The North Texas Moto Journal

LSBMWR Whitewright Breakfast & Skydive Dallas

Richard Swim — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:13:09 GMT

August 17, 2008

Wes, David and I met the club at Lucas and made our way up to Whitewright under the lead of Jim this morning. Bo met us up on 380 after his weekend at Tulsa doing Iron Butt prep. Good food as always at CJ's. Most of the group went up the twisty 697 and west to take advantage of the the nice weather for riding. Wes and I headed back home and made a stop at Skydive Dallas to watch people jump out of perfectly good planes.

Near Randolph		Whitewright... The quiet is nice.
Dad and son Sunday outing.
Skydive Dallas

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRWhitewrightBreakfastRunAndSkydiveDallas

LSBMWR Bavarian Grill

Richard Swim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:13:06 GMT

August 2, 2008

The club met at the Bavarian Grill in Plano tonight for a get-together. Lots of German food and brews were enjoyed along with good company!

I enjoyed the Schlatche Platte. Mmmmmm...

Photos at: picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRBavarianGrill

Wyoming Ride - BMWMOA Rally

Richard Swim — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:31:39 GMT

Prologue - July 14, 2008 - Home to Vernon, TX

Tom, Paul, his wife Marilyn and I wanted to get the heck out of the big city and get closer to the cooler high country, so a short evening ride after work to Vernon was in order.

Debbie giving me (or my helmet) something to remember.

Ready to roll
Photo credit Wes Swim

We met up with Tom near his house north of Frisco and started heading west.

A quick gourmet meal at a Wichita Falls truck stop

We are here in the metropolis of Vernon, TX amongst the grain elevators just a couple of hundred miles up Hwy 287. The weather during the ride cooperated nicely, with some cool outflow from nearby thundershowers around Decatur. The roads were dry, though.

Tomorrow morning we get up early for the trek across the Panhandle, through a corner of New Mexico, and into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Day 1 - July 15, 2008 - Vernon, TX to Westcliffe, CO

We are in Westcliffe, CO after a 536-mile run today, and posting from Poag Mahones pub downtown. It is a great find for dinner where our waiter, Brennen has served up some very tasty rib eye steaks and burgers with fresh baked Amish buns.

The ride across the Panhandle was hardly hot since rain showers greeted us from just west of Vernon to Amarillo. We donned the rain gear and welcomed the cooler temps. At Bushland just west of Amarillo, a local looked over his station wagon and asked "is that one of those engines that goes..." and he was motioning with both hands going away from each other. I pointed to Tom's R1200RT and said that was the boxer engine he was trying to describe. And then he said "Hey, it's Tuesday and you guys aren't at work!". Yep.

We made a detour off the main route Hwy 87 through northeast New Mexico onto hwy 72, near Capulin Volcano.

Bo would be proud of us since the road was small enough that we had to wait on cattle to clear off in front of us. That's Capulin in the background.

Another nice road find was hwy 165 just west of Colorado City. This road was lightly-traveled and very winding over the mountains into Westcliffe.

Debbie, here are the Sangre de Cristo mountains at Westcliffe that I was describing to you on the phone tonight.

Tomorrow starts the run through some of the best mountain scenery of Colorado and into Wyominq.

As Tom just said, "Life is good..."

Day 2 - July 16, 2008 - Westcliffe, CO to Dubois, WY

Blogging live tonight from Dubois, Wyoming listening to the Prairie Grass bluegrass band performing some excellent music with 12-year old Tori Anderson leading the vocals. We just had a wonderful steak and salmon dinner at the Rustic Pine Steakhouse and Tavern.


Our waitress, Cathy told us about the concert right next door.

This morning at breakfast, we met up with Jon Wiggins, Richard Neas, and Kurt and Angie Gibson who were on an off-road excursion through the Trans American Trail. They are from Springfield, MO and started their all-dirt ride in Arkansas and will finish around Ouray, CO.

Today's ride took us 546 miles through central Colorado and through the windy high plains of Wyoming. We left Westcliffe early in the morning and immediately spotted Elk in the valley just below the road. In fact, we couldn't go more than a few miles before spotting more wildlife along the highway.

Along the Arkansas River we came up on a Harley sidecar rig with a dog wearing goggles. He (the dog) kept turning around to check us out as we were passing them.

We had to stop in Wyoming this time for a cattle drive. The cows were complaing at us like we were messing up their road crossing.

	We met up with Matthew in Lander, WY at a fuel stop. He has been on the road for over a month riding his R1100S through the eastern states. He was on his way back home to Dubois.
We rode with him for the last 80 miles of today's leg into Dubois and he led us through the canyon sweepers into his home town. It was cool watching him wave to the locals once we entered town. But, he said he was just returning to pack and get the heck out of Dubois.

We decided to live on the edge and went into this biker bar.

Tomorrow is a ride to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone with a stay overnight in Cooke City, MT.

Day 3 - July 17, 2008 - Dubois, WY to Cooke City, MT

I'm starting today's post while waiting on the pilot truck to lead me through some road construction just outside of Silver Gate, MT. It's only 2.5 miles to the hotel in Cooke City, but the road construction is holding things up for around 20 minutes. There's a light rain falling and the temperature has dropped into the 50's.

Kristen, the flag person, says her hands are so cold she can hardly hold the camera steady while she snaps a pic of me.

I see the pilot truck heading in my direction, so I must get ready to ride.

I'm resuming the journal now in our room listening to the soothing sound of the Soda Butte Creek that is just below our window.

Tom, Paul and Marilyn split off from me at the top of the falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone so they could head on to the Soda Butte Hotel. I spent another couple of hours riding the 60 miles of beautiful northern Yellowstone shooting way too many photos, but you know I had a great time.

