Pie Run I: Pondering Pie Ride Report

[fast_yellow]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Just got back from Ponder a little while ago. I only had about 8 miles to ride from Denton, so no real ride report to speak of. Just far enough to blow the cobwebs out a little.

There were at least 30+ bikes that showed up to meet, greet, and eat.

Here are a couple of snapshots from the camera phone after a bunch of riders had already cleared out (I never seem to remember to pull out the camera until too late).

 

[Gilk51]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

I didn't get an exact count but I did count about 40 heads in the back room at the restaurant. Not full and overflowing like last time but a good turn-out for a January with pretty ugly weather. Sun finally came out as we were leaving. The fog in the morning was some of the worst I have seen in Texas (never been "surprised" by an overhead traffic signal before ).

I was cold this morning - yep, cold. Thermometer on the bike stayed between 40-42 but it seemed a lot colder.

Had several long distance riders - 'Becca (rocketbunny) and Dwayne (DwayneInfo) from Houston, one from Oklahoma that I forgot to verify - I'm guessing Ken (Cricket).

Also Mark MCRyder (Lindale) and Steve (Zorba) from Sulpher Springs.
James (JBay) represented Waco and central Texas.

I didn't get to meet everybody and didn't take notes until I thawed out, so if you rode a good way, speak up!

 

[RedPill]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

This was my first pie run. Great food, great folks, marginal weather. I was a bit chilly on the ride up to Ponder. I think it was the dampness that did it. Coming home was much nicer. The only bummer was that I left the visor open on my helmet when I locked it on the bike and it got up against the muffler. I now have a new vent in the lower right of my visor.

Live and learn. It was good chatting with folks.

 

[FWRex]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Sorry I missed y'all. I went into a curve on Iona Rd. and wound up playing in the mud on the shoulder. Wasn't going fast, just too fast for the conditions. Visibility was very limited by the fog and I couldn't see that the road just shy of the corner was covered in a thin film of mud from the passage of natural gas trucks. Started sliding and went off the road. Lost the back end as I was stopping and wound up rolling off of the bike at about five miles per hour. I'm fine and damage to the bike was minimal. Mostly cosmetic stuff with a bent handlebar. Road her home and I'm about to go wash off the mud so I can get to fixing her. Glad to see such a good turnout, hope y'all had fun.

 

[Gilk51]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Sorry I missed y'all.

There were several people that asked about you. Brad (jbh) filled them in on what happened.

Sorry we missed ya & glad the damage isn't bad.

 

[MCRyder]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Got back to Lindale around 4. It socked in with clouds and colder as I got to Greenville, brrrr! Stopped there and pulled the heated jacket back on.

Impressed with the turnout on a kinda yucky day, and with having riders from Houston and OK, wow . My total miles came to 280. Worth the fog and cold for good pie and great company.

Sorry to hear about your mishap FWRex, but glad you came out uninjured.

 

[Ace Wingnut]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Wow ... this is a group that knows how to do things up BIG.

Today, the worst fog I can remember seeing in the 50 years I've lived in Texas; last year on the Hico run, the worst wind I can remember, PLUS the worst dust storm.

What next?

 

[zorba]

Re: Pie Run I: Perfectly Pleasing Pie in Ponder

Just thawed out enough to type.

Enjoyed it folks. Don;t think I'll need to eat until Tuesday

 

[Jbay]

umm made it, brutal day, the fog, cold, and wet never seemed to let up

route

I forgot my GPS wasnt hardwired so it quit on me

Crooked Creek tommorow!!!

 

[bluedogok]

I forgot my GPS wasnt hardwired so it quit on me

I got a Zumo 450 for Christmas, I am wiring it up tomorrow.

Hope the damage isn't too bad Kelly, good to hear it wasn't anything more.

 

[jbh]

I can't say it was a good ride but it was a ride. Cold this morning, off road incident in our group and my windshield wipers were not working that well on the helmet. Food was good and weather was nice on the way home. Ace Wingnut and I slabbed it the whole way from weatherford once we abandoned the morning route.

FWREX, I freaked out when I crossed over the hill and saw a bike laying in the mud near the fence, but luckily no one was laying on the ground. I think that curve could have got anyone in the lead, it was solid mud and 90 degrees.

Wasabi, I think you and FWREX were behind us on 20 towards weatherford but I could only see Wayne behind me due to the fog. I hope you got back ok.

 

[kurt]

I slept for a few hours then rode locally for a couple of hours. It was sunny and warm.

