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Life is Good in the Desert
- Thread starter Trail Boss
- Start date
Spook
0
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2005
- Messages
- 195
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- River Oaks, Texas
- First Name
- James
- Last Name
- Myrick
Okay, so Zero Day wasn't much - a little riding, a little drinking, but mostly just getting on Terlingua time. Tomorrow would include lots more of everything.[/QUOTE]
Seeing some old friends in those pics, it just feels good
Thanks
Seeing some old friends in those pics, it just feels good
Thanks
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 4,465
- Reaction score
- 1,228
- Location
- Buda, TX
- First Name
- Rich
- Last Name
- Gibbens
Life is Good in the Desert - Day 2
Just a couple more Day 1 things before moving on to Day 2.
The nap the Honda took earlier bent the gear shift lever, so a roadside repair was in order once we got back on the main Ranch road.
Four of us needed gas so we headed west to Presidio to gas up. Our compatriots with the big gas tanks split off and headed toward Terlingua and cold beer.
Liquid refreshment in Presidio after conquering King Kong Hill - happy, dirty, and a bit tired.
An hour and half later I turned onto Uncle's driveway. A friend of Odie Coyote had stopped by to say hello to Odie. He ran away when I stopped the bike but I managed to get one quick shot off before he disappeared over the hill.
Day 2
Per our usual routine, day 2 started with breakfast around the fire at Kathy's.
A cup of Joe to start the day
Today I was headed for Terlingua Ranch. I needed to keep today's ride a bit shorter as I needed time to get set up for the Saturday night banquet. Mark, Wesley, Stuart, Greg, Mike, Julie, CC, Robert, Rog, and I joined up and headed north on South County Rd.
Is that a gang sign Wesley's flashing? I can't keep up with the young ones anymore. Literally and figuratively. Wesley has mad skills. (I think that's how they say it these days)
CC and the Super Sherpa seem to be getting on very well.
The badlands make a great photo background, as demonstrated by Greg and also by Robert & CC.
The riding was excellent, as usual.
After a couple of hours of leisure riding we took a break on a ridge on Hen Egg Road. I think that every group riding this area today arrived here about the same time and in a very short time there were a whole bunch of us visiting and taking pics.
Hey, Dave, having a good time today?
Cotton came all the way from Florida to enjoy the desert sun and dirt.
Well, you see, you go that way, over those hills, and then you turn left at a cactus, cross a dry stream bed, and then....
Sander brought his wife and she can ride well.
Our ride ended a couple hours later and I headed off to get the banquet organized. We rented the community center, Kathy catered the meal, Bob (Tricepilot) was the featured speaker, and a good time was had by all.
And that brings me to the end of my ride report. If you want to see all my pictures, here's the link.
Can't wait till next year.
Just a couple more Day 1 things before moving on to Day 2.
The nap the Honda took earlier bent the gear shift lever, so a roadside repair was in order once we got back on the main Ranch road.
Four of us needed gas so we headed west to Presidio to gas up. Our compatriots with the big gas tanks split off and headed toward Terlingua and cold beer.
Liquid refreshment in Presidio after conquering King Kong Hill - happy, dirty, and a bit tired.
An hour and half later I turned onto Uncle's driveway. A friend of Odie Coyote had stopped by to say hello to Odie. He ran away when I stopped the bike but I managed to get one quick shot off before he disappeared over the hill.
Day 2
Per our usual routine, day 2 started with breakfast around the fire at Kathy's.
A cup of Joe to start the day
Today I was headed for Terlingua Ranch. I needed to keep today's ride a bit shorter as I needed time to get set up for the Saturday night banquet. Mark, Wesley, Stuart, Greg, Mike, Julie, CC, Robert, Rog, and I joined up and headed north on South County Rd.
Is that a gang sign Wesley's flashing? I can't keep up with the young ones anymore. Literally and figuratively. Wesley has mad skills. (I think that's how they say it these days)
CC and the Super Sherpa seem to be getting on very well.
The badlands make a great photo background, as demonstrated by Greg and also by Robert & CC.
The riding was excellent, as usual.
After a couple of hours of leisure riding we took a break on a ridge on Hen Egg Road. I think that every group riding this area today arrived here about the same time and in a very short time there were a whole bunch of us visiting and taking pics.
