| Author | Message | ||
     Bartimus |
Others, just stayed in bed, and said the heck with it! My head hurts too much!  | ||
| Bartimus |
It's just a cold, wet, rain, Heck, the hail stopped didn't it?  quit being sissy's, we've still got a lot of miles to cover! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
our time at the memorial was soothing. we were somber enough, but we laughed and cut jokes, as well. we (the people who were on the Torque Fest, that is) reconstructed the accident that took Daryl’s life. not in morbid detail, but more as a learning tool. everyone was cool, and I was pleased to see the respect shown to Daryl, and his mother. everyone who had met him agreed he was about the nicest guy in the world, about the friendliest, about the most passionate about Erik and his motorcycles and about the ride. he made what appears to be a pretty small error on that corner that day, although one with huge consequences. no one in our group on Saturday had ANYTHING negative to say about the man, and it chokes me up to say that. i hope it’s not too stupid to say that Daryl died doing what he loved, and that his death is probably continuing to help people he didn’t even know be better riders, and better people. if that’s true, then he left behind a pretty major legacy. as i recall we all left in groups of one or two or so, at our leisure. me ‘n D rode in solitude for the next 20 miles or so, at mostly legal speeds, quiet in thought and emotion, blown away by the beauty of the surrounding country and the quality of the road. smooth, graceful, sweeping, tight, brilliant, and more. if you were there, or have been there, certainly you agree. for the rest of you, maybe next year. see ya Daryl. thank you. | ||
| Bartimus |
Well, the group got considerably smaller now. Some stayed in bed, others took Hwy260 back to Payson and split up from there. The remaining core group forged on, down Hwy60 to the Salt river canyon. Through the rain, and the cold. Except for Mr. YamamotoSan and Denise on the Winnebago. Plugged in, they were warm and toasty, and with the massive shield, it would seem no water would touch the pair.  We made it to the northern edge of the Salt River Canyon with no mishaps. I was VERY cold and wet. But I warmed up when I saw Billc wearing only his leather jacket and jeans pull up, totally soaked, and STILL grinning. THAT MAN IS A TROOPER! NOT EVEN A WIMPER. | ||
| Bartimus |
 It may look like Bill is wearing chaps, he is not. That is rain-soaked wet you see there. (Message edited by bartimus on April 25, 2005) | ||
| Bartimus |
On through the Salt we rode, what a BEULLtiful piece of hwy. Our next stop would be Winkelman. A short loop of Globe, Winkelman, and then Superior would be the final leg of twisties on the trip. I hear Mr. YamamotoSan had an encounter with a bird between Globe and Winkelman, I'm sure he'll fill you in on that. We finally made Superior, and had some much needed FOOD! Yea, no beer.  I was sad that the ride was finally coming to an end. We prepared to leave, for the blast down off the mountain and through the Phoenix traffic back to Arrowhead HD/Buell.  | ||
| Bartimus |
I persuaded Charlieboy to perform the happy dance for the California guys.  As Glen prepared to add more oil to his thirsty S3. | ||
| Bartimus |
We were treated to a couple of classic cars that were out cruising on a Sunday afternoon in the mountains.   | ||
| Bartimus |
So ended the Arizona SpringFast of 2005. I want to thank everyone for attending, and for making this event a success. Your attitudes and determination are what helped pull this off, and I appreciate it. Kudos to the boys from Iowa, that braved weather and distance to come down and enjoy our fair(?) weather, and curvy roads. Thanks to the California crowd for helping to get this started, and for being a part of what is now history. A special thanks I think needs to go to Glen, AKA Unibear. Glen, you are one of the nicest guys I've ever had the pleasure to meet. You can also consume a massive amount of alcohol, and continue to march on. My hat is off to you. Unibear, with a massive hangover, managed to ride down the mountain with us, negotiate the Phoenix traffic, and THEN follow Mr. YamamotoSan BACK to California through the desert heat, blowing winds, and constant threat of 18 wheelers. I'm sure your head is STILL hurting my friend, I commend you for your dedication to the riding spirit. I'd also like to thank Kobie and Carey who assisted with the ride captain duties to keep all you hooligans in line and pointed in the right direction. THANK YOU, EVERYONE FOR ATTENDING, I HOPE YOU HAD AS MUCH FUN AS I DID, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ANOTHER DAY, ON ANOTHER CURVY ROAD!!! Bart | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
