Archive for June 2008
Luling, TX Ride Report
The lunch ride was comprised of folks from surrounding towns who had made contact on the Internet; six bikes and seven people made up our group.
The ride leader set the pace near the posted speed suggestion and we skinned it back for Luling, TX, watermelon capitol and home of great barbecue.
We started and ended under a few clouds but the day averaged about 96°F, perfect for a ride in the country.
The town of Luling and the restaurant where we ate were jammed, and I mean jammed, with people attending the watermelon festival. Seating was at a premium but this sweet thing offered to let me sit with her and her friend. Fine barbecue with two honeys
was tempting, but I already have more women than I deserve so I sent over one of the other men. Spread the wealth, I say.
There were lots of bikes in town, mostly Harleys, but a contingent of urban bikers from Houston rode tricked out sport bikes that drew a lot of attention.
The ride leader and the Corpus bunch decided to return via the San Antonio area. I elected to follow the only woman rider (imagine that) since her route took would take her through a bit of the rolling prairie, with a stop to see her parents, before riding south and homeward.
Her folks were at a family reunion at their church so I went in to say howdy. I met her kin, ate delicious apple pie and talked with Uncle Floyd about the Matchless motorcycle he rode in 1950.I surely enjoyed our stop, and am pleased that such an unlikely side trip was part of my day’s adventure.
As we continued south the day cooled off, slightly, but we still made a couple of stops for water and fuel, giving us a chance to blow a little smoke before parting ways in Beeville.
The sea breeze was blowing directly head-on and the big yella bike wanted to stretch her legs so I twisted the wick, a little, and rolled up to our four-way stop just as the Sexy Granny did. Instead of having to cook, she dined on barbecue imported from Luling while I regaled her with tales of my excursion. She is a very lucky woman.
Life in the Sunshine
Well, here I am, getting on down the trail, and I still have problems with those danged girls messing with my stuff.
Monday, grand daughter came over and hung out for a while, and does she have quick hands! Nothing is safe.
The young and quick are no match for the old and crafty, though. It happened that UPS had delivered the replacement for my crashed crash bar carefully boxed and protected against scratching with a sheet of bubble wrap.
I took whatever it was she shouldn’t have been messing with away from the little one, draped her in bubbles, and went out to put the new part in the shed.
Directly, there came the sound of Chinese New Year as the kid found that the bubbles popped nicely when she stomped all over them.
What’s quicker than a kid with bubble wrap? Grandma with a camera.
Now, as if life wasn’t good enough, my sister, Susie, and brother-in-law, Charlie, who we haven’t seen in way too many years, turned up for a visit. They rode Charlie’s beautiful Kawasaki Nomad in from Albuquerque, NM, just shy of 1000 miles away.
We met them at Mom’s house, then rode around the bay to our favorite seafood restaurant, Pier 99, on North Beach. We found a shady spot out on the patio and enjoyed fish sandwiches and great company.
Did we have fun?
Oh, yeah.
England fuel tax protest
| Jun 5, ‘08 2:02 PM for everyone |
Ripped off the Net, but I don’t have the original source.
Hundreds of motorbike riders protest on the motorway
Hundreds of motorbike riders protesting against high fuel prices have caused delays on motorways outside Manchester.
The protest, which included some other vehicles, left Birch services just after 0800 BST on junction 18 of the M62, to head into the city centre.
Rolling-roadblocks were used to lessen delays, but traffic backed up behind the convoy on the M60.
Greater Manchester Police said a “small number” of lorry drivers were warned by police for driving too slow.
An estimated 500 bikers on the M602 were greeted by applauding onlookers as they made their way through Salford.
The protesters had travelled on the M62 and M60 before joining the M602 towards Salford Quays.
The protest is understood to have been led by two motorcycling fuel protesters, known only as Maverick and Triumph Man.
Maverick told the BBC that thousands of people had supported the protest, and organisers “could not have asked for anything better”.
 |
  I think it’s brilliant – it’s a pity they’re not blocking off Downing Street and London too  Michael Cleary
Garage owner |
“This is just to show the government that there’s one voice here, that we all want the same thing – a reduction, if not a complete cut in the VAT on fuel,” he said.
“We’ve had the lorries out, we’ve had vans out – we’ve even had an ice cream van out here.
“It has been absolutely fantastic and I can’t thank these guys enough from the bottom of my heart.”
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins of Greater Manchester Police, said some trucks were stopped and warned for driving “unacceptably slow”.
“The vast majority of those taking part have expressed their views in a way that was agreed with police, that was safe for motorists and that caused minimum disruption,” he said.
“We are disappointed that a small number of other demonstrators let them down and acted in an unacceptable way, causing added disruption to some drivers.”
The protest was welcomed by Salford garage owner Michael Cleary, 56.
“I think it’s brilliant. It’s a pity they’re not blocking off Downing Street and London too,” he said.
“It’s disgusting, the price of fuel, especially for taxis.
‘Lot of support’
“People are cutting down on servicing because they can’t see what they’re getting out of it.”
Biker Steve Sutcliffe, from Edenfield, Lancashire, who took part, said he spoke to motorcyclists from Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Lancashire.
“It was very good-natured, people were waving from the side of the road and there was a lot of support,” he said.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, but I felt I needed to make it known that people are fed up about fuel prices.”