Hey, Dave, having a good time today?
Cotton came all the way from Florida to enjoy the desert sun and dirt.
Well, you see, you go that way, over those hills, and then you turn left at a cactus, cross a dry stream bed, and then....
Sander brought his wife and she can ride well.
Our ride ended a couple hours later and I headed off to get the banquet organized. We rented the community center, Kathy catered the meal, Bob (Tricepilot) was the featured speaker, and a good time was had by all.
And that brings me to the end of my ride report. If you want to see all my pictures, here's the link.
Can't wait till next year.
Bomber
0
Heck or High Water was the theme for my first Round The Bend experience.
Tuesday my granddaughter was admitted to the hospital.
Wednesday my daughter went to the ER via ambulance after having a seizure caused by low (26) blood sugar. Later in the day she almost went into a coma when it spiked at over 700. She's diabetic......
Wife was going to come down with me so I chose the Lajitas Golf Resort room with a view option to help keep the peace.
She didn't go cause of the above heck and high water.
Had a Dr's appointment I had to make so couldn't travel Wed.
Thurs about half way down I zigged when I shoulda zagged and it cost me an extra hundred miles......
Realized I forgot my blood pressure meds so stopped in FT Stockton at Walley World to get a few pills. Called my Dr's office and they said they'd get the script out on the net ASAP. After an hour and a half of waitin and callin I told 'em where to pack the pills and headed off to Lajitas.
Met up with Zugg Zugg and made plans for a Friday launch that would have us at KKKK in time for food and the rider brief.
Friday morning I had to load the bike with the kitchen sink (It's a KLR and is skiddish if I don't put an extra fifty pounds on her to hold her down
. Went to start bike and it barely turned over ARRRRRG! Never had a lick of trouble the past year with that stinking batt. Puled the side covers and seat off to jump the batt. Started right up and left it running for a half hour or so. Reassembled pieces and parts. Drove over to Zugg Zugg's trailer and we got ready to roll. I tried starting the bike and the batt seemed strong. Headed out on the blacktop and made it a hundred yards with me following ZZ when he decided to stop his KTM RIGHT NOW in the middle of the road. This is the first time I've rode with him and he is impressing me with the way the rear tire is smoking I pull up next to him and he is messing with the clutch and shifter and ain't making progress down the road. I park my bike and then we find out that his countershaft sprocket fell off and jammed tween the frame and the swing arm. Lot's of colorful words were said as we tried to pry the sprocket loose. Ended up pulling the swingarm bol and wiggling the swingarm. A screwdriver and hammer also helped. Walked the bike back to his trailer and got his KTM 3xx enduro out and put some plates on it. He hadn't rode it a long ways and didn't know how far that weedwacker would go on a tank of premix (we found out). Got into KKKK waaaaay late, but the John Oakley was great (my invention - John Wayne/Annie Oakley combo mmmmmm). Sombody around the fire told us about Ralph(?) at CycleTech and we got a phone number and directions so Zugg Zugg could try and get a bolt for that loose c/s sprocket. You have to want to go to CycleTech to get there. You wouldn't just drive by and go "Hey, theres a full service bike shop, let's stop in!". ZZ got his bolt and off we went to BBNP.
We were with a coupe other riders and one of them was a bit tentitive about riding Old Maverick Road so ZZ and I went ahead at a brisk pace. We took a break at Santa Elena Trail and waited and waited. After thirty minutes we decided to backtrack and see what was up. My bike was dead. AAAARG - again! The battery must have a shorted cell and it is draining itself so I told myself. ZZ gave me a push (no river road with that piece o crap batt
Backtracked quite a ways and didn't find the other two. ZZ was getting worried about his fuel so we hit the pavement for the Panther Junction gas station. Didn't even get close when he ran outta gas. Luckily he had 16oz measuring cup for his oil and I gave him some of my Exxon Valdez gas 16oz at a time. I called Ralph and asked him if he had a batt for my Pigboat and he had a highmaint one in his shop. I asked if he had a lowmain batt and he said I needed to get the p/n off my batt so I pulled the side panels, seat, and batt to find the p/n had worn off. Ralph did some more research and found the proper sized nomaint batt so I told him I'd take it. He wanted my word that I'd get it cause he was going to charge it up. A verbal handshake was all it took to seal the deal. After I put everything back together my bike started right up. Hmmmm.
