Sunday Ride With The Star Riders

Ripley led the Star Riders on a great ride Northwest of Houston. After enjoying the ride with the awesome weather, we ended up at Joe's Place in Fayetteville for a late lunch.

I really enjoyed Old Mill Creek Road (CR RD 25) in between Burton and Brenham.

Photos • Route

2009 Southern Cruisers Somerville Meet Up

Sherri & I rode out with the Houston Southern Cruiser for the Somerville Meet Up and Food Drive at the Somerville Steakhouse. We took a direct route there and arrived at 11:05 AM.

I really love there their steaks and I was disappointed that they were serving us only the buffet. The food was OK, guest I was missing the steak.

Followed Rita back to Houston on the back roads, It was a great ride back home. Thanks Rita!

Photo • Route

2009 Depelchin Toy Run

The Star Riders every year have a Toy Run to support the kids at Depelchin house in Richmond Texas.

Check in was at BB Wolfs, State Farm was there to supply coffee and donuts.

We headed to Depelchin house at 10:30 AM. The kids were great and there were tons of present.

After spending some time with the kids we all headed back to BB Wolfs for lunch, music, 50/50, and a silent auction.

Had a great turnout, I and the Star Riders want to thank everyone that came out to help the kids.

Photos

Star Riders November's Chapter Ride

Weather turn out great for a Sunday ride with the Star Riders.

We started out early at Kelly's Country Cookin and headed east around the 610 Southeast loop. We rode around the Galveston, Trinity, and East Bays. Took the ferry over to Galveston and had a great lunch at Millers Landing.

Thanks Paul for leading a great ride, I had a good time.

Photos • Route

Dallas International Motorcycle Show

While I was up in the DFW area visiting family, I decided to run over to the Dallas International Motorcycle Show. This years show seem short on vendors, but it was still a good show.

I got to meet Tom Lowdermilk from one of my favorite Internet Motorcycle Show, SideStand Up. Tom was at the Cruiserworks booth when I met him. It was great to talk to him in persons and talk about our latest ride. (Tom & me in the photo above)

Tomorrow I head back to Houston.

Photos

Back To Vegas To Pick Up The Road Glide Day 5

After Breakfast at the hotel I took Hwy 25 south to Hwy 380 and headed East through the Valley Of Fires and the Lincoln National Forest.

I Stopped for lunch at Farley in Roswell New Mexico What a huge hamburger! And I ate it all!

After lunch I continue east in to texas and made it to Abilene Texas.

Had dinner with a friend and got some business done while I was there.

I checked in to the at the Marriott Residence Inn and relaxed for the night.

Tomorrow I'll hopped on Hwy I-20 to Ft. Worth and visit with family for the weekend and headed back to Houston on Monday.

Photos • More Info About The Valley Of Fire

Back To Vegas To Pick up the Road Glide Day 4

After breakfast at the hotel I headed East out of town on Hwy 69.

I stopped for lunch at Al & Diane's Red Onion in Heber, AZ. I had a great Chicken Fried Steak!

I continue East On Hwy 260 through Show Low Arizona, Then hopped on Hwy 60 in to New Mexico. It was now getting really windy and colder.

On Hwy 60 I rode through Quemado New Mexico, the speed limit before town was 65 MPH and 25 MPH in town and out of town there were no speed limit signs. Two miles out of town I pass a state cop doing 65 MPH He turned on his light and pulled me over. So you know I have been riding the speed limit or 5 MPH over, max the whole trip. I ask the officer what was the problem. He stated that I was going 10 MPH over the speed limit. After writing me a $71.00 ticket he told me that the speed limit was 55 MPH for the next 11 miles. This was nothing but a speed trap!

After my 45 minute delay I rode in the dark to Socorro New Mexico and book a room at the Best Western Hotel. I grabbed a late dinner at the El Camino Restaurant & Lounge.

Beside the ticket it was a great day of riding.

Photos

Back To Vegas To Pick up the Road Glide Day 3

Headed out of Laughlin around 9:00 AM and headed East. I stayed off the main Freeway and took the back roads. I stopped for lunch at Kirklands Bar & Steakhouse for a late lunch.

After my pulled pork sandwich (No Steaks!) I headed on to Prescott AZ and got a room at the Marriott Springhill Suite.

