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- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 18,768
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- 6,756
- Location
- Sun Lakes & Show Low, Arizona
- First Name
- Brian
I have been riding to the annual Bite The Wieenie event at Pink's since 2010 and this was the lightest turnout that I've ever seen; only 21 bikes made the trip to the best of my knowledge.
This ride report is as copied from my FB page and was written primarily for my non-riding friends.
Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and while away a few minutes of your life as I relate what I did this weekend.
On Saturday I attended the 20th Bite The Wieenie RTE (Ride To Eat) at Pink's Hot Dogs in Hollywood, CA. Pink's has been an institution in Los Angles since 1939, but instead of me telling you all about it, just visit their website at pinkshollywood.com
Dean Tanji is the grand pooh-bah of this RTE and is the person we have to thank for giving us this opportunity to ride hundreds or thousands of miles just to eat a hot dog with similarly minded folks and then ride back home. Riders have attended this event from all over the country, Canada and Mexico.
I left home a little after 1 pm on Saturday and rolled into the parking lot at 8 pm (all times are AZ) seeing that Mark Arthur Fischer and Alexander Schmidt Obermoller had been there since before noon that day. The ride over was uneventful although this was my first longer ride (400 miles) in about two years. I've ridden less since I retired then when I was working full time; I thought it was supposed to be the other way around? Temps were very nice on the way over with 78 being the number for most of the way, then dropping down to about 66 by the time I reached Pink's.
As always, I *hate* riding in L.A. traffic. I was wearing my Helite Airbag vest that I bought specifically for my trips to L.A. Traffic was horrendous as usual, especially that first three miles of the 101 when you turn north from I-10 and proceed past downtown Los Angeles. That section of the 101 is more narrow, and while you can lane split, it's dicey on a big bike like the Wing. Splitting on I-10 on the way in was far easier, but splitting at night always puts me on edge. At least it wasn't raining, which is something that has affected a few Pink's rides in the previous years.
Other riders filtered in here and there with a few luminaries here and there. As mentioned, Dean was there to get everyone's names, bike info, miles ridden, etc. I'm guessing that we only had 20 bikes show up which would be the lowest turnout that I've seen over the past ten years. Perhaps the remnants of Covid helped to keep folks away?
Being a male of mature years, my first stop after getting my gear off was the bathroom, as it had been a long time since filling up at the AZ/CA border and using the facilities there. Next up was delivering some of Brenda's fresh chocolate chip cookies to Mark and Alex who had just completed an I-40 End to End ride in under 40 hours before they came to Pink's on Saturday. Then it was time for the obligatory selfie in front of the Pink's wall, and then to the front of the restaurant to order my food. As in previous years it was just the typical mustard/sauerkraut, onion rings, and a drink. I've included a photo of the receipt so you can see how much food costs have gone up.
After greeting some folks I haven't seen in years, meeting some new faces that I'm FB friends with, and hanging with others, I spent the remainder of the evening chit-chatting, walking among the bikes, taking photos, and listening and learning. After all, when you're in the presence of greatness within our little sub-culture you are best served to have big ears and a small mouth.
At around 1 am I decided to head back home, thinking that if things went well I could stop at home for a minute, and then continue on for another 200 miles to chalk up a Bite The Wieenie SaddleSore. Alas, that was not to be. The first fly in the ointment was when I filled up after leaving Pink's. The station I stopped at was closed but the pumps were 24 hours so I filled the bike up to the brim, hit "Receipt" and nothing came out. That was the first clue that this ride was not to be. I then stopped at Love's in Indio and added some more fuel; again, no receipt. Hmmmm
After leaving Indio I began climbing into the mountains and suddenly it got very windy. Very windy. VERY windy! It was blowing me all over the lane and I really had to reduce my speed. Fortunately I knew that a rest area was just ahead, and since I was already tired I figured an hour at the Iron Butt Motel would be in order. As it turned out, I was there for three hours, got very little sleep, and was constantly buffeted by the wind even though I was hunkered down behind a wall. I'm guessing that the gusts were 50-60 mph and I'm lucky that I was parked beside a large truck with a camper shell to help protect the bike from falling over. Every time I'd start to snooze another gust of wind would come blasting through and rock me from side to side and wake me up.
After three hours it had subsided just a bit, but when I hit the road again I was barely doing the speed limit due to the gusts moving me all over the place. Passing semi trucks in conditions like that are not for the faint of heart. After about 20 miles it began to lighten up a little, both in wind speed and sunlight on the horizon, and by the time I reached the AZ/CA border it was quite nice. I shucked my gear off, went inside to pee and grab a couple of bananas and some Pepto-Bismal; when you're subsisting on water and Aleve it tends to tear up the stomach a bit.