Made it to the gas station and the weedwacker ran out of gas 50' from the pumps. Went back to Lajitas and put the bold on the c/s sprocket. Managed to drop his bike twice while working on it, snapping one mirror off each time (the bike landed on it's right side both times).
Sat morning my bike fired right up. Tuition for learning to tighten up the batt terminals when you think your batt is dying ~ $80.00. At least now I have a nice new batt to replace my nice old batt.....
We headed out to KKKK for food and a briefing. Made it four miles and I was thinking to myself, "Man, this bike is running GREAT!" and all of a sudden it starts missing, backfiring, and loosing power.....AAAAARG! NOW WHAT? I tried going to reserve *only had fifty miles on my 5.8 gal tank) and was able to keep it running with partial choke. I told the others to go eat and I'd head back to the hotel and clean my air filter and drain my float bowl. Took it for a test drive and still screwed up. About this time Ralph called to make sure I wasn't going to hose him on the batt. I told him of my problem and he said it might be the resistor in my spark plug cap and that if I brought it in he would check it for me and he had some generic caps. So now the side covers, seat, and gas tank had to come off. Got the plug cap off and Ralph tested it and it was good. I was wore out enough to throw in the towel at that point. I could've pulled the carb and seen if I had a clogged jet, but I was just beat down by all the heck and high water.
The tip home was even more fun......
Tuesday my granddaughter was admitted to the hospital.
Wednesday my daughter went to the ER via ambulance after having a seizure caused by low (26) blood sugar. Later in the day she almost went into a coma when it spiked at over 700. She's diabetic......
Wife was going to come down with me so I chose the Lajitas Golf Resort room with a view option to help keep the peace.
She didn't go cause of the above heck and high water.
Had a Dr's appointment I had to make so couldn't travel Wed.
Thurs about half way down I zigged when I shoulda zagged and it cost me an extra hundred miles......
Realized I forgot my blood pressure meds so stopped in FT Stockton at Walley World to get a few pills. Called my Dr's office and they said they'd get the script out on the net ASAP. After an hour and a half of waitin and callin I told 'em where to pack the pills and headed off to Lajitas.
Met up with Zugg Zugg and made plans for a Friday launch that would have us at KKKK in time for food and the rider brief.
Friday morning I had to load the bike with the kitchen sink (It's a KLR and is skiddish if I don't put an extra fifty pounds on her to hold her down
. Went to start bike and it barely turned over ARRRRRG! Never had a lick of trouble the past year with that stinking batt. Puled the side covers and seat off to jump the batt. Started right up and left it running for a half hour or so. Reassembled pieces and parts. Drove over to Zugg Zugg's trailer and we got ready to roll. I tried starting the bike and the batt seemed strong. Headed out on the blacktop and made it a hundred yards with me following ZZ when he decided to stop his KTM RIGHT NOW in the middle of the road. This is the first time I've rode with him and he is impressing me with the way the rear tire is smoking I pull up next to him and he is messing with the clutch and shifter and ain't making progress down the road. I park my bike and then we find out that his countershaft sprocket fell off and jammed tween the frame and the swing arm. Lot's of colorful words were said as we tried to pry the sprocket loose. Ended up pulling the swingarm bol and wiggling the swingarm. A screwdriver and hammer also helped. Walked the bike back to his trailer and got his KTM 3xx enduro out and put some plates on it. He hadn't rode it a long ways and didn't know how far that weedwacker would go on a tank of premix (we found out). Got into KKKK waaaaay late, but the John Oakley was great (my invention - John Wayne/Annie Oakley combo mmmmmm). Sombody around the fire told us about Ralph(?) at CycleTech and we got a phone number and directions so Zugg Zugg could try and get a bolt for that loose c/s sprocket. You have to want to go to CycleTech to get there. You wouldn't just drive by and go "Hey, theres a full service bike shop, let's stop in!". ZZ got his bolt and off we went to BBNP. We were with a coupe other riders and one of them was a bit tentitive about riding Old Maverick Road so ZZ and I went ahead at a brisk pace. We took a break at Santa Elena Trail and waited and waited. After thirty minutes we decided to backtrack and see what was up. My bike was dead. AAAARG - again! The battery must have a shorted cell and it is draining itself so I told myself. ZZ gave me a push (no river road with that piece o crap batt