After checking in I headed over to the Palace Restaurant and Saloon for dinner. The steak was fair and I had the place to my self. Before I went back to the hotel, I stopped by Krogers and got a bottle of wine.

I relaxed in the hot tub and had two glasses of wine.

I really love riding on these back roads in Arizona. It was a great day considering my two previous days.

Photos

Back To Vegas To Pick Up The Road Glide Day 1 & 2

On Aug 5th I Had a motorcycle accident near Death Valley National Park. By the recommendation from GEICO my insurance company, my 2008 Harley-Davidson Road Glide was taken to Arlin Ness Las Vegas. Eric told me that it would take six to eight weeks to fix the motorcycle.

Eric called on the first part of November and told me my motorcycle was ready to pickup and would be like new.

It took three months to fix, I was told that the guy who was in charge of my motorcycle was fired and my motorcycle was forgotten about, despite my calls every two to three weeks to check on the progress and I thought Eric was in charge of my motorcycle being fixed from the beginning and he is still there.

I flew to Las Vegas on Monday evening November 9th 2009. The next morning I arrived at Arlin Ness Las Vegas to pick up my motorcycle at 8:00 AM and I expected to be there two or three hours for minor things that might need to be adjusted or fixed.

I left at 2:00 PM only to find out that the radio was dead, I immediately returned to the shop and was there till 3:30 PM.

This is the part that really upset me:

Eric told me that I needed to stop at the Henderson Harley-Davidson Shop south of Las Vegas to get the radio configured because of the radio beeping every 30 seconds.

The Henderson Harley-Davidson Shop Manager told me that Arlin Ness Las Vegas brought my motorcycle there two times to fix things.

By the time Henderson Harley-Davidson Shop got to my motorcycle and fixed the radio it was 5:30 PM and I headed to Laughlin to get a few miles in.

Riding in the dark and a few hours later I arrived at the Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin. After checking in and grabbing a steak, I relaxed for the night.

• The motorcycle should have been ready.
• I should never had to take the motorcycle to Henderson Harley-Davidson Shop for any reason.
• If Arlin Ness Las Vegas had to take my motorcycle to Henderson Harley-Davidson Shop two time to get fixed, Arlin Ness Las Vegas should never work on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, especially my motorcycle.
• I had to spend other night in Las Vegas (Laughlin).
• I lost a whole day of pay.
• The motorcycle still had things that were not fixed.
• Throttle sticking.
• Fairing to far to the left.
• Nut missing on front left turn indicator.
• GPS mounts still broke.
• Right floorboard sticking up.

The one positive thing I can say about Arlin Ness Las Vegas is that they were very nice and apologies many times.

What do I want out of all of this? The cost of the extra night in the hotel & eight hours of pay, my motorcycle fixed and what happen to me at Arlin Ness Las Vegas does not happen to anybody else.

Photos

Lone Star Rally

Had a great time at the Lone Star Rally this year. Seem to be more people this year and there was lots to see and do.

Checked in at the Gaidos Seaside Inn around noon, Sherri join me later that night. Nice hotel to stay. Map

On Saturday we did a test ride on some of the Victory bikes, checked out the Strand (The main street for the rally) and the vendors.

We took a nap around 8:00 PM and did not get up, we were in for the night.

Sunday we had breakfast at mosquitos. After a great breakfast we hit the Strand one more time and headed home.

Photos:

Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3

Comanche Campout 2009

Can't remember if this is my third or fourth year to attend the Comanche Campout. Anyway it's lots of fun and I always have a great time.

Day 1 Friday:

Sherri and I headed out of Houston Friday afternoon around 1:00 PM. We stopped in Katy to have brunch at Snappy's Cafe & Grill. Always a great breakfast!

After a great brunch we headed West on I-10 to Sealy and took the back road the rest of the way to Smithville at our hotel Americas Best Value Inn. No we did not campout, maybe next year.

After checking in we ran over to the campsite in Buescher State Park where Comanche Campout was being held. We said hello to everyone and had some white chili for dinner with the Cypress Creek SCRC.

