a great job putting this whole thing on.  From where I sat, it went flawless.  Any bumps weren't obvious.  They've got tables of baskets for giving away, lots of items for bidding on, and by midnight, give away a gun and an Indian Scout bike.   Nice!  The local Indian Dealership was involved and a LOT of Indian Riders are also in attendance.

I'd really like to know how much they raised over this nine hour event.  Can't help but think it had to be in excess of $20k.  I'm always looking for an idea to cookie cutter for our own chapter.  Hell, I still need to reach back to 7-3 to see how there's played out earlier this month as well.   

Well, Sunday, out the door at 0900 headed home.  Grab Hwy 177 and head due south eventually getting back on Hwy 69 and home around four hours later.   Temps are about 95, Lucy is on the front porch waiting for me when I roll up, grab an ice cold beverage for some porch sitting while I decompress and ....  another weekend on two wheels in the books!

Great Raffle options

Scalper and I

Ride done .. and .. thirsty!

Stop #2 on the run

Sixty miles out Sat morning

Rolling out Sat morning

Almost Home... Audie Murphy required Stop!

We Change as time goes on ...

Well, sort of.  Some things may never change.  But for me ... this post is about....   my perspective that has changed the longer I'm in The Association.

Over a decade ago was my first contact with a member of the Association.  He'd been in a poker run the day before up in Fayetteville AR, and rode down for a charity ride in Greenville.  Have to admit, I was a lil' impressed he was doing 2 in 2 days, quite a distance apart from each other.  But it'd be another 3 or 4 years before I ran into someone with the backpatch again.  Then I reached out to local chapters' CC and got an open invitation to ride with them.. but....  nobody ever reached out to me with info.  Just the invite.  Kicker was I'd just started a chapter with the Iron Indians so my brain was somewhere else.  Had I ran into the CVMA local folks a few months before, guessing things would have played very differently in my life and I've have joined the CVMA over a decade ago.  Still, it'd be 2017 before I ran into more folks here locally (Snake) and ..  I finally connected up with folks.  It'd be March of 2018 before I finally went on a ride / meeting with the local guys.  Few months later I was patched in.

I joined to ride with my fellow vets.  Simple as that.  Didn't realize it was a 501c3.  Didn't join to raise funds. Didn't join to go out of my way to help others.  Didn't join to 'make new friends' ; I had/have plenty.  I simply wanted to ride.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Except.  I did make new friends.  I did have the want to help other Vets.  But, damned it ... we didn't ride enough.  Hell, as a group we still don't.  But my brain slowly began changing. I started taking things a lil' more serious as time went on. When I joined we had a younger CEB at the helm and things were somewhat relaxed and a party of sorts when we were together.  Quite a few hellraisers in the mix. I really dug it.  Then our CC got into hot water over a pic that was taken at ROT.  I personally didn't think it was a big deal.  Still don't. But all hell broke loose and drama ensued.  He ended up stepping down for other reasons (well, at least publicly) and Grandfather stepped in.  Things calmed down a lil and I soon realized we had two camps.  The wild fuckers and the old calm fuckers. I'd somehow overlooked all this or maybe.. I just didn't care. I was older but hung with the wild ones.  Then we got a new CC, younger less mature guy and ...  things were okay.  I was having a good time, but ....  didn't agree with everything I saw.  My give a shit fact was still low so it all worked for me.... but ... didn't always like what I saw.  But hey .. I'm just a member here for the ride, right?  I joked all anyone had to do was pay their dues and show up annually for a meeting, right?  Now I was doing a lot more than that but was aware of the bare minimums needed to stay above water (In Good Standing). 

Well, around '21 we had a changing of the guard and for the first time .... things started to bother me a little bit.  I saw different personalities conflicting within our chapter.  I was starting to question motives of a few folks. I was aware of transfers that seemed to create a change, or at least want a change.  I brought this up a few times but was 'assured' none of that was happening.  But .... I'm now watching. Still, I'm here for the ride.  Having a great time. Over the last few years ..... found myself in a Road Captain position but stepped back when I realized I wasn't going to play games with certain folks on the board.  I stepped back as webmaster when there was a power play for it and I honestly didn't give a shit enough to play.  I stepped back as PRO when I was interim, realizing most in the chapter didn't give a shit and to be honest.... I didn't much either.  At least, not enough for that position, at that time.   I reminded myself, I was here for the Ride!  Now what Ride (?) I'm not sure; most weren't riding.  Well, I was.  Looking for any and every excuse to head out.  Sanctioned Event?  I'm there.  Regional?  I'm there.  State? I'm there. Nationals ?  Iron Butt coming up!  Breakfast ... Lunch ...  bar .. Lets Roll!  Along the way met some great people.  Gotten a few in the chapter to do those rides with me...   but ... is it all about the Ride?  Well ... sort of?

Along he way as time goes on I've changed.  Gotten a lil more serious about it all.  One thing that has happened to me along the way is I've begun to question why some folks are 'in' or not?  I mean .... if someone shows up once a year for a meeting, or an event.  Hell, maybe they even caged to it, why are they even in?  I realize there is more to life than the Association but what has really got me paying attention to this is when you realize someone has been in say ... ten years... and all that time .. they barely participated.  I get it we go through spurts, then busy .. then not ...  but ... what if their entire time ...   you rarely see them. When they show, they swipe .. sit quietly in the corner .. then disappear.

