Getting Ready to Roll

Wow has it been a busy week getting ready to leave on this trip! I've been running around like a lunatic between trying to get my shit together for Milwaukee, and getting ready to lead my first ride tomorrow as a Blackstone Road Captain.

This past week had me putting my bike in for its 10K service and also a new rear tire. I was just on the wear bars and my mechanic Mike said if I tried to make the trip on the old tire, it'd be a baloney skin on the ride home. Not cool. This wasn't really in my budget for the trip, but it had to be done. Also, I visited both my local Harley dealerships looking to buy 3 things I really needed for the trip, water-proof gloves, rain gaiters for my boots, and a T-Bag to pack all my shit in. Those 3 items weren't cheap! I haven't even left yet, and I've already spent a ton of money. It kills me, but I really needed this stuff. You can say, "Screw it, let's ride!" all you want. When you have no choice but to keep riding with many miles left to cover, wet, cold hands and feet are not something you want to have to deal with.

As far as my ride tomorrow goes, if I had realized how crazy things would be during the last few days before the trip, I'd NEVER have agreed to lead a ride on the day before we leave! Duh! Oh well, we all know hindsight is 20/20. I guess I could have made it easy on myself and done a quick little bar hop someplace local for my "Mystery Ride," but I just couldn't do it. I've told all of you about so many great rides I've been on that were led by our other Road Captains; I wanted my first time up front to be a great ride. I wanted to go someplace we usually don't go, with great scenery, and end up at an eatery the Chapter hasn't hit yet. So I planned a 90 mile tour of Rhode Island that takes us over 3 really cool bridges that span Narragansett Bay, the Jamestown Verrazano, the Pell Bridge Newport, and the Mt. Hope. We end back in Massachusetts at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants.

All Road Captains have their own ways. There are some who don't bother doing a pre-ride, which is fine if they already know the route. I didn't know this route at all, so I pre-rode it once earlier in the week, and I did it again today. The last thing I want is to get lost while leading my first ride - I'd never hear the end of it! Plus, if we have a good turn-out, that adds to the pressure. Having to turn around and go back isn't a big deal with six bikes. Doing it with 26 bikes sucks! I wanted to make damned sure I knew every turn by heart, and that there were no hazards along the way. Many of our members like to lose the brain bucket when we cross the State line, so I had to figure a good spot to stop for that. I also needed to pick a coffee/smoke/pee stop about half-way into the ride. So now I'm ready. 9am tomorrow, I'm going to lead the Chapter onto the road for the first time, and I'm comfortable now knowing it's going to be a great ride with no problems.

I don't know if I'll have time to write about the ride tomorrow night, but I have a feeling I won't. Tomorrow's going to be busy with more than just my ride. One of our Members, Ethel Perkins, crashed the other night. A dumb-ass in a car trying to pull into a Taco Bell cut her off, and she went down and broke her left leg and is now in RI hospital awaiting surgery. Jackson and I put together a quick plan for after my ride on Sunday to go give her a surprise hospital visit. In my post Broken Wings, I wrote about how Blackstone came to see me while I was in the hospital, and how much it meant to me. I swore then if another Member ever went down, that I'd be there for them.


This is a picture of Ethel and I at the Iron Indians ride back in July. We'll see you Sunday hun; keep smiling!

Now, for a lovely evening of doing laundry and packing...(roll eyes).