Today, Saturday, 7-10-10, was the Byers Texas Benefit Bike Run. It was put together by the C.M.A. (Christian Motorcyclists Association, Wichita Falls Chapter GLORYBOUND) and hosted by the Byers Cafe. The ride was to benefit the Roman Family who had lost everything in a house fire recently. As no other rides were scheduled in the area today, we had hoped for a large turnout. But mother nature had her own agenda. Scroll down and join us on this ride and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE LARGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.
We staged at the Shell Station at US287/Windthorst between 7:00 a.m.-7:30 a.m. and went KSU at 7:35 a.m.. Luckily I had gassed up the Harley the night before because I overslept and got there at KSU time. Here are Laura, her daughter Lisa, her Dad Tex and Ted
As you can tell, the ground was wet, as were the roads, but it had quit raining..for now. Here are Bud, Laura, Lisa, Tex & Ted
The group that went up to Byers Texas from our staging point are: Tim, Angie,Larry, Genevieve, Bud, Laura, Lisa, Tex, Ted & me..
Tim, Angie, Larry, Genevieve, Bud, Laura, Lisa, Tex, Ted & me
We head out and start North up TX79 on wet roads.
The folks behind me as we head North on TX79 to Byers Texas.
Just before Dean Texas, the sky opened up and it started to rain.. The view thru my windshield.
Here the rain stopped after a few minutes.
Then it started raining again and we pulled over, under cover in Dean Texas so everyone could put on their rain gear. Everyone except Genevieve, who was following in a car and yours truly who still hasn't bought a rain suit. You would've thought I'd of learned my lesson and bought one after getting rained on for over 200 miles in Michigan last year. Didn't have one then either. In this picture are from left to right: Lisa, Laura, Tex (bending over), Tim, Bud, Angie, Genevieve (blue blouse) and Larry.
Laura's bike and my bike as I look out at the rain, the puddles and general nastiness (weather wise) awaiting our continuation up TX79.
Here are Laura, Lisa & Tex prior to our heading back out
Larry & Genevieve are in good spirits. I liked his camo rain suit. He said it was compliments of Uncle Sam
Here are Angie & Tim who are in good spirits also.. I guess a little rain wasn't that bad..
Here is Larry bringing up the rear and grinning when it quit raining once again
Here we are coming into Petrolia Texas and once again it was fixin' to start raining again.
and here comes the rain!!
Did I say a little rain? it really came down this time...
Yep...A LOT more than a little. I was getting water logged at this point, or so I thought.. Little did I know it was going to get a lot heavier in a little while.
We make it to Byers Texas and it once again quit raining. Here are Ted & I..
As we get off the bikes and those with rain gear, get out of their rain gear, others arrive and park. This was across the street from the Byers Cafe. Byers Cafe is located at Main St. (TX79) and Central in Byers Texas. It is a nice clean & friendly Cafe with OUTSTANDING home cooked meals at very reasonable prices. Check the post previous to this one for more on the Byers Cafe and the great folks who own and operate it. We will be regulars here, it is that good!
Some of the bikes attending today's benefit. Due to the inclement weather, we had about 20 bikes and maybe 30 brave riders/passengers ride in the benefit, but there were many more folks volunteering and a lot of town folk participating. That's what's great about small towns, they come together when someone in their community has a stroke of bad luck. The genuine concern shown is something a lot of big towns don't have. I said a lot of, not all...
This is the registration table. Paula, who is one of the main folks with this benefit and a member of C.M.A, is in the purple t-shirt. Bud is bending over to pick something up and the gentleman in the sleeveless shirt is part of the C.M.A. team. He goes to the same church as I do (Broken Chains Freedom Church in Wichita Falls Texas), I have talked to him but I don't know his name. Help me out and email me his name if you know it and I will edit it in..
Bud, inside the Byers Cafe where it is nice & dry.
Ted, inside the Byers Cafe, is checking in with Inez, his wife.
Here is Tim, with Angie to his left and partially hidden and Larry & Genevieve eating breakfast. The Byers Cafe provided a great breakfast for a donation to the Roman Family. They had Bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, biscuits and drinks and it was outstanding..
Ever heard of the saying: be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it? Well, when I asked what he was eating, Larry showed us!!! lol At the table are Tim & Angie, Genevieve & Larry.. Larry, you da Man!!
Here are Lisa, Laura & Tex getting ready to eat breakfast
Ted, inside the Byers Cafe, getting ready to sit down and enjoy breakfast. We were already enjoying the dry atmosphere and friendliness of the owner, waitresses and other patrons, as well as the cooks who did a fantastic job.
Lisa & Laura finishing their coffee just prior to going back outside for the ride briefing, prayer and departure.
