A Great Run, and One Helluva Ride ( or is that "slide"?)

Well, it has been quite a bit, again, since I've written. Just didn't have any fun stories to tell. It's hard to tell road stories when you can't hit the road! After the run I attended this past weekend, however, I gotta doozie! heheeee

Right around a year ago, a good friend was killed on his bike by a punk kid who got nothing but a "failure to yield" ticket! But, that's the end of the discussion on that part. Suffice it to say this man is missed. I had heard a while back, already, that the club he was in was going to plan a memorial run in his honor this year, and this past weekend was it!

My ol lady and I were a tad short on cash this month, due to some serious bills. I told her "I don't care what the hell's goin' on this month, I ain't missing THIS run." She, unfortunately, couldn't go with me, due to the cash flow issues, so I went ahead and went.

Saturday morning came around and I fired up the "OldWing" and headed out for Sioux Falls for the Hoover Memorial Poker Run. The morning was nice and cool. Comfortably cool, not that chilling cold, which made my 67 mile run TO the run very pleasant. I rode from Howard to Salem, where I stopped to get a soda and have a smoke. With my neck nerve problem, I have to stop every once in a while to shake out the throttle hand because it goes completely numb. I don't let that stop my adventures, though!

After a couple smokes and my soda, I was back on the highway. I must say, I was really quite edgy about the whole thing since this was going to be my first big-mileage run since I broke my leg back in September. And! I was riding the same bike that I broke my leg on. But, I got on I-90 and blasted! I had some great tunes, courtesy of my mp3 unit hooked up to a cassette player adapter, which helped a great deal in dealing with the nervousness. Nothing like a little Black Label Society in the morning to help wake a guy up! lol

I had about 15 miles left to get to Sioux Falls when my hand went dead on me, but instead of stopping, I decided to "man up" and keep going. Fortunately, there was a spot of road construction that came up and allowed me to take my hand off the throttle and shake it out while I slowed down. After around an hour of cool morning riding, I hit Sioux Falls. I didn't know Sioux Falls would try to hit back later. lol

After a couple hours of relaxation at the bar, we left for the first stop. We didn't all leave in a group, which was different, but I rode with a friend of mine. Well, attempted to ride with her, anyway. lol We ended up hooking back up at a gas station in Brandon. I took the lead to try to find the bar. THAT was a good plan! lol I got us lost.

I'll shorten the story a bit, here. We found the first bar, second bar, and the third bar back in SF. The run down to Harrisburg was the "fun" part!

We got on the I-229 and I went to pass the chase truck, which went succesfully. But then, I notice there was a pretty good curve coming up fast, and I noticed I was going fast! My speedo read 80 mph and I was seeing the guard rail coming at me, and my life flashing before my eyes! I knew damn well I didn't want to hit either set of brakes, so I told myself to leannnnnnnnn!

I rode out the curve, with a pretty wild sliding motion, and straightened her up. I was so thrilled to have NOT gone down, that I found myself laughing hysterically and howling and hooting! I've never felt so alive in my life as I had at that moment! When we got to Harrisburg, Ma got out of the chase truck and said "You scared the shit out of us!" To which I replied; " YOU?! I scared the shit outta ME!"

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. And my leg held up pretty well, except for one of the long 25-ish mile segments. I ended up stopping half way through it at a gas station because my leg hurt so damn bad I couldn't deal with it. I was lucky there was a guy riding in the chase truck who wasn't riding a bike that day. He took over for me and let me rest in the truck. At least my bike made the whole thing! lol But, I did take over again to get to the last stop, which was a much shorter distance.

All in all, I had alot of fun and I did get complimented on making it through almost all the miles. So, all was well. I hung out at my Ma's on Sunday and celebrated my birthday a few days early with my Grandma, then headed back home today (Monday).

Now, I'm gonna give the OldWing a very well deserved vacation! lol

I'm hoping this run will be an annual affair. R.I.P. Hoover! G.B.N.F.