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- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
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- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
I have been fortunate to have a group of friends that I have known since around 8th or 9th grade, a few earlier and a few a bit later, but a group of 10. We are all in our late 50s, myself approaching 60. There was a time when we spent hours every weekend together playing video games in the early 80s, staying up all weekend playing Dungeons & Dragons the old school way, and eating unfathomable amounts of Little Debbie and Hostess treats in a 48 hour period. The RISK games would last 8-9 hours, sometimes longer. Then we graduated high school and starting going separate directions. Some of us went off to college, some got jobs, some did "other things"... Yet somehow we managed to still get together often enough every year to stay relatively close. Then we started getting married. Our wives managed to get along with everyone and we still frequently gathered for long weekends. It was on one of these weekends that one of these friends made me a "friend deal" on my very first motorcycle, a 1992 Honda CB750 Nighthawk. He had just bought a ZRX-1100 and needed to move the Honda. So my wife and I decided it was time we got a hobby instead of just work work work...
It was not long before we all started having kids. We still tried to get together, but it just got harder and harder to make all the schedules align, especially as the kids got older. However, the original group of guys still managed to get together at least once or twice a year for a "guys weekend". It was nothing dramatic, just some of the old things like D&D, a few other types of games, watching movies, eating junk food, shooting guns, and usually having one really good dinner on Saturday night. Then came Covid...
Our last gathering was in October of 2019 right before Covid starting becoming a thing. Little did anyone know how crazy things would become in the next few years. We didn't get together at all and even our normal email chatter trailed off compared to the normal volume. Then, in March of 2022, my Dad passed away. All of these guys knew my Dad and they came to the funeral. We had a good dinner after, and then they all had to get back home. Then the clock started spinning fast! All of our kids were finishing up high school, going off to college, or even graduating college. It kind of felt like we were just drifting apart because of life pulling on all our strings.
A while back I got an email from one of my friends letting me know he would soon be retiring from his medical practice and he wanted to invite everyone up to his place in South Dallas for a weekend. I work 24/7/365 and don't have anyone that backs me up, so it is VERY hard for me to get time off anymore. My Dad was my backup before he retired in 2020 at the age of 81. Since then, it has been hard for me to go more than an hour or so from home, even on weekends and holidays. So I sent him congratulations and let him know that I would most likely miss the gathering even though I really wanted to be there.
This was a few months back and I kind of forgot about the actual date and it slipped my mind. Then, the emails kicked back up because there was a birthday in the group, one of the things that would usually spark a round of ridiculous group humor emails involving photochops of old pics of us. Someone asked about the retirement gathering and it was then that I realized it was this coming weekend, March 7th. Again though, I kind of mentally wrote it off. I thought I was going to have plans Saturday anyway. Those plans fell through Friday evening...
Before going to bed I checked the weather for Saturday. It did not look good. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to go to this party and risk getting a work call on the weekend, which would be VERY inconvenient because I would not be able to do much with it while away from home. The only real decision was would I drive my truck or ride my R1200 GS? I decided to sleep on it and check the radar in the morning.
I roll over at 9:00am and check the radar. It doesn't look good. There is a massive wide line of storms stretching from central Texas all the way up to the Great Lakes. There are some patches here and there between the worst of it and currently none of it is hitting here in Huntsville. However, heading North toward DFW there is no way I am not going to get hit by it unless it happens to fade out a bit and I get really lucky. I roll back over for a bit to sleep on it and check again at 10:00 am. It's not much better...
It has been a while since I have ridden in a good storm. My gear is supposed to be waterproof, having Gore-Tex in it. My boots are very water proof. My pants seem to be good. The jacket however... doesn't seem to do well. The first time I rode in the rain with my current KLIM Badlands Pro jacket and pants, I was totally soaked up top. The water just went through the jacket like it was a mesh jacket!! So I decide to throw a rail liner from an older jacket in my backpack. I toss some clothes in a water proof stuff sack. load the bike, and head out about 10:30 am.
I didn't take the time last night to plan out a specific route. So today I just have a general idea of the roads I want to ride and what direction I want to be heading. As I leave the house, it is almost 80 F and beautiful! There are some clouds, but they don't look like storm clouds. I head North, roughly paralleling the East side of I-45 on various FMs and work my way toward Centerville. The further North I go, the twistier the roads become and the hills are a bit taller. Also, the sky begins to grow darker and more overcast. There is still no rain though. I am making great time!
At Centerville I cross over to the West side of I-45 and run some really fun backroads up to Jewett, a coal mining town. I am not far out of Centerville when I start seeing Dogwood trees blooming along the road and back in the woods. These are the first I have seen this year. The Redbud trees have been blooming for several weeks and are at their peak. I pass through Jewett and get back on more backroads. North of Jewett there is a LOT of oil infrastructure. This means little roads ALL over the map, so I have to really zoom in to make sure I am staying on the right road and going the right direction. Most of the little roads are out and back dead end roads that end at a well head. These can actually be quite fun when I have time to explore them. They are rarely traveled two track gravel roads that just follow the terrain through the woods.
