Excellence

Perfect shot to sum up last weekend's activities, great time riding and camping with the crew. This is the season, pack your bike and get out and ride that damn thing and sleep somewhere strange.

(photo stolen from Ian at Americana Speed Shop)

Mark Your Calendar

Rain Delay

So the plan for last weekend was two nights of camping at Noccalula Falls with another family that also has two girls. The first night was great, the facility was awesome and super kid friendly. We pitched the tents, made a fire, cooked burgers and made smores. All in all, it was a pretty great first camping experience for our kids.

Unfortunately two approaching storm systems would have made for a full day of rain and in the interest of not keeping four kids inside a tent all day we broke camp and headed home. We did decide to keep the weekend with our friends going and instead spent Saturday at their house.

Some time ago my buddy Jason bought the KZ650 that had been sitting in my garage. Since we had a cooler full of cold beer and a non-running bike that needed attention, our plans were pretty clear. He had already taken the carbs apart and started cleaning them. We used our time reassembling and adjusting them. Once we got everything together again the bike fired up first kick. They needed more adjustment but I was able to take the bike down the road before the day was out. There is still work needed to get the beast road worthy. I'm sure I'll see another day in his garage before all is said and done.

Dual Sportster

Video description on youtube says it all.

Austin and Back, Part 2

 Valdez!

Artwork by Jon Meeks

 Burning out.

 Morning view over the water at the last campsite

Austin and Back, Part 1

So I had big plans to document this run with words like I did the OK is OK trip but there was too much fun being packed in to keep a ride journal going. I even went so far as to compose some drunkenly one night at 4am but when I looked back it was just incoherent and laughable. As a result, two posts of some pics is all you get. Enjoy and if you ever have a chance to visit Austin or camp in Louisiana or Mississippi, I highly recommend all three. 

 Officer Smith

 This place...just wow. Overwhelming.

Blur

Photo courtesy of Kustom Jeff

So the last couple weeks have been a blur. I am going to take a page from my other blog and let a few pictures do the talking. An in depth report is coming once I have a chance to get my thoughts together.

 

In other news, I am now on Instagram here. 

Barber's Vintage Festival 2013

Once again it was an excellent year. I spent so much time hanging out with folks I don't get to see ofter enough and meeting new people that I didn't see any of the races, any of the special events or anything but the swap meet area really. Thanks to the shine, rum and cold beers a lot of it was a blur. It was great and I even bought a little over an 8th of a minibike. After a couple weeks it ended up in the garage and I've been riding...a lot.

Special thanks to the Inbreds RC for making me feel at home and giving me a place to crash. Also to the Haints for a great party and Lowbrow for the Coctagon. It was great meeting the men of MHT and kicking it with the BamaRides crew. Seriously, if you don't go to this event you are completly missing out.

 

Q&A, Part 5

11. What is your favorite food? My Mom makes a dish called Noodlebake that has noodles (duh), ground beef, olives, onion, cheese...basically everything awesome in it. It is a real pain in the ass to make so she only cooks it for me once a year. It usually doesn't last more than 24 hours.

12. What scares JBMFT? The thought of not being able to take care of my family or feeling like I failed or disappointed them. That and bears when I camp.

13. How is it that you and your wife both have dark hair and your kids are blonde? What gives with that? I was blond when I was a kid and as I got older my hair got darker. My guess is that this will happen with the girls eventually...that or my wife has some explaining to do.

14. What's your biggest weakness? Indecision. Close second would be my inability to stop worrying about things.

15. What's the story with your necklace tattoo? It is a St. Jude, the Saint of lost causes and desperate situations. Many years back I took a trip to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. I was going through a rough spot in my life so I bought a necklace at the gift shop and immediately put it on. After years of never taking it off, I thought it would be a fitting tattoo. I still have the old necklace.

16. What one gig from playing in bands stands out most in your mind as the best and favorite one?
I played in a band called Pure Crap years ago and our shows were always really fun. We always got sloshed before we got on stage. There were only two of us with acoustic guitars and our songs were all goofy to begin with. There was a lot of room for jokes and fooling around. It great to be in a band where the people on stage could heckle the crowd. What about the worst? Being in an experimental/prog rock/jam band and getting booked out of town not knowing you'd be opening up for thrash metal bands. We met the other guys beforehand and everything was cool but we were young and nervous. Before we hit the stage we agreed to play all the songs at double the normal tempo and scream all the lyrics. We didn't nail it but we didn't get booed off the stage either.

17. What's one place worldwide you've never been to, but would like to go? What would you want to do there? That is a big question. Other than places that are ravaged by war or places where they hate Americans, I would like to see and do it all. 

18. What is your favorite music artist/band, other than Representative Slice, of course?  
Matthew Sweet, no contest. He is a great songwriter, producer and performer. My feelings on this one are likely peppered by nostalgia since I have a lot of great memories that tie back to listening to his music. Any time I have answered this question in the past people seem surprised...I should know by now just to say "Motorhead" and move on.