 

[wczimmerman]

Well...it didn't happen for Cassie and I today. It certainly wasn't for lack of trying.

We left the house with great enthusiasm which was met with some of the worst fog and damp cold I've ever experienced. When we finally made it to Gatesville (slower speeds thanks to a perpetually fogging face shield and visibility down to about 20 ft.) we met with Jbay. Even with my electrically heated vest on high, insulated jacket liner, outer jacket, Joe Rocket waterproof/insulated winter gloves, windproof neck gaiter and windproof Firstgear liner in my riding pants, I was just beginning to feel the cold after the short 28 miles from Temple to Gatesville. In fact, my fingertips were beyond hurting-just numb. While we waited for Jbay to top off, I took my gloves off and let them thaw out against the engine heat.

Bear in mind that Cassie was with me and this was her first real ride since the accident in MO back in August. She was pumped for days to go. Her gear was long johns under normal clothes, an insulated jacket, scarf tucked into the jacket, and rain pants over her jeans. I supplemented her gear with some chemical hand warmers and one chemical body warmer. Throughout the ride I checked on her through the Chatterbox and she always replied that she was fine.

After pulling out from the gas station in Gatesville, 2 things happened: 1. I noticed that my legs had chilled down and were shivering nearly uncontrollably. 2. A truck in the on-coming lane lost a lag bolt onto the road which promptly impacted my fender and right fork. The jolt was shocking and I immediately pulled over. My initial inspection on the side of the road only saw some gouges in the front fender so I let Jbay know that I thought we were good to go. At this point, the fog was beginning to lift.

We pulled onto FM182 and as we began running through the sweeping curves my brain noticed something wasn't right. The roads were wet everywhere, the temps felt colder and the grass and the cars were covered with frost/ice. I remember thinking, "Um...this may not be a good idea..." At the same time, I was fighting the sluggish mental processing brought on by the cold, so my pace was reduced by both these factors.

This ride was quickly going from adventure/challenge to survival.

We stopped at the Shell station in Cranfills Gap and I took the opportunity to give the bike a closer inspection of the damage from the earlier impact. In addition to the fender scratches, I noticed that the fork dust cover was popped off and the lower fork itself was deeply gouged. Looking closely at it, I didn't see any fork oil leaking. At about that time, Cassie came out from the bathroom. I asked if she was ok, and she replied so while shivering and chattering her teeth. I walked into the station and noticed I could not feel my feet. Really hard to walk like that.

So, there I am with Cassie and I slowly freezing and the question of whether the fork was still road worthy while nearly 80 miles from home. I had to decide if we should soldier on or abort and head home. After apologizing to Jbay, I decided to play it safe and turn back. I figured it would be better to get home and for Cassie and I to thaw out rather than possibly get all the way to Ponder and have a problem.

Long story, longer: I got home, dropped Cassie off, rode the bike over to get something to eat in town, then headed down to CTPS. While I was there, my body finally warmed back up (I was running the electric vest on high even with the temps in the 60's just to warm up) and my muscles relaxed bringing on heavy fatigue. While I was resting, CTPS checked everything out and gave the bike a clean bill of health. The SV1K has a battle scar, but not in a conspicuous place and she lives to ride again.

Cassie and I did have fun, in a different sense. We shared an experience that we will remember for quite some time and I wouldn't trade that for anything. Top that off with some quality time on the recliner warming up under a blanket with her and I'd say the day ended rather well.

 

[Gilk51]

Well, we were sorry to not see WC and Cassie. I, too, was surprised at the cold. My fingertips and feet are probably the biggest issue. I got the impression from the news that the weather should improve after 9:00 AM. It was still going strong at 11:00.

I left the house a bit after 9:00 with the intention of intercepring WC and JBay on FM51 but I didn't calculate it well and left the house too late. While riding down FM1187, I determined that I would barely make it to Ponder from where I was, much less if I went on to Granbury!

So, I reset and slabbed around on I820 and up FM156. I was 5 minutes late.

Talking in the parking lot, I found out that Kelly (FWRex) had a minor get-off and Wayne (pacman1) got called in to work. Thus endeth the ZReX rally.

I also heard from Mark (MCRyder) that Bill (pub610) and Jessica (ninjette) had to bow out as well. Seems like Jessica still is having issues from her accident injuries form over a year ago and the cold causes her a LOT of extra pain. Bless her heart, hope she was able to rest during the remainder of the day.