The closer I get to the small town of Donie, the worse the sky West of me is looking. The shapes of individual clouds are fading into a solid grey blur, which can only mean one thing... heavy rains. I am on CR 791, which is basically a central access road for all the little dead end roads. Just south of town it makes a hard left and there is a cool tunnel under another road that I think is related to the coal mining pits that are also all over the area. The road up top is fenced off and gated from below. I can see the town getting closer on my GPS as sprinkles start to gather on my face shield at an alarming rate. I come over some railroad tracks and make a sharp right... just a bit further...
A few more quick corners and then I see the wall coming down the road toward me. I stop and start zipping all the vents on my pants and jacket, but there is no way I have time to get the rain liner out and put it on under the jacket. In fact, I end up standing on the side of the road under some trees just to block the rain enough that I can get everything closed up... And then it hits. I'm hosed
This has to be the main leading edge of the front. The rain is very heavy and I can feel the temperature dropping as I climb back on the bike. Water is already running down the sides of the road like a runaway creek. I am on knobby tires, but I am not a fan of riding this big heavy bike in mud, especially when riding alone. To make matters worse, the colder air is making my breath fog up the inside of my face shield. If I leave it cracked open enough to get air in to make it clear, rain just comes pouring in through the gap. But I have to see where I am going, so I ride with my left hand holding the shield just barely open to allow just enough air through to keep the shield mostly clear and most of the rain out. This works well enough to get me into Donie where I find a little store with a cover out front. It looks like it might have been one of those old two pump gas stations where you could pull under the cover on one side of the pumps. It looks like it is some kind of craft store/cafe or something.
While I am parked outside sorting my gear to be better prepared for more rain, I hear the door open behind me and a nice little old lady pops out to ask if I need anything. I just let her know I needed a dry spot to take care of things before being on my way. We talk about fun things like hail, tornadoes, lightning... all those things that make for an exciting motorcycle ride! Then she tells me to be safe and have fun! I peek at the radar to see what I am dealing with. It looks like I might get lucky and slip into a gap with no rain if I time it right.
My GPS is convinced I need to be on I-45. There is no way in the world I want to be on that interstate while riding, especially in the rain. The speed limit is 75mph. If you are doing that in the slow lane, you are a traffic hazard! Seriously, people will be blowing your doors off and glaring at you as they go by like you are some kind of senile moron. No thanks. I point myself toward Teague and head North on FM 80, which actually becomes a really nice ride. The rain lets up a few miles out of town. In fact, the pavement soon becomes dry. Apparently, I just got hit by one little storm cell. The cloud ceiling is low and dark, but I can see a long way under the clouds, so I think I am in the clear for a while.
I don't recall ever having ridden or driven through Teague before. I am usually further West and passing through Mexia. Teague is like many old Texas towns. It's glory days were likely in the early to mid 1900s. There are several of the large turn of the century homes along the main street with big beautiful oak trees. The down town strip has brick buildings lining each side of the street, all touching each other and having a long covered common porch out front. Large single pane glass windows are on each side of the doors so you can peer in to see if you might know someone or they might have things you are interested in buying. Benches are not uncommon outside the stores. No doubt this was a bustling social scene back in the day. But now, many of the buildings sit empty. Their physical condition varies between restored like new, still original and decently maintained, to all original but falling down and abandoned. Many towns like this have been trying to reinvent themselves as hip little shopping places for big city folks to spend an afternoon. In recent years there has also been a flood of people leaving the big cities in search of towns like this to live a simpler life, ala Green Acres!
As I head North out of Teague the terrain becomes more open and flowing. There are far fewer of the little oil/gas roads. The thick cedar trees and post oaks give way to open pastures and farming fields. I don't get to lean the bike much between Teague, Kirvin, and Wortham. This area looks like a low river bottom area that likely floods. The road is built up about 12 feet higher than the surrounding ground. When we get really heavy rains, I think this area floods as the nearby Richland Chambers Reservoir over fills. The steep shoulders are covered with thick deep green grass and the early Blue Bonnets are already coming up nicely. In another week or two they should be very thick from the looks of it. There was a time when the highway department seeded wildflowers along many Texas highways. I think this was an initiative of Lady Bird Johnson in the late 60s, the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, a former President.
I continue working my way North west, skipping past Corsicana, famous for the Collin Street Bakery that sells fruit cakes all over the world. I don't know if anyone actually eats them, but they certainly buy a lot of them! As I work my way toward Blooming Grove, I notice that there is now a very definite and sharp line forming up in the clouds West of me running across the horizon to the Northeast. That is not a good sign. It means two very different air masses are getting friendly all along that line, which usually makes things exciting! I'm getting close. Once I hit Waxahachie, it is crowded highways the rest of the way. FM 55 between Blooming Grove and Waxahachie is mostly straight but frequently punctuated by what I call pasture curves, corners that bend around pastures along the 90 degree fence lines. However, these are nicely banked sweepers even though fairly sharp. Normally, they would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that sharp line has arrived and the rain is hammering down in buckets.
