2007 02 11 Newbie Dual Sport Ride

Met for breakfast at King's Cafe in Montgomery



Sarah ate something purple!



I was ridiculed for taking too long to get geared up and back on the bike (but I blame it all on the man that can't park!)



Mollie is still too green to try DSing yet, and the kids couldn't ride as passengers on the loose stuff just yet either. They decided to tag along in the truck and take pics for us.

We headed out on some narrow roads that were paved



And some that were not paved (I'd say we were 50/50 for the day)



Sparkyphotog learned that his GPS mount needs to be tightened, otherwise it goes limp stares at his feet. We stopped here so he could make the necessary adjustments. I tried to steal a ride on Yogi's Wee, but he wasn't giving it up that easily...



Sparky decided the comfort of the seat was just too boring, so he dismounted oh-so-gracefully (NOT!)

Ok, the real story:
90 degree corner in dirt and loose gravel. I flashed my brakes to alert the guys behind me. I went through it in first gear but drifted a little wide. After I got back to the middle of the roadway I looked back in my mirror and saw Sparky going wide and he brought it to a stop (or so I thought) in the small 'ditch' between the gravel and the grass/fence. As he tried to bring it back to the roadway he just went down and tumbled over the bike.



He was fine, and posed for a pic or two after getting back on his feet. It was more of a drop than a crash. Maybe it could be categorized as a get-off since he says he was moving (albeit slowly) at the time.



Here's where the story gets good!

Mollie pulled the truck off to the right so Bryan could upright the bike. She was good about taking pics to document the "incident", but in doing so she failed to see a culvert that was hiding on the opposite side of the roadway. The tire went down into the culvert and lost traction, but with rear wheel drive it wasn't an issue.

Well, it wouldn't have been an issue if this bolt hadn't been sticking straight out from the culvert...



As she backed up, we could see the tire was flat. Flatter than a pancake. Heck, flatter than a fancy French crepe!

The 1.5 BSGs (Big Strong Guys) got to work with the jack and spare.

(Yes, there were two men there. No, they don't count for 2 BSGs because they each only equate to about .75 BSG each)







I have a video of a Strom powering an electric pump to rescue a Ford Expedition. Yup. It CAN be done!

We got back on the road and headed for College Station to feed our bellies.

FREEBIRDS!





We made it over to Bryan to pick up a pair of mermite cans from 10-95 (that thread is over in Pay It Forward) and then headed back out. Yogi headed for home, Mollie took the kids on a straight route back to Sugar Land, and Sparky and I did a few more miles of dirt then lots of pavement to get home.

The sign of a good DS ride