I watched for James and WC while we were eating and finally found James at this table as I was walking up to pay:

I caught them unprepared but they bear the resemblance of Dwayne (DwayneInfo), Sam (shrek), James (JBay), and Henry (hank327).

James told me that WC and Cassie turned back due to the reasons in WC's post above. I was hoping that they hadn't waited too long. Sounds like they made lemonade out of the day.

My wife, Susan (tortuga), let the dogs out in the early morning and said it was too cold and that she was staying home and sleeping in with the mutts (all four had joined her to snooze in the bed).

I think that's all the folks who started out and then aborted the mission. There is always next month!

 

[rickmillertx]

George Moore (GeorgeInDallas) and I fired up the Ducatis and headed out for Ponder. We had never been there so it was a new experience for both of us. It was foggy but not dangerously thick. We arrived FIRST! Hey, what does that mean.

Ducatis are the fastest bikes?

George got on the phone to see where is everyone.

Within 20 minutes pie eaters were arriving from every direction.

After chatting a bit it was time for pie!

After lunch I discovered another Ducati in the crowd. (Steve from Allen)

George and I suited up and headed south for Dallas. We had a photo op to attend. Ducati owners were doing a group picture for a local motorcycle restaurant/detail place MOTOPIA
http://www.motopiacafe.com

Check out this Italian steel.

27 total bikes.

Anyways, great to see everyone again. It has been a while since I have attend a pie run and enjoyed catching up with ya'll.
Wczimmerman thanks for doing this and you did the right thing by turning back. There will always be another ride so take the safe option.

Rick

 

[Jbay]

I caught them unprepared but they bear the resemblance of Dwayne (DwayneInfo), Sam (shrek), James (JBay), and Henry (hank327).

actually we are listening to the waitress tell what for is for dessert, I know Dwayne had the peach cobbler & ice cream, what no pictures of dessert???

fess up guys, the scented soap at the counter you bought was for yerselfs

 

[Gilk51]

I took a few pictures. Here is what the parking lot (I always love that it is in the middle of the street) looked like just after I got there:

'Becca (rocketbunny) also involved in picture taking:

Folks talking in the parking lot.

Vern (Bonnie-STrider) on the right with his daughter and Rick (rickmillertx) in the background

Jerry (lobo10s) in the middle with Jamie to his left

One of the restaurant staff's T-shirt

The food was good. I'm glad I got the SMALL CFS so I had room for the buttermilk pie that I forgot to shoot a picture of

The parking lot was thinning out when I finally got outside, so I harrassed the straglers for some pictures...

Scott (KawRider) with his ZRX

Henry (hank327) and his ZRX

Brad (jbh) and his FJR

Roland (fossil) and Rose Ann on the GoldWing

Steve (zorba) and his GS

Becca (rocketbunny) and her Beemer

A Himalayan Nomad on a Super Sherpa - who could it be?

OK, it's Elzi (TexasShadow)

Ed (ed29) and his FJR (and part of a Sherpa)

Curtis (cleverly hiding behind the screenname "Curtis")

Becca again. That makes "Re-becca", right?

Ed and Elzi ready to go.

At this point, the weather had turned gorgeous ...

"Hon? Yeah, it's still socked in over here in Ponder - I can't make it home to Sulphur Springs until well past dark..."

-------

Pie Run I for 2008:

 

[Cricket]

Had a great time in Ponder TX glad to see so many people came out. Left the house this morning at 7.30am with low visible and a temperature hovering around 32o degrees what a ride. Going home was a lot more fun sun shinning, lot warmer and great 2 lanes home.
See you next time

Ken

 

[Tracker]

I decided to do something different and show up on time. Heck, I was even officially 15 minutes early.

Decided not to wander around north Texas too much on the way up and did a teleport up the ND Tollway to El Dorado, then up 423 zigged on 380 for about 500 yards, then back north on 1358. Headed west on 428. Fog never got too soupy, more like wonton soup without the wontons. The cold was penetrating.

BLT was tasty but the blackberry cobbler was muy tasty. Enjoyed lunch with Ken, Michael and Ralph. If I mangled your name--sorry, just doing my part to maintain your cover in the witness protection program.

With the sun riding right tailgunner, the ride back was definitely warmer. Swung back up further north on the way back and kissed Lake Ray Roberts on 425. Note to self--parks near lakes almost always have twisty roads and make good detours.