we met up with the Italian Stallions in Morenci, pretty much the formal start of 191 for those riding north. not to be outdone, they, too, had whipped the local constabulary into a feeding frenzy, and were asking for volunteers from OUR group to lead the ride out of town. (they seemed to keep coming back to ME for some reason.) it’s a long, painful story, but when it was all said and done Bart and Mitzi and me ‘n D were the very last ones out of town, by a considerable margin. knowing that we had cheated fate on numerous occasions that day i did the only sensible thing and left the Blue Thing in second gear, reasoning that THIS way we’d only get a ticket for 10 or 20 or 40 over, depending on the posted speed. as such, we lost contact with even The Bartimus after awhile, which was okay. we set the autopilot on “Tour”, kicked back, and proceeded to enjoy the floor show. the copper mine in Morenci is HUGE, stretching at least two times zones in any direction. easy to get distracted by the magnificence of the view, and a slip along here could mean a nasty plummet to the mine floor below. I figure the Bago would take at least a minute to get there, and would resemble a Wile E. Coyote mushroom cloud after the inevitable failed coup against the Road Runner. sorry, I digress. Highway 191 is, without exaggeration in the slightest, one of the best roads I’ve ever ridden. there. I said it. think I’m waxing poetic? perhaps. try it yourself and see. if you don’t like it i’ll double your money back, and throw in a Ronco rotisserie to boot. ( "Set it and FORGET it!" ) (which, come to think of it, would make a great tag line for the FJR...) we caught Bart & Co. after a spell, spellbound. also looking for mischief, which came in the form of one of the Stallions, who had stopped, apparently, to take a leak, and was just clicking his Tuono into 1st when we came lasering around the corner. we sniffed each other like two stray dogs, decided we liked the quality and quantity, pushed the button that said “TWO PLAYERS” (three, counting the lovely and talented Denise), and worm-holed immediately and posthaste to another dimension in a parallel universe in a galaxy far, far away (and freakin' fast). (btw, do i have the order right? is it universe and THEN galaxy, or the other way around? sigh. it SUCKS to have gray hair.) looking at the map I’m guessing that we and Tuono Boy (sorry, we were introduced to you in Morenci but I cannot recall your name. Al/Belookin, can you help?) played war games for a good 60 miles. the Reactor was without fault (keeping in mind the semi-frugal cornering clearance), and we ripped 191 a new one, over and over and over, for perhaps 45 minutes. M1Combat Don was a player, too, although this time it seemed like I’d gotten to know the Bago well enough to put him behind us and KEEP him behind us. maybe that was HIS idea, which is cool, too. Tuono Boy was very good, hanging off when necessary, giving us a lot of room and respect at all times, but showing no mercy. we reciprocated in kind, and each took several turns breaking trail. finally, when I felt my attention span could handle no more overload (i DO have gray hair, you know), I eased to the right and motioned TB and M1 to go by. one of my biggest laughs of the day came when BOTH of them pointed to each other and said “YOU go!”, “No, YOU go!!" finally TB took point and we let him get away. me ‘n D and Don dropped out of warp and pretty much idled on into Hannagan Meadows, panting like the dogs we are. TBoy was just getting out of his gear, which is when I recognized him from Morenci. he was, literally, laughing with the utmost childlike glee, as were me ‘n D. we collected up all we’d passed, which made a respectably-sized group, and enjoyed the camaraderie that always seems to accompany one of these deals. how cool is this: i do believe that Denise got more "high fives" than I did!  the air was cold, there was snow on the ground, a mountain stream. there were few sounds aside from those made by us, and the smell of wood fires and cooking meat hung gently, enticingly in the air. given the slightest provocation, Denise and I would have grabbed one of the cozy little rental cabins and gladly called it the end of an amazing day. can it get any better??? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