I returned to the bike to eat my banana and a Jeep pulled it carrying a Retired Army front plate. I greeted the driver, gave him one of my Tour Of Honor (tourofhonor.com) chips and thanked him for his service. We got into a conversation and it turns out that he served a total of 45 years; 20 as a Navy Corpman and 25 as an Army trauma nurse, primarily in the middle east. You never know who you're going to meet or what stories you're going to hear when you approach a Vet.
Now it was time to shed some clothes and start heading east. Temps had been down to 55 since I left L.A. but were now warming into the mid-60s and I was sure they would go higher. The hoodie went into the trunk and I plugged in my electric shirt (https://www.warmnsafe.com/collections/heat-layer-shirt/products/mens-12v-heatlayer) just in case. Turns out that I did need to turn it on a couple of times. I headed out but it wasn't too much further down the road when I came to grips with the fact that I should have napped while I was at the station. I kept the shirt on but the heat was low so that I didn't get too warm and comfortable and then fall asleep. I popped the visor open as cold air blasting in your face is a good way to keep awake and I sang, talked to myself, did stretching exercises; anything to keep the blood flowing and the eyelids open.
I passed TWO rest areas that were closed - you would think that if they are going to upgrade these that the state would start with every other one, and not two in a row! I was almost to the point where I was just going to take the next exit and park on the side of the road when I saw a sign for a Rest Area - 33 miles. That had to be the longest 33 miles in my life, but finally I pulled in, backed the bike into a shaded spot under a tree, turned the bike off, put my chin on my chest, and fell asleep. I had had a conversation the previous night at Pink’s about how I can never sleep on the bike; I always need the ground, a picnic table, a bench, but I just can’t sleep on the bike. I sure proved myself wrong on this trip as I was asleep within minutes. About twenty minutes later my internal alarm clock went off; I did a quick review to make sure someone hadn’t stolen anything off the bike while I was asleep - I had even left the key in the ignition - and then I was once again on my way feeling well refreshed. If you’ve never taken a power nap when you’re tired, you don’t know what you are missing. 10 - 20 minutes is all I typically need for another four hours or so of alertness, but if you go past 40 minutes you’re better off to sleep for a full two hours because it messes with your body if you wake up during that time period.
It was only about 90 minutes more to get home and the miles flew by. Traffic was moderately light and law enforcement was rare and usually on the other side of the Interstate. On this trip I saw far more trucks pulled over than passenger cars, and I only saw one Border Patrol vehicle and that was in CA.
All in all, I had a good time and I’m glad I went. I’ll post a number of photos, many of which will mean nothing to the non-rider, but carry significance for those of us in this sport. Now, to hope that FB doesn’t screw me over again. In case it does I did rewrite this in an editor so that I can just paste it into a post. (the original post was trashed by FB when I tried to post it)
The menu at Pink's
The obligatory selfie
Some of the hundreds of signed, celebrity photos on the wall.
One dog down, one to go. I was hungry as I hadn't eaten in about 8 hours.
It's not cheap, but you're paying for the experience as much as you are for the food itself.
Complimentary dogs given to the Grand Pooh-Bah, Dean Tanji. Dean has been arranging this event for the past 21 years.
In shorts and with his dog is Mike Rose, rider in Iron Butt Rally #1 back in 1984. Mike is a legend in our sport as shown in the linked article. That's my Wing just past him and in front of Sanjay wearing the full yellow Stich. https://www.ironbutt.org/IBRhistory/IBRHistoryI.pdf
Mike Brooke with the shaved head and Mark. Mike was the winner of the 2021 Iron Butt Rally with just under 14K miles ridden in the 11 day event. My friend Mark and my other friend Alex had ridden an I-40 End To End from NC to Barstow in 38H 47M before arriving at Pink's for the event.
A couple more legends in our sport. Paul Pelland in the leathers https://www.longhaulpaul.com/ and Wendy Crocket in the shorts on the right. Wendy was the winner of the 2019 Iron Butt Rally and the first woman to do so. Her husband is talking with Paul and her daughter is in the middle while Wendy is talking with Andy out of the Bay Area.
This is the back end of Mike Brooke's Hayabusa. I couldn't do 1000 miles on a sport bike, let alone 14,000. You can see his aux fuel tank on the back, but what you can't see is the hidden fuel cell tucked up into the curve of the back fender. Ingenius.
My Iron Butt Motel accomodations during the 3+ hour windstorm. I found out later that a Wind Advisory had been announced but I never bothered to check the weather before I left.
By the way, this was the first time I rode with my Helite Turtle air bag vest. Aside from sore shoulders which may be attributed to the heavier weight, or maybe it was just from my suspenders, I had no issues with it, and felt some extra comfort riding in the ridiculous L.A. congestion.
