4th Annual Alamo Run was very successful. It's getting
better every year!
Saturday,
May 5, 2001
About 9:30 a.m., I hopped in my truck and drove over to Sam's.
Picked up some charcoal starter fluid and 160 lbs of ice.
As I was heading toward Pappy's, I saw Evelyn Cline and Mary Powell on
Nacogdoches Rd. Grabbed my CB in my
truck and tried to talk to her, but there was no response.
She later told me she had the squelch turned up real high so she didn't
hear me. When I arrived at Pappy's,
there was nobody but Dru. He
already had his WOTI merchandise table setup.
He was really tired, but I was glad he's doing OK in general.
After dropping off the ice, I headed back to our house.
It was about 11:00, and Amy was just getting ready to leave the house and
go to Pappy and Schoolmarm's after getting the house ready for Shimpei's visit. According to the itinerary I received, he was supposed to fly
in at 12:04 p.m. I checked the
arrival time at weather.com and the site said the estimated arrival time was
11:42 pm. ??
I hurried up and drove over to the airport. I parked my truck in a parking ramp and walked over to the
terminal. I kind of got lost
because the SA airport received a major renovation and the place was quite
different from the last time I was there. Anyway,
it turns out that the flight was arriving about noon like the original schedule.
Well, the plane arrived on time, and I spotted him amongst the people who were
getting off the plane. Now, let me tell you a little bit about Shimpei.
I had met him twice prior to this Alamo Run.
Once, I briefly met him at some lunch with other Japanese Wingers from
the Japan Gold Wing Party. I
believe we introduced ourselves but did not really have any conversation.
The second time was when Amy and I were leaving Japan. Masa No. 2, his family, and Shimpei came to the airport to
see us off. We really didn't talk
to each other either, just b hello and goodbye.
We really appreciated him riding out to the airport to see us off even
though we hardly knew each other. Since
the beginning of this year when Shimpei found out that he was being transferred
from Tokyo to South Dakota, Shimpei and I have been corresponding with each
other via e-mail. So, Amy and I
were looking forward to his visit. As
some of you might recall, he sold his Wing before he left Japan.
Now, he is looking for a used 1500.
His wife is still in Japan but will join him in South Dakota in June.
She races on a dirt bike. How
about that? You don't see too many
female dirt bike racers in Japan!
After I picked up Shimpei at the airport, we went to the Alamo Cycle Plex on
I-10. Since he mentioned that there
is only a small motorcycle dealership in Mitchell, SD, and they have never sold
a Gold Wing before, I wanted to show him a Texas size motorcycle shop.
He seemed to enjoy it, but we had to leave quickly to go to our house and
head out to Pappy and Schoolmarm's in time for the BBQ.
I was afraid that I might miss out on the food.
Once I got to our house, I changed into my riding attire, got my Wing out
of the garage, and Shimpei and I were off to the BBQ.
The ride was quite uneventful. One
red light stopped us. Otherwise,
the ride went smoothly. In six
minutes later, we were at Pappy's at about 1:30 pm.
There were quite a few Wings, but it appeared to be less than last year.
After dropping off Shimpei, I drove back up the street to find a spot to park my
Wing. I started seeing now-familiar
faces and new faces. After parking
my Wing, I finally got to converse with Elaine in person.
Then, Jack Sides greeted us. Shimpei
started walking around to take some pictures of parked Wings. I headed toward Pappy's house but was difficult to get there
since there were so many people that I wanted to say hello to.
I immediately noticed a white tent on the driveway.
"What's that?" I
wondered, but didn't really pay much attention to the people selling things
there. I guess, if it rained, we
had the extra cover.
I went around to the back of the house to see how things were going.
Amy said food would be served pretty soon, and said it would be a good
time for me to go around and distribute the informational fliers.
This year we printed 90 fliers since we were expecting 80 bikes.
Well, there were quite a few fliers left, so we either had a lot less
attendants this year or I goofed and not everybody received the flier.
As I was walking around and distributing the flyers, some people pointed
out to me that the directions on the map were not correct.
In fact, some people tried out the map Saturday morning and ended up
somewhere off our planned route. Sorry,
Elaine and Jim. Additionally, there
was a typo regarding the time to leave for the run from Pappy's.
Sorry again for the confusion. I'm
thinking maybe Pappy and I could put together the same kind of info,
downloadable at the official Alamo Run site a week or so before next year's
Alamo Run, so that attendants can simply go to the web site and print out the
flier themselves and study it ahead of time.
