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My first ever ride report!!!
- Thread starter KenWg19
- Start date
More please.KenWg19
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Okay... so, I hadn't seen John or Robert in around five years, but I gotta tell ya... when I walked thru that door and their kids ran up to hug me and tell me how I was their favorite "Uncle"... it was like coming home.
I can't describe the feeling... it was obvious that even though we had not visited in so many years, John and Robert had kept me a close part of their families. Even when I went to visit them at work, their employees knew all about me. I don't think a man can have better friends than these two men and their families and I consider myself blessed for it.
Anyway... back to the pics!
Saturday morning, we went to the Berryville range to shoot their regular match. This is the place where IDPA started and where the Arkansas Combat Pistol Leaque calls home. I hadn't shot a match here since probably 2002, but when I showed up, everyone rememebered me and they still had my membership number on hand. Unfortunately, this month was the scheduled classifier course...
Robert was the match director and he got things going. From the picture, you can probably figure out why we lovingly call him "piglet" or simply, "The Pig." He once got kicked out of an all you can eat buffet!
This is John's son, Eoin (Irish spelling, but pronounced Owen). He shoots regularly with John and Robert at these matches and that day, he was shooting a S&W .22. His time was a little slow compared to the adults, but he had fewer points down than many of the adults!
And this is just a random picture taken at the match... I think the shooter is another friend named Greg, and he's one of the few "Distinguished Masters" in the sport.
And here's my buddy, John, caught at the start of a reload.
I hadn't shot a match in around five years, and haven't shot as many rounds during that time as I used to in any given month back in the day, but I was suprised at how well everything kinda came back to me. Ultimately, I shot about the same scores as I used to, and had a great time doing it!
Here's one of John and Eoin together...
I can't describe the feeling... it was obvious that even though we had not visited in so many years, John and Robert had kept me a close part of their families. Even when I went to visit them at work, their employees knew all about me. I don't think a man can have better friends than these two men and their families and I consider myself blessed for it.
Anyway... back to the pics!
Saturday morning, we went to the Berryville range to shoot their regular match. This is the place where IDPA started and where the Arkansas Combat Pistol Leaque calls home. I hadn't shot a match here since probably 2002, but when I showed up, everyone rememebered me and they still had my membership number on hand. Unfortunately, this month was the scheduled classifier course...
Robert was the match director and he got things going. From the picture, you can probably figure out why we lovingly call him "piglet" or simply, "The Pig." He once got kicked out of an all you can eat buffet!
This is John's son, Eoin (Irish spelling, but pronounced Owen). He shoots regularly with John and Robert at these matches and that day, he was shooting a S&W .22. His time was a little slow compared to the adults, but he had fewer points down than many of the adults!
And this is just a random picture taken at the match... I think the shooter is another friend named Greg, and he's one of the few "Distinguished Masters" in the sport.
And here's my buddy, John, caught at the start of a reload.
I hadn't shot a match in around five years, and haven't shot as many rounds during that time as I used to in any given month back in the day, but I was suprised at how well everything kinda came back to me. Ultimately, I shot about the same scores as I used to, and had a great time doing it!
Here's one of John and Eoin together...
KenWg19
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After the match, we had to run by John's work. He had a crew building him a new office in the building and we had to let them out and lock up. I took the opportunity to snap a few pics.
Here's Eoin in front of the sign at Wilson's.
Inside, I saw this just laying out waiting to be packaged and shipped to a customer. It's an upper chambered in 300 Blk and it is fitted with a welded suppressor ready brake to give it an over-all barrell length of 16 inches. It was beautiful!
And they were multiplying!!! These things were everywhere!
Here's Eoin in front of the sign at Wilson's.
Inside, I saw this just laying out waiting to be packaged and shipped to a customer. It's an upper chambered in 300 Blk and it is fitted with a welded suppressor ready brake to give it an over-all barrell length of 16 inches. It was beautiful!
And they were multiplying!!! These things were everywhere!
KenWg19
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- Ken
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- Williamson
That night, we went back to John's and Lisa & Rhonda had a great feast prepared. It had been a long day and we were hungry, so no pics of the elk roast... sorry.
The next day, I decided to make a loop of the area. I rode up to Eureka Springs over to Hwy 23 and went south. I then made my way east thru Kingston, over towards Ponca, up thru "The Lost Valley" and the Buffalo river area, then up to Harrison and back over to Berryville.
