It was time for the Sportster to take a trip to the Piney Woods of East Texas. This was one of the many areas in Texas that it hadn't explored. All that was needed was a reason for the adventure. This was easily found with a quick search of the internet with an event in Jefferson TX on 4 April 2009.
The purpose was a fund raiser for Michelle Russell (a Biker Down) to help offset some medical expenses. The location was Jefferson TX. Michelle had been in a motorcycle accident and suffered from brain trauma. According to some in the group she was wearing an ornamental helmet (not one that was DOT approved) and did not receive enough protection. The brain injury would be similar to that of a baby that had been severely shaken. She is bound to a wheelchair being paralyzed on one side.
From a quick look there were between 350 and 500 cyclists that showed up for the event and around $5,000 was raised. This may become an annual event. Time will tell.
Jefferson is a town near Caddo Lake (Texas' only natural lake) that contains many Antique Shops and Bed & Breakfasts. Jefferson is known for having haunted B&Bs and there are ghost tours available. The story goes that Spielberg and crew were staying at one of the haunted B&Bs while on location filming an "Amazing Story" episode and was awakened by a ghost. He and his crew left the B&B in the middle of the night. Perhaps the ghost wanted an audition?
Auntie Skinner's is a biker friendly bar/restaurant in the center of downtown. The fundraiser was held in back (their beer garden). Friends joined us on this excursion and we had several brews and meals at Auntie Skinners.
Our lodgings were at a cottage rather than a B&B that was located 2 blocks from the event. We stayed at Austin Street Cottages. The location, accommodations and price were all good. There were four of us (Myself, Beverly, Jerry and Stephanie) who were comfortable in the cabin.
Riding companion, biker Jerry, won the domino challenge by having the high count out of 5 draws while riding the circuit. He took the high road and donated the prize back to the fund raiser. That's probably why he won and yours truly didn't.
When attending a ride event like this, a person meets many new friends. One fellow was from the old home town of Cedar Rapids IA. We never crossed paths the 25 years while residing in Cedar Rapids. We had to go to Jefferson TX to make an acquaintance.
It was a great day for the ride. There were 5 stops on the loop. The loop consisted of leaving Jefferson going south a stop in Marshall and onto Hwy 20 West. The route then took a stop in Longview and north on 259 through Diana. Finally there were some more stops along FM 726 to Hwy 49 and then back to Jefferson. The route was 90 Mi in total. Once back in Jefferson we viewed some bike judging and listened to a band. The afternoon was rounded out with a stop at a local Kornbread restaurant and some shopping.
Being a Yankee it was assumed there would be some wildflowers to see on the route (as there are in the central hill country). Apparently there is some incompatibility between evergreens and wildflowers. As the name "Piney Woods" would indicate, there are a lot of evergreens in the area and therefore no wildflowers. The scenery was rolling hills and the color was spring green.
In Texas nothing good ever comes from a Northwestern Wind. Sunday was no exception. When I arose in the morning the temperature was in the 70s. It started out to be great day to be on a bike. Then about 8:30 AM a Northwesterner came in. The temperature dropped 20 degrees with a 40 Mph wind. You're probably getting the picture now. There is a 70 Mph head wind generated from the motorcycle heading West and a 40 Mph wind from the Northwest. For those who aren't engineers, this was an additional vector of a 28 Mph Head wind and a lateral component of 28 Mph, resulting in a 98 Mph total headwind. There was a significant chill factor! The Sportster's passenger may have been colder at some point in his life but none comes to mind.
In summary: The Sporty racked up 500 Mi and made its first trip to East Texas. The weather (till the ride home) was great. The event was for a good cause and a number of new friends were met. The lodging was good and Auntie Skinner's was the best biker hangout there. Don't know if the Sportster will want to revisit Jefferson or not but it is definitely still on the radar.