Tour de Dixie - Texas (Part 7)

Tour de Dixie – Texas (Part Seven)

The long awaited day had arrived, so we ceremoniously rode on over from the motel to the GOTF main event… early, of course, as is our custom. What a wonderful time is always had. The weather even cooperated this year! Mild temps, no clouds, and tame winds all contributed to a great turnout.

Through all of the twenty years of hosting this event, although for several of the earlier years it went by another name… the comradery was always consistent, the fellowship always palpable, and the genuine affection old friends and new always find when together as good as it gets! I reported for duty soon after parking ALI. Well, as soon as I could… Naturally there were folks to chat with along the way!

I am one of dozens of ‘volunteers’ who dutifully hang out and sample the brisket as it is retrieved from the smoker… Not a hard job at all, but one I am more than willing, even eager, to preform! Because I am not alone in this desire to ‘contribute’, I usually don’t get to do a thorough job of it, regrettably…

Not all bad, however, as it does leave me free to mingle and chat with folks from all over the USA, sometimes even a few from Canada and Europe, as our hosts are famous far beyond political boundaries and the gulf of long distance.

Yes, our hosts… Two of the finest folks this gypsy trekker has ever met. Whenever I think of Texas and all the good things it embodies, and of its people and all the wonderful attributes they manifest, I always get a mental image of that couple… standing, arms around each other’s waists, knowing looks in their eyes, kind, generous smiles on their faces… Two people who dare to live good lives, to ‘do the right thing’ in all things, but most of all, to be good friends to so many folks, including this grateful admirer.

Our ‘community’ would be so much less without them and others like them. Mitch had once said to me as we gazed at our bikes, “Valkyries are great machines and very much worth owning, but it’s all that goes with them that really blows your mind!” I couldn’t agree more, and Mark and Charlene are two of the reasons why this statement resonates so strongly with me…

I bought raffle ‘tickets’ for this and that… I never expect to win anything; therefore, I’m never disappointed when that proves to be the case. Heck, I didn’t even win a coveted knife sharpener this time… Like everyone else, though, I also know this is actually just a way to raise money for charity, and the money will be donated towards doing some good. Yet another benefit to these annual gatherings…

I made an innocent, honest boo-boo just before mealtime… I hadn’t eaten all day so far, and as I knew the time must be rapidly approaching for the meal and that I would find myself in my traditional position at the back end of the chow-line, I decided to sneak up and get more ‘samples’ of brisket before things formally kicked into high gear.

I stealthily made my way through the crowd, business-like and purposeful, I avoided eye contact in hopes of avoiding any delaying conversations that might result… with only moderate success… All went relatively well until I neared the serving line…

Only feet away from my quest, everybody stood and the ‘Blessing’ was offered… Then the line formed! Dang, I hadn’t accomplished my mission exactly, but there I was anyway… in the unaccustomed position of being very near the beginning of the line!

The following day it was time to exit this state, one of my very favorite places of all, and to make our way to Louisiana… I was riding with a small group, and things went well, more or less. I say ‘more or less’ because while the ride itself was nice with the weather continuing to cooperate, we were actually going the wrong way! And, I was not leading the parade this time!!!

Very comforting, though, to have someone else make this sort of boo-boo! Very reassuring too, and even though we went about fifty miles out of the way, I rather enjoyed the whole event… This probably proved to be a good thing in the long run, however…

Had we been on a more ‘efficient’ route, we would have been further away from HG’s place when… it happened… Dennis’ Interstate began to have electrical problems… Before we’d made it to Galveston and while still backtracking, things just wouldn’t go any more, so we found a suitable parking area.

After tinkering around with this and that, poking and prodding here and there, Dennis and Darrell diagnosed the problem as likely being the alternator. The good news is they had a spare with them. The bad news is it didn’t ultimately cure the ailment!

Dennis called HG after we’d limped into Galveston and found another good stopping place. Jimmy (Hay Hauler) brought another alternator out to us, and a change-out was again performed. Nope, that didn’t do the job either.

Dang! I’d have called a tow truck right from the start and had my ride hauled to the nearest Honda shop. Not the brain-trust of techies in this group, though. No sir, these guys were stumped, but they were a long way from capitulation!

More calls were made to other Valk wrenches, and more advice was sought… and more given. This was tried, then that… nothing seemed to work. While talking with Allan Pearson (Punisher), he suggested checking the sensor that shuts off the engine when the tilt angle goes beyond a certain level…

Seems so simple now, but that sensor proved to be the culprit! It wasn’t defective, rather it was not properly seated, so it would cause intermittent problems, making it much harder to diagnose. Once that little item was made right, though, everything worked as it should!

Jimmy had stayed with us throughout the entire afternoon… and he still had to drive back to Houston. Thanks, Jimmy, your time, effort and support really helped! He left us, and we headed towards the ferry, then on to Winnie, TX, where we got rooms for the night. Normally a day ride after GOTF back home in Louisiana for most of the group, that was not the case this time.

Oh well, important lessons learned, plus ‘practice’ trouble-shooting and making repairs gained… Hey, we needed some positive spin on all of this to ease some very frayed nerves! Happily, no more mechanical problems occurred for the remainder of the trip…

I returned home from this outing, and immediately began thinking about the lone remaining state that would complete my Tour de Dixie this season… Virginia…

DDT