It was a great ride, but I was driving thru the lost valley in the heat of the day... so while I didn't get to see any elk, I didn't have to dodge them on the road either!
On the way, I saw the Arkansas Adventure Rider store and had to pull over. This is Larry and he was a good guy. He said I was the third guy from Dallas that had come in that morning!
And who can resist a Hoe Down?
Then down into old Eureka Springs...
Leaving Eureka Springs, I was so taken by the beauty of the area that I didn't get a lot of pics. But I did run across this cool little building.
And after some winding mountain passages, I dropped down into this beautiful area.
The next day, I decided to make a loop of the area. I rode up to Eureka Springs over to Hwy 23 and went south. I then made my way east thru Kingston, over towards Ponca, up thru "The Lost Valley" and the Buffalo river area, then up to Harrison and back over to Berryville.
It was a great ride, but I was driving thru the lost valley in the heat of the day... so while I didn't get to see any elk, I didn't have to dodge them on the road either!
On the way, I saw the Arkansas Adventure Rider store and had to pull over. This is Larry and he was a good guy. He said I was the third guy from Dallas that had come in that morning!
And who can resist a Hoe Down?
Then down into old Eureka Springs...
Leaving Eureka Springs, I was so taken by the beauty of the area that I didn't get a lot of pics. But I did run across this cool little building.
And after some winding mountain passages, I dropped down into this beautiful area.
KenWg19
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- Dallas, TX
- First Name
- Ken
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- Williamson
It was a great trip and I was looking for those standard ride report photos, so I couldn't resist the urge to park the bike in front of signs and grab a quick pic...
Note to self... make sure you can actually park the bike in front of those signs without it falling over!
But once I got the bike upright again and back on the road, there were more beautiful vistas to enjoy!
And a lot more fun... This was right around the junction where you could go up to Ponca one way, or up thru the Buffalo River area the other... I chose the twisties!
I'll post some more pics later, but for now, I've gotta get some work done before heading over to the girlfriend's for dinner. She's already a little bent outta shape over me taking off for so long... and ever since I taught her how to shoot, I am not too keen on her getting too angry at me!
Note to self... make sure you can actually park the bike in front of those signs without it falling over!
But once I got the bike upright again and back on the road, there were more beautiful vistas to enjoy!
And a lot more fun... This was right around the junction where you could go up to Ponca one way, or up thru the Buffalo River area the other... I chose the twisties!
I'll post some more pics later, but for now, I've gotta get some work done before heading over to the girlfriend's for dinner. She's already a little bent outta shape over me taking off for so long... and ever since I taught her how to shoot, I am not too keen on her getting too angry at me!
Mark_M
0
+1 have a safe and awesome ride. I can remember my first ever ride long long time ago. I know the feeling. Congrats 
and 
Enjoyyour time.
and Enjoyyour time.
Mark_M
0
aaaaaaaannd ouch.
I once made a note to myself hmmm well actually 2 notes
1] Never kick the side stand stand down while easing into a parking spot while bike is in motion ( specially a Chill's resturant )and assume it went all the way down make sure you check it !!!
If not you will find yourself laying on the floor with said bike on top of you 
2] Refer to first note again and again...
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And never park downhill lest your bike creep forward and go down!!
Don't ask how I know.
Don't ask how I know.
Great ride report, but the next time you leave on a ride, take a picture of the stripper, please.
KenWg19
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- Oct 12, 2010
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- Dallas, TX
- First Name
- Ken
- Last Name
- Williamson
So, when I left off, I was heading up from the Ponca cutoff to ride thru the Buffalo River area. While passing thru, I couldn't help but to pull over and get a pic of this...
Who knew that Wayne's World had relocated to the south!
Or that he hated bikes so much! Kate swears she could hear banjos playing somewhere...
So I rode Kate on and out towards Harrison, but not before getting the obligatory ride pic with the sign...
And in some places, I was at a loss to get a picture with my crappy camera that did justice to the amazing views. This pic, for instance, just can't convey the incredible view that could be seen from this little place near the overlook of the bluffs above the Buffalo River. It was just amazing and wish my camera and photog skills were up to the task...
But all good things have to come to an end, so as I dropped out of the mountains and the scenery started to become less spectacular, I focused on making time to my buddy Robert's house. John had called to tell me that Joyce Wilson had culled over 60 does off her property in Texas and had flown some of the meat up to Berryville. So I made tracks there and enjoyed a wonderful venison dinner cooked to perfection by Robert's amazing wife, Rhonda. Sorry, no pics... after such a long day on the bike, I was too hungry to remember getting pics of the meal...
