DAY 1 AT THE RALLY

I have no idea what the final count was at the rally, but from the look of the parking lot it was a pretty good turnout. When we got there the Seattle Cossacks Drill Team was giving a show. It was an amazing show with riders on a bunch of old knuckleheads doing precision maneuvers, 12 man pyramids and much more, all the while wearing long sleeve shirts and wool hats and pants. Talk about death defying!! It was like 103 in the shade!

The next group was from Tampa and they rode Ultras...hard! Incredibly tight precision work on the big bikes at a frightening speed. Every time they'd peel off, you'd hear 12 floorboards scrape the pavement.

Glad I don't have their chrome bill.

Lastly, were a couple of guys riding Buell sport bikes. For some reason, they could not seem to get both wheels on the ground at the same time. They did some insane things on those bikes, but all the while I'm thinking "I could do that stuff on my Street Glide....once!" I've never had trouble with the "up" part of wheelies, it's the smooth "down" part that seems to elude me.

After the shows we kind of looked around at the new bikes, exhibits, and vendors and then headed back to the hotel. I checked in, dragged all my shit to my room, opened the

door, and was met by a wall of heat. Wait a minute...outside hot...inside cool! NOT! I tromped down to the office and was told by the clerk that "the coil was just frozen...turn the unit off and wait for 10 minutes and it would thaw and run like a champ" Doubtful...but OK. So I turned it off, sat in the doorway (it was cooler there with the breeze) and then after the prescribed time turned it back on. It was hotter! So back I go, ready to inform the desk clerk in my best "I flunked high school spanish, spanish" that "piece of shit no workee!"

To my relief, the manager was now behind the desk, so now we'd get something done! Right? Wrong! I was informed that not only were there no other rooms available, but that the maintenance man had given himself a half day off. She said she would try to find someone to work on the unit as soon as possible. Buoyed by her obvious passion for the assignment, I went next door to the "Big" hotel to see if they had any rooms available. On their door was

the following announcement "Our air conditioning system is currently operating at 60-70% efficiency. We are currently working diligently to rectify the situation. We have no current estimate of when the system will be back up to normal operating levels. Thank you for

your patience, The Mangement". I'm fucking cursed!!!

Walking back to my room, I run into Cheyenne, who lets me stick my face into

his icy room. I tell him my sad story and he decides we need sustenance from the nearby Circle K. Just before we enter the store, two girls, in separate cars, start to call to us..."hey boys! Want to have a good time?" Now its' been a long time since I was accosted by a hooker, but I had no idea they line up at the Circle K like taxis in a cab stand! My best guess is that they were in town after the bikers. Obviously they were inexperienced, because if they knew how much we spend on our bikes, they would know that we had nothing left for other niceties. Cheyenne and I politely passed on their dubious offers and went in to get our diet cokes and Twinkies. Besides, why would you risk contracting some dreadful disease that might make your dick fall off, when you could rent a $5 porno in your motel room and basically come to the same conclusion, risk free? I rest my case.

Finally, after about an hour, the manager showed up with a young man bearing an air conditioner. They swapped it out with my ailing unit and slowly the air started to cool. Everything in my room was way past toasty, so it was going to take a while to get the room to cool down. So I pushed my bed up against the air conditioner, stripped down to my skivvy's and laid against the air vents, absorbing any fresh, cool air I could. I'm just dozing off, dreaming that I'd talked the hookers into a free, 3 way test drive, when some one started banging on my door. I got up, ready to thrash whoever had the nerve to interrupt my negotiations, opened the door...and there stood Rick. "We're going to dinner...get ready". Rick, you're a nice guy...but you make a shitty alarm clock!

To view more pictures of this event and others, check out my photo page at BIG DAWG'S PHOTO GARAGE

AND SO IT BEGINS

Ok, so what better way to start off this blog then to go to a Harley Davidson National HOG rally? Especially when its right in our back yard, OKC. Supposedly we were to leave Route 66 Harley Davidson at 8 am to try and beat the heat. As I rolled in the parking lot of the Diner, thinking I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, I find Jim and Rick pacing the parking lot. Evidently the starting time had been changed to 7 or 7:30. I guess there were 3 different memos sent out, all at different times. Needless to say we were all either late or early depending on who you talked to.

We finally agreed to wait until 8 so we didn't leave anyone behind. A plan that had Rick doing nip-ups since he'd been ready roll since I think about 5 am. We finally headed out at 8 and somehow missed Bob and his wife. I don't know how he missed us but if he got to the diner when he said he did, he probably could have heard us rolling up the entrance ramp to the highway. However, as we all know, Bob has no problem catching up! He had us by Midway.

This brings up another issue. How the hell did I end up leading this group again? I've gone on three rides with these guys, and lead two. I think the main instigator to getting me volunteered is Jim. He asked me if I'd been to the City, to which I innocently answered "yes", and he announces to the group that I knew where we were going. Anyway it was a good ride and I got to try out my new cruise control...Sweet! We went up the turnpike, so since Cheyenne didn't have a pike pass, we rode side-by-side through the toll gate and it seemed to work. His reasoning was that I had paid for a pike pass to cover four wheels. We went through as four wheels, just not attached. Works for me!

When we got to the motel, our rooms, which we were promised would "be ready whenever we got there" were not ready when we got there. So the highly anticipated, showers, naps, or dip in the pool, had to be postponed. Instead we headed into town to check out the rally. For more pictures of this and other events check out my photo site BIG DAWG'S PHOTO GARAGE