Visibility becomes an issue again. I really should have installed the Pinlock visor liner to prevent fogging, but I just didn't think about it. When it is installed, it actually works very well. However, when riding at night, it creates double light refraction patterns from headlights, street lights, and light reflecting off street signs. This can also make it hard to see. So it is not a perfect solution. I have to back off the pace substantially. I still come up behind some slow moving vehicles and pass them when safe. It is even harder to see when sitting behind someone that is throwing up a wall of spray. It is better to just get around them even if I don't zoom off into the distance after passing.
I soon reach I-35E just South of Waxahachie. There are no longer any distinguishable individual clouds. Everything is just a grey blob. Traffic on I-35 is hauling, even in the rain. The road spray is so thick it is almost like a fog that rises 20-30 feet above the surface of the road. Some idiots are still trying to run 75-80mph while others are crawling at 45mph with their hazard lights flashing. I try to stay focused, watching my 6:00 like a hawk for anyone coming through the haze like a madman that might run up on me before they see me. Most of the people seem content running about 60-65mph, so I try to run just a hair faster to keep putting people behind me and reduce the number that might be trying to pass me. One of the things I love about my GS is that it is tall and I sit very high. It also has BRIGHT lights on the front. The height makes it easier for me to see and combined with the lights makes me easier for people to see in their mirrors as I approach them from behind or to one side. It is not far to US 287, but it is a tense ride nonetheless.
At US 287 I head West toward Midlothian. The rain is still coming down but the road spray is not as bad. For some reason the surface of this road doesn't seem to hold water as bad as I-35 does. It is also only two lanes instead of three and everyone is spaced further apart from each other. Every time I come through this area, I am blown away by how much development has occurred over the years. When I first started coming through the area maybe 25-30 years ago, it was nothing but farming fields, a good bit of which was cotton. DFW has exploded South, absorbing all the farms and replacing them with huge neighborhoods full of McMansions, giant warehouse distribution centers, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and more. At night, a blanket of city lights seems to go on forever like an endless expanse of sea disappearing into the distant horizon. The one small downs are gone and it is now just dense urban city. The old highway has been in a constant state of expansion the entire time, skirting around the former downtown areas with big wide bypasses. What hasn't gone away are the small town police departments that like to hide in strategic places in wait for unsuspecting motorists. I've been through here enough to know most of the hiding spots and I've slowed down as I've aged
As I am coming around the South side of Midlothian on the nice wide bypass, I happen to glance down and notice the "Range" indicator on my dash is showing four miles!! I've only gone about 170 miles and usually get around 200 miles on a tank without much trouble. I think I might have been having too much fun on the dry sections before the rains came...
I am real close to my exit for US 67 and I am pretty sure there is a big Loves fuel station nearby, but is it less than four miles? I know from experience that the range indicator on my bike is very accurate because I once coasted into a gas station right as it flipped to zero miles remaining. I navigate the big interchange that now exists where a single blinking light once existed and spot the Loves station in the distance. I think I am good...
I don't coast in this time, but I am showing one mile remaining when I pull up to the pump and shut off the engine. Recently I started having issues with the gas cap release on my GS. The little locking mechanism inside won't release. I have a Torx driver in my tank bag that I have to use to loosen part of the ring around the cap to get it to open. I think I am about to whip out my Dremel when I get home and just remove the little tab under the cap that catches and prevents the cap from opening when the release sticks. In over 27 years of riding I have never had an issue with anyone trying to steal my gas or messing with it in any way. Of course, I never got a flat tire while riding until I thought one day that I should probably buy a puncture kit to carry with me just in case. We had two flats on the very next ride...
The last few miles up US 67 to Cedar Hill is not bad. The rain lets up and now it is just cold. Even with my winter wet weather gloves and heated hand grips, my fingers are like little icicles! When I arrive and walk inside, I immediately start forming a puddle just inside the door. Before the hand shaking and hugs can start, I have to head out to the garage to shed my gear and put it somewhere so it can dry out for the ride home tomorrow. Once back inside I make the rounds. All but two of our group eventually show up. I am astounded at how all my friends that are younger than me look older than me! :p I can't remember the last time I saw so much grey at one of our gatherings.
I feel very fortunate to have a group of friends that has stayed together for over forty years. It is also amazing that we haven't lost anyone to the vagaries of life: cancer, heart attack, random accident, etc,... We enjoy a great BBQ dinner and spend the evening sitting around a nice fire, sampling expensive scotch, bourbon and other refreshments. In my golden years I don't drink that stuff anymore as my body doesn't appreciate it like it did in my younger years, so I stick to a bit of red wine. Don't want to wake up feeling nasty tomorrow when I still have to ride home. We have a great time sharing stories from our past and stories from our time apart as we've raised our families. Most of our kids are in the process of launching out into the world to make their own lives, a bittersweet time to be sure. The days of staying up forty eight hours straight eating junk food are long gone. Thinking that it has to be getting quite late I lean over and ask a friend what time it is...