But, while she was cooking, Robert and I had an opportunity to build and package several hundred Wilson 1911 mags. Apparently, they had about 9000 of these mags on back order so we did our best to alleviate the problem. Now there are only about 8000 on backorder!
I think Rhonda is still mad at us for filling all her laundry baskets with mags!
Who knew that Wayne's World had relocated to the south!
Or that he hated bikes so much! Kate swears she could hear banjos playing somewhere...
So I rode Kate on and out towards Harrison, but not before getting the obligatory ride pic with the sign...
And in some places, I was at a loss to get a picture with my crappy camera that did justice to the amazing views. This pic, for instance, just can't convey the incredible view that could be seen from this little place near the overlook of the bluffs above the Buffalo River. It was just amazing and wish my camera and photog skills were up to the task...
But all good things have to come to an end, so as I dropped out of the mountains and the scenery started to become less spectacular, I focused on making time to my buddy Robert's house. John had called to tell me that Joyce Wilson had culled over 60 does off her property in Texas and had flown some of the meat up to Berryville. So I made tracks there and enjoyed a wonderful venison dinner cooked to perfection by Robert's amazing wife, Rhonda. Sorry, no pics... after such a long day on the bike, I was too hungry to remember getting pics of the meal...
But, while she was cooking, Robert and I had an opportunity to build and package several hundred Wilson 1911 mags. Apparently, they had about 9000 of these mags on back order so we did our best to alleviate the problem. Now there are only about 8000 on backorder!
I think Rhonda is still mad at us for filling all her laundry baskets with mags!
KenWg19
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- Williamson
Eventually, I had to start thinking about returning to Dallas. I didn't really want to leave, but it looked like the weather was going to turn against me if I waited too long. So I told John that I'd be heading out on Wednesday and he suggested that we run by Wilson's one last time for the grand tour before heading out. How could I resist?
So wednesday morning, we ran by the shop. I got to see all the cool CNC machines cutting the gun parts from billet stock. It was pretty neat!
This is a sort of before and after look at how they make a backstrap/magwell from a block of aluminum.
And this is the view from Vic Tibbit's office looking down on the gunsmith shop floor.
They machine these various 1911 slides and frames...
Into these...
I'll be honest, watching these guys work on the guns, filing and stoning the metal, made me nervous. I couldn't imagine taking a file to one of those guns!
So wednesday morning, we ran by the shop. I got to see all the cool CNC machines cutting the gun parts from billet stock. It was pretty neat!
This is a sort of before and after look at how they make a backstrap/magwell from a block of aluminum.
And this is the view from Vic Tibbit's office looking down on the gunsmith shop floor.
They machine these various 1911 slides and frames...
Into these...
I'll be honest, watching these guys work on the guns, filing and stoning the metal, made me nervous. I couldn't imagine taking a file to one of those guns!
KenWg19
0
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 189
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- Location
- Dallas, TX
- First Name
- Ken
- Last Name
- Williamson
And there was more! Wilson also makes some amazing shotguns! Here, we see a tray of 870 actions waiting their turn to be worked over...
And AR 15 parts are seemingly everywhere!
They all eventually turn into these...
And these!
And AR 15 parts are seemingly everywhere!
They all eventually turn into these...
And these!
KenWg19
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- Dallas, TX
- First Name
- Ken
- Last Name
- Williamson
And then, their master rifle smith and all around good guy walks up with a rifle and asks if I'd like to take it out to the proof range and burn some ammo! Well, I didn't want to be rude and refuse his generous offer!!!
But before I could get out the door, he decides that I might as well try out their suppressor too! Did I mention how much I love this place?
Yes, it was a great time!
But wait! There's more!
One of the smiths came out with a new prototype .22 can that they are working on and thought I should burn some more ammo thru it so he could hear its sound signature. Well, of course I'm happy to help him out!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the look of a happy man!
After we left Wilson Combat, John and I headed over to IDPA headquarters and I said my goodbyes to all my friends there. It was really good seeing them all, but I needed to get on the road if I was going to have any chance at making it back to Dallas before dark.