Backtracked quite a ways and didn't find the other two. ZZ was getting worried about his fuel so we hit the pavement for the Panther Junction gas station. Didn't even get close when he ran outta gas. Luckily he had 16oz measuring cup for his oil and I gave him some of my Exxon Valdez gas 16oz at a time. I called Ralph and asked him if he had a batt for my Pigboat and he had a highmaint one in his shop. I asked if he had a lowmain batt and he said I needed to get the p/n off my batt so I pulled the side panels, seat, and batt to find the p/n had worn off. Ralph did some more research and found the proper sized nomaint batt so I told him I'd take it. He wanted my word that I'd get it cause he was going to charge it up. A verbal handshake was all it took to seal the deal. After I put everything back together my bike started right up. Hmmmm.Made it to the gas station and the weedwacker ran out of gas 50' from the pumps. Went back to Lajitas and put the bold on the c/s sprocket. Managed to drop his bike twice while working on it, snapping one mirror off each time (the bike landed on it's right side both times).
Sat morning my bike fired right up. Tuition for learning to tighten up the batt terminals when you think your batt is dying ~ $80.00. At least now I have a nice new batt to replace my nice old batt.....
We headed out to KKKK for food and a briefing. Made it four miles and I was thinking to myself, "Man, this bike is running GREAT!" and all of a sudden it starts missing, backfiring, and loosing power.....AAAAARG! NOW WHAT? I tried going to reserve *only had fifty miles on my 5.8 gal tank) and was able to keep it running with partial choke. I told the others to go eat and I'd head back to the hotel and clean my air filter and drain my float bowl. Took it for a test drive and still screwed up. About this time Ralph called to make sure I wasn't going to hose him on the batt. I told him of my problem and he said it might be the resistor in my spark plug cap and that if I brought it in he would check it for me and he had some generic caps. So now the side covers, seat, and gas tank had to come off. Got the plug cap off and Ralph tested it and it was good. I was wore out enough to throw in the towel at that point. I could've pulled the carb and seen if I had a clogged jet, but I was just beat down by all the heck and high water.
The tip home was even more fun......
Last edited:
Bomber
0
Heck or High Water -continued-
I did drive my van across BBNP and west of Lajitas a bit, but I was not a happy camper. 700 miles in the van to drive twenty miles of graded dirt. HARUMPH! Went to the banquet and I WON A MAJOR AWARD! Well, OK, it was a gremlin bell. But I was the most excited door prize winner there! Gotta have fun when you can.
Sunday I plugged the destination into the van's GPS and off I went. It took me straight north to I20. I got on I20 and made it about five miles when all the traffic came to a halt. There was a grass fire a mile down the road moving away from me. Called my ma up and she was able to find a local TV station and found out there were two fires about thirty miles apart that had traffic stopped. I was in the passing lane and I got to eyeballing that ditch between me and the westbound lanes. I had the KLR on a trailer hitch carrier and there was about 4" of clearance off the back of that thing and the road. After an hour I'd had enough and went DS'ing in the van. Decided to head straight north then go east on 380 (adding a couple hundred miles to my drive). The wind was running about 60mph and the dust looked like a blizzard with fingers of flowing crap going across the road. Had to dodge tumbleweeds as big as my van. Clipped one and it folded my mirror back.
Got within a block of 380 and stopped for gas with the tail of the van into the wind. I was getting crap in my eyes and having a hard time breathing so I let the van fill while I ran inside to P and get some jerky. Told the lady at the counter about the fun I was having that day then ran out to the van and jumped inside. Pulled away and I heard a noise and wondered if the bike was dragging when I saw the hose hanging from my filler. Double AAAAAARG! I came walking back into the store holding the fuel nozzle and hose and the lady just laughed. I tried to reattach the hose and got a face full of sixty mile per hour gas. (Is this day EVER going to end?). They were real nice to me and didn't charge me for the destruction.