We started out early this morning riding through the Grand Tetons. Carolyn, a very friendly park ranger, struck up conversation with us at the Snake River Overlook.

I removed myself and remembered the times when I was very young in this very spot with my parents. I owe so much to them for introducing me to this beautiful country of the West.

In Yellowstone, we visited Old Faithful but were surprised by the number of people. We decided to not wait for an eruption after seeing the traffic of the previous as we were arriving. After a quick lunch, we moved on. We enjoyed the sweeping and twisty turns of the park and listened in on the French visitors using the same radio channel as ours. We couldn't understand a lot, but Tom corrected their "Continental Devine".

While now on my solo ride, I had to put on rain gear at the top of a mountain when the temperature dropped 15 degrees and the sky darkened.
	The rain was short-lived, and the afternoon light was spectacular on all of the flowers covering the valley below me. My ride into Cooke City was stopped many times for wildlife and wonderful lighting on the Sage and hills around me.

So once I got through the final 2.5 miles of road rebuilding, I rolled up to the hotel to see Tom sitting in the timber-ceiling lobby window. We had dinner and a brew later and listened to a chap telling a story about a camper that was attacked by a bear the night before just outside of Cooke City. We were trying to figure out if the story was legit and later found it to be true after meeting Adrian in the lobby. She is an empty-nester from California and spending time hiking here where she once lived. She was at the same camp last night when the attack happened. The rangers made everyone break camp and either leave or sleep in their cars.

Next up is Beartooth Pass and on to Gillette.

Day 4 - July 18, 2008 - Cooke City, MT to Gillette, WY

The Grizzly attack stories continued with the Cooke City locals this morning at the fuel station. Tom and I loaded up with fuel and headed out at 7:00 towards Beartooth Highway. How appropriate. Early morning is the most favorite part of the day for wildlife, so that fact and the 36-degree air kept us a bit under the posted limit. The cool air and spectacular scenery woke me up quickly and made the slower ride very pleasing. We saw a couple of moose, plenty of deer, Pronghorn and some random marmot for good measure.

We stopped for a SLR moment at a still pond with the mountains rising from the far side. The water vapors were rising from the grass as the morning sun first hit.
	On up Beartooth Highway, the road rose near 11,000 feet and above tree line. As we ascended the pass, ten-foot snow drifts lined the side of the road that twisted tightly and demanded attention to keep the bike on pavement. This has to be one of the best mountain rides in the States.

We rode through Red Lodge and out in the high rolling sage hills of Montana to highway 14A over the Bighorn range. This section was an exciting surprise that rose out of the dry scrub. Once down in elevation, we shared ride stories with another group from Arizona and Seattle at the Sinclair. The rider said he was "still on the high".

We got off of the short stretch of interstate quickly, rode the back roads of hwy 14 and entered the MOA rally site in Gillette. We went through registration and chose a grassy area to pitch the tents.

I took my bike over to a washing area to get the Texas rain and Montana forest road construction grime off of my bike in prep of tomorrow's 25th anniversary BMW K-Bike Koncours celebration. And who rolls up to wash his bike but Greg Feeler with my bike's sister serial number K75S. We exchanged greetings and I held both bike's handlebars. It was a touching moment. "Separated at birth and reunited in Gillette."

I'm finishing this post listening to the New Riders of the Purple Sage playing Panama Red outside the Beemer Saloon and having an Odells Pale Ale microbrew from Ft. Collins, CO.

The big thunderstorm earlier this afternoon rained lightly on us, flattened a few tents, and nicely cooled things down. The music is good, evening air is good, ale is good, company is good and today's ride was a dream. Life is definitely good.

Day 5 - July 19, 2008 - BMWMOA Rally in Gillette, WY

The sun is shining bright today in a blue sky above Gillette. Last night's temperature was cool and perfect for a good sleep in the tent.

The K-Koncours bike judging continues as I am starting this post. Our sister bikes are drawing a lot of attention, and it's been fun meeting and talking with Greg. The bikes have been spending some quality time together in the show and are likely swapping stories from the road.

Greg's bike took honors in our class, and is well-deserved. It was a blast watching all of the K-bike fans looking over the fine machinery. BMW presented a great history of the K-bikes, with Andy Sills present. Andy set a world land speed record of 173.57 on a K1200S at the Salt Flats.

Chris McNiel tearing it up at the stunt show.

Kilts gone wild.

We met up with Tom Mamic from British Columbia, who is on a world ride on his F800GS that he had shipped from South Africa to Argentina. He made his way down to Tierra del Fuego, and is now on his way through the United States. He has ridden 74,000 Kilometers so far, and has just been presented a MOA distance award for that effort.

Ben Lower was introduced at the closing ceremony as one of the directors of the MOA. There are 5,103 rally-goers here this week from all over the country and internationally. Nintey percent of the 4,000 bikes here are BMW's.

The David Swisher million-mile award has just been presented to Ken McHugh. Bob's BMW has given a whole riding suit with gloves and boots as a door prize. Many other door prizes and awards were handed out.
The grand prize bike is a new R1200GS which has just been won by Howard Morgan from Longmont, CO. Next year's rally will be held in Johnson City, Tennesee. There will be trees and grass. If you have never attended a MOA national rally, start planning now for next year. I'll see you there.

Tomorrow we head to Devil's Tower, the Black Hills and the Badlands in South Dakota.