But John had other ideas. See, on my keychain I have what's called a "monkey fist." It's basically a large steel ball bearing wrapped tightly in something resembling a gordian knot. I love the thing in part because it is the most lethal weapon you can still carry on an airplane without TSA even looking twice. So John wanted to take me up to ParaCord USA. ParaCord is owned by Bill Wilson's son, Ryan, and we ran up there and I had a bunch of stuff custom made and Ryan refused to let me pay for any of it. I didn't get any pictures there... really nothing to see but hundreds of spools of different colors of cord and bins of ball bearings, beads and little skulls. By the time we left, we decided to go ahead and get a bite to eat before heading back to John's house and my bike.
By the time I was actually on the road headed home, any hope of making it to Dallas before dark was gone. I don't remember what time I finally got on the road, but it was probably around 2pm. I headed south to Marble and then cut over to Hwy 23. I shot south down on the pigtrail and was gratified with all the twisties along the way.
Eventually, I made it to Mena and pulled over for a bite to eat when it started to rain. It wasn't coming down that hard, really just a sprinkling, so I got back on the road and made my way towards Texarkana in the dark. The bike was running great and I made pretty good time. Along the way, I did get one pretty surreal moment when a car passed me and apparently just managed to clip a possum. All I saw was the car pass by, get ahead of me and then just a weird grey blur by it's front quarter panel. The blur was the possum and it had been clipped somehow so that it was thrown in front of my bike! I didn't know what it was at first, but it instantly started doing what looked like little possum jumping jacks right in front of my bike! This thing was getting some pretty good air and looked to be jumping up high enough that I thought it would hit my fairing and get bounced off and up into my helmet!
I was a little impressed with myself when I suddenly pushed over to narrowly avoid having the thing impact me... but then any sense of pride in my riding skills evaporated when I realized that it may have been a better idea to just risk the impact as opposed to doing such a manuever on a road surface that had just recently been exposed to a light sheen of water from the previous rain. Oh well, it ended up okay cuz I didn't go down or hit the crazy jumping possum.
I stopped to gas up again somewhere just east of Rockwall and discovered that I was about 30 miles from home and it was 1:30 am! What a day! I checked my phone and saw that my girlfriend had texted me wanting to know if I was okay and when we could get together.
Holy smokes batman! I was on the last leg of a trip that saw more than 1200 miles on the bike (and my butt was telling me that it was not yet acclimated to life on a corbin dished seat), I had traveled thru three national parks/forests, four state parks, and busted my cherry on multiple dirt roads along the way!!! I was too tired to think about when I would be able to go out with her!!! Right??? Right???
Well... you guessed it... I went finally got home, unloaded the bike, grabbed a quick nap... and then went over to see my girl, Cassie. We spent the entire weekend together and had a great St. Patty's day too!
Now, I am well and truly tired and sore... but the journey is over, tomorrow I'll be back at school. But I have also just had one of the best weeks of my life. It was a great ride for me and I cannot imagine a better first trip on the bike than this one.
I'm still a noob. There is still plenty for me to learn. But, there is also plenty more for me to see, and the view from two wheels is exactly how I want to view it. I thank all the members here on the forum for helping me nurture this new addiction of mine and I hope you have enjoyed this, my first, ride report.
In closing, I will leave you with this... Someone asked about a pic of my stripper neighbor who took that first pic of me before I left on my journey...
I don't have a pic of her, and don't really want one... but I'm not one who likes to disappoint, so here is a pic of my girlfriend, Cassie... and yes... many years ago she was a stripper
Enjoy!
Ken
But before I could get out the door, he decides that I might as well try out their suppressor too! Did I mention how much I love this place?
Yes, it was a great time!
But wait! There's more!
One of the smiths came out with a new prototype .22 can that they are working on and thought I should burn some more ammo thru it so he could hear its sound signature. Well, of course I'm happy to help him out!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the look of a happy man!
After we left Wilson Combat, John and I headed over to IDPA headquarters and I said my goodbyes to all my friends there. It was really good seeing them all, but I needed to get on the road if I was going to have any chance at making it back to Dallas before dark.
But John had other ideas. See, on my keychain I have what's called a "monkey fist." It's basically a large steel ball bearing wrapped tightly in something resembling a gordian knot. I love the thing in part because it is the most lethal weapon you can still carry on an airplane without TSA even looking twice. So John wanted to take me up to ParaCord USA. ParaCord is owned by Bill Wilson's son, Ryan, and we ran up there and I had a bunch of stuff custom made and Ryan refused to let me pay for any of it. I didn't get any pictures there... really nothing to see but hundreds of spools of different colors of cord and bins of ball bearings, beads and little skulls. By the time we left, we decided to go ahead and get a bite to eat before heading back to John's house and my bike.