Got on 380 and the visibility was down to 150' in some areas. Not much time to dodge the tumbleweeds. Got behind a utility truck and it veered into the oncoming lane so I followed it, right through a road block. A few miles down the road the truck pulled over and I was on my own. Both sides of the road were on fire. A house was burning. Utility poles had burned in two. Dust was blowing. Did I time warp into Apocalypse Now? It was surreal! I just kept moving. Thousands of acres on fire.
Slowly it cleared up and the fire was behind me. Now all I needed (and expected) was for a gang of deer to jump me. Fortunatly it never happened and I made it home fourteen hours after leaving Terlingua.
Worst run of bad luck I have ever had.
Next year will be better. I'll have my bell on the KLR!
I did drive my van across BBNP and west of Lajitas a bit, but I was not a happy camper. 700 miles in the van to drive twenty miles of graded dirt. HARUMPH! Went to the banquet and I WON A MAJOR AWARD! Well, OK, it was a gremlin bell. But I was the most excited door prize winner there! Gotta have fun when you can.
Sunday I plugged the destination into the van's GPS and off I went. It took me straight north to I20. I got on I20 and made it about five miles when all the traffic came to a halt. There was a grass fire a mile down the road moving away from me. Called my ma up and she was able to find a local TV station and found out there were two fires about thirty miles apart that had traffic stopped. I was in the passing lane and I got to eyeballing that ditch between me and the westbound lanes. I had the KLR on a trailer hitch carrier and there was about 4" of clearance off the back of that thing and the road. After an hour I'd had enough and went DS'ing in the van. Decided to head straight north then go east on 380 (adding a couple hundred miles to my drive). The wind was running about 60mph and the dust looked like a blizzard with fingers of flowing crap going across the road. Had to dodge tumbleweeds as big as my van. Clipped one and it folded my mirror back.
Got within a block of 380 and stopped for gas with the tail of the van into the wind. I was getting crap in my eyes and having a hard time breathing so I let the van fill while I ran inside to P and get some jerky. Told the lady at the counter about the fun I was having that day then ran out to the van and jumped inside. Pulled away and I heard a noise and wondered if the bike was dragging when I saw the hose hanging from my filler. Double AAAAAARG! I came walking back into the store holding the fuel nozzle and hose and the lady just laughed. I tried to reattach the hose and got a face full of sixty mile per hour gas. (Is this day EVER going to end?). They were real nice to me and didn't charge me for the destruction.
Got on 380 and the visibility was down to 150' in some areas. Not much time to dodge the tumbleweeds. Got behind a utility truck and it veered into the oncoming lane so I followed it, right through a road block. A few miles down the road the truck pulled over and I was on my own. Both sides of the road were on fire. A house was burning. Utility poles had burned in two. Dust was blowing. Did I time warp into Apocalypse Now? It was surreal! I just kept moving. Thousands of acres on fire.
Slowly it cleared up and the fire was behind me. Now all I needed (and expected) was for a gang of deer to jump me. Fortunatly it never happened and I made it home fourteen hours after leaving Terlingua.
Worst run of bad luck I have ever had.
Next year will be better. I'll have my bell on the KLR!
Coolhand
0
- Joined
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- First Name
- Justin
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- Smith
Ok.... that one takes the cake. Bomber, you don't even need any pictures.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2008
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- 7,966
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- Valley Mills (Just north of Wacko)
- First Name
- Bob
- Last Name
- Squires
Good greif Bomber! Seems through it all, you maintained your sence of humor. Good for you. Think how boring life would be if everything worked out as it should.
Thanks for your post. It was nice reading about someone else's boo-boos other than mine.
Perhaps you need SEVERAL bells.
Hope your wife and daughter are OK by now.
Thanks for your post. It was nice reading about someone else's boo-boos other than mine.
Perhaps you need SEVERAL bells.
Hope your wife and daughter are OK by now.
andyc740
0
Dang! Somebody stole my line! (on www.BeemerBob.com)
I sure hated to miss my inaugural Round the Bend rally, but the time/money/work equation just didn't add up. Next year in Terlingua!