"7:45"
WHAT!!??
Thank God this is the time change weekend!
Around midnight people start drifting off to their sleeping arrangements. With his own kids now gone, my friend has plenty of spare space for all of us. I love sitting around a fire visiting, so I am one of the last to head up to bed and call it a night. When morning comes, I hear all the early birds up and about. They have all had "normal" jobs their entire careers and get up at "normal" times. I have spent 30+ years being up until 2-3am every night and sleeping until 9-10am every morning because of the nature of my job. By the time I finally roll out, most everyone else has already hit the road and are heading home. This is nice because I get a bit of time to visit without everyone else around before I have to head out.
The front has passed through and it is now cool and pretty outside. My gear has dried out with the exception of the liner in my helmet around the cheeks. They got soaked pretty good in the rains. I don't really have a plan for today's route other than just work my way back in the same general direction and maybe try to hit some different roads. I am not real sure about trying to hit any unpaved stuff as the rains must have surely made a mess of them. However, I just can't resist exploring when I see little side roads that still work their way in the direction I want to go, so I eventually end up on some dirt roads. There doesn't seem to be much mud. This is the first serious rain we've had in a long time and it looks like it may have just soaked right into the ground and/or run off into the creeks.
It always amazes me how quickly everything turns green after a good rain. The difference just between yesterday and today is amazing!As I work my way down towards Teague, a high thin cloud cover starts forming and it begins getting warmer. Just South of Teague I get onto some county roads that roughly parallel the West side of FM 80 running down to Donie. The roads are surprisingly dry. The road is a thick layer of compacted gravel, so not much dirt to really get muddy. The first few miles have pastures and homes, and then the cedar trees and post oaks begin again. I am back into an area with tons of the little oil/gas lease side roads. A few of them have locked gates, but most are wide open and there are no signs regarding private property or no trespassing. To be honest, that is a bit surprising.
From Donie I just start backtracking the roads I came up on yesterday. I make my way back down through Jewett, and head for Centerville. I make random stops along the way for pics of flowers and Dogwood Trees. I stop in Centerville for a bite to eat at Woody's BBQ and to top off the bike before doing the final run for home. At this point, it will just be pavement the rest of the way, but most of it still fun because it is somewhat hilly terrain and wooded.
At on point I am heading South on FM 811 and as I am leaned over coming around a real long sweeper, I start getting a bunch of sprinkles on my face shield. The clouds have come lower and in the not too far distance I see what looks like a grey wall enveloping the trees along the edge of the road. That doesn't look good! I haul the the bike down and pull over on the very thin shoulder. I start zipping up all my vents but there is no way I will have time to get the rain liner out to put on under my jacket. Hopefully, the rain won't get to heavy or last very long. Once I am rolling again, it is like a really heavy mist, but not actual rain. I would actually prefer rain as it is easier to see!
Where FM 811 hits FM 1119, I stop at the Middleton Mall, what looks to have been a very small general store in the distant past. It has a covered area out front big enough for me to pull the bike under to get out of the wet. This allows me to dig out the rain liner and better prepare myself for what might lie ahead. With everything zipped and buttoned up, I get moving again. The rain never really gets any harder and by the time I am running South of Midway on FM 247 it has mostly stopped, but the road is still wet as if it had rained quite hard recently. Looks like I might have come in right behind a hard rain. I soon roll into the driveway and tuck the GS in the garage. I think I might have done about 175 miles each way.
I really didn't mind riding in the rain since I didn't get drenched. I need to see what I might be able to do about the Gore-Tex jacket being worthless. But, using the rain liner worked well. Besides, some of my most memorable rides have involved serious rain storms in questionable locations. To be fair though, I am not sure whether that is because I was having fun or may have been traumatized. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the two after surviving and a few weeks have passed.
It was really nice to get away and see everyone again. It has been too long. A common sentiment in the various discussions over the evening was that we have been very blessed or lucky, depending on your view of things, to have had such a large group of friends stay together this long. One might expect that over the course of 40+ years a few people would drift away or the vagaries of life might take a toll: cancer, heart attack, car accidents, etc,... We have all worked hard over the years and have done fairly well for ourselves. Another common sentiment was that while all that is nice, it isn't what has really brought us happiness in our lives. A few years back when my Dad died and the group attended the funeral (our last gathering before this one), I spoke at the funeral and read a letter my Dad had given me many years before he passed. It was part of an exercise he was doing with a church group. He was told to concisely pass along his best wisdom as if he were writing a last letter to his kids.
Here it is,
"Relationships are your only true treasures, relation with God, others and yourself. Be active in a faith community. Take time to enrich your life and allow your blessings to bless others. Have an open mind, open heart, and open door. Health and happiness are important and happiness comes through your relationship with family and others. Be true, be faithful, have integrity and hope. May god bless you in all your endeavors."