After eating some great chili and visiting with friends, we called it an early night (10:00 PM) and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 2 Saturday:

We woke up late and headed over to the campsite to get the details for the Scavenger Hunt. We got our list and headed out and immediately got turned around and end up back at the park entrance. We were hungry so we headed to the cafe (Elm Creek Cafe) on the Scavenger Hunt list. Both of us had the Chicken Fried Steak, we should have shared one plate. It was huge and a great Chicken Fried Steak.

If you are ever in the Giddings area, the Elm Creek Cafe is a

must stop and come hungry!

After stuffing our selfs we followed the Scavenger Hunt map back through Giddings to the Court House to find stuff on the list. We went down highway 71 to La Grange and stopped for gas. We collected some more stuff and found out that we were running out of time and we had to be back to the Campsite by 4:00 PM.

We made it back to the Campsite at 4:10 PM and tuned in our small finding. We did not win, but we had a great time riding around the country side Scavenging. Headed back out to the hotel to rest and get cleaned up before the party later that night.

After our short break we headed back to the Campsite had some gumbo for dinner with the Cypress Creek SCRC. Great gumbo!

The costume party started at 8:00 PM, great costumes this year.

My favorite was Kill Santa, dressed up as Elfs that had santa's head in a shopping bag and yes they won the costumes contest. No, Sherri and I did not dress up this year.

The party continue on all night and we headed back to the hotel around 1:30 AM.

Day 3 Sunday:

Head over to the Campsite around 9:00 AM for the group photo. We had a small breakfast and helped with the packing and clean up. After saying our good byes, headed back to the hotel and packed up our gear, checked out of the hotel and headed down the street to downtown Smithville for some lunch at the Pocket Grill. We had there hamburgers which were good.

After lunch we headed back home through the country side back home to Houston.

The weather was great for the weekend and I had a great time. Put some more miles on the wonderful new Victory Vision.

Photos • Route Day 1 • Route Day 2 • Route Day 3

Star Riders Chapter Ride

What a great day for riding! The friends, weather, route, & food was great!

We started out at Kelly's, once we got out of Houston we hopped on FM 521 South to Sandy Point Rd (CR 42), then West on FM 42 To Cow Creek Rd (CR 25). These two roads are one of my favorites in the South West Houston area. After a spirited ride on CR 42 and Cr 25 we rode in to

West Columbia for a gas break at the local Buc-ees.

We ran into the Southern Cruisers at Buc-ees as they were getting ready to continue their ride to Mikeska's BBQ in El Campo. It was nice to have a quick hello with them.

After our gas break we headed South on Highway 35 to FM 1459 through Sweeny and turned on to FM 524 to CR 16. My first time to ride on FM 1459, FM 524, and CR 16, very nice roads. After hopping on FM 2919 we ended up at 2J's Cafe & Marina on the intracoastal waterway near Lake Jackson.

2J's Cafe & Marina is a great restaurant, it's worth the trip down there.

I rode my new Victory Vision and finished the break in (500 miles) today and I will schedule it's first service this week.

Photos • Route • GPS File

Riding Tomorrow Sunday

Leading a ride tomorrow with the Star Riders. You don't have to be a member to join us, so come out for some great riding weather.

Starting From (KSU 9:00 AM): Kelly's Country Cookin 8015 Park Place @ Gulf Freeway. Houston, Texas 77087

Info: http://kelleysrestaurant.com

Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/kellyshouston

Gas/Break: Buc-ee's #6 105 E Brazos Ave, West Columbia, TX (979) 345-6660

Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/Buc-ees6

Destination: 2 J's Cafe & Marina, 5100 CR-469, Brazoria, TX 77422 - 979-964-3233

Info: http://tinyurl.com/ygmeg4v

Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/yge33zy

Route Web Map: http://tinyurl.com/yfoya6v

Route GPS File: http://tinyurl.com/yju7a8d

New Motorcycle

Pick up a new 2010 Two Tone Ocean Blue & Sandstone Metallic Victory Vision From Team Mancuso Power Sports off Highway 59 South. Ask for Roy Zirpoli, he did a great job selling me the motorcycle and tell him Rex Covington sent you.

Yes I still have the Harley Road Glide and it is still in Vegas being repaired. I have not decided to to sell or keep the Harley yet. It should be ready to pickup soon.

I have been asked why did I get another motorcycle? I wanted the Victory Vision when it first came out in 2008, but I did not want the first year production model with the problems and bugs that come with a first year production motorcycle. I happen to be at the right place, time, year, color and price, so I bought one.