yes, actually. I told Denise as we were gearing up, in all sincerity, that we were going to TOUR our way from Hannagan Meadows the 22 miles to Alpine. see the sights and sounds of America and all that. the first five miles of our tour was GORGEOUS, all alone with ourselves, cruising along at about 45, alongside the aforementioned mountain stream, nary a care in the world. until Triple B came roaring by on his CityX, not content to leave well enough (us) alone. later he says, “Hey, you didn’t have to catch up with me!” true enough, although we both know that’s not true. pretty soon we’re up to our usual tricks, bordering on criminal behavior (“bordering”? it is to laugh), and generally flaunting our respective scooters’ ability to lean going around corners. the pavement between HM and Alpine is poifect (think Three Stooges), absolutely poifect. v-room, v-room, said the Little Nash That Could. whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... said the Reactor. wow, we all said, when we acquired Alpine. fuel, pee, water, tell war stories, laugh, giggle, repeat. maybe not exactly in that order, but you catch my drift. it was now Officially Late, and some of the gang split for Show Low. we soaked up the afterglow as long as possible, cleverly waiting until the rain that had been threatening of late was actually falling on us before suiting up. no worries, none were skeered, and it was an adventure ride getting back to Show Low, into and through nearly every meteorologic condition known to motorcycling. for the last 30 miles into SL i expected to see funnel clouds at any minute. which all made the pretty red and blue lights seem all the more brilliant and intense. he was "just kidding," i guess. Carry On! oh, some of the Stallions were grabbing their rooms in Springerville went we rolled through, and gave us the “Wave.” that was pretty cool! lessee, I mentioned the near-funnel clouds, but it paints a more complete picture to know that the inky black sky was being kept good company by driving rain, and pounding crosswinds. no worries, we weren’t skeered. now, i ask you: after ALL this, is it any wonder we partied so hard in Show Low Saturday night??? i agree. see earlier pix and posts for all the stuff i can’t for the life of me remember actually happening (providing RFT isn’t right and it wasn’t all a group hallucination). i DO remember drinking. i DO remember telling Denise it is of the UTMOST importance that we DO NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, let the party migrate into our room. (we were largely successful, with the exception of RFT, who could breach our best defenses seemingly at will, but was a nice guy about it, even, at one point, offering to assist Denise in the, um, restroom. Reindog, you are indeed a giver. i DON’T remember leaving the party, SORT of remember getting into bed (with much help), and fortunately wasn’t party (so to speak) to EITHER visit from the Show Low Police Department. i also, apparently, missed out on the lesbians, and the Great American Breast Augmentation Build-Off. someone MUST have pix??? Kobie, is it true, by the time you and Carey made it back to your room, the sun was peeking through Sunday morning's storm clouds??? Father Glenn, so i’m told by halfway reliable witnesses, at one point admonished everyone that they had had enough to drink. prolly while he was taking a big, long pull on the second bottle of that poison with all the gold flakes floating in it. which is funny coming from a man who struggled so mightily finding his room after the show was over. (up a small flight of stairs, hang a left, and down about five doors – what could be easier?) i will let him describe the near-heroic efforts he undertook, abandoned and alone, to find the missing motorcycles (his and mine) and his missing room. the story is truly inspiring. i have to stop typing about Saturday now, as it’s making my head hurt. thank you. oh, in case you don’t know, that Goldschlager swill is dangerous stuff. not only will it make you act rather unusual, the gold flakes WILL bond to each other in your system, forming nothing less than an large gold nugget, which then makes going to the bathroom the following morning an exercise in painful futility. thought you needed to know that. my head hurts. | ||
| Bartimus |