That was maybe 15 years ago and I still think about it all the time, especially as I was riding home after spending time with so many good friends. Through my faith in Jesus and my passion for riding motorcycles, I have met a ton of amazing people over the years. Quite a few have joined that list of life long friends. When I sit around thinking about what makes me feel rich, this is it. Money is nice, but there are a LOT of miserable people that have loads of money. I would encourage you, wherever you are in your life, to think about what my Dad said and see if you can make it work in your life as well. I honestly believe you won't regret it...
It was not long before we all started having kids. We still tried to get together, but it just got harder and harder to make all the schedules align, especially as the kids got older. However, the original group of guys still managed to get together at least once or twice a year for a "guys weekend". It was nothing dramatic, just some of the old things like D&D, a few other types of games, watching movies, eating junk food, shooting guns, and usually having one really good dinner on Saturday night. Then came Covid...
Our last gathering was in October of 2019 right before Covid starting becoming a thing. Little did anyone know how crazy things would become in the next few years. We didn't get together at all and even our normal email chatter trailed off compared to the normal volume. Then, in March of 2022, my Dad passed away. All of these guys knew my Dad and they came to the funeral. We had a good dinner after, and then they all had to get back home. Then the clock started spinning fast! All of our kids were finishing up high school, going off to college, or even graduating college. It kind of felt like we were just drifting apart because of life pulling on all our strings.
A while back I got an email from one of my friends letting me know he would soon be retiring from his medical practice and he wanted to invite everyone up to his place in South Dallas for a weekend. I work 24/7/365 and don't have anyone that backs me up, so it is VERY hard for me to get time off anymore. My Dad was my backup before he retired in 2020 at the age of 81. Since then, it has been hard for me to go more than an hour or so from home, even on weekends and holidays. So I sent him congratulations and let him know that I would most likely miss the gathering even though I really wanted to be there.
This was a few months back and I kind of forgot about the actual date and it slipped my mind. Then, the emails kicked back up because there was a birthday in the group, one of the things that would usually spark a round of ridiculous group humor emails involving photochops of old pics of us. Someone asked about the retirement gathering and it was then that I realized it was this coming weekend, March 7th. Again though, I kind of mentally wrote it off. I thought I was going to have plans Saturday anyway. Those plans fell through Friday evening...
Before going to bed I checked the weather for Saturday. It did not look good. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to go to this party and risk getting a work call on the weekend, which would be VERY inconvenient because I would not be able to do much with it while away from home. The only real decision was would I drive my truck or ride my R1200 GS? I decided to sleep on it and check the radar in the morning.
I roll over at 9:00am and check the radar. It doesn't look good. There is a massive wide line of storms stretching from central Texas all the way up to the Great Lakes. There are some patches here and there between the worst of it and currently none of it is hitting here in Huntsville. However, heading North toward DFW there is no way I am not going to get hit by it unless it happens to fade out a bit and I get really lucky. I roll back over for a bit to sleep on it and check again at 10:00 am. It's not much better...
It has been a while since I have ridden in a good storm. My gear is supposed to be waterproof, having Gore-Tex in it. My boots are very water proof. My pants seem to be good. The jacket however... doesn't seem to do well. The first time I rode in the rain with my current KLIM Badlands Pro jacket and pants, I was totally soaked up top. The water just went through the jacket like it was a mesh jacket!! So I decide to throw a rail liner from an older jacket in my backpack. I toss some clothes in a water proof stuff sack. load the bike, and head out about 10:30 am.
I didn't take the time last night to plan out a specific route. So today I just have a general idea of the roads I want to ride and what direction I want to be heading. As I leave the house, it is almost 80 F and beautiful! There are some clouds, but they don't look like storm clouds. I head North, roughly paralleling the East side of I-45 on various FMs and work my way toward Centerville. The further North I go, the twistier the roads become and the hills are a bit taller. Also, the sky begins to grow darker and more overcast. There is still no rain though. I am making great time!
At Centerville I cross over to the West side of I-45 and run some really fun backroads up to Jewett, a coal mining town. I am not far out of Centerville when I start seeing Dogwood trees blooming along the road and back in the woods. These are the first I have seen this year. The Redbud trees have been blooming for several weeks and are at their peak. I pass through Jewett and get back on more backroads. North of Jewett there is a LOT of oil infrastructure. This means little roads ALL over the map, so I have to really zoom in to make sure I am staying on the right road and going the right direction. Most of the little roads are out and back dead end roads that end at a well head. These can actually be quite fun when I have time to explore them. They are rarely traveled two track gravel roads that just follow the terrain through the woods.
The closer I get to the small town of Donie, the worse the sky West of me is looking. The shapes of individual clouds are fading into a solid grey blur, which can only mean one thing... heavy rains. I am on CR 791, which is basically a central access road for all the little dead end roads. Just south of town it makes a hard left and there is a cool tunnel under another road that I think is related to the coal mining pits that are also all over the area. The road up top is fenced off and gated from below. I can see the town getting closer on my GPS as sprinkles start to gather on my face shield at an alarming rate. I come over some railroad tracks and make a sharp right... just a bit further...