Now ...  I get some folks don't mix well in crowds.  I get some of us have issues.  Some have PTSD issues.   But I'm basically saying .. if one barely rides ... if one rarely shows up ....  why .....  are they here?  Over the last month I've had to look deeper into folks history due to a shake up.  I was simply trying to get a feel for 'who's who' but then realized I saw a trend of sorts.  A trend that ....  bothers me deep down.  When you have folks that been in over a decade and they have been to only several sanctioned events and a handful of meetings... you have to wonder..  WTF?

This past year I made a big push to get folks to pay their dues.  By May .....  I was tired of it.  You realize a few folks (not all) that aren't paying ... aren't even around. You check on them... they are fine... just  ... not around.  Then  you look deeper and .. they've never been truly involved.  So .. it gets me to thinking about it all.  Come Jan 2025 I'll do the big annual push to pay dues early.  I'll push a lil more in Feb .. Mar .. but ..  got to tell you, if one of those folks barely showed up during the year ....  never participates with the Chapter.....   I won't be chasing them down.    By July, they may find themselves on the outside looking in, and my give a shit factor about will be zilch.  Literally.

Quality over Quantity has become my new thought process as of late.  This whole post was really about just that.  

Now .... Saturday got a meeting to ride to with another Chapter, following weekend out of state ride to a sanctioned event...   LETS RIDE!  It's the core reason I joined in the first place.

My first meeting (SwampRat's as well).  I patched in the following month

Ft Smith '24 7-3 Poker Run

 Been planning this one for awhile.  Wasn't sure how many bodies we'd have because many were 'quiet' out there... but when the smoke cleared not too shabby.  First up, Lucy.  This was a big deal for both of us and I'm crazy proud of her.   She hasn't done triple digit miles in one day since Durango around 2017 time frame.  We did 225 that day and her arthritis got the better part of her.   She could barely walk the next day.  So, she's been hesitant ever since.  She was a rockstar this past weekend.  Chief and Kat were in from Day one which is always great.  I was pretty sure 3Force was in but I didn't realize Squatch was in.  So on Friday, the six of us on four bikes rolled out of Greenville.  Dutch had just dropped a chunk of change into his bike and was pulling back on this one.  But Wingnut was rolling up for the day for a quick turn and burn and the surprise was.... Dutch joined him on Saturday!

Well, weather was upper 70s leaving Greenville, and quickly escalated into the 90s by 1100 hrs.  About 1/2 way there, with nothing but sunshine forecasted... I spotted rain clouds.  WTF?  Neither of us had brought rain gear and we were soon in a light sprinkle for about an hour.  Now... we never got 'wet' but the temps dropped about ten degrees and  felt great!   Stop in Clayton for a great family style restaurant, bellies full we are back out in the cool air.  Hour later... upper 90s.  As we pulled up to the hotel ... hot and sunny 102!   Check in, quick run to the liquor store for supplies ..I'm ready for the weekend to begin!

Quick cleanup, 3Force joins us (he's not staying at the Marriott with 4 of us) and we meander in shorts and flip flops over to Garrison Ave where the Bars and Food are.  Pizza at Pappas, drinks at the 906 Whiskey bar ...   great Friday night.  Squatch was staying somewhere diff in town, so did his own thing.  Great night for all.  

Well, Saturday around 0930 we roll up to the VFW which is only a few miles away.  As we registered for the event, Wingnut and Dutch walk in.  Bam; 23-11 is in the house!  We soon find some of our local friends.  Chapter 7-3's XO is Chief (Mic) whom I've gotten to know over the last several years.  Cray-on is in the house which is awesome after all the medical related stuff she's had to deal with. Once there, we head into the bar for some ... ummm.... breakfast refreshments.... and we're soon headed out to collect numbers for our poker run.  Three stops along the way with several folks from Ft Smith that joined our lil group, on the last leg Mack leads us back via a scenic route and ....  back to the bar to cool down in the VFW.  They had a 50/50, Baskets via Raffle, Gun Raffle and High/Low hands for the Poker run.  By the time they get to the last item, I've won 3 baskets and low hand.  Score!!!!   Late afternoon, head back to the Marriott.  We are now joined by four close friend of mine that drove up from Hot Springs. Stump/Deb and Donnie/Jill join us and all ten of us meander back to Garrison Ave. Back to the 906 Whiskey Bar then some Mexican Food where we run into another dozen of so CVMA folks. Great Food, Great Drinks, Great visit with all.  Work our way back to the hotel and now... time to do some sippn.  It'll be after 1am when I beg Donnie to let me go to bed .. hahahaha.  We solved all the problems of the world and ...  0800 KSU is quickly approaching.   Bro Hugs for all, and .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, it's 0800 and we're all loading up.  I'm dragging ass a lil and chugging waters.  Heat is already into the 80s but we're quickly heading down the road.  We'll once again spend most of our time on Hwy 271 through some beautiful areas of Oklahoma. Only thing that could be better is if the temps were in the 70s and ....we took some time to find some areas to kick back and enjoy the beauty along the way while sipping cold waters in the shade.  Around 1300 we're rolling up to the house and ....  another great weekend in the books.  Well... almost.   Jump into the pool, adult refreshments and head to dinner locally with Boudreaux and Nance at Luigi's.   By 8:30pm ... I've hit the wall and head to the sack.  I'll log over 10 hrs. in that bed (!!) .

Great weekend!