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Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 05:56 pm: | 
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this is the bulk of the KC group, staged in Thunder's cul-de-sac for the ride back to their respective hoods, after a day of unforgettable Hooligan camaraderie.
too bad there's no audio to go with this pic, it was pretty impressive. (with Shazam's Firebolt leading by example.  )
this was a great day, gents and lady, epic even, and once more i say again how impressed i was by your show of enthusiasm, support, and passion for the road. much, MUCH appreciated.
i was sad to see you guys go.
KC, you rock!
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 22, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 05:56 pm: |
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this is the last bike away, and is a pretty good representation of what my brain was seeing at this point, between sleep deprivation, mass riding, BBQ, beer and cigars.
and tomorrow, i get to do it all over again!
thank you again Iowa and Missouri Hooligans, this day was stellar thru and thru.
mileage today: 777.2 start, 1181.0 end, 403.8 total
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 25, 2005) |
Dino
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 01:57 am: |
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Hey, where'd that Ferris feller go? There're pictures to be posted...a story to be told!
BTW...Fox River sunrise...wow! That might even get me out of bed. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 06:19 am: |
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Ferris finished up Sunday's (9/4) adventure last night, and will start on today's (9/5) adventure, well, today!
these pesky 14-hour w*rk days just keep getting in the way... 
FB |
Pdxs3t
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 07:33 pm: |
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The things you do for us fans! We love ya man! |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 07:58 pm: |
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yeah, yeah.
when you comin' to pick up your hat???
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Light_keeper
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 10:53 am: |
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Those magnificent men on their two wheel machines. Wonderfully entertaining, wish I was there.
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Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 01:22 pm: |
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Sandy, you WERE there, in spirit.
more to come...
FB |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 11:30 pm: |
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ps: before i move on, a word about yesterday morning's ride, in particular the sections with Alex Prior and Dave "The Wizard" Stueve.
lush, green, undulating hills dotted with farms, idyllic as can be, an occasional bucolic pioneer town, population a hundred or so, scattered about for character, stately old homes along Main Street, American flags always in abundance, old barns looking as fit as the day they were built (a century ago), mighty grain silos, miles and miles of velvety yellowish-green corn fields to every horizon, organic pastel paintings with a particular peaceful beauty all their own, and the roads we rode today carved, sliced and diced thru it all.
wish i had pix for you, but i was too darned busy spectaculating!
anyway, picture a postcard (or a hundred) of the most idyllic "Scenes from Rural America" your mind's eye can conjure, and that's what we were experiencing, on motorcycles, and it was sweet and sublime.
and sucked not in the least.
and the BEST part? a three-part Buell harmony between me, Alex and the Wizard, a trio of bikes and riders glued to each other with the trust and confidence and skill and respect necessary to ride tight with no fear of stupid pet tricks, allowing the fantastic feeling of high-precision low-level flight.
Alex set the pace; ostensibly he knew where we were going. i slotted up on his right in the #2 position, and Dave was to my left and slightly behind in #3.
as the roads revealed themselves - each, it seemed, with its own personality and "ground effects" - and we became familiar with their rolling ways, Alex would dial in some boost - a little, nothing frantic, just enough to make the stakes interesting - and after a moment for him to settle in i would tuck up in his right mirror until i could no longer see his face in the reflection.
whatever Alex did, i did. slight jink to the right, i'd do the same. enough movement to "invade" my space, i'd ease up and give him the cushion. off the gas or on the brakes, i'd do the same, always matching Alex move for move, occasionally backing off enough to give him a good look at me in his mirror, to let him know he was safe, and that we were still engaged.
then i'd tuck in again, and the center of the known universe would again become a twisty little ribbon of otherwise unassuming tarmac in the middle of middle America.
here's a word i don't think i've used in a while on BADWEB: spiritual.
our little rhythm and Buells session was just that.
very, very spiritual.
Alex and i had ridden together once before, during his epic Ride Across North America journey last year, but only for a couple of days. still, and altho he is a relatively new rider, he trusts me, i trust him, and we took care of each other today, all the while enjoying a rush that doesn't come often on the street in this sport, when two minds, and two motorcycles, are working intimately as one.
i had only met Dave "The Wizard" Stueve a few days before today, and had ridden with him up to East Troy and back and around the Appleton area a bit, but today was the first chance we each had to really try each other on for size.
as Alex and i played our war games i watched the Wizard in my left mirror. i KNOW he's a good rider, with many, many hours of street time and track time, and i had no anxiety whatsoever riding hot with him. what was interesting was watching HIM watching US, always close, but never close enough to disappear from my mirror, never close enough to "sense" his presence rather than "see" his presence.
for several miles it was this way, anyway, then he slowly moved up on my left, almost as if testing our waters, proving to himself what his eyes had been seeing, that this was good, and safe, and fun. soon he disappeared from my mirror for a moment. on a bike with a loud exhaust i would have heard him at that point, but the Ulys are quiet. nonetheless, i could feel him there, and it felt good.