The only mod that I have put on this motorcycle so far is a Lo-Jack.

Photos

Rip's Bad Ride III

This my third year to be involved with the Rip's BAD Ride and their third year in Texas.

Despite the weather there was a fair turnout for the ride this year. The rain hit hard in the morning and about 25 motorcycle beared the rain. Most folks showed up in their cars and trucks for the great cause to fight Diabetes.

The Star Riders took parking duty and I was the official photographer.

Photos & Videos

Helmet Damage

I was taking photos and a video to show the damage to the helmets from my accident for the insurance company for reimbursement.

The helmet that Crystal was wearing belong to Sherri, A Scorpion EXO-100. It had some road rash on the right side and down the brim and some on the visor.

My helmet A Harley-Davidson Hybrid Ultra-Light Classic Half Helmet, received the most damage on the right side and the front of the helmet. The front right side was grind down to the fibers of the helmet and the sun visor was ripped off. Just looking at the my helmet, I could see my head with all that damage. A good reason to always wear a helmet!

Check out the Video & photos.

Spot Satellite Messenger

I was looking at my web site to see if I need to do any up dates and I found the Where Is Lone Star Rider page had me marked when I had my motorcycle accident. The site is automatically marked from my Spot Satellite Messenger (Spot).

One of the reason I bought Spot was that it tracks your location and your family and friend can track where you are on a web page and a check in feature to let them know that you are okay.

The other reason is that Spot will request help from friends or family and/or alert Emergency Responders to your location for a 911 emergency when you are out of cell range.

I have been using Spot for almost a year now and it has been by my side on all of my trips and the tracking & check in feature have been working great. On August 3rd 2009 in Death Valley the 5th day if my summer trip I had a blow out on my rear tire and I crashed my motorcycle. After I checked to see if my daughter (Crystal) was okay and I accessed our accident I decided it was time to use Spot and push the 911 button only to find out that Spot was no long clipped to my belt. I did a search and found it in a bush about 20 yards from the motorcycle. I push the 911 button and about 30 minutes later the U.S. Calvary came, well the California Highway Patrol (Chris) and the Death Valley National Park Ranger came to the rescue. They all were great!

Spot cost $99.00, one year subscription $99.00, and $49.99 for tracking. I think the $250.00 is worth every penny and I will never leave on trip without my Spot.

You can buy one at http://www.findmespot.com/

Port Arthur Ride

Sherri did a pre-ride for the Southern Cruisers that she is leading in a couple weeks, so a few of us joined her on her ride.

Since my bike is still in Vegas, A friend offered one of his bike for me to ride (Thanks Berk!).

Our ride started at Sabo and Beltway 8 at 8 AM. We headed towards Baytown up to Dayton and over to Port Arthur to Ester Cajun Sea Food.

When We Arrive at Ester it seemed that Hurricane Ike got the best of Ester's with a lot of damage to the building and they were closed.

Now with no place to eat lunch (And getting hungry) we went on a search for another restaurant. Most places were closed. We ask a guy working at one of the local gas station where was a good place to eat, he recommended La Suprema Mexican Restaurant eight miles from the gas station.

The place seem busy and the food look good, but my tamales tasted like they were store bought from the gas station down the street, otherwise the rest was good food with great service.

We headed back on 73 in to Anahuac and stopped there for fuel. After fueling the group broke up and headed on there way back home.

This was my first day ride since my accident about three weeks ago. I did fine on the way up there and about half way back my shoulder on the right back side started to hurt. When We got back home Sherri took a look and said there was a little swelling. I will stay off a motorcycle for a couple of weeks and be a little more careful with my right shoulder until it heals up and then start off with some shorter rides next time.

It was good to get back on a motorcycle and I had a great time today despite my shoulder pain.

Thanks to Sherri for leading her Pre-Ride.

No Photos excepts for the above • Route

Motorcycle Status

Last Friday the insurance adjuster called me late afternoon and let me know that the bike will cost $8301.92 to fix. My part will be $543.00.

The bike is in Las Vegas, NV at Arlen Ness Motorcycles service department and will be repaired there. The really bad part is that the bike will not be ready for 6 to 8 weeks.