Day 6 - July 20, 2008 - The Black Hills and Badlands, SD

There was a of activity this morning as rally rats were packing up to head out in all different directions that they may have arrived from. Our now four bikes (with Alan's arrival) were loaded up with gear and some additional stuff procured at the vendor tents (Remus pipes and luggage). Tom found a way to avoid the interstate totally on the way over to Devil's Tower, which is always a plus. Highway 14A really got interesting as we headed north. We saw many deer and Pronghorn along with a very friendly rabbit at the tower.

After a fuel stop just north of Spearfish, we continued on through Spearfish Canyon. We quickly saw the 35 mph limit, and we had heard that the local law uses all varieties of vehicles. Enough said - an easy pace was in order for the 20 mile canyon.

Photo credit Marilyn Goode

A turn toward Sturgis took us through Deadwood. The stomachs were growling a bit, and all it took was a suggestion over the FRS radio of a hamburger and Tom quickly saw Tin Lizzies.

We parked the bikes and talked with a local who was waiting for his wife. Later I discovered his wife was playing the slots. Tom found us a casino for lunch, but rest assured, no slots for lunch. Cheap burgers, and it was good enough.

Sturgis was next, just because. I can't believe how many Harley apparel stores are there and vendor tents, and the big rally is a couple of weeks away. We stopped for pics at BMW Sturgis, which also sold Yamaha & Suzuki.

A back-track through Deadwood to stop at Mt. Moriah cemetery for Marilyn was next. I enjoyed the downtime and checked in with Deb. I led the group down 385 towards Crazy Horse to see how that mountain carving is going. We then took 87 to the Needles Highway in Custer State Park, filled with tunnels and very sharp turns. Alan later commented that this was one of his most technical rides. County Road 753 was a shortcut to 16A, which we took to Mt. Rushmore. More tunnels and some pigtail bridges made this section interesting. After we stopped at a tunnel to stretch and take photos of the prezes, I dropped my Olympus lens down the mountainside - bummer.

On the way out of the Black Hills, we shared FRS channel 5 with Rick and Pattie from Austin. We stopped for fuel and talked a bit.

On to the Badlands, where Tom, Alan and I are sharing a camping cabin (basically a storage shed with an air conditioner). It's better than it sounds, and something different. Speaking of different, we have heard many languages on this trip.

I am sitting out front of the camp store composing this looking at the moon in the mild evening air. Alan and I had a swim earlier and watched the bats fly down and skim the pool surface for a drink. Now it's time for a good sleep.
Tomorrow it's south through Nebraska and Kansas to Hays.

Day 7 - July 21, 2008 - The Badlands, SD to Hays, KS

We woke up this morning and had a "Cowboy Breakfast" of pancakes and sausage. We took our time leaving and headed south through the rolling hills of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas for near 500 miles. Considering that we were traveling these states, the ride was entertaining and with more sweepers than I expected. This was due to riding the back roads instead of the majors and the interstates.

We saw many combine caravans

The key word for today is HOT. We saw 102 degrees through Nebraska and Kansas, and took more stops than first planned to keep the fluids in. Had a great steak dinner served by a very spunky waitress by the name of "Shasta" (more to that story). We are crashing now to get an early start in the morning to beat the heat.

Tomorrow we are changing the route just a bit to look through the town of Greensburg that was almost totally destroyed by an EF5 tornado in May, 2007. Then we will shoot east through Wichita, KS to have a BMW dealer look at Tom's ABS fault. We should be back home at around 540 miles.

Day 8 - July 22, 2008 - Hays, KS to Home

Blogging live from Kingfisher, OK, the birthplace of Sam Walton. We are making extra stops due to the 104-degree heat outside of this cool oasis right inside of town. We left Hays this morning at 7:00 and it did not take long for the temperature to rise. The ride through Greensburg was sobering when we saw the devastation from last year's tornado. We headed out of Greensburg into the sun and quickly decided to turn south for as long as possible. That eventually brought us through Nash, OK and at a perfect time for lunch and a few buckets of tea.

The only cafe in town was the Ranch House, also known as Gripey Joe's by Joe Park's wife, Susan.

We also learned that there are only two seats ever available at the bar, so all of our group scattered through the cafe with the locals. The rest of the bar is for all of the tea and pitchers, and a serving table for the waitresses.

We had a authentic country-fried steak lunch and a whole lot of tea. Joe came over to our table to meet us, and Tom and Joe figured out they both used to work for Sam Freedman in Henrietta. Small world.

The heat is getting to Tom

and Alan. AKA Hans and Franz

Well, back into the oven for a while.

The worst heat of the year so far picked today to hit on our ride back home. The temperature was indicating 104 on several bikes at points, and we had to stop every 50 to 80 miles or so to keep the fluids in. All of the extra stops to get fluids and take in a bit of cool air added some time. We used the Oklahoma BMW dealership as an air-conditioned haven for a couple of hours letting the afternoon heat pass, but it did not help a whole lot.

The parts man at BMW recommended Bandeleros for some good mexican food.

Jose treated us very well there with quality food, complimentary dishes and lots of tea.

We parted ways as we neared the city. The day's trip log showed 553 miles as I rolled into my garage at 10:00 in the 97-degree heat. The trip is done with 3,319 miles on the main GPS log, and I am both sad to end the trip, but happy to be home. It was a dream ride for me, and I will pulling the experiences out of my head for many days to come.

It's really good to be back home (especially in some air conditioning). Debbie, Laura and Wes greeted me at the door with smiles along with Katy our Border. I'm looking forward to my bed.

Tom, Paul, Marilyn, and Alan - it was a great ride and I really enjoyed your company.