19. Name someone you look up to and admire. / Whom would you consider your hero(es) ?
David Morrell, Lemmy and Panhead Billy.

20. If you could only drink one alcoholic beverage (one kind, not one drink period) what would it be? Beer. There are so many beers to choose from, seems like it would never get old.

Q&A, Part 3

http://motorcycletabernacle.blogspot.com

Rusty Crowe asked :
1) What is your beard maintenance routine? Maintainence? Nothing. Occasionally I'll trim it if it gets on my nerves and I take length off the mustache when it gets in my mouth but other that that...nothing.
2) What was or is your favorite motorcycle road trip? The trip I took out west. It was my first really big bike trip. I learned a lot about motorcycle travel and saw some amazing parts of the country.
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Orunda' Bryant asked :
How can you be the best of both worlds, a bad-ass and a softie? You can't have it both ways, you're either one or the other. You can have it both ways. How you act is subjective, based on who you are interacting with. When I was a bouncer, I treated the bar patrons different than I treat my kids. Most people have more than one side. For example, do you really personally choose to wake up each day and put on slacks and a collared shirt? 
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Party People asked :
Why do you have a dildo on your workout bench? Ask Jonathan Harris, I got it from him. Seriously though, I think it is a sleeve that lets you put different sizes of weights on.
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Russell Harris asked:

1. 5th Favorite hot sauce? Slap Ya' Mama.
   
2. Longest your beard has been? Last time I trimmed it I took 14 inches off so probably 16 inches or so.
   
3. How long did that take to grow? Not sure, I don't keep track.
   
4. How many 500+ mile days are you good for on a bike? Several. 600 and 700 plus days are where I start to get unhappy.
   
5. On a camping trip, if you woke up with a condom hanging out of your ass, would you tell anyone? Yes. (if the answer to 5. is "no") Wanna go camping? No.
   
6. What do you do for a living? My main job is being a stay at home dad. I pick up part time work and odd jobs here and there. Before this, I was an insurance adjuster and fraud  investigator but I have done a little of everything. Ask me again once the kids are in school and I have to get a full time job again. 
   
7. What is the best way to talk your wife into letting you buy another bike? Buy her things she wants, like an SUV, sewing machine or fancy digital camera.
   
8. You going to Barber's this year? Yes...for real this time.
   
9. What hot sauce do you recommend that tastes good, but you can feel it move through your body even as you evacuate your bowels? Blair's After Death.
   
10. What are your views on Asian ladies? Not my favorite but nothing against them.
    
    
    You can check out all of Russell's wit and wisdom at the MHT blog here. 

08/03/13

     The night prior was hot and I'm pretty sure nobody slept well. It wasn't bad that morning, just enough to feel it. Everyone got packed up. It was bittersweet for me. I was looking forward to seeing my family but sad to leave the road and the company of friends I had been sharing it with.
      Ken left a bit early for coffee and we picked him up at a gas station near our KOA. He had been scanning the weather radar and it didn't look good. Outside of one small downpour, we had stayed dry most of the trip. I guess it was time to pay for our good fortune.
      Hoping to dodge the front, we got on the road. It wasn't long before we saw the black clouds on the horizon and stopped to put on rain gear, face shields, etc. It was good that we did. The water attacked quickly and with fury successfully eliminating any shred of dry fabric in my pack.
      Though this was easily some of the nastiest stuff I had ever ridden in, we soldiered on. Ride in the rain, get gas, wring out gloves, repeat. During one stop Wyatt and Chris opted to sample some local BBQ. With many miles ahead, Ken and I decided to stay moving.
      There is a bond you forge with someone when you share time on the road. The good times, bad times, sights and sounds you share become part of your common fiber. There is a recognizable difference between friendship and brotherhood. This trip easily moved us from the former into the later.
Though we knew each other previously as just words on a page, this was real. Getting along online is easy. It's crazy how well we transitioned from the digital world into the physical one. When you spend nearly every waking moment with someone for a stretch of days, when its over it leaves a hole.
Our goodbyes were brief. Looks were exchanged that filled in the gaps. I would ride with this crew again anytime. I hope life and fate stay good enough to give us all that chance.
      The sun fought through the clouds at times but we stayed under the rain most of the day. Outside Memphis we stopped for gas, a bite to eat and a glance at the map. Despite the heat, when you are soaking wet a/c turns other's comfort into your freezing misery so we ate fast.

     Right outside Birmingham things got so bad that we had to stop several times. Rain is tolerable. Inconvenient, but tolerable. Riding in a lightning storm is not. Several false starts and breaks under overpasses slowed our progress. The frustration of being 30 miles from home but unable to progress safely gnawed at me. Knowing how dumb I would feel being killed so close to home after traveling so far kept me in place.
      Once there was a break, we got moving again. Things started to get more and more familiar. I approached my exit and waved Ken ahead and then waved again as he passed me. I was 15 minutes from my door. Ken still had hours to go, others days yet. Pulling into the driveway, I instantly missed the open road and my brothers. I was comforted in my loss by my wife and children. I unloaded the bike. Still covered in dirt and bugs from 9 nine states, I locked the door behind me and proceeded to unpack.