I'm enjoying the writeup.
Bomber
0
BTW, I did post up my story just for entertainment.
I think Kathy Kosmeckly felt my pain and she gave me a burrito sat after she had closed.
I think Kathy Kosmeckly felt my pain and she gave me a burrito sat after she had closed.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2008
- Messages
- 7,966
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- 228
- Location
- Valley Mills (Just north of Wacko)
- First Name
- Bob
- Last Name
- Squires
Ok.... that one takes the cake. Bomber, you don't even need any pictures.
Well I don't know. A picture of Bomber holding the ripped off fuel nozzle would have been nice. Or a picture of his van going down I-10 with a fuel hose dragging behind would have been great as well.
Bomber
0
I didn't get a pic of the dead hose. It was either shock, or awe, that got me. Missed the van sized tumbleweedz as it took both hands to slalom tween those things. Have a few pics of the flyin dirt and fire. I'll post those later today.
It woulda been real funny if it hadn't been me!
Bomber
0
Ok.... that one takes the cake. Bomber, you don't even need any pictures.
I got a couple added to the trip home section. I wasn't in too much of a photo takin mood that day, but I really shoulda got one of me and my trophy hose
_RG_
Forum Supporter
Bomber we need to get you hooked up with a hollywood producer. There no way they could write stuff like this.
If ever we meet, please introduce yourself and don't be offended if I immediately step back a few paces away from you...or just take off running in the other direction.
If ever we meet, please introduce yourself and don't be offended if I immediately step back a few paces away from you...or just take off running in the other direction.
Bomber
0
I'm bringing a gun to the Hillbilly DS ride in Eureka Springs next week....
Not sure yet if it's for me or the bike.
I think I found the crud that gave me the rough engine. It looks like it came from the fuel line. Prolly when I was tankering fuel for the twostrokeweedwacker KLR
Decided to test the KLR today and I was running some 4WD trails near the house and ran through a water crossing that had a couple of ruts. Was only about five feet across so like an idiot I gathered up extra momentum (the KLR carries a lot of momentum expecially with my fatarse on it) and I hit that water. Found out the rut went down about three feet then came right back up on the other side. About pulled a Dale Ernhart when my momentum was suddenly dissipated by that sucking hole. It will take a year for the earth to return to a steady orbit Came out the other side with a good covering of water and more importantly, no drowned bike.
At the Hillbilly ride we have a trail laid out that has forty miles of single track of unknown difficulty. Yee haa!
It's hard to tell my bike from the rest. It's a red KLR, but I put a MEAN GREEN fender on the front of it Just when you thought a KLR couldn't get uglier.......
Not sure yet if it's for me or the bike.
I think I found the crud that gave me the rough engine. It looks like it came from the fuel line. Prolly when I was tankering fuel for the twostrokeweedwacker KLR
Decided to test the KLR today and I was running some 4WD trails near the house and ran through a water crossing that had a couple of ruts. Was only about five feet across so like an idiot I gathered up extra momentum (the KLR carries a lot of momentum expecially with my fatarse on it) and I hit that water. Found out the rut went down about three feet then came right back up on the other side. About pulled a Dale Ernhart when my momentum was suddenly dissipated by that sucking hole. It will take a year for the earth to return to a steady orbit
Came out the other side with a good covering of water and more importantly, no drowned bike. At the Hillbilly ride we have a trail laid out that has forty miles of single track of unknown difficulty. Yee haa!
It's hard to tell my bike from the rest. It's a red KLR, but I put a MEAN GREEN fender on the front of it
Just when you thought a KLR couldn't get uglier.......
Coolhand
0
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2007
- Messages
- 2,269
- Reaction score
- 65
- Location
- Ten Sleep, WY
- First Name
- Justin
- Last Name
- Smith
At the Hillbilly ride we have a trail laid out that has forty miles of single track of unknown difficulty. Yee haa!
It's hard to tell my bike from the rest. It's a red KLR, but I put a MEAN GREEN fender on the front of it
40 miles of single track on a KLR?? Here's me signing up for the next installment of "Come Heck or High Water"...
Bomber
0
Downs
0
To get around the music copyright thing start uploading your videos to viemo.com They don't block your music.