Cranfills Gap 2013 & Meridian State Park

Following the previous weekend of hard riding Scott insisted on doing some riding related activities instead of riding the entire state of Texas again, go figure.  Saturday we both gave our bikes a good scrubbing.  They were still covered with an enormous amount of grasshopper goo.  This was the first washing of my Softail and Scott found it entertaining to hear me whine and grumble about how nasty the bug parts were and the fact that they wouldn't come off easily. I swear grasshoppers have super glue for blood.  We also waxed the paint and polished the chrome on both bikes.  This was the first detailing for my bike so we took our time and did the process thoroughly.  This took all morning and we enjoyed doing it together.

Looking back at the last couple rides a problem we've been having is storage space. Scott is having to carry everything for both of us in his saddlebags.  We had found bags for my bike last month that I liked from Viking Bags so we went ahead and ordered them. In the afternoon we decided to stop by Fort Worth Harley while we made our weekly grocery rounds.  We ordered some saddlebag guards for my bike and a reduced reach clutch and brake handle too.  I have been struggling with the reach on my controls since getting the bike so we had to do something for me. Of course these are all things you discover as you ride your bike and one of the downsides to being 5' 1", most things just don't fit without a little modification.

We still wanted to ride a bit so Sunday morning we decided to go to Cranfills Gap.  Scott had been before but I had to work the day the group he road with went. The temperature was only going to be 98 for the high so it wasn't as bad as the previous weekend.

We had lunch at the well known Horny Toad Bar & Grill which is about the only business in that town. When we left the temperature was beginning to climb.  It was 1:30 pm and only gonna get hotter throughout the day. Meridian State Park was only about 20 miles away so we decided to go there and spend the afternoon swimming and lounging around in the shade until it cooled down for the trip home.  Start to finish the trip was 257 miles. So despite Scott's insistence that we spend the week-end working on the bikes I managed to weasel a ride out of him, again.

Dublin Dr Pepper & Goldthwaite Texas

Over the last month Scott and I have been taking short rides, mostly close to home.  We started out doing 20 miles round trip and worked up to 60 mile round trips.  I was doing pretty good and Scott didn't want to push me and provoke any discouragement by riding too far too fast and freaking me out. So he decided to trick me by doing a longer ride without telling me. He worked up a route to Hico, Tx and back which was about 125 miles round trip.  The evening before our friend Jim called to see what we were up to so we invited him and Pat along.

We met in Crowley and headed out.  The route took us through Godley, Bono, Granbury, then on some very nice FM roads to Hico.  Jim had to be back home to meet some construction contractors by noon so he broke off from us shortly before arriving at Hico.

Scott and I had breakfast at the Koffee Kup and unknowing to me we were preparing to head back home.  As we got up to leave I asked "where are we going now?"

"Back home" he responded.  Now is the turning point to this otherwise boring post.  Honestly I  wasn't very happy with his response. I wanted to ride some more. He smiled and replied "Gotta keep your woman happy right?"  We headed out on more very nice FM roads and hours later ended up in Dublin TX.  We decided to take the tour of the historical Dr Pepper Museum and get a couple souvenirs. If you are looking for some old fashioned Dublin Original Dr. Pepper Made With Cane Sugar 8 oz. Glass Bottles you will have to settle on ordering it now.

We left Dublin and ended up back in Hico, then Glen Rose, then Granbury, Bono, Godley, Crowley, and finally home.  Every place we stopped at Scott encouraged a shorter route home to which he received evil glares and whining about what kind of rider he was? To be honest, I finally broke loose on my bike and overcame a lot of my apprehensions about riding.  I relaxed, let the bike go, and enjoyed the ride and scenery.  I finally began to understand the beauty of riding.  I was hooked and there was no turning back now. We rode 300 miles that day and every mile and stop was wonderful.

Nice little story but little did Scott know it would continue sooner than later.  He slept in the next morning to about 8am.  That's VERY late for us considering our daily wake up time is 5am. He crawled out of bed, wandering into my work room rubbing his eyes trying to clear his vision only to find me standing there, dressed with my riding vest on.  "Where are we going today?" I asked with a completely serious demeanor. He later told me he was thinking  "WTH?!?!  riding 300 miles in a day is a pretty nice ride in itself for one weekend and this woman wants to go out again?" He told me he didn't have anything planned to which I responded "Why not? You better figure out something soon so we can get going!"  I know he was thinking "OMG, this keeping your woman happy concept is starting to work against me!" Of course Scott is always happy to ride too and I think he is happy to have me happily riding behind him, even if I do push for more.