A few more quick corners and then I see the wall coming down the road toward me. I stop and start zipping all the vents on my pants and jacket, but there is no way I have time to get the rain liner out and put it on under the jacket. In fact, I end up standing on the side of the road under some trees just to block the rain enough that I can get everything closed up... And then it hits. I'm hosed
This has to be the main leading edge of the front. The rain is very heavy and I can feel the temperature dropping as I climb back on the bike. Water is already running down the sides of the road like a runaway creek. I am on knobby tires, but I am not a fan of riding this big heavy bike in mud, especially when riding alone. To make matters worse, the colder air is making my breath fog up the inside of my face shield. If I leave it cracked open enough to get air in to make it clear, rain just comes pouring in through the gap. But I have to see where I am going, so I ride with my left hand holding the shield just barely open to allow just enough air through to keep the shield mostly clear and most of the rain out. This works well enough to get me into Donie where I find a little store with a cover out front. It looks like it might have been one of those old two pump gas stations where you could pull under the cover on one side of the pumps. It looks like it is some kind of craft store/cafe or something.
While I am parked outside sorting my gear to be better prepared for more rain, I hear the door open behind me and a nice little old lady pops out to ask if I need anything. I just let her know I needed a dry spot to take care of things before being on my way. We talk about fun things like hail, tornadoes, lightning... all those things that make for an exciting motorcycle ride! Then she tells me to be safe and have fun! I peek at the radar to see what I am dealing with. It looks like I might get lucky and slip into a gap with no rain if I time it right.
My GPS is convinced I need to be on I-45. There is no way in the world I want to be on that interstate while riding, especially in the rain. The speed limit is 75mph. If you are doing that in the slow lane, you are a traffic hazard! Seriously, people will be blowing your doors off and glaring at you as they go by like you are some kind of senile moron. No thanks. I point myself toward Teague and head North on FM 80, which actually becomes a really nice ride. The rain lets up a few miles out of town. In fact, the pavement soon becomes dry. Apparently, I just got hit by one little storm cell. The cloud ceiling is low and dark, but I can see a long way under the clouds, so I think I am in the clear for a while.
I don't recall ever having ridden or driven through Teague before. I am usually further West and passing through Mexia. Teague is like many old Texas towns. It's glory days were likely in the early to mid 1900s. There are several of the large turn of the century homes along the main street with big beautiful oak trees. The down town strip has brick buildings lining each side of the street, all touching each other and having a long covered common porch out front. Large single pane glass windows are on each side of the doors so you can peer in to see if you might know someone or they might have things you are interested in buying. Benches are not uncommon outside the stores. No doubt this was a bustling social scene back in the day. But now, many of the buildings sit empty. Their physical condition varies between restored like new, still original and decently maintained, to all original but falling down and abandoned. Many towns like this have been trying to reinvent themselves as hip little shopping places for big city folks to spend an afternoon. In recent years there has also been a flood of people leaving the big cities in search of towns like this to live a simpler life, ala Green Acres!
As I head North out of Teague the terrain becomes more open and flowing. There are far fewer of the little oil/gas roads. The thick cedar trees and post oaks give way to open pastures and farming fields. I don't get to lean the bike much between Teague, Kirvin, and Wortham. This area looks like a low river bottom area that likely floods. The road is built up about 12 feet higher than the surrounding ground. When we get really heavy rains, I think this area floods as the nearby Richland Chambers Reservoir over fills. The steep shoulders are covered with thick deep green grass and the early Blue Bonnets are already coming up nicely. In another week or two they should be very thick from the looks of it. There was a time when the highway department seeded wildflowers along many Texas highways. I think this was an initiative of Lady Bird Johnson in the late 60s, the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, a former President.
I continue working my way North west, skipping past Corsicana, famous for the Collin Street Bakery that sells fruit cakes all over the world. I don't know if anyone actually eats them, but they certainly buy a lot of them! As I work my way toward Blooming Grove, I notice that there is now a very definite and sharp line forming up in the clouds West of me running across the horizon to the Northeast. That is not a good sign. It means two very different air masses are getting friendly all along that line, which usually makes things exciting! I'm getting close. Once I hit Waxahachie, it is crowded highways the rest of the way. FM 55 between Blooming Grove and Waxahachie is mostly straight but frequently punctuated by what I call pasture curves, corners that bend around pastures along the 90 degree fence lines. However, these are nicely banked sweepers even though fairly sharp. Normally, they would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that sharp line has arrived and the rain is hammering down in buckets.
Visibility becomes an issue again. I really should have installed the Pinlock visor liner to prevent fogging, but I just didn't think about it. When it is installed, it actually works very well. However, when riding at night, it creates double light refraction patterns from headlights, street lights, and light reflecting off street signs. This can also make it hard to see. So it is not a perfect solution. I have to back off the pace substantially. I still come up behind some slow moving vehicles and pass them when safe. It is even harder to see when sitting behind someone that is throwing up a wall of spray. It is better to just get around them even if I don't zoom off into the distance after passing.