HA HA HA YOU SO FUNNY MR. YAMAMOTOSAN!!!! teeheehee you've got me rolling on the floor!!!         | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Sunday was as Bart described above. and more. COLD! RAIN! HAIL! WIND! and that was just in the bathroom. great ride, smaller group, equally pleasurable, can’t beat heated, waterproof gear. i’ve been riding 40 years to be so equipped, can’t believe i waited so long. cruised along on the Reactor at 140 for awhile (yes, BOTH hands on the bars), pretty casual for such an intense experience. took a bird hit off my right shoulder at about 80. i did okay, sadly the bird did not. warned of cops ahead by Good Samaritans, but not sure we saw any. oh yeah, i did, but was somehow only going about 75 at the time (how exactly is THAT possible???) and didn’t even get a light show. must be losing my touch. the ride (all nine hundred and some miles and three days of it) was over MUCH too soon. i know you know what i mean. right on Bartimus, and everyone else involved in any fay, wape, or shorm. (my head hurts, and don’t forget the gray hair thing.) most excellent camaraderie, combined with liberal doses of adrenaline, compassion, speed, alcohol, maturity, immaturity and humanity. and motorcycles. speaking of which, Unibear is certifiable. we left Phoenix about 4:45 yesterday afternoon, and arrived here at the ‘Dome about 2:30 this morning. the wind he endured was prolly the worst i’ve ever driven in, plus more wind, and cold enough to see your breath, and, well, a fine mist of “slurry” emanating from an open horse trailer i didn’t realize we were following. sorry, bud, guess that explains why when I cleaned your headlight this morning the paper towel came back golden brown. a 775-mile day for the Bear yesterday, about 2000 miles for the four-day trip, not bad in anybody’s book, especially “considering”... i’m running today on exactly 1-3/4 hours sleep, and about the same for Denise and Unibear. i have spent ALL day ‘splainin’ the Weekend According to Ferris to y’all, and now find that i must call it a day. hope you enjoyed the show. there BETTER be more pix, dammit. and words. and all the rest. thanks Bart. thanks Unibear. thanks to ALL of you. thank you, Denise -- you are nothing short of amazing. ride to lean, Ferris Bueller-San, 5th-degree Blue Belt FJRitsu Master President and CEO Ronco Heavy Industries Lake Isabella, CA USA 9-1300 ©2005 -- All Rights Reserved E. Pluribus Moon ‘Em | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I am going to just quietly say thanks to all who helped me to be able to participate, busted up and all. Don, thanks for the room, and to all, thanks for feeding the chase truck. I am very glad its use was limited to a wiring gremlin and not packing bits and pieces anyones ride out of the mountains. | ||
| Bartimus |
Your welcome for the use of the truck, Wycked... | ||
| Buellj79 |
Bart thanks for the use of the truck Mikel thanks for the company. Despite the attack of the wiring gremlin i had a great time meeting everybody, Springfast 2006???? later J | ||
| Bartimus |
The sign in the background says it all...  Thanks everyone!!! | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Any time Jeramy(sp? damn I never was good at it, I mean look at my own name  ) I just wish you could have enjoyed the ride portion, but it was damn nice to have someone along to cry over those twisties...I have ridden the Tail, and I will put the lower section of 191 against it ANY DAY! I sooooo can't wait until I can ride again... | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Bart, Wycked and all other responsible for this past weekends events. Thankyou!!!! I had a great time. The ride routes were fantastic. Friday is one that will be talked about for the rest of my life. It was great to finally meet so many of the folks I've talked with over Badweb over all these years. Buellers are a special breed. Most folks I talk to just don't understand traveling over half way across the country to meet and ride with "total stranger internet folks". I have truly meet some of the best people ever because of my Buells and BadWeb. I have a few pictures to post tomorrow. Mike and Darrell (sp?) it was great traveling and riding with both of you. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. A quick summary... The trip finished a bit better than it started. I left home on the S2 at about 11:15 AM on Tuesday heading for IAMike's home in IA. It's about 220 miles or so. It rained about 200 of the miles and at least 50 of them were a total deluge! I've never ridden in a heaver rain. Ever! It was so bad I had water running down the inside of my face shield. At times it was coming down so hard I was afraid to pull off the road to stop. I was worried about getting run over! I followed a car's tail light and hoped the driver sould see better than me. Obviously he could.... The ride home from Mike's on Sunday afternoon was much drier but VERY windy and cool. The head wind was at 30 MPH. Traffic was hauling at least 70MPH the entire way