By the time I was actually on the road headed home, any hope of making it to Dallas before dark was gone. I don't remember what time I finally got on the road, but it was probably around 2pm. I headed south to Marble and then cut over to Hwy 23. I shot south down on the pigtrail and was gratified with all the twisties along the way.
Eventually, I made it to Mena and pulled over for a bite to eat when it started to rain. It wasn't coming down that hard, really just a sprinkling, so I got back on the road and made my way towards Texarkana in the dark. The bike was running great and I made pretty good time. Along the way, I did get one pretty surreal moment when a car passed me and apparently just managed to clip a possum. All I saw was the car pass by, get ahead of me and then just a weird grey blur by it's front quarter panel. The blur was the possum and it had been clipped somehow so that it was thrown in front of my bike! I didn't know what it was at first, but it instantly started doing what looked like little possum jumping jacks right in front of my bike! This thing was getting some pretty good air and looked to be jumping up high enough that I thought it would hit my fairing and get bounced off and up into my helmet!
I was a little impressed with myself when I suddenly pushed over to narrowly avoid having the thing impact me... but then any sense of pride in my riding skills evaporated when I realized that it may have been a better idea to just risk the impact as opposed to doing such a manuever on a road surface that had just recently been exposed to a light sheen of water from the previous rain. Oh well, it ended up okay cuz I didn't go down or hit the crazy jumping possum.
I stopped to gas up again somewhere just east of Rockwall and discovered that I was about 30 miles from home and it was 1:30 am! What a day! I checked my phone and saw that my girlfriend had texted me wanting to know if I was okay and when we could get together.
Holy smokes batman! I was on the last leg of a trip that saw more than 1200 miles on the bike (and my butt was telling me that it was not yet acclimated to life on a corbin dished seat), I had traveled thru three national parks/forests, four state parks, and busted my cherry on multiple dirt roads along the way!!! I was too tired to think about when I would be able to go out with her!!! Right??? Right???
Well... you guessed it... I went finally got home, unloaded the bike, grabbed a quick nap... and then went over to see my girl, Cassie. We spent the entire weekend together and had a great St. Patty's day too!
Now, I am well and truly tired and sore... but the journey is over, tomorrow I'll be back at school. But I have also just had one of the best weeks of my life. It was a great ride for me and I cannot imagine a better first trip on the bike than this one.
I'm still a noob. There is still plenty for me to learn. But, there is also plenty more for me to see, and the view from two wheels is exactly how I want to view it. I thank all the members here on the forum for helping me nurture this new addiction of mine and I hope you have enjoyed this, my first, ride report.
In closing, I will leave you with this... Someone asked about a pic of my stripper neighbor who took that first pic of me before I left on my journey...
I don't have a pic of her, and don't really want one... but I'm not one who likes to disappoint, so here is a pic of my girlfriend, Cassie... and yes... many years ago she was a stripper
Enjoy!
Ken
Left Richardson ..blah, blah, blah....cold ..blah, blah, blah... scenery and friends and guns ... blah, blah, blah...
We need pics of the neighbor ASAP...
BTW, great RR. Thanks for sharing, now about that neighbor...
- Joined
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- First Name
- Mark
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- Drumm
Great report! Nice T-shirt! Glad you are here, man!!
KenWg19
0
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 189
- Reaction score
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- Dallas, TX
- First Name
- Ken
- Last Name
- Williamson
Left Richardson ..blah, blah, blah....cold ..blah, blah, blah... scenery and friends and guns ... blah, blah, blah...
We need pics of the neighbor ASAP...
BTW, great RR. Thanks for sharing, now about that neighbor...
Check your PMs Weazy...
Great job Ken!!
I wish more ride reports included strippers.
I wish more ride reports included strippers.
Left Richardson ..blah, blah, blah....cold ..blah, blah, blah... scenery and friends and guns ... blah, blah, blah...
We need pics of the neighbor ASAP...
BTW, great RR. Thanks for sharing, now about that neighbor...
Check your PMs Weazy...
Great report Ken, thanks for sharing. My wife and I just returned from a jaunt there in our 4-wheel pocket rocket:
now we know what the fuss is all about Arkansas. What a nice place to be
- Joined
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- Taylor
Nice ride, fun times with a nice welcome home. Some cool friends you have too.
Some cool friends you have too.
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2008
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- RIO DELL, CA
- First Name
- Wally
- Last Name
- Niebel
Well done RR! Thanks for taking us along.