Since my first Austin Moto Ride, I knew we could someday break the 300 mile mark. This weekend we booked 315 miles. I want to thank every rider who showed up ready to get this done. Riding with you all this weekend was a pleasure. You all made this a great ride. It was especially gratifying to take 14 of the 25 on their first Austin ride. I didn’t plan 175 miles of it the first day but we made it.
John and Wayne did a great job on the chase truck and trailer with gas, food, refreshments, gear, bikes and riders. I would also like to send a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Mike Outerbridge. My bike died a mile from the start of the ride back Sunday and he let me borrow his bike to lead Sunday’s ride. He injured his knee Saturday and wasn’t able to ride. Also, thanks to Duane Groves. My GPS skills only go so far but he has the navigation skills out there that always come through for our rides. Thanks to Bill Fain for managing the task list that is too long to mention. Great job!
I make the commitment to get every rider and their equipment back to Middlegate on Sunday. They don’t always come back arranged the way they left, but they’ve always gotten back. We left Middlegate Saturday with 25 riders and got to Austin with 21 having lost three to injuries and one breakdown. Sunday morning we Left Austin with 12 riders. We lost the rest to injuries, one case of the flu, breakdowns and “attrition.” We booked 140 miles on Sunday and averaged about 35 mph. We sacrificed the morning portion of the ride to get the afternoon run completed which was S-W-E-E-T! The weather cooperated perfectly both days with sunny skies and 75-80 degrees.
Our two hill climbs allowed a few riders to exhibit some pretty serious hill climbing talent. And yes, our Dots President made both hills both days on The Big “H.” Andy “Billy Goat” Rewinkle, well… Steve DeMartin needs to clean his underwear. You just had to be there for that one. How’d you pull that off TWICE? Justin Jensen? Where’d he come from? Our guest Ray Alvarado pulled out a couple of over the top moves on his ’11 KTM 300 that should have come with a bag of popcorn. What a show. Parker and Groves put the 530’s over the top as well.
Opportunities for people to exhibit leadership qualities are sometimes spontaneous events you simply can’t plan. And once in a great while one of our Polka Dot leaders will show all of his fellow members a side we didn’t know before. Such an event took place where several of the Austin 315 Moto Ride participants and Polka Dot members were celebrating the day’s events after dinner – where we were enticed with $1 coupons for our first beverages. Simply, Mr. Mike Fallon took the initiative to support the local economy in Austin and let the matrons at the above establishment know under no uncertain terms that as our leader, absolutely no one was to spend so much as a minute without Mike’s beverage of choice. Orders were given and followed not to let a drop got to waste. And Mike chose a very wide variety of beverages. He had to because they kept running out. Mike’s generosity simply overwhelmed both the matrons of the establishment as well as the other Polka Dots in attendance. So much so, several other Polka Dots felt compelled to support the local economy in like fashion. As the night wore on, even Mr. Fallon seemed to succumb to the frivolity and newfound kinship that he’d nurtured. Our hearts crumbled at the new side of Mike we were seeing.
I had to retire relatively early. But our breakfast and pre-ride discussions divulged that Mr. Fallon’s newfound generosity and leadership earned him a safe escort down the hill to his motel from almost ALL of the remaining Polka Dots. Once back at the motel, Mike evidently felt the urge to further embellish the qualities of his fellow Polka Dots. Even to the degree of waking a few of them up to tell them how important his thoughts were. Someone enjoyed his speech enough to leave Mike some flowers. (See attached)
I applaud Mr. Fallon for taking the initiative to uphold some well-established traditions of our leaders of the past. They would be proud.
Who has the pictures of the cluster&%$# you guys made of the water crossing? Had there been a few more of us, a film of this would have prompted On Any Sunday III. Unbelievable!
My last comment on the ride is of a more serious nature. This was Bret Eckert’s last ride before he goes in for some remodeling on his limbs. I would like to wish Bret well on his operation as I’m sure do all of our past and present members. Bret’s contributions to the PDMC during his membership have benefited many of us. We hope to be banging bars with him again soon.
That’s my take on the weekend. I hope you all got what you came for plus some.
Mark Tustin 48X