through IA. Went up to almost 80 when I hit MN. My neck is still sore today from the wind buffeting. The S2 got horrible mileage. I had to flip to reserve at 120 miles! That's at least 30 to 40 miles early. When the bike started running out of gas, I got a little spooked as I thought something else was wrong. Anyway, I'll write more tomorrow. It's late and I have to book a flight for my wife. Now it's her turn to go and play for a long weekend! She's heading to Cali wine country.. Be afraid, be very afraid.... Brad | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Glad you made it safe Brad and it was a definate pleasure to meat you Mike and Darrell, very glad you guys could make it, maybe we can get some better advanced arrangments in place and you guys can ride with us for the whole route Thanks again for joining us and I hope your wife likes her Kokkopele ornament | ||
| M1combat |
And a great time was had by all... Maybe a little too great, but not likely . Maybe one of these days I'll know 191 like I know the spars . A little note about 191, the FJR, Tuono Boy (He said his name was Ruben) and I... I was tooling along ahead of Ski (Xb9RSki) and Carey (CareyJ/AZBueller), just keeping them in my mirrors because the road is VERY technical when ALL OF A SUDDEN there's a blue winnebago filling my mirrors. I decided to pick up the pace a bit and of course (as I suspected) the Bago didn't get any smaller. I picked it up again, and again... The Bago didn't get smaller. Then it went around (in a straight... Nice and safe). I looked again and there's a Tuono... I waved him by and picked up the pace again just to watch the fun. I followed for a good (great...) eight miles or so and he waved me by. At that point I was invited to see the most amazing display of motorcycle handling skill I've ever watched. I followed Jerry and Denise on the FJR for I would guess 12-15 miles at a very quick pace through the best road I've ever been on. At no time did I think we were exactly going "too" fast... But we were indeed moving right along. Neither Jerry or I had ever been on the 191, but you certainly wouldn't know that by following him. He never over cooked a corner, He never bobbled, He never slipped. He did nothing but school me, and did it well. I was FOLLOWING him and over cooked two corners (although they weren't too well done...). I saw at least three corners where the peg was folded into the engine cases and he had his inside foot off the peg and was dragging it flat footed around the corner. Twice in between corners he had the time to pat Denise on the leg and then get back to business. I've always wondered what it looks like to follow a true "Master" through a corner... Now I know. Jerry - Thank you for taking the lead. I don't do too well when I don't know what's coming up unless I am going way too fast and go into "attack" mode like rally drivers do. I don't like to do that... it's too dangerous. Following you, however, allowed me to run the 191 for my first time at what I think was an exceedingly respectable pace. I don't think I'd really want to do the stretches we did much faster anyway. I stayed behind when you waved us by because I was perfectly happy to just enjoy the road. It opened up about a mile after that and I'm not a huge fan of the high speed sweepers anyway. Besides... I had a great lecture to let soak in . This is what I learned... It "looks" really easy when you're doing it right. Mikel - Thanks for driving the chase truck . I'm sure running the 191 in a truck on some meds was a good time in it's own right Al, Unibear and ReinDog... That was a great time with the $2.50 margaritas , and yes, I'd probably walk 1/2 mile in DRIVING rain to get nine hot-dogs, three micro-wave burritos and a bag of chips for "toasty" Buellers again . I'm sure there was a good time buried in there somewhere when Jeremy and I were trying to keep the water out of our eyes so we could see the side walk . I REALLY wish that the 191 was on my side of the state, but I'll make it over there again. Probably two up some time after I get some gear for Rachel. Thanks to all who made it. It was really a great time, and better roads . Thanks for being the driving force in putting this together Bart. | ||
| Bartimus |
Glad everyone had as good a time as I did! Thanks again for your participation!  | ||
| Unibear12r |
Lesbians??? GABABO??? REALLY? Damn shame when the lights are on but nobody's home! I don't remember that one either.  | ||
| Unibear12r |
