We went on a chapter ride today, or at least part of it. Debbie’s bike is up and going again, so we each took our own bike, and went on the chapter ride. First stop was Wimberly for a short time of relaxation, before the rest of the group moved on toward their destination, a Taco house somewhere in San Antonio. Debbie and I dropped off at Wimberly, because I have been having shoulder problems, and I am not ready to put in a 200 mile day on the bike. SO after the group left, Debbie and I stopped in at a local cafe for a nice lunch before heading home the back way. We had a great time, and my shoulder wasn’t bad today, so i am happy. When we got home, we had a phone message from Bandido Santos inviting us to a halloween party at Sam’s Town Point. Unfortunately, we needed to head out to Dale Texas for the memorial service for Charles Barnes, so I called Bandido Santos to thank him for the invitation, but to let him know we wouldn’t make it. Anyway, here are some pictures from the ride today, and couple of our friend Errol. What an interesting face he has.

I learned a lesson in Patience today. Someone else paid for the lesson, but I learned it. I recently got involved with buying stuff on eBay. Yes, I know you can all probably tell me that was my first mistake. But it seems so easy, and some stuff is so cheap. Anyway, I bid and won this camera, and got impatient waiting for it to arrive, so I opened a case with eBay to investigate why it hadn't shipped. Turns out the seller had shipped it the same day I opened the case, and now the money I paid him is locked up by eBay until I receive the merchandise. Needless to say, the seller wasn't too happy. He did cool down after about the third email back and forth, so I think everything will be ok, but he definitely is having to pay for my impatience. I think the "got to have it now" attitude I was exhibiting is a symptom of our society, moving faster and faster. It certainly seems to be true at work, and other places as well. Perhaps the frantic pace of our lives is really just a diversion that Satan uses to keep us from thinking about God too much. I think I am going to make an effort to slow down a bit, and think about what God would have me do. How about you?

Tom Zimmer

Debbie and I went to the Motorcycle Safety & Awareness Event in San Antonio this weekend. It is kind of beyond of my normal range lately, but I was asked to give the invocation, so how could I say no? Go somewhere and pray, sure, sounds good to me!

It started out kind of rainy, with a lot of people arriving in rain gear. Fortunately, with prayer, and God’s cooperation, the sky parted and we got some sunshine in time for the ride to start around 9:30am. We had great attendance, almost 400 according to registration. We had a short program from Cathy (road name Pegasus) who is also VP of TMRA (Texas Motorcycle Road-riders Association), and from Samuel Aguirre, a safely and awareness person from TxDot. We also got a safety briefing from a local motorcycle safety training instructor. At the end I gave the invocation, and then everyone was off for a short police escorted ride around San Antonio to see some of the animated billboards that had been programmed to tell people to “Look Twice For Motorcycles Share The Road”. Everything went off without a hitch (no accidents), and later everyone returned for a great (and free) Bar-B-Q lunch. There were lots of t-shirt giveaways and several back-packs and certificates for oil changes and other stuff. Everything ended around 1pm, and we headed back.

Enjoy the pictures, and please pass them around. I would like everyone to get to see them. Thanks, and as usual, there is a large picture available by clicking on any of the smaller images. If you want to save any of these larger pictures, just right click on the larger image and choose save-as in your browser.

Enjoy!

Tom

Update: Added more pics from Louis and Candy.

The Companeros had their annual anniversary party today at the Iron Horse Bar & Grill out on east Airport Blvd. Debbie and I arrived aboard our red horse (the Camry), amidst some teasing about being on four wheels (I have had some shoulder problems lately – good excuse anyway). There was a good crowd as we arrived, showing up a bit after the actual start. We found some “cage” parking out back, and wandered in to be greeted by the familiar faces of our friends from all the UCOA member clubs. As usual I am terrible with names, but they all seem to remember my name. Hmm.. Kind of makes you think.. Anyway, we made out way around, greeting and talking with several people, and eventually made it inside, where Young Generation was playing some very good (and loud) tunes. We registered and got our BBQ plate tickets (I was starving for some reason) and headed over to the food service area to greet more friends and pick up our food plates. As usual, the food was great, they served BBQ Chicken quarters and sausage links with all the fixings. We moved off to a quieter corner and sat down to enjoy the BBQ. They really did themselves proud, the chicken and sausage was really good. Of course I was starving, but that’s beside the point. We were joined by Del, his wife and a friend after a few minutes. After eating, we went outside to enjoy the great weather we had today (and get away from the music). We talked to quite a few people, and I got to pray with one friend, he has been having some health problems and we prayed for healing and guidance for the doctors. They can’t seem to figure out how to fix him. I guess doctors really are just fancy plumbers in some ways.

We saw several interesting (to me at least) bikes, so I took quite a few pictures, as you can see below. i hope you enjoy them!

The Chupacabras had road guard duties, so I asked them to pose for a picture. I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been, that they all turned their backs to me. That’s a proud club member for you.

Here we have the BBQ plate, Del and of course some bike shots.

Next, more bike shots, and the new back patch for Dark Horse MC. They were a riding group, but recently patched over to become a full fledged club. Nice patch guys!

I saw this really neat bike, and I had to take some pictures of it. Don’t know who owns it, or built it, but it was a great bike!

Next up, the band, Young Generation. They don’t call then young for nothing, but what a rockin’ sound they make!

Another group bike shot, ragu’s bike (back on the road again), and another friend. I liked his hat, and I love what my little Sigma DP2 camera can do with portraits.

Finally, two panoramas. Each one is a merge of a three photo sequence. Please don’t mind the blurred faces, people move between shots.

As always, you can click on any individual photo for a larger version.

We met at Rudy’s for our monthly (second Thursday) chapter ride for a desert run to Mama Roux. While at Rudy’s, we saw Mark Murray the KVUE channel 24 Weatherman, who Susan apparently knows, so she went up and talked with him while he was in line trying to get some BBQ. About 7PM, we left to ride to Mama Roux. Louis who planned the ride, but couldn’t meet us at Rudy’s, so he had told us that we were going to Mimi’s over where the Walmart is, near Parmer and IH35. We rode over there and couldn’t find a Mimi’s, so we were parked near Mama Roux and gave Louis a call. He fessed up that it was really mama Roux we were going to, so we just waited for him to arrive. The purported specialty of Mama Roux is the Strawberry /Raspberry – Tabasco Cheesecake, and I must say it is wonderful, with just a little bit of bite to it. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of the cheesecake, but when it arrived, I was too excited to take any pictures.