I have been in San Francisco for the FileMaker DevCon all this week. This is my last day here in San Francisco and I will be heading to Las Vegas, NV to check on my bike and get more details on how long it will take to fix my bike.

Tuesday or Wednesday I'll fly to Ft. Worth, TX to visit with Crystal and the rest of my family.

I should be back in Houston Thursday or Friday.

The Day After

We are still in Pahrump, NV at the Nugget Hotel & Casino. We slept in late and had breakfast at the hotel. The medicine that the doctor prescribe tend to make me sleepy so I took a nap.

Enterprise Car Rental picked me up and took me to there office around 11:30 AM I rented a car for two day.

Back at the hotel I took another nap. And around 3 PM we went over to where the motorcycle was towed too to get a few thing and take some photos of the bike. The bike was up on it's kickstand (Harley calls it a Jiffy Stand) and it did not look to bad until I got up closer. I hope it is repairable, I really love that bike. I felt really sad looking at it and about my motorcycle trip coming to an end.

Back at the hotel I took another nap. And around 8 PM we had dinner at the hotel. The hotel and the staff have been great here and have gone out of there way to take care of us. One of the managers gave us a free night.

After dinner removed all my bandages and took a stinging shower (Ouch, Ouch, & Ouch Dammit). before I put on some fresh bandages Crystal took a couple of photos of the road rash.

Will be taking Crystal to the airport in Vegas, she will be flying back home to DFW. Despite the accident I have had a really good time with my daughter.

I will stay in Vegas one more day and will be flying to Portland to meet Sherri and to continue the trip in a rental car down the coast to San francisco.

Time for another nap.

Photos

2009 Road Trip Day 5

We had breakfast at the hotel to get a early start to beat the heat in Death Valley.

Just outside of Indian Springs, NV I could not shift up, so I turned around and headed back to Indian Springs and stopped at the local gas station.

My hill shifter came loose, I tighten it and we were back on our way.

About 15 minutes before arriving to the East entrance of the Death Valley National Park. We heard a loud pop, Crystal said I think we have a flat. I already knew that we did and I was fighting to keep the bike up. We were traveling around 55 MPH and the bike rear end was swaying back and fourth on it rear rim. I was not able to keep the bike up and told Crystal to hang on. We hit the ground hard and slid with the bike to the opposite side of the road. I laid there on the road face up trying to catch my breath. When I got up I saw crystal picking things up in the middle of the road and moving our stuff closer to the motorcycle.

After looked for my Spot, which I found in the ditch, I pressed the 911 button and we waited.

A French guy stopped and ask if we need help, I said yes and that he could go get us help, but I don't think he understood us, he went on his way.

After about 30 minutes a California Highway Patrol (Chris) arrived and then about 45 minutes later the Park service ambulance arrive. Crystal and I were transported to the hospital.

Both Crystal had road rash on our arms, Crystal also had road rash on right leg, right and left fingers and her stomach. My shoulder had some pain, the xray show no broken bones.

This is my first accident on a road bike, I had a couple of blowout on other bikes and was able to keep them up.

I have many mix feeling, I'm glad our injuries were not worse, I'm mad and disappointed I will not be able to finish my trip, and I'm sad that my bike is in bad shape.

I'm not sure what will happen in the next few days, but I'll let you know.

We are staying in the Nugget Hotel and Casino in Pahrump, NV for the night.

Just a note, my Spot Satellite Messenger worked as advertised!

Photos • Route

2009 Road Trip Day 4

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last night and I wanted to say thanks to Debbie for going out of her way to let us park the bike out front.

After breakfast at the hotel we took off towards Zion National Park.

Zion National Park is one of my favorite national parks. I will come back here and stay a week to enjoy this park.

We stopped for lunch at Oscar Cafe, Sherri and I ate here last year and it was just as good last year. Crystal and I got waited on the same person (Grant) who waited on Sherri and I last year.

We did a straight shot to Las Vegas, NV and arrived around 3:00 PM. When we arrived at our hotel and checked in, and we jumped in the pool to cool off.

After a swim and a 1-1/2 hour nap, Crystal and I went to the strip for some dinner and to check out the sites.

Today was hot, but tomorrow will be even hotter going through Death Valley National Park.