08/02/13

     We awoke, still tired from the day before. Thankfully it would be an easy day. Chris decided it was high time we had a proper camp breakfast and proceeded to make pan biscuits and gravy and it really hit the spot. His camp cooking is head and shoulders above the food heating that I do. It was simple ingredients but prepared well and we ate every bit.

      Our first stop was at the local Harley dealership. Wyatt has a huge collection of dealer shirts, by his count around 170. He wanted to grab one and the rest of us drank free coffee. We got some good advice on a place to eat and hit it before moving on.
     It had been an easy ride from the KOA in Alma to Fort Smith proper. As the last frontier before the Indian wilderness, it prides itself on its history and most of the old buildings remain mixed in with the new. The museums were interesting and full of artifacts and we hit the big ones.

     Judge Parker, known as the hanging judge, was a town favorite and seeing his courtroom and a replica of the gallows was pretty slick. He was not a fan of that brand of sentencing but was strict to the law. The jail below the court house was also amazing to see. The tiny room held around 100 men at some times, crowded by any standard. With a lack of facilities and the extreme climate conditions, it earned the nickname "Hell on the Border." We also saw the old "sporting house" but it was closed when we arrived so we missed the chance to sample the goods.

      Walking downtown, we looked in a few shops and drank more coffee. Though it was an easy riding day, it was full of the history of the area. It was pretty amazing, being in the jail and seeing the courtroom. We decided to return to the camp site and plan for the next day.
     I ate soup and crackers, a far cry from the breakfast we had earlier. I looked over the map. Tomorrow we leave for home and back to reality. At close to 700 miles to home, I needed the rest.

08/01/13

     The morning finds our group growing smaller. Wes has decided to power through from El Reno to Nashville in one shot, roughly 700 miles. Chris helped him put on the new shift linkage and after we gassed up, we said our goodbyes. It was odd after a full week, looking back in my mirror and finding an empty spot where his bike was.
     Breakfast came in the form of a small restaurant tucked behind the lobby of a Ramada Inn. We tried, and failed, to blend with the locals. I was worried about what we would get but our food was excellent and cooked perfectly. Its nice when things like this sneak up and surprise you.

     THe main stop for the day is the Route 66 Museum in Clinton. This is an excellent facility. The horseshoe shaped walking tour chronicles the construction, heyday, and decommissioning of the mother road. I was especially interested in the diner and neon displays. There were several companies that made prefabbed diners and they had one on display. The owner paid for the purchase by depositing 10% of the daily revenues into a drop box outside that would be picked up later.

     I enjoyed the insight into the road we had been traveling all week. 66 is many things to many people and it seems more and more of it is disappearing. Time has been moving forward, driven by technology, advancements, evolution, etc. The mother road has been standing still, a snapshot of a simpler time before everything and everyone got into a furious hurry.

     I always wanted to see it, satisfy my obsession with the ravages of time on abandoned structures and the natural reclamation of the things man has forgotten. I didn't expect to be so enamored by the people, friendly and happy to see you. I guess as the road stands still, there are some who have chosen to stand with it. To them, I am grateful. They are keeping an important piece of our country alive. Get out and see it while you can.

     Fort Smith was just over 250 miles away from Clinton. We loaded up with gas and water and hit it, opting again to avoid the interstate. The Oklahoma back roads are scenic and you can travel at 65-70 with minimal interruption by small towns so it was a no brainer.
     Ken and I noticed city names that were familiar: Wetumpka, Enterprise, Eufaula. Alabama and Oklahoma had further similarities, both Eufaulas were lake towns. The water swallowed both sides of the road and the beauty helped fuel my second wind.
     It grew darker as we pressed on. Since setting up camp in the black was inevitable, we stopped to eat. The Eaton Hole served authentic home cooking and featured live music. The food was great and the portions large. It was a challenge to get back in the saddle.
     We soldered on. Fort Smith, like OKC, was much bigger than I was expecting. We managed to get lost more than once before swallowing our man pride and asking for directions. We found our stop and talked to a couple Sturgis bound riders. Lit solely by flashlights and lanterns, we set up camp. I was bushed and fell into a deep sleep, lulled away by the soundtrack of nature and the gentle talk of my companions.

66 Calls.

Soon we will answer.

Mark Your Calendars

The Inaugural "Catalina Wine Mixer" Presented by Americana Speed Shop - Saturday September 21, 2013.

Pictured above is "Kevinwood" the venue for the event (near Winfield, AL).  Choppers, bass fishing, primitive motorcycle camping and good times.

$5/bike and $10/car with all proceeds benefiting The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America www.ccfa.org 

More exciting details to come in the next few weeks.  Keep an eye out on the Americana Speed Shop blog for all event details.