I soon reach I-35E just South of Waxahachie. There are no longer any distinguishable individual clouds. Everything is just a grey blob. Traffic on I-35 is hauling, even in the rain. The road spray is so thick it is almost like a fog that rises 20-30 feet above the surface of the road. Some idiots are still trying to run 75-80mph while others are crawling at 45mph with their hazard lights flashing. I try to stay focused, watching my 6:00 like a hawk for anyone coming through the haze like a madman that might run up on me before they see me. Most of the people seem content running about 60-65mph, so I try to run just a hair faster to keep putting people behind me and reduce the number that might be trying to pass me. One of the things I love about my GS is that it is tall and I sit very high. It also has BRIGHT lights on the front. The height makes it easier for me to see and combined with the lights makes me easier for people to see in their mirrors as I approach them from behind or to one side. It is not far to US 287, but it is a tense ride nonetheless.
At US 287 I head West toward Midlothian. The rain is still coming down but the road spray is not as bad. For some reason the surface of this road doesn't seem to hold water as bad as I-35 does. It is also only two lanes instead of three and everyone is spaced further apart from each other. Every time I come through this area, I am blown away by how much development has occurred over the years. When I first started coming through the area maybe 25-30 years ago, it was nothing but farming fields, a good bit of which was cotton. DFW has exploded South, absorbing all the farms and replacing them with huge neighborhoods full of McMansions, giant warehouse distribution centers, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and more. At night, a blanket of city lights seems to go on forever like an endless expanse of sea disappearing into the distant horizon. The one small downs are gone and it is now just dense urban city. The old highway has been in a constant state of expansion the entire time, skirting around the former downtown areas with big wide bypasses. What hasn't gone away are the small town police departments that like to hide in strategic places in wait for unsuspecting motorists. I've been through here enough to know most of the hiding spots and I've slowed down as I've aged
As I am coming around the South side of Midlothian on the nice wide bypass, I happen to glance down and notice the "Range" indicator on my dash is showing four miles!! I've only gone about 170 miles and usually get around 200 miles on a tank without much trouble. I think I might have been having too much fun on the dry sections before the rains came...
I am real close to my exit for US 67 and I am pretty sure there is a big Loves fuel station nearby, but is it less than four miles? I know from experience that the range indicator on my bike is very accurate because I once coasted into a gas station right as it flipped to zero miles remaining. I navigate the big interchange that now exists where a single blinking light once existed and spot the Loves station in the distance. I think I am good...I don't coast in this time, but I am showing one mile remaining when I pull up to the pump and shut off the engine. Recently I started having issues with the gas cap release on my GS. The little locking mechanism inside won't release. I have a Torx driver in my tank bag that I have to use to loosen part of the ring around the cap to get it to open. I think I am about to whip out my Dremel when I get home and just remove the little tab under the cap that catches and prevents the cap from opening when the release sticks. In over 27 years of riding I have never had an issue with anyone trying to steal my gas or messing with it in any way. Of course, I never got a flat tire while riding until I thought one day that I should probably buy a puncture kit to carry with me just in case. We had two flats on the very next ride...
The last few miles up US 67 to Cedar Hill is not bad. The rain lets up and now it is just cold. Even with my winter wet weather gloves and heated hand grips, my fingers are like little icicles! When I arrive and walk inside, I immediately start forming a puddle just inside the door. Before the hand shaking and hugs can start, I have to head out to the garage to shed my gear and put it somewhere so it can dry out for the ride home tomorrow. Once back inside I make the rounds. All but two of our group eventually show up. I am astounded at how all my friends that are younger than me look older than me! :p I can't remember the last time I saw so much grey at one of our gatherings.
I feel very fortunate to have a group of friends that has stayed together for over forty years. It is also amazing that we haven't lost anyone to the vagaries of life: cancer, heart attack, random accident, etc,... We enjoy a great BBQ dinner and spend the evening sitting around a nice fire, sampling expensive scotch, bourbon and other refreshments. In my golden years I don't drink that stuff anymore as my body doesn't appreciate it like it did in my younger years, so I stick to a bit of red wine. Don't want to wake up feeling nasty tomorrow when I still have to ride home. We have a great time sharing stories from our past and stories from our time apart as we've raised our families. Most of our kids are in the process of launching out into the world to make their own lives, a bittersweet time to be sure. The days of staying up forty eight hours straight eating junk food are long gone. Thinking that it has to be getting quite late I lean over and ask a friend what time it is...
"7:45"
WHAT!!??
Thank God this is the time change weekend!
Around midnight people start drifting off to their sleeping arrangements. With his own kids now gone, my friend has plenty of spare space for all of us. I love sitting around a fire visiting, so I am one of the last to head up to bed and call it a night. When morning comes, I hear all the early birds up and about. They have all had "normal" jobs their entire careers and get up at "normal" times. I have spent 30+ years being up until 2-3am every night and sleeping until 9-10am every morning because of the nature of my job. By the time I finally roll out, most everyone else has already hit the road and are heading home. This is nice because I get a bit of time to visit without everyone else around before I have to head out.