Photo • Route

2009 Road Trip Day 3

Left out of Farmington around 8:30 AM and headed to The Four Corners Monument. The last time I remember beening there was when I was around 7 or 8 years old. Crystal was going Twitter crazy at each corner.

We stopped for lunch for some swinging steaks at Mexican Hat Cafe in Mexican Hat, Utah, Only to find out that they starting cooking at 6:00 PM. We were way to early so we went over to the San Juan Cafe next to the San Juan River. Crystal order a Veg Indian Taco and I ordered one with meat. This was Crystal first time to try an Indian Taco, it was also her first time to hear about Fry Bread.

Out next stop after lunch was Monument Valley, This was worth the stop, the view are fantastic!

We made it in to Kanab, UT and stop for a great dinner at The Rocking V Cafe before we check in to our hotel.

Another great day of riding.

Photos • Route

2009 Road Trip Day 2

After a quick breakfast we rode out to Cadillac Ranch on Hwy 40 West of Amarillo. Cadillac Ranch was kinda of a disappointment, I thought it would be? Anyway it was different, ten Cadillac buried half way in the middle of a field and people paint them with cans of spray paint. I would not go out of my way to see them, but if you are in the area then make a point to stop and see them.

We found our way to Hwy 87 and headed out of Texas and in New Mexico we hopped on U.S. Route 64 all the way to our hotel in Farmington NM.

On our way to Farmington we stop at Capulin Volcano National Monument, this is my first time to see a nonactive volcano. We met a few riders from the Houston area there heading back home from riding in the area for the last week. This stop is not for everybody, but I thought is was cool. For some reason there were tons of flies everywhere.

We continued on U.S. Route 64 Through Cimarron Canyon State Park and Carson National Forest. We ran into a few showers after Clayton, but nothing really heavy.

We stopped for dinner at Elk Horn Cafe In Chama, I had the chicken fried steak and it was great.

After dinner he continue on U.S. Route 64 to our hotel.

U.S. Route 64 is a great Ride!

Photos • Route

2009 Road Trip Day 1

Started off this morning on time at 8 AM for the getting across Texas day. Headed up Hwy 45 and it started raining hard when I got to the other side of Huntsville. I stopped put on my rain gear and my rain gear did not keep me dry, I'm very disappointed in the Gerber Extreme Gear. It quit raining near Corsicana, I stopped, removed my rain gear and fueled up my motorcycle.

I arrived in Euless an hour late because of the rain and Crystal was running late, so I went over to the Harley Dealership and bought some rain gear while I waited on Crystal.

Got Crystal packed up and we stopped by my moms house to say hi. We finally got out of town around 3 PM.

We did a straight shot on Hwy 287 to Amarillo. We stopped in Electra and had dinner at Carlito's Mexican Restaurant, it was a great dinner or maybe I was just really hungry.

Hwy 287 was a long boring ride, we arrive at our hotel around 11:30 PM.

It was a long day and I'm bushed!

Photos • Route

2009 Road Trip

Heading out on the big road trip in the morning. I'll update this blog daily when possible.

Planned Routes

Part 1:

http://tinyurl.com/mhpkyx

Part 2:

http://tinyurl.com/mz38r7

Part 3:

http://tinyurl.com/labb2u

If You want follow me on my trip here are the links:

Photos:

http://rexjc.smugmug.com/

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/lonestarrider

EveryTrail:

http://www.everytrail.com/profile.php?user_id=38706

Hawaiian Shirt Ride

Every year the Southern Cruisers have a ride up to Yankees Tavern & Grill in Carlos Texas. This will be the first time I have attended the Hawaiian Shirt Ride.

There were many people and all kinds of motorcycles at Yankees. I visited with a lot of friends and made new ones. There was a contest for the best and worst Hawaiian shirt, water gun fights and lots of fun.

By the way, Yankees makes a great burger.

Photos • Route

Rocking Horse!

Get Your kids the Rocking Horse!

Would have been really cool too have one of these when I was a kid!

See more at The Blog Paper or at NOTCOT

Southern Cruisers Chapter Ride

Rode This Saturday Morning With The South Cruiser To The Hill Bar & Grill In Waller Texas.

Great Route and had a good time with some friends I have not see in a wile.

A Nice little Bar & Grill with some great food. You will not leave hungry!

Photos • Route