Outside I see Mike. Mike & I were coworkers for about 27 years and he is Paula's husband and also a member of the C.M.A. He is also the head guy in the GloryBound Motorcycle Drill Team. GloryBound is the Wichita Falls Chapter of C.M.A. I just became a C.M.A member but haven't started being active yet..
The bikes that were at the being of the Benefit ride. Others would hook up with us at various spots along the 100 mile route.
Ted talks to C.M.A. members prior to coming across the street to get ready to go.. Notice, no rain...
The C.M.A. riders & volunteers just prior to the announcements, ride briefing and prayer...
The folks at the registration tent
We head to the bikes to get ready to start out on the ride. Notice the puddles of water everywhere
Angie & Tim are all smiles prior to departure.
a nice patriotic paint job on one of the bikes
Laura has flags a flying on her bike..She and Tex are both PGR members and Tex is one of our North Texas PGR Ride Captains
and we're off. the roads are wet but it's not raining. maybe it's stopped for the day... Wishful thinking on my part
Directly behind me is Tex & Lisa
Another view of Tex & Lisa and the others behind them
Sky appears to be getting darker behind us. hmmmm..
I am still in that walking boot until my boots are ready. Here is how I rode most of the ride. I kept the boot up on the road peg
the dark sky caught us and it became wet again real quick
Then, just as quick, it stopped. That is Bud directly in front of me.
Here is Tex & Lisa behind me. Because of the rain, we got stretched out a little bit as you can tell by the next bike behind Tex
We make it to stop 1 at the Dairy Queen in Henrietta Texas. Ted, in the orange Harley jacket. heads back to his bike to turn off the lights.
Bud, feeling under the weather, during the rainy weather, gets ready to head home to Wichita Falls, as he has developed a nasty headache.
Laura, Lisa & Tex at the Dairy Queen in Henrietta Texas, Stop #1 on today's ride.
Bud says his goodby's before heading out. Laura looks on.
The artwork on Laura's gas tank. It is an excellent picture
The great looking "Wolf" Dream Catcher artwork on her saddlebags
Oh yeah, before I forget, the guy with the green rainsoaked t-shirt? He didn't have a rainsuit either and got a lot wetter than I did because I was wearing my leather vest, But I think we were both determined to remedy our no rainsuit situation as soon as possible. Of course, when I got home later, my leather vest weighed about 50 pounds due to it being water logged.
Another one of the riders at the stop in Henrietta Texas.
Lisa & Tex at the Dairy Queen in Henrietta Texas just before we set out for stop 2, out on FM1954 at the S&S Grocery Store, just West of the Lake Arrowhead State Park.
Ted is working on an ice cream cone he went in and got at the Dairy Queen. Ted does not stop at a Dairy Queen and NOT get an ice cream cone. If I ever see him stop at a DQ and not get an ice cream cone, I will head for cover because the End of the World was fixin' to happen!
Ted's Harley. As you can tell, Ted is a proud member of the PGR (Patriot Guard Riders). He also is one of our North Texas PGR Ride Captains. PGR members on today's ride were Tex & Laura, Ted, Bud & me. I didn't recognize any others. Also, Larry & Tim are Green Knights Capter 54 members and Bud & I are Blue Knights TX XX members as is Mike, who was seen earlier as a C.M.A. member
We leave the DQ in Henrietta Texas and head to Lake Arrowhead for stop #2. Look, it has stopped raining again!!
A view down US82 as we head thru Henrietta Texas where we will turn left onto TX148 and head South
As we head to the S&S Grocery Store & stop #2, Ted is up front ans Laura is in front of me.
That's Tex and Lisa behind me and the others behind them
It starts to sprinkle on us again. Here is Tex & Lisa and the others behind them
Ted and Laura heading to FM2606 and Lake Arrowhead in Clay County Texas
The rain picks up and we just enter the curves on FM2606. Here is Tex & Lisa as they make one of the cuves
The folks behind me as the formation tightens back up due to our slower speeds on the wet, slick and curvy roads
Ted, with Laura following, approach FM2606, where we will turn right and head West. FM2606 is noted for its many curves as it goes around Lake Arrowhead and as a reult, is a favorite road to ride by area bikers. I have been on FM2606 too many times to count since 1975, but this would be the first time on a motorcycle, in the rain..
We get established on FM2606 on the East side of Lake Arrowhead. That is Tex and Lisa behind me and some of the others coming into view behind them
As we come into the last 25 mph curve before the Lake Arrowhead Dam, Laura, who is behind Ted and in front of me, hits a slick spot and goes down. After we got her cuts and scrapes patched up and got her bike on it's stand, with Tex's permission, I took the following pictures of the gouges and direction she & the bike went after going down. Here are the gouges. Laura & her bike stopped tumbling down at where everyone is standing. If you click on the picture, you can see the bike and Laura, in the light green jacket, standing next to it.