This way, everybody knows what to expect before they get down here, and I
can be more flexible in terms of the amount of information to include and the
layout. Anyway, while distributing
the fliers, several folks asked me if they could make it to Kerrville without
refueling. I said, yes, if your
Wing has a full tank of gas. Realizing
that some folks might not have a full tank of gass and may not read the reminder
about gassing up his or her Wing before leaving Pappy and Schoolmarm's, I
decided to verbally tell everybody. Jeff
Snodgrass suggested that we use Roger Riley's loud whisle to get everybody's
attention. It worked, but even
though I spoke as loud as I could, many people just couldn’t understand what I
was saying. I need to make a note
about maybe getting a loud speaker for next year.
Finally it was time for everybody to eat. This
year, I made an effort to eat a decent amount of food.
The last two years, I only had one plate.
I was just too busy talking to people.
So, I was hungry by the time we were in Luckenbach.
Not good. So, I had two
wonderful BBQ plates thanks to Pappy. Excellent!
The Pinto Beans was spicier than last year.
I liked it! Oh, the
brisket... Yes! It was so
juicy, tender, and flavorful. They
almost melt in your mouth! I think
Pappy has perfected the art of brisket. Do
you have any leftovers, George?
After
I was done eating, I wanted to walk around and talk to as many people as I
could, but it was time for the road captains' meeting.
Oh, by now, dark clouds were over us and large drops of rain began to
fall, but it did not last long. Pappy
and I looked at the Doppler radar using Joe Henderson's laptop and decided that
we'll be OK to head out to Luckenbach as planned.
By the way, thank you to those who volunteered to be road captains (even
the ones who ended up not being a road captain)!
There were many constructive comments made during the meeting that George
and I can incorporate into next year's ride.
It was decided that we form groups before mounting on the bikes so that
each group and members can get acquainted with each other and a drag is
selected. Then, I realized that I
only had a half tank of gas in my Wing. When
Shimpei and I were riding over to Pappy's, I was going to stop by a gas station,
but I forgot! Here I was, telling
everybody to make sure they had a full tank of gas before leaving Pappy's,
forgetting about my own bike. I
hurried up and went to a gas station nearby.
When I got back to Pappy and Schoolmarm’s, almost all the groups had
gone. Well, of course, except for
Pappy's group. No problem!
I happened to spot Caroll Walker, and he was ready to leave.
I ran up there and had to say hello.
We missed each other last year, and I promised him last year that I would
look for him this year. Well, I
almost forgot again!! It's so easy
to do this when there are so many people and you are so excited about the whole
thing. Caroll, I didn't know for a
long time that when your name is spelled with two l's, it’s a man's name.
During all our correspondence with each other, I thought you were female
<G>.
The group I joined, consisted of Pappy & Shoolmarm, followed by Gadi and
Laura from Chicago, Shimpei and myself, Sandy and John Henry Correa (not WOTIers
but local riding buddies). The ride
was pretty uneventful but very pleasant. Had
a flash back of Pappy hitting a turkey on the same spot.
I watched for the turkey to sneak out but did not see any.
Shimpei and I were talking to each other in Japanese over the intercom,
but I had to talk in English to others in the group obviously.
Once, I got messed up and had the CB push-to-talk switch pressed down
while talking to Shimpei over the intercom.
So, Pappy and others got to have a little Japanese lesson.
It was very nice to ride with Gadi again.
I think he said he rode 34,000 miles two years ago. That's a lot of miles to put on in a year!
When we arrived at Luckenbach, we were surprised to find out that there was some
kind of event going. The area was pretty crowded.
It appeared that the Alamo Run attendants were all kind of scattered
around, and some of them had already taken off to Kerrville.
I was hoping to take a big group picture, but not everyone was there.
So, it became a small group picture, but a nice one!
By the way, if any one of you would like to order prints of some of the
pictures I took, let me know.
The stopover in Luckenbach was quite short since we arrived last.
Shimpei and I saw people off and returned to San Antonio.
Art Hazel joined us since he was staying at his mother's in San Antonio.
Art, I enjoyed riding with you. Shimpei
was very impressed by how comfortable it is to be a passenger on a Gold Wing. Like myself, he had never been a co-rider on a 1500 for an
extended period of time. He wished
he was riding a Wing himself but said he still enjoyed the ride as a co-rider!
Well, this is pretty much what I can report about this year's Alamo Run.
It was great! I wish there
was more time to get to know people since I rarely talk to people beyond the
regular greetings. I also regret
the fact that I did not get to meet Kim, TDT’s daughter. I'll be finishing my graduate degree next spring, but
unfortunately it looks like the Alamo Run will again be right before finals
week. Maybe in 2003, Amy and I will
be able to fully participate (i.e., Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).
I hope to see more of you next year!
Thanks George and Pat for a great get-together!
Alamo Run 2001