Within an hour were back on the road, Crowley, Godley, Bono, Hico, Hamilton, and finally to Goldthwaite. We stopped at a restaurant named Peabody's to cool down and eat.  We arrived 30 minutes before closing time and stood at the front door for a few minutes while the staff walked around and ignored us. I figured if we sat down we might be served. Not a chance. Scott  finally went to the back of the restaurant where the staff was hiding out and asked if we were supposed to wait to be seated. A very rude server sharply informed him they were closed and turned away. If you go to Goldthwaithe stay away from Peabody's, they are not biker friendly.   We did manage to find a Dairy Queen and got some cool drinks and a burger. They were very friendly unlike the cold shoulder we received at Peabody's. There is a historic suspension bridge somewhere in the Goldthwaite area we wanted to see but by now it was late and we had a long ride to get home. We didn't get any pictures in Goldwaithe as there really wasn't anything to photograph. Well go back again and try to find that bridge on another trip. After another 10 hour day of riding and another 300 miles, we arrived home.

600 miles in two days.  I'm not really sure how to comment on that. I loved it.  Every bit of it.  The riding, the stops at towns and rest areas where we would just enjoy the day together.  We stopped at quite a few historical sites as well.

We took the camera and GoPro both of those days to try and get some media.  It's grasshopper season in Texas so we lost a lot of video due to those things splattering on the lens cover of the GoPro even though he cleaned it at every stop. We still got some decent riding clips and Scott used what he was able to salvage and put together a short video. I hope you enjoy the media as much as we enjoyed the riding to compile it.

Dublin & Goldthwaite, TX Slide show

Accident Scene Management Class

One of my biggest apprehension when it came motorcycle riding was the danger. I am CPR and First Aid certified and have a medical background that includes nursing work in a hospital including the ER for over a year and the things you see are haunting. Despite all of my training I have had no training or experience when it comes to accident management or dealing with a motorcycle injury out on the road. 

With Scott and I both beginning to ride together we felt it would be a good idea to learn what to do in case of an accident.  No rider wants to go through that possibility but the reality is that it can happen.  When it happens the more someone might know about what to do at an accident scene could save the victims life.  Fort Worth HOG scheduled a class with Road Guardians on July 20 and July 21 for its members.  As soon as we were informed about it we reserved a spot for each of us.  The road captains in our chapter are required to take the course and keep their certifications active but we won't always be with the group. 

There were 2 courses offered,  the basic and advanced.  We took both.  If you had taken the basic within the last 2 years you could just take the advanced to re certify.  Quite a few of our road captains were able to do this.  Scott and I along with quite a few others from our chapter had to start with the basic class.  There were 22 riders that completed the 2 day course from our chapter.

 The basic class taught things like stabilizing the victim, controlling traffic, securing the scene, information needed for a 911 call, basic first aid, techniques for rolling a victim, leadership, and how to find and determine the extent of injuries.  It was fascinating and I had never really considered all of the necessary steps that need to be taken at an accident scene.

The advanced class the next day focused on details taught in the basic class.  There was a lot more hands on where we practiced stabilizing a riders head while rolling him, getting them on a stretcher, when to remove a helmet and how to remove it if you have to, applying a tourniquet, applying pressure to arteries to stop bleeding, and more.  At the end of the second day the instructor surprised us with a mock accident outside from which our team had to take control of the situation properly until EMS arrived.  They had a vehicle that had hit a motorcycle.  The driver was trying to get back into his car to drive away, the motorcycle was on top of the rider, and the bike passenger had been thrown and injured quite a ways away from the scene.  We had to begin making immediate decisions on what to do. The 2 days were quite intense but we had a lot of fun learning with the others from our chapter.

There was a lot of learning involved and I am glad to have taken both classes.  There are some real differences when treating someone injured in a motorcycle accident and someone in an automobile accident. The possibilities of a serious head or spinal injury are much higher with a motorcycle accident and every decision and move could cause a life altering effect. 

We also learned about the importance of a good Motorcycle Operator First Aid Kit by Rescue Essentials 

and other safety devises that we should have in our saddlebags such as Light Sticks,  Emergency Road Flares and a proper safety gear.