Ride Journal
May 23, Day 11, Washington D.C.
Wow, this was a day to sleep in till 7:00. Some of the others already left who wanted to go for a group ride to the wall. Some of the people have never been there before and had some tales of amazement and emotional issues to talk about.
I needed to try to get my compensator sprocket attened to this morning so I rode to an auto repair shop right down the street. Turnpike Auto Service is the name of it. When I rode up there were two Asian guys there. I asked to use an impact for 5 seconds. They didn't understand what I was asking for so I showed them my home made 4 prong socket that is 1/2" drive. I made an impact sound and they laughed. They spoke to each other in something that I didn't understand and finally said OK. I pulled the primary cover off again and 5 seconds of rattling it got another 1/2 turn on it and it was all it took. I buttoned it all up again and poured some oil in it, thanked them and fueled up before going back to the motel.
Ray was at the wall for a while and when he came back, we left for the Fort Washington Harley Shop. Terry & Dee, Marv & Connie, Ray, his brother, Jerry and me got on 395 South and then to 495 North and the first two bikes changed lanes with all of us having our turn signals on. Terry tried to move over and a female in a black car speed up to not let Terry in. That made us frustrated so I sped up and passed Terry and pulled in beside the second bike and slowed down to make her back off so the others could get in line. The female was honking her horn at me, soooo I let her have a BIG blast with my horn. We all loved it except her but she didn't seem to have a sense of humor. Her next plan of action was to try to yell something at me and apparently she wanted to show me her finger nail polish or something....as she was getting off the freeway. She went through all that for nothing to just get off the road at the next exit??
We followed Ray for quite a few U-turns because nobody was real sure where we were going. We finally decided to follow a group of bikes and hoped that they were going to where we wanted to be. All we had to do was look up in the sky as they had a huge balloon flying above the shop. I pulled in to where they were keeping bikes from entering, and they said "back again, great!" So I parked on the front lawn and a large crowd formed right away for show and tell time. Quite a few people said that they either saw me in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Harley's 105th or here in DC the last four years. There almost always seems to be one or two people who do not believe that I can actually ride across country from coast to coast on "THAT" bike. I always invite them to ride with me if they think that they can keep up! We got our HOG run pins on the spot this time. In past years they mailed them to everyone a few weeks later. I recon that they finally figured out that it’s cheaper to give them out now and save all the postage! I went inside and got two more quarts of primary fluid and stood in the 'shirt' line to pay for them. When I got back to the bike I pulled off the inspection cover and dumped 3/4 of one quart in the primary. I figured that I might need more because when I put the cover on this morning the silicone did not have a chance to dry before I put oil in it. So I might leave some more oil from here to home, like what else is new!! Terry was getting some new patches put on his vest so he told them he would come back for it ‘cause we needed to get to the DC Ramblers Club House for a personal invitation for us NVAR riders for a lunch feast.
The guys and gals there treated everyone of us like family. They are the oldest motorcycle club around, having been in existence for many decades. They had a great feast ready for us and we had 100% attendance from what I could tell! It is a real treat to be able to go there and hang out with members of all ages who really appreciate us as well. A young boy named Brendon came over to me and handed me a firemen patch from his dad's engine company. I asked him if I could get his picture and put it on my web site. He said sure. I don't know if he knew what a Web site was so I gave him a card and told him to have his parents look it up for him. His dad reminded me that last year he wouldn't even get close to the bike and this year he let me lift him up and put him on my seat for a picture. He was proud as can be sitting shotgun in the giant ladder truck as they were driving away. I have a feeling that I know what Brendon will be when he grows up! A lot of kids say they want to be a fireman but this kid WILL be a fireman! We said good-bye and a big thank you to all the DC Ramblers and went back to the motel with no incidents or getting lost either. Wow!
We hung out and rested and then Terry called me and asked me if I wanted to join them for a walk across the street for Chinese food. I accepted and had dinner with Wylie and Jacque Wilson and Marv and Terry and another friend from Brookeville, Ohio. As we were walking back we saw Curt's bike, one of our road guards from Vancouver, Washington, being cleaned by four guys in the gas station parking lot. I asked them if they wanted to do my bike next. They said "sure" and while the rest of our group stayed there to see the reactions from them when I rode my bike up there, I went back to the motel to get it. The looks on their faces were as expected. We all got a laugh out of that and I had them pose for a picture.
On the way back to the motel I stopped by to visit more friends from the next door motel. We took a group picture with a lot of the guys and gals from F Troop. Not a club, just a bunch of good guys who love to ride. Bill gave me a Viet Nam colored kerchief a couple of years ago and he tied it on my bike and it blew off. The next year he gave me another one and that time it was tied on a lot better. He liked the fact that it is still there. In the picture are “Top” from our group, Bill, Stacks, Breeze, Stump, Hector, Bullet Head, Marla, Jesse & Lynn. Like our group, from all over the place.
We got back to the motel for more visiting and more people were making their way back from town. Two Alexandria cops showed up to say hi. We talked about my bike a lot and got a couple of pictures with them too. Very cool guys. We met a couple of more new faces; Jack, a 32-year retired deputy sheriff from Florida, and Jim Davis. Jim is going to put my picture on his face book page and direct people here, to my web site as well.
Something I would like for people to do is send an email to Schneider Trucking to thank them for sponsoring Vince to be able to join our group. It has been a real boost to our PR for the NVAR to have someone as cool as Vince and that beautiful truck supplied by Schneider Trucking Company. Thank You Schneider Trucking Company.
Up at 5:00 am tomorrow to leave for the Pentagon parking lot and stage for Rolling Thunder XXII Parade..........