Don, please don't tell me that I sent you & Jeremy out in the rain. You two suffered enough just listening to my Great(Drunken)Lecture on Life. The lights popped back on in the middle of that with me sitting on the floor at the foot of Toms bed wondering what the hell I was talking about. Hot dogs must of worked. Ah, so those were mustard stains on my pants, wondered bout that. The memories are few & fuzzy starting with- The Police (and the cigarette which I do remember Don). The bar at the Inn where the Manager/Bouncer wanted to know if we were going to be trouble as the Police had been called on us (I thought "Wow news travels fast in Az-It MUSTA been a hell of a party" ) Getting Al & Tom (safely?) passed out on their beds. There's something to do with potato chips here. The end of the above great lecture. Sorry bout that one guys. I remember having a near empty beer bottle in my hand all night after drinking the mindwarp stuff. I thought it was the same one and that I quit drinking but if there was a great time over Margaritas (I do love em)then THAT'S a BS memory. BTW where did we get the Margaritas at? Some day you guys are going to have to tell me about all this fun!  (Message edited by unibear12r on April 26, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Don, thanks for the very kind words, now i'll NEVER be able to get my helmet on. Ruben, that's right. he's a good rider, as are you, and it was fun to hook up with the two of you. gotta admit, it wasn't easy getting around you. wanted to do it safe and clean, and you made me earn it. the Big Blue Bago is a pretty impressive weapon for that kind of stuff. what it gives up in the corners it regains with massive thrust on demand at pretty much any rpm. the times i drug a foot was to test the road surface, feeling for the tiny marbles i suspected we were riding thru at the time. HATE that stuff. couldn't have done any of that nonsense without Denise's help on the back. altho she is a veteran rider herself, she has also become a great passenger, and it was the coolest thing to see so many people giving her props at Hannagan Meadows. thanks again Don, that stretch was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. sure hope you and the gang can make it out here for Oktoberfast. ride to lean, baby! FB | ||
| Denisea |
one word only - effinA! whataweekend! Bart - Thanks for sharing your playground - 'specially 191 -  AND for putting together the party. VTC to meet some of Arizona's - and the flatlander's - best -- great bunch. Father Glenn - you are the man. Personally I woulda grabbed a room way before we hit the freezingasscold, see your breath as you speak weather - but Jeez, ya made it all the way to the Dome! (Sorry I couldn't find my brush yesterday morning). And Sweetie, thank you for the best ride ever. Someone said something about it being the new weapon that made us fly but we both know you coulda done it on my baby 650 bike. ... the stuff we live for.... | ||
| Al_lighton |
Don't think I can add anythig that hasn't already been said...what a weekend!! The only thing bad about such a weekend is that it is over. I am quite sure that I have never broken as many laws in as short a time. How none of us stayed out of JAIL, let alone not got a ticket, is beyond me. Seems that Arizona cops are a little cooler about speeding than CHP. No arrests No tickets No wrecks Only slight malfunctions (sorry you missed 191 on the XB, Jeremy..but at least Mikel got company) GREAT roads GREAT people In fact, the only thing that wasn't stellar the whole weekend was (other than the Prescott brewing company) mediocre food. Well, I guess the 4 Margaritas that Don, Tom, and I had for dinner on Saturday were OK too Don, The only thing I remember about hot dogs was the two that were sitting unopened at the foot of my bed Sunday morning Glenn, I have no idea how you made it back to the Thunderdome on Sunday eve. I couldn't have done it, no way. Joanne thanks you (and Mikel) for discouraging the great dome leap I still think it woulda worked.... Brad/Mike/Darrel, ya screwed up. You NEEDED to do 191. You WILL be back. Bart, thanks for all the organizing. And Mikel, thanks for driving chase. See ya'll next Springfast? Al | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 left... (Message edited by jerry_haughton on April 26, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 ...right. BANZAI!!! (Message edited by jerry_haughton on April 26, 2005) | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Jerry, one thing to concider when it comes to chasing Don on the Spars(89 to Prescott), thats HIS back yard, and he admits to atleast 8000 miles of practice on that XB of his racing the Spars. To hang with him is tough there. |