Way too many photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/WyomingRideBMWMOARally

Wyoming Ride - The Week Ahead

Richard Swim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:34:05 GMT

July 13, 2008

Today starts a week-long journey through the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming with the destination being the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association national rally in Gillette, WY. Tom, Paul and I will be leaving the metromess after work to head up the road a bit to Vernon to get out of the Dallas traffic and take advantage of a few hours of relative cooler temps. Tuesday will be a ~ 500 mile ride to Westcliffe, CO via the northeast section of New Mexico. Wednesday's ride will following the valley splitting the Rocky Mountains in Colorado up to Dubois, WY. Thursday we will ride down to the Grand Tetons and then head up to explore Yellowstone, and wind up in Cooke City, MT. Friday's trek will go over the spectacular Alpine-like Beartooth Highway that winds its way down to Red Lodge, MT. We will also pass over an interesting looking mesa in Wyoming on our way to the rally site at Gillette. Saturday will be an off-day from riding. I will show my bike in a 25th Anniversary of the BMW K-Bikes along side another MOA member that has an identical K75S with VIN's in sequence. We are considering this event as "Separated at Birth and Reunited in Gillette". After dragging ourselves out of the tents on Sunday, we will visit Devil's Tower and then wander through Sturgis and the Black Hills on the way to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Monday will be a ride south through the heartland on the way back home with an overnight in Hays, KS. The total ride should rack up around 3,200 miles. Check back daily at http://motoblog.richardswim.com for updates during the week's ride.

Here are some GoogleMaps route links that should be close to our actuals:
Prologue - Vernon, TX 198 mi – GoogleMaps-Prologue
Day 1 - Westcliffe, CO 534 mi – GoogleMaps-Day1
Day 2 - Dubois, WY 542 mi – GoogleMaps-Day2
Day 3 - Silver Gate, MT - 261 mi – GoogleMaps-Day3
Day 4&5 - Gillette, WY - 347 mi – GoogleMaps-Day4
Day 6 - Badlands NP, SD - 344 mi – GoogleMaps-Day6
Day 7 - Hays, KS - 484 mi – GoogleMaps-Day7
Day 8 - 541 mi – GoogleMaps-Day8

LSBMWR Breakfast at Tin Top

Richard Swim — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:06:18 GMT

July 13, 2008

Bo put together an early-morning breakfast run to Tin Top and coerced around 15 riders to get up way too early on a Sunday. The ride there was a typical bit of a drag through the metromess, but it was early and the winding roads out southwest of Ft. Worth made up for the urban journey. Breakfast was great at Mary's Brazos Cafe, although I think we overwhelmed the staff when we all converged at the same time. The coffee was good, and the waitress must have thought I wanted a little extra down my back so she broke the carafe on the chair behind me. A bit hot?? Yes!

David joined up with us on his new-to-him 2003 K1200LT. Nice sofa on two wheels. We found out today was Colin's birthday, so... Happy b-day, Colin! Friggin' hot on the return. Tomorrow starts my week-long run to Wyoming along with Tom and Paul. Once we get out of Texas, the temps should be good. Other club members are on the road already. Check back at motoblog.richardswim.com for almost daily updates from the road and the MOA rally.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRTinTopBreakfast

LSBMWR Club Meeting at Humperdink's

Richard Swim — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:01:49 GMT

June 16, 2008

The monthly meeting of the Lone Star BMW Riders was held at the usual spot - Humperdink's.

Humperdink's has been treating us well with a private area in the restaurant, good food and sectioned-off parking for our bikes.

Patt gave a presentation on proper hydration for these hot summer months, while some of the club members enjoyed an alternate interpretation of hydration (not condoned by the club in any manner). We also talked briefly about the upcoming BMW Motorcycle Owners national rally in Wyoming. There are around 15 of us attending that event in July.

There was a good turnout and a lot of great discussion and tire-kicking out in the parking lot.

Roadrunners Vintage Bike Rally - Austin

Richard Swim — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:24:10 GMT

June 1, 2008

Keith offered up an invite to stay at his place near Zilker Park in Austin and to make a ride out to Ski Shores the next morning for a vintage bike show. I took the bait and was ready to get out of Dallas for a short time.

It had been really busy on the home front with all of the preparation for Laura and Blake's wedding last Friday. But that was behind us, and after the lovely ceremony and short stay at the Hotel Crescent, they were out in the Caribbean somewhere near Jamaica.

Deb and I wrapped up yet some other lingering wedding related things Saturday morning, and I was on the bike around 1:00. The temperature was in the high 90's with our early summer-like heat, so I tried riding with shorts under my mesh overpants. Interstate 35 between Dallas and Austin is like a 200-mile long freeway in a big city, so finding another route on the two-lane roads is much more enjoyable, even if it takes more time. The chosen route down to Austin took me across Lake Whitney, Gatesville (lots of prisons) and west of Fort Hood through some entertaining roads.

Once in Austin, we went out for dinner and brews at a local eatery, Kerbey Lane Cafe. Good food and interesting wait staff. We made our way back to Keith's place and attempted to get in the top 10 finishers in Xbox Moto GP. Thank goodness I don't ride and crash my bike the way I do in the game.

Sunday morning Lily was not too thrilled about an early rise (9:00???), so Keith and I went out for breakfast at Kerbey and came back later for Lily. We put on the road armor, and did a leisurely ride out through west Austin and to Lake Austin through some twisty roads. A coyote passed in front of Keith and Lily at one point near the lake.

The bike show was fun (and hot), with just as many interesting motorcycycles in the parking area as the show itself.

I ran into another long-time friend, Ronny. He had ridden his Concours out to the show. His '68 Triumph needs to make it into the show eventually.