 

[DaveC]

My Son and I were under, over and through out a 96 GMC Sonoma 4x4 trying to pull the motor.
I am and from this day forward well never, ever, not even if it is a cold day in hades do this again. I could feel the breeze and see blue skys. Nothing but grease, oil, coolant mixed with dirt , dust and oil asorbent!


Pie and coffe would have been all the sweeter!

 

[Wasabi]

FWREX, I freaked out when I crossed over the hill and saw a bike laying in the mud near the fence, but luckily no one was laying on the ground. I think that curve could have got anyone in the lead, it was solid mud and 90 degrees.

Wasabi, I think you and FWREX were behind us on 20 towards weatherford but I could only see Wayne behind me due to the fog. I hope you got back ok.

Sorry I missed this one. I was really looking forward to some pie.

When we got on to I-20 the fog was so thick and the traffic so fast it was scary. I couldn’t see FWREX behind me so I pulled over to wait for him. He did not show after a few minuets so I went to the next exit and turned around to see if I could find him. But I soon realized that the fog was too thick to see him from the other side of I -20. I wasn’t sure what the route we were going to take to Ponder so I just pulled over and waited at a gas station for about an hour for the fog to break up enough to head back home. I called the restaurant when I got home and left a message that I was ok.

Here is the only pics I got for the day. This is after FWREX picked up the bike after the mud slide.

I hope to make PIE 2.

 

[Gilk51]

and waited at a gas station for about an hour for the fog to break up enough to head back home.

Sorry we missed ya, Bill.

We kinda figured that you stayed with Kelly for a bit. Your pictures show how thick the fog was and indicate how easily you can lose sight of another rider.

Who all was in the Starbucks group?

 

[TexasShadow]

A Himalayan Nomad on a Super Sherpa - who could it be?

Ninja Rider!

The fog was very reminiscent of a typical winter morning in Oregon, so it was no stranger to me. My finger tips were numb by the time I arrived, making me really appreciate heated grips and gear. They hurt like the dickens warming up.

I was worried that a rider or more might have an 'incident' on the way in the fog and I was very sorry to hear that Zimmerman and Kelley did. I'm glad it was nothing serious for both of you, but still sorry it did happen. I hope the bikes are okay, guys. And glad you three are definitely unharmed.

The ride home was sweet in the warmth and sun on the curvy roads and it made me appreciate the agility and nimbleness of the Sherpa on twisting rough pavement where riding same road on the V-strom elicits tank slappers and nearly 20 mph slower. The Sherpa took the corners like a charm and rode over the nasty uneven pavement so sweetly. I love that little bike.

Visited with Curtis on the way home. He's a walking creative and engineering genius!!! His projects amaze me!

Got home in time to tackle the Whee, and.........

Great time seeing all of you. Becca, great seeing you and I applaud you for riding all the way up to our little neck of the prairie!

Will the rider on the DRZ400 parked near the Sherpa pm me? I'd like to inquire into a DS ride in parts south of Mineral Wells sometime. Thanks.

 

[BIG A]

rick m and i rode up the back way from belton. through crawford to meridian, and glen rose, was forty something and very foggy when we left and only got colder and damper, sun teased us in a couple of places, but would soup back up again. took us 3 1/2 hours to get to ponders, but with all the saturday traffic , it took us almost 4hours`to get home, all in all we put on around 380 miles, sorry we didn't get to visit with more people, but ate early and headed back, food was great as usual, looking forward to more rides, hopefully warmer, and we will be able to see the countryside next time.

 

[pacman]

Thanks for posting these pics, Bill. From my perspective right behind Kelly, it looked like we has coming dangerously close to hitting that pipe fence. It looked like he bailed to avoid just that. But after talking to him, it sounds like he was pretty much stopped when we came off. Props to Kelly for keeping it upright until he was pretty much stopped. I would've freaked out as soon I saw that fence coming and wadded it up right into it.

After getting on the freeway, I knew that if I lost Brad, I'd be SOL. So I stuck to him like white on rice. Even then, I almost lost him a couple of times within about 10 miles. I guess that's what happed to Bill - we just disappeared into the fog.

We ended up pulling over about 10 minutes later (after exiting 180 to Weatherford) to do the same thing Bill did - wait for a break in the fog. Just as I was coming to a stop at the gas station, my pager went off. To tell the truth, though, I wasn't all that disappointed. The thought of going to work and earning time and a half for a few hours vs. slogging through that soup wasn't all that bad. I had some hot chocolate and then high-tailed it to the hospital.