I was experimenting with the gear. Riding to Johnson City, TN for the MOA rally in July and to Pinehurst, NC in August I'd worn my AirMesh Motoport pants and BMW Venting Machine Jacket with almost nothing underneath (good for 100 degree travel); in the rain I wore my BMW Rain Suit. Sometimes warm, but basically dry. This time I decided to try the waterproof liners with the Motoport pants. It was predicted to be much colder, so i concocted some layers of fleece with a Gortex top to wear under the VentingMachine. I gotta say, when I arrived in Beebe to meet up with the other riders, I was looking like a pretty saavy/tough biker in that gear.
Deciding it would be a good idea when riding with an experienced riding group (I have very little group-riding experience) to take a leak early so I wouldn't be the first one pulling the group off the road for a rest stop, I boldly stepped into the gas station restroom. Half-hour later, I was still f&%$ing with a messed up zipper on my pants liner. First time use...I failed to notice a missing zipper tooth about 1/2 inch down from the top of the long zipper (goes from waist to ankle of right leg) of the liner. The zipper kept splitting open, requiring a tedious, inch-by-inch retrieval of the far away zipper, against a unnaturally split seam, to start over. I finally figured out to slam the velcro flaps closed to hold the zipper closed. A ZIPPER EMERGENCY indeed. Reminds me to replenish my duck tape supply as this would have been a good alternate solution.
I sheepishly emerged from the bat-room to find several of my new buddies had gone on, leaving poor Frank to wait for ZipperDave. Anyway, the plan was to ride up there quickly, set up camp etc. then have fun riding back on the back roads on Sunday, so off we went. I was worried the next stop I would open the zipper back up again, and subsequently freeze to death in my mesh pants with out any wind break on my leg. But i figured out I could hike the liner down on bathroom breaks and avoid zipper use altogether. WHEW! A while later we caught up with the others and stopped for lunch. Frank, Donnie, Rod and Jim (I'm behind the camera):
We got up to Potosi about 3 or 4 pm. Good riding the whole way.
The leaves were not as pretty as last year, and it had been raining for days, and was still soaking wet and cloudy, but it turned out pretty nice:
We went around to venders and such.
Everyone needs a GS with a winch:
After dinner was the awards ceremony, accompanied by the infamous Anvil Blast(s). The award ceremony was dedicated to Mae Glascock and started with a double anvil blast (a rally first). None of our group won any prizes
. The ceremony ended with a super-duper anvil blast. If you have not seen an anvil blast, this was the highlight of the evening. Check out the following photos:They stack two anvils on top of each other. A cavity in the lower one is filled with black powder. Here we have, in the distance, the launch pad being overseen by the anvil-blast master:
Fire in the hole, the fuse is burning:
A chest pounding WHUMP!
And the top anvil is launched 100 feet into the air. That's an anvil weighing 80-100 pounds! Do you see the spot in the pix about 1/3 of the way down, approximate middle pix? That's the anvil on the way up.
The ground was so wet, it came down with a THWAP and burried itself in the ground.
That night we cozied up to the campfire. It got down to 34 degrees F that night.
Next morning we broke camp at a leisurely pace and set off for Arkansas. I was in a "follow the leader" mode, and I can't say which roads we took...suffice it to say the alpha-numbered roads in MO are fantastic. We had a good ride home. My ZIPPER EMERGENCY only reared its ugly head once on the return trip. I had gotten "smart" when dressing for the trip home, and dug out a safety pin from my first aid kit. I used this to secure my wonky zipper so it would not split open. First rest stop out, I encountered an unexpected problem. I had inadvertently pinned my first layer of fleece to my pants and was unable to reach critical parts. OMG, it's happening again. Fortunately, I was able to undo and redo the pin without flushing the zipper down to my ankle (which would have necessitated another 30 min zipper repair) and took care of business in a timely manner.
My liner is on its way back to Motoport for a warranty repair. Hope to have my crash pants back in action for a camping trip first full weekend in November. Stay tuned...
For more photos visit the Gateway Riders site and
http://mrob.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Ral ... Rally-2009
Edit added 11/17/09: Motoport turned the liners with the wonky zipper around in 24 hours. I'm back in business again and a happy customer.