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23 May Impromptu Breakfast Ride and Bandera Frontier Days Photos by Skip Surre Write-up by Jill Severe For Randy McBay'spictures of the parade and other misc shots, click the link below! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbay-images/sets/72157618903834045/ It was good to be back on a chapter ride. It had been several weeks due to work, a rare family visit, and medical…you know how that goes! Anyway, it always feels good to be back in the saddle, and we were looking forward to seeing who would be joining us for this impromptu breakfast ride, with a recently-planned side trip to Bandera for the Memorial Day parade and market.
Mike Mills & Jim Brown Diane VanSickler with Gary Skorman Meeting up at the Exxon station at 46 and 281, several bikes were already there with more zooming in to fill up and pull up! It was good to see Mike Mills again, and to see some of our co-riders whose work schedule often conflicts with riding…Lana Goralewicz and Beth Surre. Both are working with our Wounded Warriors down at BAMC, and we appreciate what they do. We also heard good things about Tom Byrd who volunteers two afternoons a week driving the shuttle between the hospital and the parking lot! By the time we lined up into two groups, there were 5 bikes and trikes in each! We had decided to eat at Flap Jacks in Sattler so we took off on our short ride towards Canyon Lake, and pulled in early enough to claim the back room all to ourselves. “Fourteen for breakfast please, water all around. How many want coffee? How many want juice?” The waitress was very impressed we were that organized, and we were impressed we didn’t have to move tables and chairs! We perused the menu with a few of us opting for the buffet, and everyone else opting for the tempting array of waffles, flap jacks and omelets.
Court VanSickler & Beth Surre Bunch looking at John Curtis' trike!
Great turnout including 3 trikes!!
Olin just coming in (notice the One Way sign?!) On the road! Just pulling out
Couple more on the road pictures by Skip.
We had 2 tables in the back for the 14 of us! Jill didn't even have to rearrange them! We conducted a little business while waiting for our food. Our Chapter Educator, Court van Sickler, presented Dave Weaver, our Membership Chair, with his Rider Education Level Three. Then Brad asked all the Level Four Riders and Co-Rider present to touch a Level Four patch “for luck” and presented Court with his Rider Education Level Four. Everyone applauded! These levels really reflect the safe riding focus this chapter has had since its new start just over three years ago, and we thank Charlie Brown, who acted as our first Chapter Educator, and Court van Sickler, our current Chapter Educator, for their dedication to our Chapter Rider Education program!
Dave Weaver receives Level 3 Court receives Level 4 The food came in and the talking died down…at least a bit. I think everyone thought the food was great! Brad surprised everyone by announcing this was a “coin toss” breakfast, so if the participants won the coin toss, the Chapter paid for breakfast for all the GWRRA members present. Diane van Sickler did a great job calling “heads” and “heads” it was, so the Chapter gave a little back to the Riders and Co-Riders present! Stayed tuned for more “coin toss” rides and other surprises!
Bike parking in front of Flap Jacks! The 3 trikes!
Just coming out after breakfast!
We tromped out to the parking lot, full of great food and lots of catching-up! We sorted out who had a “honey do” list at home waiting, and who could ride on to Bandera and catch some of the Memorial Day celebration! Six bikes and trikes made the easy ride to Bandera and pulled into our favorite back parking lot just down the street from Duke Thompson’s red Mustang in front of the Bandera United Methodist Church! We “moseyed” toward the town hall with its craft fair, and looked for Duke and Chela which we found out had parked in from of OST. Duke wandered down and caught up with Olin and Brad on the front court steps while I wandered the craft booths and picked up a few items. Never say that Chapter U doesn’t support the local economy, and yes ladies, there is another craft fair the day of the Labor Day parade we are planning to participate in up in Bandera! What a great sunny day, and how great it was to be part of an authentic, small town celebration of American life, and a tribute to those who have given their all so that the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms of living in America! The all adult marching band made Randy McBay smile. He said he played the tuba when he was younger, and I said we would come watch him march in the parade if he joined the band! The giant longhorns came down the street…painted with the stars and stripes! The cowboys and cowgirls were there, the beauty queens, and sister GWRRA chapter K-2 was in the parade too!
Olin & his yellow trike! Randy McBay with a big Chapter U smile!! Unfortunately Olin and Brad were noticing the darkening skies to the north, and we decided to gather those ready to leave and had towards home. Gary Skorman, and Skip had already left and Randy was staying a bit longer. Three trikes ended heading out with John Curtis, Olin Gover, and Brad and I. We ended up shooting down Highway 16 between two storm fronts, across on 1604 and then down I-10 and up Wetmore Road or over to I-35. It was good to be able to talk on the CB and get input on which road everyone thought would have less chance of hitting one of the very visible storm fronts. It was great everyone knew to allow more distance between trikes so when we hit that inch deep puddle of standing water on 1604, everyone handled it safely and no one was sprayed! It was great that John could secure a lane for us when several cars were between Olin and the first two trikes. It was good to have CBs when we couldn’t see Olin’s bright yellow trike. It’s just great, again, to know that we ride with people who value safe riding as much as we do, and that people check on each other to know that everyone got home safe! Yes, we managed to miss most of the rain. We did a bit of detouring to do it. As Charlie Brown recently put out, the best way to deal with rain is not to drive in it! Another great day with Chapter U! It was super that many folks could join us for breakfast, and whoever had the time and desire, could continue on and ride some more. I know our Ride Coordinators are planning some rides with flexibility like that. So the next question we all should be asking is “when can we ride again?”
Lots of booths (90?) to shop! Great parade; even without the longhorns!
I think Duke wanted those to mount on his bike! Great old vehicles!
Duke & Chela's Mustang in the background!
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