all the while, i did what Alex did.
and, without having to see it with my own eyes to know, what i did, the Wizard did.
it seemed like a long time that the roads we rode allowed us this treat, curving and flowing with a natural rhythm, the pavement, of course, tracing EXACTLY what once had been only foot trails thru the fertile land, following the path of least resistance, the fortunate by-product being roads that were tailor-made for our version of synchronized worship.
as we rode, Dave disappeared more and more often in my mirror, as i did the same to Alex. it was THESE times that were the best, not only the thrill of the ride, but the heady sense of trust, of brotherhood, of risk and passion and adventure shared.
this portion of the ride literally bristled with energy and life, and is one of my most treasured highlights from FBRAT.
it was late the following night when Alex asked me if i'd seen "what Dave wrote" on BADWEB. we were sitting in Jeff "Thunder" Griswold's living room on Monday night in Lee's Summit, Missouri, after an epic day of Hooliganism with the KC Gang, smoking cigars, knocking down Boulevard Pale Ale, and i was processing a few pix from the day to post on BADWEB before turning in for some badly needed sleep.
i confessed to Alex that i hadn't, yet.
"Well, it's pretty cool," he said with a smile.
and indeed it was.
Dave Stueve: THIS day rocked from beginning to end, but one of the coolest things that happened today was reading your words about our ride YESTERDAY.
i'm gonna let you close out this post, but know that the feeling is mutual, and knowing that you felt this way, and took to the time to put your thoughts in words, means the world to me.
thank you, and thank you Alex.
" Jug, I'll wait for your call tomorrow. It was great meeting you and seeing Spidey again.
FBRAT update,
We left Waterloo this morning about 7:15 after a short stop at the hospital to visit Kandie(she's a nurse there).
I only rode as far as Tama with them, we stopped talked a bit and then shook hands, said goodbyes and officially ended my leg of the Epic journey.
Ferris and Alex are in good hands with Shazam and Bill. I parted ways with them about 9am.
Ferris,
Again, very cool to finally meet you in person. The last few days were fun.
I stopped on my way home to talk to a friend of mine that got me into sportbikes. He has since given up riding, he is going to be 70 in Nov and has no desire to ride anything but a fast bike and ride it fast, no Goldwings for him! I was telling him about yesterday with you and me riding behind Alex. I told him we were riding at a 6 or 7/10th pace(not race pace) but were riding fairly close to each other at times. He asked "how long have you been riding with him?" I told him we just met for the first time in person on Thursday. He was a little shocked because he knows how I am about riding close to someone I have not spent A LOT of time riding with to know they aren't going to do something unexpected or stupid. Yes those thoughts did cross my mind when we first started on the curves on the way to IL but I had faith in your ability to ride.
Just wanted to let you know I would ride with you anytime, close as you want.
Yesterday was some of the best public road sportbike riding I have had since I moved to WI( I don't get to do that much).
Yesterday was a blast for me!
Thanks again to Paul and Ferris for letting me be involved with this adventure.<img src="http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/biggrin3d.gif" border=0>
Ride safe and try to keep Alex out of trouble.
(Message edited by Jerry_haughton on January 11, 2008) |
Prior
| | Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 01:44 am: |
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Ferris and Dave,
Thank you.
And Kandie, I stayed out of trouble... after the first night of the trip. |
Spiderman
| | Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 04:56 pm: |
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I can't say thanks enough.
Alex it was great to see ya again, give me a call when your up in MI for the Uof M game and I will take you to a local Dive Bar that serves PBR LOL.
Ferris I am sorry I am the only one who asked for your autograph, but kinda glad that I was the only one. I hope it made your day and trip that much better. Thanks again for planting Spidey stickers across the US it has made everyone a told and shown say "Way cool!" one more thing, I will have a nice surprise for you ready in about 3 weeks!!
Dave, I already emailed ya my thanks ya punk 
Denise (hope i spelled that right), Thanks for letting Ferris come out to play! |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 07:47 pm: |
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...one more thing, I will have a nice surprise for you ready in about 3 weeks!!
i'm waiting... |
Spiderman
| | Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 09:37 pm: |
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It's takin a little longer than expected sorry. |
Jugallo94
| | Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 10:27 pm: |
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Spidey if you want I will take the suprise to him in January when I go to cyprus for two months. It is a pretty sure thing that I am going, but not sure on being able to take the bike. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 10:54 pm: |
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no worries, Spidey, just seeing if you were still with us.
Jug, you can't come out to SoCal without your bike, it's one of our laws. |
Jugallo94
| | Posted on Friday, October 21, 2005 - 09:53 am: |
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Im pushing the issue, but weather or not work will let me drive out there or make me fly is still up in the air. |
Spiderman
| | Posted on Friday, October 21, 2005 - 04:10 pm: |
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just seeing if you were still with us.
You aint got enough bug spray brother |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Saturday, October 22, 2005 - 11:31 am: |
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You aint got enough bug spray brother
i was afraid of that...
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