9.29 Ride

So I go out and check and the tire is flat. Grrrrr Aired it up again and got ready to go anyway. I took extra air along. Stopped and checked on the Blazer, (Don't ask, gonna be $$$ ) and checked the air. Same as yesterday, as long as I'm moving, it holds. Don't ask me, I have no clue. I was not going to waste such a good riding day. I forgot to check Google Earth against the maps and so things kinda did not go according to plan but all in all, it was good. More of an adventure this way.... And always remember and never forget that adventure is nothing but terror in retrospect.... The Spot Locator worked pretty good ..... Picture is the link to the album as usual...

My other type of riding I am learning.

Called Dual Sport. I fall down a lot....

Picasa album here.

ABATE doins in Conway so I went to looksee.

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A good excuse to get Spot out and taker her some place.

http://thecabin.net/news/local/2010-...r-conway-rally

An ABATE gig in Conway, AR. this weekend.

Got to see my friend Shark & his new wife,

Picture is the link as usual.

Me & JB went to town...

Lotta work for little fun.

My arse hurts, 120 miles on JB with no pillow.

I was on the only shovel in the whole county today I bet.

Cold front came through. Finally my kind of riding temps...

64F on the way home. No sweating for a change.


http://picasaweb.google.com/Dragon43/1002Ride#

I did not fall down......

Not falling down, not breaking anything, wonderful people, wonderful support from Colleen, great riding county, beautiful weather, great location, White Rock Mountain in Arkansas, http://www.whiterockmountain.com/ , all made for a great weekend.

What happened: ( Sorry for not remembering all names, I'm doing this in the AM. I don't do AM's nor remember names well. )

Rained for days before the event. ( SLAP = Squeal Like A Pig -- don't ask cause I don't know) ...

DRZ Charlie, who this day is off with his son on a 3 week ride :eek: , called and said he did not have room for tables on his truck. We stopped and got tables... Then climbed the mountain.... Had cell service up there, Who would a thunk?

Unloaded and would spend the night in the bunkhouse. This prep for the group took the rest of the evening. I did fire up RednBlack just to be able to take a cruise around the event grounds.

Mike B ( Bell47 Pilot) and two more arrived also. Aimed a fan at my bed and crashed.

Friday:

Coffee with Doc at 0 in the morning.
Prep for the event.
Move personal stuff to the cabin we would share with Travis, Kathy, Joe & Kimberly. (couples group 1 )
There were 2-3 other females attending...

Headed off to scout a slow ride with picture taking opportunities and easy water crossings for pictures.
Other folks were arriving and it was back to trying to help work horse DRZ Charlie, who had been at it all day, get ready for the evening feed. Colleen had be helping also along with Kriss ( TerraScout who brought extra food.)
Just after dark Colleen & I crashed in bed.

Saturday:

Ride groups and solo's were leaving right and left. Travis, Kathy, David & Eric were silly nuff to go with me.
First ½ mile, my tire tool bag fell off. Put that under Eric's bungee net.
A couple miles later Travis' R-650 got cranky so the up shot of that was that He & wife Kathy would go back and ride two up on his VStorm to catch up with us. They got to Oark cafe before us. We had made a detour for a water & fuel break. (Only time I have too much fuel is when I am on fire.)

After lunch Travis & Kathy decide to head back to the lodge, they were lucky.

Eric, David & I opt to go on with the planned ride.
We played in the water.

We then decided to take a route I had not done that DrLewall had suggested. I had been bragging the night before about my map reading skills and my ability to, in general know where I was, from all the years of flying. ( You know where this is going .... right? )

So were are having a rocking good time until we get to one corner. We hemmed and hawed and Eric & I using our GPS units came up with the decision. Both units were set wrong in the same way.

Off we go and are having a good time but it was feeling like it was taking too long and I was not remembering some sights I should have from scouting Friday.

We now finally arrive at the water crossings we had played at earlier. ( " Uh guys, this looks real familiar.." ) RUT ROW !!!!

More discussion & we decide to go back the easy, faster, know for sure way. Had to go to get fuel & drinks first. Back track some, fueled and watered, and then we are off again with a few more stops so David can help Eric & I with our riding technique. ( He was helping us all day. )

DrLewall and his fast trackers blow by us and they were on a 200 mile run. We had started a 46 mile loop.

We did get back, 113 miles, 8,5 hours and an embarrassed ride leader. ( But, but, but, I did not fall down. Well neither did David or Eric, but just sayin ..... )

Dinner and yakkin was again a really nice end to the day.

Sunday was packing and cleaning for us while some went for more rides. We got that pretty much done, waved at Doc and headed down the mountain. Took the slow way home, found an junk store open that we have been trying to get in ever since we moved to the area so Colleen got her highlight to the week end and then back to the house to let kitties out.

They had done some stuff to show their displeasure at being inside for the better part of three days but it was not as bad as it could have been.

I might get the rest unloaded today and I might not. Moving kinda slow..... Must mean I had a good time.....

I am on the list for next year already....

:::: Picture is the link to the album. :::::

Christmas thoughts.

It is very easy for me to procrastinate this time of year. Even more so than normal. I tell myself that nothing is more important than the Santa stuff. This results in a lot of little daily chores getting way behind which then puts me in a blue funk because I can not turn a blind eye.

Now my Dad would say to us kids, "Laying on your death bed I bet you won't say, "I wish I had worked more." when you are like me and a lot closer to being there." This lecture occurred when we would get in a dither about doing stuff to keep up with the neighbors or some such at the expense of our own families well being.

What is really important in the long run? I have no clue. Where is the correct balance?

We have a couple of more 'Santa' gigs to go before we can relax. Family gatherings to go to or not, decisions, decisions. What is the weather going to do. Presents for all or some or not? ( I'm am voting for 'pet rocks' this year. Works for me!)

My dirt bike needs some work and the last really nice riding days are passing quickly.

That is a really puny list of things to gripe about. :::: sheesh :::::

Back in the day when the money was gone, I was taking my circular saw to the pawn shop, was riding a old cast off 10 speed bike to work and the bills were such that I was just getting deeper and deeper in the hole I was told that they would not shoot me. I would not starve. I would get back if I just kept plugging away. Over my life I have found that to be true twice.

One of the hardest things to learn was to say, "Thank you." and then shut up. No adjectives, no but's, no promises, no qualifiers, just "Thank you."

Pass it forward.

In AA there is a saying, "If you are busy helping someone stay sober, it is very difficult to get drunk."

No matter how far down I am, broke, out of work, just divorced, my child just killed, there is always someone who has it worse and even if all I can give is time or a single dollar, or a used item, or a kind word, my burden is lifted.

This is lot of preaching from the likes of me but I need to actually say it out loud once in a while because then it is real. All those things I just think of saying sound real good in my head but they carry no weight, have no meaning.

Thinking means nothing, only action counts and only action can show me the joy and goodness of my life.

This is out there now. I can't take it back.

I feel better already.

Gus says:

It was a great day and Colleen was staying around the house because it was MissyFace's first time to be turned loose since her accident 6 months or so ago. Warm, not too much traffic in the middle of the week and the time to keep an eye on her.

Me, I went for a ride.

I still need to learn how to download my GPS track but all in all, I had a good time and got to take 'Blue' to places she has not been. Well, me either.

The pictures in the album have comments with them.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold again. We got to 70 for a while today.

Not bad for a guy with 1 ½ useful hands.