I put some reminder warning labels by my key to remind myself to disconnect BEFORE I got off the bike.
Let me know if you have any questions.
.
This ride report is as copied from my FB page and was written primarily for my non-riding friends.
Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and while away a few minutes of your life as I relate what I did this weekend.
On Saturday I attended the 20th Bite The Wieenie RTE (Ride To Eat) at Pink's Hot Dogs in Hollywood, CA. Pink's has been an institution in Los Angles since 1939, but instead of me telling you all about it, just visit their website at pinkshollywood.com
Dean Tanji is the grand pooh-bah of this RTE and is the person we have to thank for giving us this opportunity to ride hundreds or thousands of miles just to eat a hot dog with similarly minded folks and then ride back home. Riders have attended this event from all over the country, Canada and Mexico.
I left home a little after 1 pm on Saturday and rolled into the parking lot at 8 pm (all times are AZ) seeing that Mark Arthur Fischer and Alexander Schmidt Obermoller had been there since before noon that day. The ride over was uneventful although this was my first longer ride (400 miles) in about two years. I've ridden less since I retired then when I was working full time; I thought it was supposed to be the other way around? Temps were very nice on the way over with 78 being the number for most of the way, then dropping down to about 66 by the time I reached Pink's.
As always, I *hate* riding in L.A. traffic. I was wearing my Helite Airbag vest that I bought specifically for my trips to L.A. Traffic was horrendous as usual, especially that first three miles of the 101 when you turn north from I-10 and proceed past downtown Los Angeles. That section of the 101 is more narrow, and while you can lane split, it's dicey on a big bike like the Wing. Splitting on I-10 on the way in was far easier, but splitting at night always puts me on edge. At least it wasn't raining, which is something that has affected a few Pink's rides in the previous years.
Other riders filtered in here and there with a few luminaries here and there. As mentioned, Dean was there to get everyone's names, bike info, miles ridden, etc. I'm guessing that we only had 20 bikes show up which would be the lowest turnout that I've seen over the past ten years. Perhaps the remnants of Covid helped to keep folks away?
Being a male of mature years, my first stop after getting my gear off was the bathroom, as it had been a long time since filling up at the AZ/CA border and using the facilities there. Next up was delivering some of Brenda's fresh chocolate chip cookies to Mark and Alex who had just completed an I-40 End to End ride in under 40 hours before they came to Pink's on Saturday. Then it was time for the obligatory selfie in front of the Pink's wall, and then to the front of the restaurant to order my food. As in previous years it was just the typical mustard/sauerkraut, onion rings, and a drink. I've included a photo of the receipt so you can see how much food costs have gone up.
After greeting some folks I haven't seen in years, meeting some new faces that I'm FB friends with, and hanging with others, I spent the remainder of the evening chit-chatting, walking among the bikes, taking photos, and listening and learning. After all, when you're in the presence of greatness within our little sub-culture you are best served to have big ears and a small mouth.
At around 1 am I decided to head back home, thinking that if things went well I could stop at home for a minute, and then continue on for another 200 miles to chalk up a Bite The Wieenie SaddleSore. Alas, that was not to be. The first fly in the ointment was when I filled up after leaving Pink's. The station I stopped at was closed but the pumps were 24 hours so I filled the bike up to the brim, hit "Receipt" and nothing came out. That was the first clue that this ride was not to be. I then stopped at Love's in Indio and added some more fuel; again, no receipt. Hmmmm
After leaving Indio I began climbing into the mountains and suddenly it got very windy. Very windy. VERY windy! It was blowing me all over the lane and I really had to reduce my speed. Fortunately I knew that a rest area was just ahead, and since I was already tired I figured an hour at the Iron Butt Motel would be in order. As it turned out, I was there for three hours, got very little sleep, and was constantly buffeted by the wind even though I was hunkered down behind a wall. I'm guessing that the gusts were 50-60 mph and I'm lucky that I was parked beside a large truck with a camper shell to help protect the bike from falling over. Every time I'd start to snooze another gust of wind would come blasting through and rock me from side to side and wake me up.
After three hours it had subsided just a bit, but when I hit the road again I was barely doing the speed limit due to the gusts moving me all over the place. Passing semi trucks in conditions like that are not for the faint of heart. After about 20 miles it began to lighten up a little, both in wind speed and sunlight on the horizon, and by the time I reached the AZ/CA border it was quite nice. I shucked my gear off, went inside to pee and grab a couple of bananas and some Pepto-Bismal; when you're subsisting on water and Aleve it tends to tear up the stomach a bit.