The temperature continued to rise, and there would be little escape from it in the afternoon. But, it is much more tolerable at speed, so it was time to head home.
	I did not have a planned route home so I just headed north on 183 to avoid the interstate again. I just made semi-random turns onto roads in the general direction of home for some exploration. There were several that were very narrow and not too well maintained, but that makes the journey that much more interesting.

It was yet another good trip with around 500 miles clocked.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/RoadrunnersVintageBikeShowAustin

LSBMWR Photo Class at Motopia

Richard Swim — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:19:40 GMT

May 28, 2008

The Lone Star BMW Riders met a couple of weeks ago and tonight at Motopia Cafe for a couple of photography classes to share knowledge and experiences.

Byron taught the class on 5/14 about getting the best possible image in the camera. I taught most of tonight on managing the image after it leaves the camera.

We had a good crowd both nights and lots of great information was exchanged between the members. The club appreciates Rene's support in arranging his cafe to be available for these classes.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRPhotoClassAtMotopia

Ride of Silence

Richard Swim — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:10:08 GMT

May 21, 2008

Today was a ride on two wheels, but back to the human-powered mode. The Ride of Silence was organized in May of 2003 after the death of one of my bicycling partners, Larry Schwartz. Larry was struck and killed by a school bus mirror while cycling on a rural highway northwest of McKinney. Chris Phelan, a friend of Larry, initiated the first ride, which drew 1,000 riders within 10 days of e-mails. The ride is now held annually in over 272 cities, 50 states, and 15 countries. The slow ride is held in silence to honor injured or killed bicyclists.

Today's event started with the piercing sounds of bag pipes playing "Amazing Grace". The weather was good and the participants riding very carefully and abiding to the code of silence, which is a very difficult thing for the social creatures bicyclists are. Experiencing so many cyclists riding silently around the winding roads of White Rock Lake is eerie. It gave me time to think back on past rides with Larry, and remembering his persistent grin and relatively simple life style after he retired out of working in technology. After quitting work, he concentrated on riding in many cross-country and ultra-marathon events. He joined our Systeme E team training rides on regular occasion. I think he liked our interval training, which gave him chances to ramp up the effort. He could always shame us with his distance rides, though. I remember he once did the 100-mile Hotter N Hell in Wichita Falls with me, and then after we finished, went out to do it again. And by the way, he rode from Dallas to the event. I miss him very much and I am sure that there were many others in tonight's ride that have lost fond friends and family.

David, my long-time friend and co-worker rode tonight with me. It was a bit strange that David rolled right up next to me before the start, considering that there were over 1,000 cyclists scattered about. He had no idea where I was and never saw me until he stopped to look around, and there I was just a foot away. Weird.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/RideOfSilence

Nice Friday Afternoon Ride

Richard Swim — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:15:00 GMT

May 2, 2008

Wrapping up my 5 days of technical IT training a bit early on Friday, the nice weather capped my decision to go out on a short jaunt north of the house. I wandered out Hwy 78 towards Farmersville and started looking for small roads off of the main roads.

The spring storms have been pushing over the utility poles.

I found a nice one that went between 380 and Merit. It started paved, and then went to unmaintained surface before going back to a narrow paved road.

Things are very green now with our unusual consistent weekly rains over the last several months. The flowers are getting overrun with growth of other nearby plants, so it is a bit difficult to see them easily.

There seems to be a tradition for a 4-legged animal visit me on my rides. Today it was a Golden Retriever that reluctantly came over to me as I was getting ready to mount up to ride again. To him, I probably looked like a space alien in my garb, but he finally warmed up to me and then looked like he was ready to join me on the ride.

I made my way back from Greenville deep into Dallas to meet Debbie and visit Mom for dinner. Not bad for a quick 110-mile unplanned Friday afternoon ride.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/FridayAfternoonRide

A Week of Moto Commuting

Richard Swim — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:05:35 GMT

May 2, 2008

I rarely ride into the Dallas area, especially during rush hour. It's typically just not fun with the zoned-out cage drivers on cell phones using their motorcycle-blanking vision. This week though, I rode each day across the 'burbs to attend a technical training course on healthcare IT. The course was a good review and I was there also to evaluate the training material to consider sending more of our staff.

The Dallas-area freeways are just not moto-friendly, except once one gets into the HOV lane. But, freeway speeds and the aforementioned cage drivers convinced me to take the back roads. The bike commute was also an economical decision with fuel now above $3.50 a gallon. The 45 MPG that the K gets is much better than my cage's 16 MPG, and that saved around $30 during this week's commute.

It was around a 50-minute ride to my destination, and I found some pleasant roads along the way in some older neighborhoods that looked to have been rural at some time with tall trees and houses set far back. The GPS helped a lot to figure out multi-turn paths and it allowed me to discover some new roads. The morning temperatures were in the 40's early in the week and afternoons were in the high 80's.

Large Map

Listening to the radio via my Motocomm audio mixer and having my cell phone interfaced made the commute entertaining. My new Sanyo S1 phone actually works well with the mixer where my previous Samsung just hogged all of the audio when plugged in. I took several calls during the week and the auto-answer and call audio quality was flawless.

This week of riding was a lot different than my typical journeys out of town getting away from all the city traffic and enjoying the open road. Even though the traffic was all around me, it's still better than the cage. Next week it's back to the train commute.

LSBMWR Whitewright Breakfast Ride

Richard Swim — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:32:13 GMT

April 20, 2008

I earned ride points on Saturday after painting 4 of our new raised panel doors for the house, so I cashed in a few to go out with the group on Sunday's breakfast ride.

David joined me for his first ride with the club.

The weather was cool in the morning, and I should have worn my liner. I was looking a little too far forward to warmer weather on the return, so I packed light.