Another view of the route marked by gouges that Laura's bike made. Thank God we weren't going any faster and that I had dropped back a little farther from Laura before we entered the curve. If I hadn't, I more than likely would have hit her or her bike. I barely missed them as it was. Tex & Lisa, who were behind me saw the entire event and Lisa was freaked out and I don't blame her. It's not everyday you see your mom go tumbling down the asphalt behind a motorcycle that is bouncing along with her...
The distance from the first gouges and where they start again is when the motorcycle flipped. Laura was up on her feet before her bike came to a rest. God was with her because it could have been worse, much worse...
The right side of her bike was dinged up and scratched up
On the left side, the fender was scratched up, the crash bar was bent, the shifting arm was bent and down under the footboards. Tex had pulled the shifting arm up from under the foot board.
The left saddlebag recieved the worse damage. It was scraped, parts of it had chunks taken out of it
A closer look at the crash bar bent, the shifting arm bent and the horn and engine area
The handle bars were bent, the left rearview mirror was broken off when the bike flipped and the windshield was scratched and muddy. Tex was amazed that it wasn't broken like the mirror.
A view of the front left
a view of the right foot board, bent crash bar & damaged right front turn signal
Laura's passenger, the soldier bungee corded to her tour pak, survived the flip. As a matter of fact, being the closest to Laura when she went down, I could've sworn that I heard the soldier yell, "oh Dang" or something similar about .001 th of a secound befor Laura did.
The center steel flag rod got bent in the flip..
After double checking on Laura, taking the pictures and making sure that others were staying with her, I left after the Lake Arrowhead VFD and Clay County Sheriff's Dept arrived, to report in back at Byers Texas of the accident. I passed the Texas State Highway Patrol (DPS) car that was enroute to the scene after I cleared the Dam. and it started to rain again...
The oil derricks out in Lake Arrowhead couldn't be seen that well due to a line of rain between them and me. Yes, the line got me before I got of the Dam.
I got to the S&S Grocery Store just as the final riders were leaving. I fell in line behind them and we proceeded North to Throckmorton Texas and the Thornberry Church which was stop #3. Here it stopped raining again
No sooner than it stopped raining it started right back up
We get to the Church and David, seen here getting ready to cross a puddle of water, picked up the can that held the proof items that would show we had actually made that stop, like all the other stops. We left the Church and rode the final 14 miles back to Byers Texas and the Texas Cafe. Here are the bikes that made the complete 100 miles in the rain.
It is drizzling again as we head to the tent with the lunch that they were feeding us. Again, it was free and donations for the Roman family were gladly accepted
The registration table was now the ice cream table and for a $1 donation, they would fix ya an ice cream cone. This is Jene, a C.M.A. member and one of the great volunteers that were there today. I was asked by one of the volunteers, why I would ride in the rain. My answer was three fold. 1. It was for a good cause 2. I haven't been able to ride since March 6, 2010 and 3. I came to ride and wasn't going home until I rode.
Inside the Cafe, after lunch they had drawings for the door prizes.
This is Adela and Daniel. Both are C.M.A. members and they rode the ride with us. Here, they listen up as the names are called for the door prizes.
David holds up a door prize to be given to the lucky person whose name is called. His hat has that reflective tape on it and when I used the flash on the camera, it gave this weird effect.
When the prizes were all handed out, Adela & Daniel had recieved some free meals at the local restaurants. I won a new pair of gloves donated by Eddie Hills Fun Cycles located at 401 N.scott in Wichita Falls Texas. I really needed them too, because my current gloves are all ripped and torn and about 2 years old. This win was a God send. I took Ted's prize, a gift certificate to Los Tres Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Wichita Falls Texas, to the H.O.G. meeting at 4 p.m. and gave it to him thereThis will conclude this post. I am very thankful that Laura is ok. I talked to Tex a little while ago and he said she is sore but is doing ok. They got her motorcycle towed down to Eddie Hills and all will be ok. I enjoyed the ride and seeing my friends again and meeting new friends.
be sure to scroll down for more ride, runs & events. Be sure to click on the "OTHER POSTS" link at the bottom of each page or immediately below the last post on the page.
Continue to pray for our troops both in and out of harms way. Thank you all for praying for Pattie & Steffanie. Both are back in the U.S.A.
Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, keep the rubber on the road, keep your head on a swivel and above all else..................RIDE SAFE........................................JOHN
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