I returned to the bike to eat my banana and a Jeep pulled it carrying a Retired Army front plate. I greeted the driver, gave him one of my Tour Of Honor (tourofhonor.com) chips and thanked him for his service. We got into a conversation and it turns out that he served a total of 45 years; 20 as a Navy Corpman and 25 as an Army trauma nurse, primarily in the middle east. You never know who you're going to meet or what stories you're going to hear when you approach a Vet.
Now it was time to shed some clothes and start heading east. Temps had been down to 55 since I left L.A. but were now warming into the mid-60s and I was sure they would go higher. The hoodie went into the trunk and I plugged in my electric shirt (https://www.warmnsafe.com/collections/heat-layer-shirt/products/mens-12v-heatlayer) just in case. Turns out that I did need to turn it on a couple of times. I headed out but it wasn't too much further down the road when I came to grips with the fact that I should have napped while I was at the station. I kept the shirt on but the heat was low so that I didn't get too warm and comfortable and then fall asleep. I popped the visor open as cold air blasting in your face is a good way to keep awake and I sang, talked to myself, did stretching exercises; anything to keep the blood flowing and the eyelids open.
I passed TWO rest areas that were closed - you would think that if they are going to upgrade these that the state would start with every other one, and not two in a row! I was almost to the point where I was just going to take the next exit and park on the side of the road when I saw a sign for a Rest Area - 33 miles. That had to be the longest 33 miles in my life, but finally I pulled in, backed the bike into a shaded spot under a tree, turned the bike off, put my chin on my chest, and fell asleep. I had had a conversation the previous night at Pink’s about how I can never sleep on the bike; I always need the ground, a picnic table, a bench, but I just can’t sleep on the bike. I sure proved myself wrong on this trip as I was asleep within minutes. About twenty minutes later my internal alarm clock went off; I did a quick review to make sure someone hadn’t stolen anything off the bike while I was asleep - I had even left the key in the ignition - and then I was once again on my way feeling well refreshed. If you’ve never taken a power nap when you’re tired, you don’t know what you are missing. 10 - 20 minutes is all I typically need for another four hours or so of alertness, but if you go past 40 minutes you’re better off to sleep for a full two hours because it messes with your body if you wake up during that time period.
It was only about 90 minutes more to get home and the miles flew by. Traffic was moderately light and law enforcement was rare and usually on the other side of the Interstate. On this trip I saw far more trucks pulled over than passenger cars, and I only saw one Border Patrol vehicle and that was in CA.
All in all, I had a good time and I’m glad I went. I’ll post a number of photos, many of which will mean nothing to the non-rider, but carry significance for those of us in this sport. Now, to hope that FB doesn’t screw me over again. In case it does I did rewrite this in an editor so that I can just paste it into a post. (the original post was trashed by FB when I tried to post it)
The menu at Pink's
The obligatory selfie
Some of the hundreds of signed, celebrity photos on the wall.
One dog down, one to go. I was hungry as I hadn't eaten in about 8 hours.
It's not cheap, but you're paying for the experience as much as you are for the food itself.
Complimentary dogs given to the Grand Pooh-Bah, Dean Tanji. Dean has been arranging this event for the past 21 years.
In shorts and with his dog is Mike Rose, rider in Iron Butt Rally #1 back in 1984. Mike is a legend in our sport as shown in the linked article. That's my Wing just past him and in front of Sanjay wearing the full yellow Stich. https://www.ironbutt.org/IBRhistory/IBRHistoryI.pdf
Mike Brooke with the shaved head and Mark. Mike was the winner of the 2021 Iron Butt Rally with just under 14K miles ridden in the 11 day event. My friend Mark and my other friend Alex had ridden an I-40 End To End from NC to Barstow in 38H 47M before arriving at Pink's for the event.
A couple more legends in our sport. Paul Pelland in the leathers https://www.longhaulpaul.com/ and Wendy Crocket in the shorts on the right. Wendy was the winner of the 2019 Iron Butt Rally and the first woman to do so. Her husband is talking with Paul and her daughter is in the middle while Wendy is talking with Andy out of the Bay Area.
This is the back end of Mike Brooke's Hayabusa. I couldn't do 1000 miles on a sport bike, let alone 14,000. You can see his aux fuel tank on the back, but what you can't see is the hidden fuel cell tucked up into the curve of the back fender. Ingenius.
My Iron Butt Motel accomodations during the 3+ hour windstorm. I found out later that a Wind Advisory had been announced but I never bothered to check the weather before I left.
By the way, this was the first time I rode with my Helite Turtle air bag vest. Aside from sore shoulders which may be attributed to the heavier weight, or maybe it was just from my suspenders, I had no issues with it, and felt some extra comfort riding in the ridiculous L.A. congestion.
I put some reminder warning labels by my key to remind myself to disconnect BEFORE I got off the bike.
Let me know if you have any questions.
.
Last edited:
Thanks for the ride report.