We met at Prosper and and snaked our way up to Tioga, through Sherman, and down the twisty 697 to Whitewright.

	697 is always both a challenge and a pleasure to ride.

We had a good-sized group for breakfast, and once again, the food was great. Especially the grilled biscuits.

Bo shared with me that he was accepted into the 2009 Iron Butt Rally.

~11,000 miles in 11 days.

IBA

David and I headed straight south until Blue Ridge, where we took the back roads through Princeton and Lucas back home. A bit windy, but a very enjoyable 170 miles on a nice Sunday morning. And a great way to finish up the Sunday evening is watching the Stars defeat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Ducks 4-1 to advance to the 2nd round!!!

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRWhitewrightBreakfastRide

LSBMWR Ride to Where Next

Richard Swim — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:20:22 GMT

April 12, 2008

I wanted to ride. The weather was looking good for the weekend, and I was wondering if the Bluebonnets were out yet. I thought about wandering around east of Ennis for flower photos. But sometime Friday, Jim proposed a ride on Saturday to Muenster to get some Muenster cheese (rationalizing the ride?). I took the bait.

We met at the local coffee house Saturday morning and rode up to have breakfast at CJ's in Whitewright.

Jim's route to CJ's was like that cartoon where the kids run all over the neighborhood before arriving where Mom wanted them to go. The route turned GS, but it was all good and added some flavor to the ride.

As we rode into town, I peeled off to pick up some fuel and noticed that Amir and Sam were waiting on the highway for me. I waved them on thinking that they knew where CJ's was, but when we were all asking in the cafe where they were, I discovered they knew not. Sam and Amir did get to enjoy the enjoyable FM 697 twice while looking for us. They rejoined us at CJ's, and we decided to scratch the Muenster destination.

Breakfast at CJ's is always good.
Sam, Jim, Amir and Colin

FM 697 was a windy, winding blast.

So, the where next started. I suggested the peninsula jutting into Texoma, and Jim said fine, he had a friend building a house there he could check in with.

	Sherman
Smooth winding Hwy 120 at Texoma	End of the road

Jerry and his house he is building.

Nice view at the tip of the peninsula

The next where next was Carpenter's Bluff, preceded by Colin's flat. The flat was fixed quickly, we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

	Colin showing great mastery of flat fixin'
North Texas wildlife	Yes, I am having a good time.

Carpenter's Bluff trestle bridge is a neat site tucked away in the sticks.

Jim and Colin walking the trestle	Ready to ride back into Texas

It was a great day of mystery destination riding.

More photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRRideToWhereNext

Lone Star BMW Riders Big Bend Trip

Richard Swim — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:22:43 GMT

March 7, 2008

The early ride south out of Abilene Friday morning was a chilly one, but the sunny sky was a welcome change from the previous day's snow. My right big toe was getting numb in the cold shade of the K75S as I rode to meet the club. Many of the riders left Thursday from the Dallas are in the peak of the seven-inch snowstorm to rendezvous in Brownwood before the Friday morning group departure. One of our riders even crashed Thursday in a low-side and slid through the slush into a bar ditch near Weatherford. He was OK with some sore ribs and continued the ride. My plan was to meet the pack of riders at Menard in route after leaving Debbie in Abilene to visit her mom. It turned out to be a good plan since I did not have to tackle the snow on two wheels.

Once I joined the group led by Bo Griffin, we rode together through some small roads on the way to the Mexican border. Along the way, we stopped at Fort McKavett for a quick break. The general store there was filled with interesting relics.
	Pete has been watching over the store for nearly 20 years.
	Pete has been watching over the store for nearly 20 years.

We moved on towards Amistad Reservoir and the Pecos High Bridge. Bo had arranged for a lunch stop near the bridge, but we could not find Easy's place. It turned out that Easy’s place was around 50 miles out of the way. So the next quest was to find fuel for our riders that did not have big tanks. A State Trooper stopped by to see what the gathering was about. He confirmed that Langtry had some fuel. The fuel stations are far apart in this part of the country.

Not really sure why anyone would consider diving from this bridge!

The Pecos River High Bridge

The ride west on Hwy 90 was a swift one at times with few obstacles to worry about. I was wondering if the highway sign was actually the speed limit.

We stopped in Sanderson at an oasis of a restaurant. The wait staff was very friendly and the food very good. But, we were starving at this point.

The mountains started appearing on the horizon as we made our way to Marathon. Their varied shade of purple in the distance was a pleasing sight and made the ride so enjoyable.

After fueling in Marathon, we turned south towards Big Bend.

We slowed down for the 45 mph speed limit in the park, and took in the sights.
	The hills continued to grow higher until we could see the Chisos Mountains in the center of the Park. Javelina were loitering on the sides of the roads in the park and demanded attention to avoid.

I dropped back a bit to snap some shots of the waning light on the mountains and desert floor.

The sunset was an obvious quest, and oh so difficult to capture in the camera.

In Study Butte, I met up with our riders at the Big Bend Motel. Our rooms were at the top of a hill and the whole building looked like it was ready to slide down that hill. Study Butte is an interesting place, with some residents that appear to be still living the hippie life.

Some of us had dinner at La Kiva, which was an interesting dive. We walked down into the restaurant as if entering a mine shaft. There were massive chunks of wood that made up the tables in the place, along with large tree burls that were carved into chairs. Service wasn’t too great, but the company of our riders made up for the time waiting for food.

March 8, 2008

Saturday morning, the majority of the group went to Lajitas for breakfast. I turned back towards Big Bend to make a ride up to the Chisos Basin for photos.
	The morning ride up the twisty road to the Basin was a treat. I ran into a group of riders from Austin at the Basin that I would continue to see throughout the day in the park, along the River Road, at McDonald Observatory, and finally at Fort Davis.