The front has passed through and it is now cool and pretty outside. My gear has dried out with the exception of the liner in my helmet around the cheeks. They got soaked pretty good in the rains. I don't really have a plan for today's route other than just work my way back in the same general direction and maybe try to hit some different roads. I am not real sure about trying to hit any unpaved stuff as the rains must have surely made a mess of them. However, I just can't resist exploring when I see little side roads that still work their way in the direction I want to go, so I eventually end up on some dirt roads. There doesn't seem to be much mud. This is the first serious rain we've had in a long time and it looks like it may have just soaked right into the ground and/or run off into the creeks.
It always amazes me how quickly everything turns green after a good rain. The difference just between yesterday and today is amazing!As I work my way down towards Teague, a high thin cloud cover starts forming and it begins getting warmer. Just South of Teague I get onto some county roads that roughly parallel the West side of FM 80 running down to Donie. The roads are surprisingly dry. The road is a thick layer of compacted gravel, so not much dirt to really get muddy. The first few miles have pastures and homes, and then the cedar trees and post oaks begin again. I am back into an area with tons of the little oil/gas lease side roads. A few of them have locked gates, but most are wide open and there are no signs regarding private property or no trespassing. To be honest, that is a bit surprising.
From Donie I just start backtracking the roads I came up on yesterday. I make my way back down through Jewett, and head for Centerville. I make random stops along the way for pics of flowers and Dogwood Trees. I stop in Centerville for a bite to eat at Woody's BBQ and to top off the bike before doing the final run for home. At this point, it will just be pavement the rest of the way, but most of it still fun because it is somewhat hilly terrain and wooded.
At on point I am heading South on FM 811 and as I am leaned over coming around a real long sweeper, I start getting a bunch of sprinkles on my face shield. The clouds have come lower and in the not too far distance I see what looks like a grey wall enveloping the trees along the edge of the road. That doesn't look good! I haul the the bike down and pull over on the very thin shoulder. I start zipping up all my vents but there is no way I will have time to get the rain liner out to put on under my jacket. Hopefully, the rain won't get to heavy or last very long. Once I am rolling again, it is like a really heavy mist, but not actual rain. I would actually prefer rain as it is easier to see!
Where FM 811 hits FM 1119, I stop at the Middleton Mall, what looks to have been a very small general store in the distant past. It has a covered area out front big enough for me to pull the bike under to get out of the wet. This allows me to dig out the rain liner and better prepare myself for what might lie ahead. With everything zipped and buttoned up, I get moving again. The rain never really gets any harder and by the time I am running South of Midway on FM 247 it has mostly stopped, but the road is still wet as if it had rained quite hard recently. Looks like I might have come in right behind a hard rain. I soon roll into the driveway and tuck the GS in the garage. I think I might have done about 175 miles each way.
I really didn't mind riding in the rain since I didn't get drenched. I need to see what I might be able to do about the Gore-Tex jacket being worthless. But, using the rain liner worked well. Besides, some of my most memorable rides have involved serious rain storms in questionable locations. To be fair though, I am not sure whether that is because I was having fun or may have been traumatized. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the two after surviving and a few weeks have passed.
It was really nice to get away and see everyone again. It has been too long. A common sentiment in the various discussions over the evening was that we have been very blessed or lucky, depending on your view of things, to have had such a large group of friends stay together this long. One might expect that over the course of 40+ years a few people would drift away or the vagaries of life might take a toll: cancer, heart attack, car accidents, etc,... We have all worked hard over the years and have done fairly well for ourselves. Another common sentiment was that while all that is nice, it isn't what has really brought us happiness in our lives. A few years back when my Dad died and the group attended the funeral (our last gathering before this one), I spoke at the funeral and read a letter my Dad had given me many years before he passed. It was part of an exercise he was doing with a church group. He was told to concisely pass along his best wisdom as if he were writing a last letter to his kids.
Here it is,
"Relationships are your only true treasures, relation with God, others and yourself. Be active in a faith community. Take time to enrich your life and allow your blessings to bless others. Have an open mind, open heart, and open door. Health and happiness are important and happiness comes through your relationship with family and others. Be true, be faithful, have integrity and hope. May god bless you in all your endeavors."
That was maybe 15 years ago and I still think about it all the time, especially as I was riding home after spending time with so many good friends. Through my faith in Jesus and my passion for riding motorcycles, I have met a ton of amazing people over the years. Quite a few have joined that list of life long friends. When I sit around thinking about what makes me feel rich, this is it. Money is nice, but there are a LOT of miserable people that have loads of money. I would encourage you, wherever you are in your life, to think about what my Dad said and see if you can make it work in your life as well. I honestly believe you won't regret it...
if you just pay Attention.
