Sunday Ride

So Harry calls me the other day telling me he found the group to be riding with as the group of guys he has been riding with for a while is getting too slow for him. The majority of the guys in that group he rides with are a little older and tend not to need to run as fast as we do. Now, with that said, its not always about going fast, or being wreckless, or even irresponsible... but like anyone else, Harry and I like to turn it up a notch every once in a while.

So Harry and I had rode once before and it was a short hop, not very long, not very far, but we did get to run around a bit. After we split up from Bugs, who does not run fast at all, probably because he is near lounging on that big ass couch he rides, Harry and I got on the gas a bit. Fuck... Let me tell you, Harry is not afraid of getting on the gas. His FJZ HAULS ASS!!!! Its a big 1300cc, clutchless bike, that left my ass in the dust. Although I caught up to him finally as we were near 120 or 130mph, I have to admit, he is very quick.

So we hadn't ridden in 2 weeks and he calls me to tell me he met some guys that are part of a group of sport bike riders here in the Valley. Guys of like minds, fast bikes, running far and hard and doing it on sport bikes and also safety and gear oriented. So in other words, good guys, fast bikes, and not stupid squids with squidly behavior. I'm in. He tells me that we have a bbq at one of the guys' house and we're off. Met up and rode out to Mission for a bbq. Turns out Harry was a little worried because apparently on the way over to meet him my back light went out. Turns out it was the bulb that was old and not making the right amount of contact... anyway, he could not see me at night and we ended up getting lost because I suck and had not been in Mission for a while. BBQ went well, met some guys and made plans for a Sunday Morning ride that they all go on every week.

The next morning I'm up early and getting ready. Heading over to pick up Roy as I had called him the night before to tell him we were riding. He said he was going to church but once I told him we had a ride you could almost picture him moving the phone away from his mouth, turning to wifey and just letting her know, "uh, yeah... we're riding in the morning" So I was glad he was down to ride.

So roy gets his loud ass Ducati out when I get there. He has a 99 916 with a Fast by Ferraci Big Bore kit in it. The bike itself is fast, and Roy knows how to ride the hair off of it, so we were almost set... then he came out in his flashy McFlash Ducati shoes and I was like, "hey, wanna know how I know you're gay?" hahahaahaha. Luckily for me Roy doesn't give a shit, he just laughed and said he liked em.

Rode out to Nolana and 281 as that is where this group meets every Sunday to go for a ride.
When we got there Already there were 4-5 bikes. Ernest on his zx-10, Harry on his FJ, Ricardo on his ZX14 (the little bike) and Eddie on the FZ1 (this bike I actually like quite a bit) and Roy and myself representing Ducati of course. Roberto showed up on his Ducati 848 with paper plates on it still. Then John, the club prez on his R1. Alfredo on the R6, jason on the ninja (zx-7?) Mase pulled in on his ZX-14 and I forget the guys name on the green zx-10 all blinged out. And that makes 12. From what I understand, the group hadn't been this big in a while seeing as everyone has different schedules and what not. I was glad to see the guys talk about the ride before we took off. Normally people just get up, get on and roll out and let shit happen. Not these guys. They were good enough about knowing that there were new riders in the group and some simple (yet sometimes ignored) rules were laid out. If you want to haul ass, get to the front of the pack, that is where the faster bikes will be. If you care to go slower, then hang out towards the rear of the pack. The leaders will always make sure everyone is still together if the ride gets a little spirited. Signal debris on road with leg, don't fixate on the rider in front of you, stay in staggered formation and most of all, enjoy YOUR ride.

So we took off. I had let the guys know that I was going to be moving around in the group to take some pictures and everyone was cool with that. The first part of the ride was uneventful and we finally hit 490 and headed East. Getting some better speeds due to the fact we were on backroads and it was early Sunday morning. Not much po-po out. Now like I said earlier, not very many twisties in this area, but we did hit a couple of nice sweepers that we got to take in at at least 80-100mph which was a welcome change from the regular mundane riding of the city here. I realized 2 things. I'm not as good as I want to be... yet, and that my suspension sucks. Both problems are being remedied. John, Alfredo, Roberto, Ricardo (on the big zx-14) Roy and Harry were ahead of me as I kept feeling the bike get loose as I was leaned over (especially to the right side) and we had a great time. Roy kept riding the wheelies out of the corners and didn't get the Duc up anywhere near what it can do. The riding was fun and spirited. Pace coming out of the corners was already in the 100's so when we'd straighten out we'd roll on it (seeing as how unless you're on the expressway, there is not too much room to run em hot) and we were hitting (at least I was) 150+mph and Harry and the guys were still well ahead of me. I am the suck ;) hahahahaha. Finally made it to Raymondville and got to Casa Blanca Restaurant. Great place to eat, good food and good company. Sadly I forgot that they take only cash, not cards and neither Roy nor I had cash and I was buying Roy breakfast. Boo, had to borrow cash and now I owe Harry 10 bones and John 5. I'll get em on Sunday. So we get to teh restaruant and do the whole mad max parking. Got it down on the first time too. But I was next to Harry, and I looked over to see Harry loose the footing on his left leg (gravel) and as I reached over to try to keep his bike from coming over (like that was going to happen) I lost balance on mine, and we both hit the ground. Boo!!! Oh well, got Harry's bike off of him and made sure he was ok, then picked up my bike. No harm done. Lets eat!!!! Had a good fatboy breakfast and then got ready to ride again. Kinda the same way back, just a couple of different twists and turns. Made it back to Edinburg and met up at the Flying J. Had some group pictures taken and then everyone split up. Headed home and was glad I got up early to ride.

I didn't put the pictures in because this thing takes fucking forever to post em up and it posts them all at the top and I have to move them around. boo! so maybe I'll get a flckr accoutn and post up the link later.

Till Sunday, when we ride again...