I decided to participate in the thread on the Ducati.ms chat forum for the motorcycle tag game. Basically someone posts a picture of their bike in front of something like license plate yard art. Then you have to do the same and then post something totally different for the next rider to match. Sounded like fun and when the tag hit the license plate art, the game slowed down. Not too many people knew where to find that.
Since I have a lake house in East Texas, I knew I could find some yard art easily. East Texas is also home to Canton, Texas which is home to the largest monthly flea market in the state. It is an unbelievable thing at Canton. Literally more than 150,000 people go there one weekend a month to buy everything from furniture, crafts, chickens, goats, candles, junk, yard art, junk, junk food, and more junk. I have a saying I spout when I pass a home with lots of yard art, porch furniture, flags, and junk around their house. My quote is “They go to Canton too much.”
So the tag game was stuck on yard art and I needed to check on the lake house. I knew I could make a contribution to the game riding through East Texas. One problem is this:
We are in the grips of a typical Texas summer of heat and humidity. I decided to make this trip a multifunction ride. You gotta have more than one reason to gear up for hot riding like this.
Reasons to ride: check on the lake house, try out my new Olympia riding jacket, try out my new wicking long sleeve shirt, put a couple of hundred miles on the bike so that it is ready for its 30k service, and of course take control of the tag game.
I gear up and hit the highway at 9:30 am. Temperature is a cool 92 degrees. Once I clear the mess of the city (Dallas) I get on the back roads and start to enjoy the curvy roads to our place near Hawkins, Texas. The back roads are rolling hills with lots of 35 to 45 mph designated curves. For my skill level, I take these just about 30 mph over the state recommended speed. This gives me a thrill and yet I feel I can react to the inevitable dead Armadillo, Skunk, or cow that has wandered on to the road. Plus on this ride I'm scanning the country side for yard art with a license plate.
Bingo, I slam on the brakes and do a U-turn. Pull up in front of a farm house with a plow and license plate proudly displayed in the yard (A Canton regular I'm sure). Once stopped the full weight of 100+ degree heat hits me. I'm raining inside my gear now. A quick photo before Clem comes running out of the house with his shotgun and two hunting dogs.
Back on the bike and now I'm looking for my new tag picture. East Texas is home to the Spindletop oil field. One of the largest oil finds in the U.S. Grand Saline is a town just north of where I'm riding and it is home to a Morton Salt mine. There is a large salt dome under the city and I've been told by a geologist that anytime you find salt domes you will also find oil. I decide that will be my tag picture for the game. There are oil pumps all over the place.
I check out our house and see that everything is okay there and then begin the blistering hot ride home. It is so hot that even the cops are in their hive. I keep the speed up to about 85 Ducati mph (which is really 80) most of the way home. Mission accomplished. Jacket didn't blow off, shirt wicked me dry, bike has 30,225 miles on her. I quickly shower, download my photos and log onto Ducati.ms.
WHAT!
Another rider beat me to the tag. To add insult to injury, a second rider had already tagged that photo. I'm two photos down. Now I realize I'm playing with professionals. This is war!
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