I made my way out of the park and on through Terlingua. This ghost town now coming back to some extent was made up of more interesting folks from the region. A traveling gypsy-like circus bus was parked in the center of the town.
		There are many ruins left from the mining days of past. The deep blue sky was a contrast to the stone walls left from the buildings.

The River Road (Hwy 170) starts from this area going through Lajitas and follows the Rio Grande very closely winding up and down steep hills. The road would pitch me up and very quickly change directions demanding attention to avoid an undesired event.

<--- United States Mexico --->	I stopped several times along the River to shoot some images and listen to nothing.
A bighorn sheep wandered across the highway at one stop and carefully picked his way up the massive boulder-strewn hillside.

Elke (my German mistress) found her way down a short stretch of dirt until the ruts in the road said no more. I parked the bike and continued walking back into the desert towards some very tall hills with tinges of greenish-blue tints likely containing copper. The Ocotillo was just starting to bloom with their red tips on the end of dead-looking stalks. A couple of weeks more and the blooms would be a very vivid red attracting hummingbirds and bees.

Arriving in Presidio, my stomach was growling. I stopped at a store for fuel where the locals were grilling up some very tasty burgers.

After the burger and a cold drink, my ride continued past the Mexican border and up Hwy 67 and 17 through some very enjoyable high-speed sweepers towards the Davis Mountains.	Old Church at Shafter
	Joe making his way through Marfa towards the Fort Davis rendezvous.


I met up with the rest of the group at the motel, had a cold drink and quickly headed up the mountains for a quick visit to McDonald Observatory.

The clouds were gathering quickly, light fading just as quick, and the temperature accordingly. A couple of deer were hanging out on the side of the road as I left the observatory grounds. They did not look too intimidated by me in my gear on the bike.

By the time I arrived back in Fort Davis, the majority of the club was already at the mexican food restaurant waiting for their orders. I wanted a cold brew, but they did not serve any libations, and pointed my across the highway to the local brew dealer. I ran across the road, picked up my evening treat, and enjoyed it along with the tasty meal.

March 9, 2008

	The next morning was a chilly 29 degrees at the motel, and as I left for the return ride to Abilene, the temperature dropped to 22 before Wild Rose Pass.
The temperature rose quickly towards 60 degrees at Balmorhea, and then slowly dropped back into the 40’s before San Angelo.

The ride back to Abilene was great weather and the roads south of San Angelo on into Abilene were relaxing.

Barnhart, TX

Elke celebrated her 50,000 mile birthday literally as I pulled into the last turn before seeing Debbie ready to greet me in the driveway.

So, I left my German mistress for my lovely wife, and gave Deb a big hug and kiss. The weekend trip through the Texas southwest logged 1,010 miles through some rugged and beautiful country. Can’t wait to do it again!

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRBigBendTrip

Ride to Visit a Fond Photography Friend

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:17:10 GMT

February 9, 2008

Earlier this week, I was under the weather and had some spare time to look up old photography friends. I discovered that Charles Evans, who I had spent some quality film time with back in the late 80's, was being honored at a photography reception at the Bosque Conservatory in Clifton, TX. Charles and I were on a some photo excursions in Santa Fe and Big Bend. We had some great times and learned many new techniques from Rick Eilers, who was then running the Photographic Center in Dallas. Rick pulled together a group of talented photographers mostly working in black and white film. We would meet routinely and critique each other's latest work, which made us all stronger.

I first met Charles on the square of Santa Fe in April '86. We roamed with Rick through the mountains and high deserts working with the contrasting land, clear mountain light and mostly infrared black and white film. These two photos were from that expedition.

Charles and I were together again on a Big Bend workshop in 1987.

We had to wait for some fog to clear from the area we intended to shoot that morning, so we pulled off the road for a bit. The early morning sun over the desert was mystifying.

The shot to the right was in the Monahans sand dunes in west Texas.

Hot Springs, Rio Grande River

Rick is sitting in the back of the Jeep. This is part of the group from the '87 Big Bend trip. Not sure where Charles and his good friend Jerrel were at this point.

I am returning once again to Big Bend in March of this year, except this time on my bike and carrying a camera with a compact flash memory card instead of infrared black and white film.

Discovering this week that Charles still was active in photography brought a smile to my face. And seeing that his reception was happening in the same week that I was looking up past photo friends was more than a coincidence. I had to go see him and decided the visit would be a surprise since I knew he would be there for sure. The beautiful weather on Saturday convinced me to ride down instead of taking the cage. And a perfect day it was with hardly any wind and temperatures hitting 70. The traffic was light on these twisting roads through the hills of Central Texas. I passed through many roads that Debbie and I frequented while in college at Waco.

It was one of those perfect days where everything fell in the right place - timing, weather, seeing an old friend, and taking my bike to do that visit.

As the afternoon sunlight dipped lower, the light became very warm and crisp.

I came upon quite a few bikes east of Cranfills Gap.
The rider on the red bike above was my co-worker, David.
Neither of us knew we would be on the same road Saturday.

The show was held at the Bosque Conservatory, which was once the Clifton College. They have done a great job with restoring this historic building and turning it into an arts center. The reception was to honor Charles and Thomas Grimes in their Photography Guild's Tow Man show held before a theater production in the evening.

Charles and Mary in front of some of his wonderful prints.

The evening return ride dipped into the 40's, but it was still just fine. I kept the speed down in deer country and as I re-entered the Dallas area, the traffic was unusually light for a Saturday night. It was indeed a perfect day.

