Texas
Ride Report
Day One ( Mar. 18, 2004)
Riders Links (lots more pictures!!!)
Rob May http://www.robmay.com/reeky.htm
Sunny http://www.pkriders.org/n-a-r-t1.htm
Mag http://s89822576.onlinehome.us/austin.htm
Rob & Erin's Report
What has 2600 cc's and seven cylinders? The latest
cruiser from Triumph or Kawasaki? A '73 Impala with a bad cylinder? No, it's
the first stage of the North American Reeky Tour! Thursday at about 7:30 am,
Erin and I fed the Sonic (the cat) and Thunder (the dachshund), threw a change
of clothes in a bag, jumped on our bikes and headed South to meet Sunny and Joe
in Stephenville for breakfast. A clear warm morning made for mostly pleasant
riding with a stiff headwind being the only downside. After 80 miles or so, we
arrived at the Rio Grande Cafe at the corner of 377 and 183. No bikes in the
parking lot, so we park and start to take our gear off when Sunny and Joe pull
up. Great timing! Since we've never met before, introductions were in order
then in to eat. After a hearty breakfast and getting to know one another it was
off to the open highway. Sunny and Joe both ride V-star 650's and Erin was on a
Yamaha 650 as well, although it was a classic '82 XS650 Heritage Special. I
always have to be different so I was on the Killer Cow (Kawasaki KLR650) dual
sport. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a very capable bike at sane (< 85)
speeds. We were making good time on the lightly travelled roads so after about
70 or 80 more miles and temperatures climbing above 80 we decided to shed some
clothes and get something to drink. We really dawdled here because we were way
ahead of schedule. Joe did an awesome job of leading the group the whole way,
with me riding second and the girls bringing up the rear. Back on the bikes and
on through Lampasas on 183 toward Austin and more Reekyites. The plan (all this
was set up by Sunny, she coordinated everything) was to meet Charles and Dirk at
a Burger King just outside of Austin at 2:30 or so. Lots of road construction
on 183 near the BK, so we saw it about 10 or 15 minutes before we could get to
it. When we arrived no Reekyites were to be seen. We dropped our gear and
went in for a Dr. Pepper, while those who smoked took the opportunity to get a
nicotine 
fix. Dirk showed up first on his Savage 650 (so now we have 5(!) 650's
in the parking lot), then Charles Soto rolled in on his Bandit 1200. By now the
manager of the BK is wondering whats going on in his parking lot. We go inside,
have a burger and wait a little longer for Mag and Duane to show. Just as Dirk
says he needs to get back to work, they pull into the parking lot. More
introductions and lots of hugging ensues. Eight Reekyites in one place at one
time, not too bad for the first day of the tour. Sunny pulls out the t-shirts
and Sharpies and we all sign the shirts. Mag takes official possession for the
trip back to Houston and points East. The party breaks up at this point, Dirk
heads back to work, Charles leads the rest of us to a local motel. Erin and I,
Sunny and Joe, and Mag and Duane decide to spend the night in Austin and head
home the next day. We say good bye to Charles, check in and I'm ready for a
nap. The other four head out to find some refreshment. A little later we all
head out to Ninfa's for some authentic Tex-Mex. I have to say Sunny and Joe and
Mag and Duane were as friendly as could be, it was like we had known them
forever. After a couple of hours jabbering at the restaurant, we head back to
the motel for some sleep. Breakfast at IHOP, lots of hugs and handshakes and
it's time to head back home. What a great adventure it was for Erin and I, we
made new friends, spent two days riding together, and were a part of this
historic Reeky event. Thanks for having us along. Thanks especially to Sunny
for all her effort to make this happen. One picture here right now, I'm going
to throw together a webpage and will post the URL here later tonight. http://www.robmay.com/photos/reeky1.jpg
Sunny, Erin, and Joe in this pic.
Rob
Sunny & Joe's Report
It started out a warm and sunny morning, the 18 of March,
2004. But this wasn't your typical March day in Texas. No, it was Reeky Day! Joe
and I were packed and ready, I hauled Buttons, a.k.a. "Scooter", over to
the groomer to get him "foo foo'd" up and to spend the night then raced back and
jumped on the bike and rode to the corner convenience store (Mr. C's) to gas up.
We headed out on 16, took 337 to Mineral Wells, 180 East to Hwy 281 South and an
hour and 30 minutes later from the time we started, we were in
Stephenville. Right at
9:30 a.m., just like we said. As we got to the stoplight on 281 & 377, we could
see 2 bikes and 2 people in the parking lot of the Rio Grande Cafe, there on the
corner to the right. We pulled in and discovered that Erin & Rob May had just
pulled in just seconds before us. Now that is good timing!
We said our hellos and walked into the cafe and we got to know a bit about each
other. Rob & Erin are newly weds and such a wonderful couple. Truely nice
people. Joe and I took a liking to them right away. :-)
After a good breakfast and a pic or two, we headed south on Hwy 281, stopping in
Hico to get gas. Then we proceeded to Lampasas, where we stopped in for
something to drink and to stretch our legs and more pics. On
the south edge of town we took 183 SE to Austin. Traffic was really picking up
by the time we got to Cedar Park, just north of Austin. By the time we hit the
edge of the big city, traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper and 183 is under
major construction. Wouldn't you know... As Rob said, we saw the Burger King
long before we got to it, but we finally did arrive and it was almost 2:30 on
the dot. The first to show up was Dirk. I was really glad he was able to take a
bit of time off from work to come see us. I'd seen his picture before but it is
always good to see a friend face to face. :-)) We chatted a bit and looked at
each others rides as we waited for Charles to show up, which he finally did
after getting a bit lost (?). That traffic and construction has things all
screwed up but that's Austin for ya! We went inside Burger King and waited. We
were waiting for Maggie &
Duane and Dirk was needing to get back to work. Just as he said he needed to
leave, here they came. Don't you just love big city traffic? Not! After many
hugs and then t-shirt signing and more hugs, Dirk had to leave us, Maggie packed
the shirts for the trip to Austin and then Charles escorted us to our hotel on
I-35. More good-byes as Charles had to get back home to Melissa and Malcolm.
While Erin and Rob napped, we rode with Maggie & Duane up to get gas and some
liquid refreshments, then we came back to the hotel and got cleaned up to go
eat. Dinner at Ninfas was excellent but too much of it and one taco and a
smattering of rice and beans was all I could handle. We eventually got back to
the hotel and visited some more before we finally turned in some time after
11:00. I got Joe up a bit after 7:00 a.m. Friday morning, called and woke Maggie
and Joe and I went down to the lobby for coffee. There wasn't much to the
"continental breakfast", so when everyone got up and packed, we checked out of
the hotel and rode to the I-Hop for breakfast and more visiting. It was right at
noon and more hugs and handshakes said our good-byes as Erin, Rob, Maggie &
Duane headed up I-35
and Joe and I took 183 back the way we came. After a fill up in Lampasas (66
miles), made a pit stop and got a coke, we hit the pavement again and Joe and I
did not stop until we got to Mineral Wells (another 130 miles). We stopped in
town to shop a bit, got gas and rode the last 28 miles home and made it by 5:00
p.m. This old gal still has it in her. I wasn't tired till we finally stopped.
Funny how the bike gives me energy. :-)
I've posted 23 pics. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did taking
them. It was a great ride and we got to be with some really wonderful people.
We'll have to do a ride like that again soon!
http://www.pkriders.org/n-a-r-t1.htm
--
Sunny
'02 XVS650A (Deerslayer)