Well since getting the bike in November I'd been itching to do a large group ride. Missed the Toys for Tots ride in December because I was taking the MSF course and hadn't had a chance to go on any of the smaller rides thanks to the Houston weather that I've doomed us to endure. So finally my HOG chapter announces the Tsunami Relief Ride. I tell my wife that I'm going with or without her. She wanted to go too; probably more to keep an eye on me than for the ride or the cause itself.
So the day starts early for us. Up at 6am to pick up my daughters that stayed at their nana and pop's house and to get the babysitter (mama won't let me get a sidecar for the girls). After that cluster was taken care of we warm up the bike (and ourselves since it's 45 degrees out) and take off to meet a buddy of mine from work. We ride through some side streets to avoid the traffic lights and eventually end up at the 59 Diner to meet my buddy. Turns out that after I invited him, he invited a friend of his who in turn invited another friend. So after all six of us get ready we head to the meeting place.
Now until this point we've been going quite slow and the cold hasn't been too bad. Right after leaving the diner we hit the highway and kick the throttle up (my buddy's got a VTX1800 and loves to show off his hp) and you can hear my wife yelling through her helmet about how cold she is. I'm thinking, at this point, that maybe we should invest in chaps (something my wife says she'll never wear). I've been putting it off myself because the girls need new clothes and stuff... A fifteen minute ride on the freeway, a quick stop for gas and then we hit the parking lot. WOW!!! Talk about a lot of bikes. They were expecting 2000+ and I'm sure they got it.
We register, pay our money, get our pin (it's amazing how addicting those little things become) and look for somewhere to warm up. It's a pretty big event with the local news and radio stations showing up and colors are flying everywhere.
The signals given for the ride to start so quite a few bikes get started. This is my first group ride so I start when everyone else does not realizing that I'm toward the end of the pack so I won't be out of the gates for another half hour. When I do realize this I shut off the engine then get smacked because it was keeping my wife warm. I started it again. Finally we pull out and get on the road. With the ride being in the middle of Houston, there's only one way to go and that's on the highways. High speeds, low temps.
The road captains were awesome and kept traffic out of our way as best they could so the picture ahead of us was filled with nothing but chrome and smiles. Of course my smile's hard to see through the chattering teeth, but it was there. We head out on the 45, hit the 610 to the 59 and end up on the beltway where we end at the Sam Houston Race Park. The first thing my wife says when she gets off is that we need to go look at chaps (I'll post pics when I get em.
). We start walking around the parking lot to look at some of the other rides and see a replica of Captain America. It was an old panhead too.
Once we get in the warmth it's time to hit the restroom. There was an extremely long line to the men's room so we had some time. My buddy grabs us some beer while we wait. I had to laugh because probably about half of the guys in line were on cell phones...uh, bikers! After hitting the head, we walked around the ride-in-show bikes (nothin' too impressive but nothin' I'd refuse if offered either) and talked to some other friends we knew. After seeing that we didn't win anything in the raffles, it was time to hit the cold again. With strict instructions to take the shortest route home, I put my grin back on, rode through the massive display of bikes and headed home. I had a great time and my wife has now put restrictions on the rides she'll go on...nothing unless it's over 65 degrees.
Have
Tsunami Relief Ride