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/RideToVisitAFondPhotographyFriend

Lunch at Cafe Enloe... or Not

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:18:46 GMT

February 2, 2008

Rode up to Enloe, TX to have lunch at a spot that I rode past on Memorial Day of 2006. I arrived in Enloe only to find the cafe closed.


The storefront today (2008)	Looks quite different from 2006

As I got off of my bike, I noticed a family getting sodas from what appeared to be the lone vending machine in town. I asked when the cafe had closed and learned that over a year ago the owner was in an auto accident and later moved to Florida. Times change, don't they. I continued riding to Cooper, TX and had a very tasty Torta Carne Asada at Jalapeno's grill on the town square.

The weather was very nice with hardly any wind and temperatures in the 50's to 60's. A very enjoyable 169 miles on a Saturday.
Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/EnloeTXRide.

Lone Star BMW Riders Hard Eight Ride

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:20:02 GMT

January 6, 2008

Jim Wright put together a twisting ride down to Stephenville for lunch at the Hard Eight. Somewhere around 30 bikes showed up for the ride after the short stop at the new Motopia Cafe in Dallas. There were so many bikes, we split into two groups that seemed to split and re-join several times through the ride. We rode the two-lanes as much as possible down south to the Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville to have a well-deserved lunch after battling some fierce side winds.

The majority of the group went on down to Dublin to the Dr. Pepper plant to sample some cane sugar recipes. Tom and I split to head home through some FM roads and a back road that turned into a paved goat trail. We looked for better pavement and made our way around the north of the metropolis. A good 323-mile fair weather ride for the first of January with temperatures from 60 to 75 degrees!
Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRHardEightBBQRide

Austin Lone Star BMW Open House and Food Drive

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:20:59 GMT

December 8, 2007

Packed up a saddle bag full of food for the Hill Country Community Ministries and made the run down to Austin's Lone Star BMW open house. I also had the opportunity to visit with a couple of my old friends, Keith and Ronny.

Ronny was at a swap meet at the Belton Texas Expo Dome where I stopped for a short time, and Keith met me at the open house in Austin riding his F800S. Smokin' Willie's provided the great BBQ for lunch that several hundred people enjoyed. The temperature started at 65 and rose to 85 in the afternoon. There was still some fall color in the trees where I could find them. The swift-moving clouds played with the lighting on the fields that I passed through on the market and county roads where I could travel them to avoid the hectic I-35. The late-afternoon light was warm on the dried fields. I picked up dinner at Kitoks in Waco and breakfast Kolaches at the Czech Stop in West, TX.
Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LoneStarBMWAustinOpenHouse

LSBMWR Mystery Dinner - Main Street Bistro

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:45:32 GMT

November 27, 2008

A small group from the Lone Star BMW Riders met at N 33 00.081 W 96 41.090 for a mystery dinner at Main Street Bistro. I was the host tonight for the almost weekly event where only the GPS coordinates are posted for those who want to join in on the outing.

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRMysteryDinner112707

Superslab to the Barber Museum & Bourbon Mall

Richard Swim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:46:13 GMT

November 9-11, 2007

Five members of the Lone Star BMW Riders rode from the Dallas area Friday morning 11/9/07 through Louisiana and Mississippi to Alabama for the start of a great weekend in the South.

The ride there was a lot of superslab time, which is hardly my favorite, but it did get us to Tuscaloosa by early Friday evening. We had a late start after Tom informed Bo and Jim that he was not going to be off of a plane from Hawaii until 6:30 in the morning Friday. So we got rolling at 10:00, a couple hours later than we planned. We stopped in Vicksburg, MS for a BBQ lunch and arrived at the hotel a couple of hours after sunset.

Day 1 mp3 audio journal - 10MB 10:41

Jim clicking miles on the Interstate.

The temperatures were great starting at 48 on Saturday morning to a comfortable 70 by afternoon. We rode from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham to visit The Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum. The Barber was a treat with 700 motorcycles on display and a 2.4 mile race track where a club was doing a track day. Mr. Barber started his motorcycle collection in the mid 80's when he bought 4 Honda sport bikes. He would continue to purchase new bikes and put them on display without ever riding them. There were also champion Daytona race bikes and restored vintage bikes.

Day 2 Barber Museum - mp3 7 MB 7:46

We rode from Birmingham back through Mississippi to the Bourbon Mall where this oasis of a restaurant was tucked miles away in the middle of cotton and corn fields.

Now the only thing we noticed odd as we rolled up were the 6 pickup trucks with bird dog cages in each truck's bed. Them fellers that got out looked like the were friendly enough, and they went on in. I saw the last two trucks had dead coyotes on top of the cages. Must have been the day's prize.

So the next odd thing... We were waiting a bit to go in, and along comes this lady and her family that yelled out of her window "Is there a snake under there?". I looked under the porch steps, and she said "no - under my car!". About that time, Tom said "Yeah, I think it's up in the wheel well", and that woman started screaming like crazy. We had to set her straight that the snake she had run over earlier wasn't really there any more. Tom can do that to folks.

Day 2 Bourbon Mall - mp3 18 MB 18:59

The food was great at the Bourbon Mall, and the wait staff very friendly. Our waitress Melissa even did a bit of tap dancing if you can picture that.

Spent Saturday night staying near the Mississippi River in Greenville, and headed back early Sunday morning through a bit of fog in the southern end of Arkansas. Bo and I took a south route through Louisana to take some of the two-lane roads through the autumn forests to get away from the superslab. The weekend was a great way to spend around 1350 miles with friends riding through nice weather and historical spots.

Day 3 Return Ride - mp3 14 MB 14:34

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRBarberMuseumRide