Pack 501 2012 Pinewood Derby

So it is that time of year again.  Derby time!!!!!!  As the Cubmaster of Pack 501 I have spent the past two months preparing for the big show. 


So after months of hype and helping my 27 boys get ready for the big day it was finally here.  Setup started at 10:30 in the gym of High Point Academy.  Check in started at 12:00 and racing was suppose to start at 1:00.  Due to technical issues with the track talking to the computer racing did not start until almost 2:30.  Once racing started it was a great time!  Below are a few pics from the big race.

Check In

 Zach's Car

 

My Car

 Amanda's Car

Why we are the way we are...

If you every wonder why cops are the way they are, watch this video. 

If I Have to Explain…

If I Have to Explain…

This is a very well written article written by an internet fried of mine. I have more often than not been faced with having to explain my choice of transportation to people. Especially when I am out and about on my motorcycle in what most would consider "non-riding" weather. Most times I find myself at a loss of words on how to explain why I ride. Scott does a great job of shining some light on the situation.

Cheap PA system for Scout Meetings

For those of you that do not know I am the Cubmaster for a local Cubscout Pack.  What fun this job has been.  But after running my first big event a few years back, the Pinewood Derby, I could not talk the next three days.  I decided I needed voice amplification.

The next two events that I had I suckered a friend who use to own a karaoke business into coming to set up so I could have a microphone... HOW SWEET IT WAS!!!

Since then I have started collecting used and donated equipment so I did not have to bug my friend, good thing since he is now retired.

I ended up with a Radio Shack mixer, a set of Gem Sound wireless microphones, some el' cheapo wireless mics, and an aiwa stereo to use as a power amp.  Along with this I scored a nice 10" PA speaker.  I hit up Guitar Center and got all the cabling to make it work.  The stereo is not a nice professional power amp but for my purposes works more then fine.  Now I had a big pile of stuff to drag to a meeting and setup just so I could be heard.  Then I started to drag it all to my wife's bigger Girl Scout events.  Then to Christmas parties for some clubs I belong to.  I always seem to be missing a piece when I get to where I am going and I am always scared I was going to break something in transport.  But I had a big pile of cool stuff to play with that would take me an hour to setup once I got to where I was going.

So I decided it was time to build a custom box to hold it all.  I got myself a sheet of plywood and started cutting.  My plan was to build something so I could just plug into the wall and the PA speaker and turn on the power.  I started by measuring all of my components and planning out how I wanted them arranged.  Then my 8 year old Zach and I started cutting up the wood assembling and painting.  I did not think to start taking photos until we were done painting. 

 

Once the paint was dry it was into the house for the final assembly.

First step was to put in the power strip.

 

 I then added the Gem Sound Microphone receiver.  This component was what the width of the box was based on.  I velcroed it in place.

 

On top of the microphone receiver I velcroed the mixer board and started running my cables.

 

Once the cables were ran I installed the stereo to push the sound to the speaker.  It can also be used to play music :)   I have cables ran from the mixer in various connectors to accommodate anything I want to hook into the system later ran into the compartment on the right.  I used cable clamps to secure the cables to the box to make it nice and neat.  You can see in the above photo I also installed the receivers for the el' cheapo mics.

 

Now it was time to install the top and the doors.

 Then handles to be able to lift the setup and latches to keep the door close.

The tests of the system shows it is easy to setup and use.  I am no longer worried that things are going to get broken and I know I will not loose my voice at the Pinewood derby on the 14th of this month.  Next step is to put some casters on as this thing is HEAVY!!!!!!

Moonshine Lunch Run 2011

Moonshine Lunch Run 2011
Moonshine, IL
The Home of The World Famous Moonburger
"If you don't make it to Moonshine,,, you ain't a Motorcycle Rider,,, you're just a Motorcycle Owner!!!

Once again  I plan to 1000 miles one way to eat a cheeseburger.  This event has been going on for the last six years.  It all started in 2005 when a farmer in Illinois invited a few friends to come to Moonshine (population 2) to have a hamburger with him.  In 2005 there were 30 bikes from 6 states that made the run.

This is not an advertised event and word is spread via the Internet on forums and by word of mouth.  The 6th annual lunch run had over 1000 bikes from all around the US and Canada and a ton Moonburgers  were sold!  (I am having trouble finding the official numbers.  So you may be thinking to yourself big deal a lot of people ride long trips on motorcycles.  Well yes they do however this lunch run takes place in April. Typically the weather is in the 30s with wind and snow.   It has been said that the MLR was a wacky idea, held in a wacky place at a wacky time with wacky weather.  Visit the MLR web page here.

So much like last year,  here is the plan I will leave Denver on April 6, 2011 and ride to Bonneville, MO where I will spend the night with some friends.  On the 7th I will head on to Moonshine.  I will spend the 8th-10th in Moonshine and head back to Bonneville and then on to Denver on the 11th.

This year's MLR will be special.  You see one of the biggest reason I wanted to attend was to meet Terry, the man who started it all.  Well on November 19, 2010 Terry Hammond passed away.  I will never get to meet the man, the myth, the legend behind the MLR.  Instead I will be riding 1000 miles one way to pay last respects to a man I never had the honor to meet in person.

R.I.P. Terry Hammond 11/05/57 -  11/19/10

So the time to leave finally came.  Like a kid waiting on Santa Clause to arrive I barely slept knowing that LeAnn was waiting in the garage for me to ride her.

(All packed and ready to go.)

I got out of bed bright and early and hit the road to make the 700 mile ride to Boonville, MO.  The ride was uneventful until I crossed into Kansas.  The first issue I encountered was missing the state line sign.  I always take a photo of the state line sign when I cross into a new state.  I stopped and considered my options.  I could go to the next exit and turn around and come back but with this being Kansas I did not know how far that would be.  I decided that since the sign was at a weigh station to just flip a u-turn and ride up the exit to the interstate and get the photo.  Issue one solved!

I continued on in Kansas dealing with strong cross winds.  Who would have thought that the winds would be this strong in Kansas?????  Yes I too have watched the Wizard of Oz.  I was not able to ride tank to tank like I normally do since I needed to stop every 50-100 miles to just get a break from the winds.  I pressed on and made it into Missouri.  Once again I was lied to by the weather man.  It was only suppose to be in the 60s my entire trip.  Riding in Missouri it was in the 90s and my mesh gear was home safe and sound in my garage.

(Welcome to Missouri)

I arrived at my stopping point at about 5:00 Central time.  I had been keeping in contact with my friend Shannon who I was going to be staying with for updated road conditions since I knew she lived on a gravel road.  She told me that the road was fine, not muddy, and just small gravel.  No big deal, right?  What she fail to mention was her driveway was large, loose rock and from the saddle appeared to go straight up.

After much consideration I decided that I could make it and hit the gas.  What is the worst that could happen?  I slipped around a bit and made it to the garage in the photo above.

I enjoyed my visit and a few cold ones with friends and headed out about 6:00 am on Thursday to make the last leg to Casey, IL.  

(Welcome to Illinois)

I arrive at the Hammond Farm around lunch time and get camp setup before kicking back and watching a little Caveman TV.

Thursday night I head over for a BBQ and fellowship in Casey.  Lots of bikes have already arrived in Casey for the big event.  I spend some time talking with some great people and enjoying some great food!  

I then head back to the farm for the night and enjoyed some my Caveman TV and some great conversation.  It was great to sit around with like minded people and relax.

 Little bit of rain Thursday night but so far the weather has been perfect for a motorcycle trip.  Friday comes and I hang around the farm until lunch.  I eat with some of the guys down  the road at "The Oilfield" restaurant.  After lunch Smash finally showed up.  Smash is from Golden, CO and a member of Team Colorado.  This dude is hard core, or insane I am not sure which one.  He did a SS1K (Saddle Sore 1000, 1000 miles in 24 hours).  He had some mechanical issues on the road but made the trip in 23 hours.  In the company I was in a SS1K is no big deal.  This guy did this one on a 600 Ninja, not a ST or Goldwing like most of us do!

Right after Smash showed up we head over to Richards Farm for the Banquet.  That was a spread!  You name it they had it on the buffet! If you left hungry it was your own fault.  Lots of good conversations and the ability to see some old friends from around the country and meet some new ones, while putting faces to many names of guys and gals I have one talked to on the Internet.  I also was able to meet up with the rest of Team Colorado for dinner. 
Saturday morning started with Moonshine weather.  It poured rain.  We all holed up in the barn until the worst of the storm past and the put on the rain gear and headed to the Comfort Inn to meet up and head to get a Moonburger.

We ride out to Moonshine where I get my breakfast burger.  Yep ate my Moonburger at 8:00 in the morning.  You have to get in line early for a Moonburger.  This is the first time that I got a true feel for how many people showed up for the main event.  There was bikes parked as far as the eye could see and even as I was leaving tons more rolling in.  You really have to attend to understand how huge this event is.  And let me tell you the burger was well worth the trip.


(Waiting in line for my Moonburger, photo by Follow)




(Team Colorado at the Moonshine Store)


(New sticker on the bike)

After lunch I went back to the farm and packed up camp and took off back west back to Mid-Mo.  Sunday I rode around my old stomping grounds and visited Kemper Military School.  When I left there in 1997 I did so with the plan to never look back.  I did not know at the time how much that school was a part of me and who I am today.  The school closed down a few years ago and is in very sad shape.  It really saddens me to see how much the school has been allowed to sit and rot.

While in Missouri I enjoyed being able to visit old friends and I went to lunch with Ma and Pa Bosma.

Monday I saddled up for the 700 mile trip back home.  In the middle of Kansas I ran into Smash again and rode to Colorado with him.

We stopped at the Colorado state line for a photo opportunity.

(Welcome home, photo by Smash)

While taking our photos another ST pulled up.  We were greeted by Larry (RealST) and his riding partner Lexie.  We all rode into Denver together for the end of an great trip.



(Smash on the left me on the right photo by RealST)


(Me, photo by RealST)

 Denver, CO to Portland, OR and back again.

    So recently I found out from work that I needed to go to Portland, OR at the end of August 2010 for some training.  They pay for airfare, lodging food and the like.  Easy enough fly to Portland stay a week and fly home.  Then a friend pointed out that I can get up to the cost of the plane ticket if I drive.  The plan was then hatched.  A work sponsored motorcycle trip!  Who can ask for more?!!!!!  I try to take one big trip a year but if they are willing to pay for it they hey why not get in a second trip in?  I did the math and learned that I will come out ahead if I ride so the paper work was submitted.  What you see here is about the third revision of this plan.  I looked at many routes but settled on super-slab just due to time constraints.  I will ride from home to Twin Fall, ID on day one, then on to Portland on day two.  Here is my selected route to get there.
View Larger MapI originally planned to ride the same route home but then got to thanking that I have been wanting to earn my IBA Bun Burner Gold.  This will require me to ride 1500+ miles in less than 24 hours.  If you want to read what the rules for this ride is click here.   If I cannot pull off the 24 hour time frame then I will shoot for a standard Bun Burner which requires me to make it in 36 hours... click here for the rules for that ride.  So I set out to plan a route for the ride home.  I decided to avoid the mountains since I know it will be night, I will be tired and wildlife will be out and about.  I decided to head north to Seattle and the east prior to dropping south.  Here is the planned route.  According to Google this route is 1544 miles and 24 hours on the nose.  I must average 64mph to make it in 24 hours.  To get it in 36 hours it drops down to about 45mph.View Larger MapSo how did the trip actually go?

Well the trip out went as planned.  I rode from Denver to Twin Falls without incident.  I left home at 4:30 in the morning of August 21st and arrived in Twin Falls, ID at 4:40 I crashed at a local hotel for the night.  I left out at 5:10 on the 22nd to make the last leg to Portland, OR. 

 

Life was pretty uneventful until I got on I84 along the Columbia river around Boardman, OR.  What a great stretch of Interstate to ride.  Long sweeping curves as far as the eye could see.  The river flowing right next to the interstate.  Wind surfers keeping up with my bike due to the high winds. 

I hit a little bit of rain as I was coming into Portland but nothing to be worried about.  I arrived at my hotel at 3:30 the afternoon of the 22nd and settled in for a week of training. 

Oregon is a beautiful state with lots of trees and greenery.  All I could think about for the first half of the week was how much I wanted to ride to the coast.  On the evening of the 25th I got to do just that.  I took a 160 mile round trip ride along HWY 26 to Cannon Beach, OR for dinner.  I filled a small jar with sand and sea water prior to leaving.  I want to own a piece of land from every major body of water in the U.S. all collected via motorcycle at some point.

The rest of the week was training as normal and planning for my (unsuccessful) Bun Burner Gold attempt.

On the evening of the 27th I got a few co-workers from New York to check out my bike and sign a few forms so I could leave early on the 28th.  I got on the road and headed to Seattle, WA at 5:00 am.  I passed thought Seattle around 8:00 in the morning and headed east.  The skies were telling me I was going to get wet, but hey it is Washington so what else is new?

I cross into Idaho around 12:30 and according to the GPS I am still on pace to make it.  At 1:45 pm I cross into Montana.  Time is still on my side but those evil orange cones are not!  I hit one construction zone after another.  I will give it to "Big Sky" country, it was some great scenery.   By the time I made it to Butte, MT I have been on the road for almost thirteen hours and had only traveled about 760 miles.  That left me with eleven hours to make an additional 740 miles to make the Bun Burner Gold.  That meant I had to average 67+ mph to pull it off.  With all the construction and the rain that has chased me since Seattle I decided to call it a day and got a room for the night. 

I still had twenty-three hours left to pull off the 36 hour Bun Burner.  If I got an early start I could make it with no problem... or so I thought.  I woke up to a pouring rain storm.  I decided that I did not care to take the next unfamiliar mountain pass in the weather I was provided.  I ate a leisurely breakfast and let the storm pass before I got on the road at 7:30 am.  I took my time riding home and just enjoyed the scenery.  I arrived at the house at 7:30 pm, two and a half hours past the cut off time for the ride.

Here is the SPOT track for this trip...

 

I could have pushed myself but why?  I have a trip I will never forget and I arrived home safe.  Both are wins in my book!

Next up Moonshine 2011!!!

 

CheapSTOC June 4-6, 2010

CheapSTOC 2010
Junction, TX
June 4-6, 2010
                                               

View Larger Map

Below is my SPOT Track for the trip.

 
  So as I always say the best laid plans NEVER survive initial contact with the enemy.  This ride report is no different.  But hey, that is what makes for a good story... right?

Well I got the bike all packed up and ready to go.  I did my best to only take the bare necessities.  I am not sure how I would ever be able to take a two-up trip that includes camping.  The left pannier had my clothing for the weekend, the right pannier had my kitchen (mess kit, jet-boil stove & fuel), my food, tennis shoes, spare gloves, rain gear, yada-yada-yada.  The top box had all of my tools and the like.  In the tank bag I had all of my electronics and things that I wanted to be able to get to in a hurry like food.  On the pillion seat I had my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, and Camel Bak.  I could not have fit a passenger on the bike if I wanted to.  I am proud of myself however, I did not have to use my large tank bag in addition to my small one.  

So the big day of June 3rd arrived.  I hardly slept and was up bright and early ready to hit the road.  I pop a few pieces of Ranger candy to combat the many miles that I am planning to put on.  I stopped and topped off with gas and then hit the super-slab down I70 to C470, then onto the road that I would spend the majority of the next two days on...  US 285.

It was a beautiful day to ride the Colorado twisties.  It was a crisp cool morning with next to no traffic.

     
The smell of mountain air is just what the doctor ordered.  The Rockies were snow capped and the skies were a nice clear blue.  I stop just after 8:00 am in Buena Vista to fill up.  It is a cool 34 degrees.  The coldest I saw was coming over Konish Pass where the my thermometer on the bike dipped to 31 degrees.  I was in my mess jacket at the time so at the gas fill up I put on my jacket liner to help myself warm up a bit.

I head on down the road and soon learn that US 285 turns flat, real flat, and real quick.  My next stop around 11:20 am was the New Mexico boulder.

I water the bushes while there is no traffic, call my lovely bride and press on to Santa Fe for lunch.  The day is warming up nicely but my riding pants are starting to get real warm.  After I left Santa Fe I swear someone cranked up the heat on me!  I pushed on to Roswell in the heat.  About 100 miles out I stopped at a gas station to top off and to down a few bottles of vitamin water.  It is not a frosty 108 degrees.  I am still in my full riding gear as I refuse to ride without it.  My thinking on the matter is that I would rather sweat then bleed.  At this point I am downing a 2 liter Camel-Bak between gas fill ups.  That is two liters of water about every three hundred miles!

After my short break I knock out the last stretch to Roswell.  The road is straight as an arrow or so I thought.  Those sneaky Bastards would trick you by tossing in a curve every 25-40 miles just to see if you were paying attention.  Upon rolling in to Roswell I saw a beacon of relief, a Sonic.  Coconut Cream Pie Shake Here I Come!!!!!!!!!!   NOT SO FAST!!!!!  Apparently the Sonics in New Mexico have never heard of such an animal.  I had to settle for a plan ol' chocolate and the biggest water they could find.  After enjoying the air conditioning for a bit and sucking down the cool relief of the shake I decided to head out and find my campsite for the night.  According to Google it was right off the road just a bit on the edge of town.  Sure Bottomless Lakes State Park was just off the road but the campground was pretty far off the beaten path.  As a matter of fact the roads in the park to get there was the most twisty roads I had seen in the last few hundred miles.

The park was very pretty if you like the whole desert thing.  The lakes were very clear and much bigger than I expected.  I really regretted not having a swim suit with me because a dip in that water would sure have been nice.  Instead I decided to take a cold shower.  I should have waited until after I got camp set up since I was all sweaty again as soon as I started setting up my tent.

This is the first moto-camping  trip I have taken.  I opted for a cheap $35 Ozark Trails tent from Walley World.  It backs down to next to nothing, fits in my T-bag along with my sleeping pad and can be set up easily by myself.  The biggest draw was that it has a 8' x 9' foot print.  At 6' 4" it is hard to find a small packing tent that I do not have to sleep in the fetal position.  This one gave me plenty of room with room to spare for my riding gear.  I would recommend this tent to anyone who is starting out with moto-camping. 

While at the park I met a great young lady named Beth.  She was about 75 years young and we spent a lot of time talking about the motorcycle trips she took in her prime.  She had a "I am glad I did" instead of a "I wish I had" attitude.

The thing I really found odd about the park was that they lock you in from 9 pm until 7 am.  I do not think I have ever stayed at a State Park that was a gated community before.  I do not know if they were trying to keep the aliens in or out.  I woke up early and headed for the gate at about a quarter to seven and was happy to find that they had already opened them.  I had to meet up with "Texican Jim" for chow about 70 miles south so I was very happy to get an early start.

Next stop was Chaos Cafe in Artesia, NM where I met my new riding partners for the first time.  Jim and Katie.  Katie is a Parmerian puppy that loves to ride.  She has her own little spot in a barrel bag on the pillion seat of Jim's bike.

The food and service was great and I would recommend Chaos to anyone who is traveling in the area.  Well worth the cost of admission if you ask me.

After I toss back some fried eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns and coffee it is time to hit the road.  I can already tell that it is going to be another hot one and I check to make sure that the Camel-Bak is full.  I ask Jim to take the lead since I was tired of navigating and just wanted to follow for awhile.  It did not take us long to cross into Texas.

After cruising down 285 for a bit and a few stops to rehydrate we picked up I10.  It was nice to have an 80 mph speed limit.  I hope Jim does not mind me saying this and if he does I am very sorry but I want it to serve as a warning to others...  I could see that the heat was wearing Jim down fast and he also was not drinking very much water during our stops in my opinion.  I noticed that he was taking longer and longer breaks which in the heat is not a bad thing.  I was watching very closely for signs of heat shock.  Jim said he had a Camel-Bak but did not bring it on the trip.  Please if you are going to be riding in that kind of heat drink water!!  Jim ended up laying under a shade tree all day Saturday pushing water because he was seriously dehydrated.  I do not want to hear of this happening to anyone else.
Now that the speech is over back to the regularly scheduled program....

So I make it to the Hills Motel in Junction, TX right around dinner time.  This place is a far stretch from the Marriott.  I knew it was a bad sign when I walked into my room and saw that the air conditioner was not plugged into the outlet under it but was plugged into a extension cord and ran to the other side of the room.  It was plugged into the only working outlet in the room.  Charging my video camera and cell phone was out so I was not able to get the video I wanted.  I spend a week wiring up cameras on my ride just to have a dead battery upon arrival and no way to charge it.  I put that behind me and decided to just have fun.

There was a lot of bikes that came down.  Here is a few shots of the parking lot on Friday night. 

Saturday we hit the Three Twisted Sisters.  These are Texas Ranch Roads 335, 336, and 337.  Honestly, I went down wondering what kind of roads could Texas offer a Colorado boy like me.  Oh my goodness those were some great roads.  I pushed my ST1300 harder then I have ever pushed her and I still could not hang with the locals.  I learned a full things about my skills (or the lack there of) and my bike abilities.  Trust me the bike has a lot more in her then I do.

Here is the two videos I was able to take during that ride.

And now video number 2.

I even won an award for being the high mileage rider this year.  Remember, that this is CHEAPSTOC...

I know I said there was no ride t-shirts but I had to buy this one.

Sunday I had planned to ride home via an eastern route that would have taken me across Oklahoma.  I realized however that I totally forgot to buy my kids the stuffed aliens in Roswell that they asked for, so I rerouted back that way adding 200+ miles to the trip so I could get them.

By routing back into New Mexico I was able to ride about 50 miles of historic route 66 which was a very nice ride.  I then headed to Colorado.  My home state decide to greet me and give me a break from the 100 degree heat.  Just as I saw the sign that said welcome to colorful Colorado the sky opened up and hit me with 50 miles of pouring rain, thunder and lightning.  I thought about getting a room for the night but I was already wet and I could see clear skies ahead so I decided to push on.  After the rain came to a stop I was hit with very strong cross winds.  By the time I made it to Pueblo my legs were jello from gripping the tank and I was not sure if I would be able to hold the bike up.  I topped off with gas and grabbed a bite to eat while I gave my legs a rest.  Once I was all rested up I pushed on via super-slab I25 to the house.  I arrived at about 9:30 pm.  I was 60 miles short of doing a saddle sore 1000 on the way home with a total of 940 miles ridden in about 16 hours.  If I would have thought about grabbing receipts I might have added a few miles and certified the ride with the IBA but I did not.

All in all it was a great trip and I had a great time.  I did ~2300 miles in four days.  Now time to start planning the next trip

Stay Tuned for Moonshine 2011!!!

    OK folks it is time for another wacky long distance ride plan.  Since I was unable to attend Moonshine this year I needed to find something to get my riding fix.  After searching the forums over at st-owners.com   I came across CheapSTOC.  So you may be asking yourself what the heck is CheapSTOC?  Well Cheap... cheap hotel, no event t-shirts, no ride pins, no sticker, and no whining.

    I plan to leave Denver on Thursday, June 3rd early in the morning sometime around 4:00 AM and ride to Roswell, NM where I will camp over night with the Aliens.  According to Google it is 514 miles and about 8 1/2 hours to Roswell.  I will leave Roswell on Friday morning and ride the remaining 413 miles to Junction.  Then it will be time to rest and relax at the hotel and visit with some other fine motorcyclist. Saturday  we will spend the day exploring the hill country around the area on the bikes.  Sunday I will leave and ride the 804 miles back to Denver and hopefully be home by dinner time.  Not counting the miles riding the hills I am looking at a short 1700+ miles round trip.

This is my planned route for the trip.