Femmoto 2006 - Friday

Every October, hundreds of female motorcyclists from across North America gather at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Femmoto.

Femmoto is a female-only demo track day. Besides being able to ride on a track without pressure from testosterone-poisoned riders, participants get to try out many different kinds of motorcycles. The manufacturers get to market to a quickly growing riding segment with special desires and learn how they can better cater to those needs.

Manufacturers bringing demo bikes this time included Kawasaki, Buell, Ducati, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, and Kymco. See the Femmoto website for a full list of sponsors.

Having done the demo track day last year, I decided to try the MSF dirt course offered as an alternative. Carolyn (Bluepoof, from CA), Kristina (Krismark, from IN), and Yosh (Stargzrgrl, from IL) from Sport-Touring.Net also decided to get *dirty*. While we certainly bantered frequently on the internet, it had been a year since I’d met Kristina at the last Femmoto, and several months since I’d seen Carolyn or Yosh. I was very excited about spending time with them in the flesh.

Friday, October 6, 2006

The weekend began auspiciously.

I got to the airport in plenty of time to enjoy a Starbucks soy mocha before boarding the plane, where I was seated next to a guy who had never flown before. We had a few spots of very bumpy turbulence coming into Las Vegas. I love turbulence. I wonder if the newbie was encouraged by my obvious enjoyment or couldn’t wait to get away from the laughing maniac?

The trick with Las Vegas is to take a private shuttle service from the airport to your hotel. Kiosks outside baggage claim sell tickets (around $10 roundtrip). I’ve had fast shuttles and slow shuttles, depending on the number of travelers on the shuttle. I was the 2nd person off in this case, arriving at the Sahara hotel around 3pm, only to find that Yosh had given me an incorrect cell phone number. I called Carolyn to get the correct number and found out that she and Kristina would be delayed several hours. This left me plenty of time to cool my heels while waiting for Yosh to get back from a dirt bike gear shopping spree.

Carolyn showed up while Yosh and I were *enjoying* a light snack of nachos and a green sour-cream mixture masquerading as guacamole. The three of us had liquid refreshment, reminisced, and tried not to deserve too many dirty looks from occupants of nearby tables.

Kristina finally arrived, swooping through the porte cochere in a pimpin’ Taurus with leather and gps. After a short-lived attempt to roll over my foot, she settled down to merely scaring us while we drove out to pre-registration at the track. Let’s just say that I’ll never again view the friendly admonishment “Drive Safely!” the same way (especially when the marquee blinds the driver right before she needs to make a sharp right turn). And there was much screaming.

Having experienced the *grand tour* of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year, we had a good idea of where to find the motorcycle pit area this time. After ascertaining that we had missed pre-registration by fifteen minutes, we headed back to the casino for dinner and bed.

Crappy cell phone pic 0f the four of us together. Left to right: Kristina, Carolyn, Becca, Yosh.

Carolyn modeling her new shiny boxers

Yosh & Kristina getting ready to ride

Altogether now

Coffee

While it certainly doesn't rank up there with leaning the R1200ST into a curve, there are few things I enjoy as much in the morning as feeling a medium iced soy caramel mocha (no whip) sliding smoothly over my tongue, exciting my taste buds on the way down.

Conversely, there are few things as frustrating as helplessly watching $3.50 worth of said yummy mocha splash untasted on the asphalt parking lot.

I was running early, for the first time in weeks, on the promise of treating myself to coffee on the way into work. I usually place said coffee on the truck while opening the door. I didn't this time, and fumbled it.

Arrrrrrgh.

September Pie Run and Ride

The TWT September Pie Run was held today in Brenham, TX at "Must Be Heaven," a 50's style soda fountain with a gourmet deli attached.

The lunch was excellent. I shared a Muffaletta with "The Big Spank Daddy" aka Chris. We then split slices of "Bourbon Chocolate Pecan" and "Sawdust" (banana, coconut, & graham cracker) pies.

I rode out there solo, but hooked up with Rebecca and David afterward. We went over some goaty farm roads, a very old iron bridge, and visited a couple of hundred-year old "Painted Churches of Fayette County" near Weimar, TX.

Light twisties on FM-362

Low bridge underpass on Scenic FM-390

Overlooking Lake Somerville
From a website about the churches:

"The term "Painted" comes from the elaborate faux-finished interiors - painted by itinerant artists who advertised in church bulletins and newspapers. Several were resident artists in San Antonio. Gold-leafed, stone and polished marble columns and ceilings are (upon closer examination) actually finely-fitted woodwork. The paint - mixed on site - is still vibrant and bright - even after all these years."

St John the Baptist, Ammansville, TX - 1919

Rebecca in her element. Dirt!

Oldest Still-in-Use Iron Bridge in Texas

That thar bridge dun't like them heavy auto-mo-biles

Sts Cyril and Methodius, Dubina, TX - 1912

I did about 300 miles today...bringing the R1200ST to 18,500 (aka 500 miles late for the 18k service)

Marathoning Home

Sunday, September 24, 2006
Eureka Spring, AR to Cypress, TX
600 miles

Sunday dawned bright, clear, and cold. DonZG had already left when I walked out of my room to load the R1200ST. Phlatlander paused from packing his bike to walk up to the office with me. He laughed at the amount of coffee I put in my sugar while serving up some yummy cinnamon rolls from the complimentary continental breakfast counter.

After hugs around and promises to repeat the event, I rolled out of the driveway at 8:15.

With my grip-warmers running full-blast on this chilly morning, I took the express route out of Arkansas, only pulling over once. I usually fail to take pictures on high mileage days, so I was trying to be on the lookout for good photo-ops. A military reservation had a jet fighter on display that caught my fancy.

I-540 from Bentonville (Walmart-central!) to Ft Smith was actually enjoyable. The speed limit was high and high-speed curves many. It’s always a bonus to have fun while making time.

The interstate ended when I entered Oklahoma. Although rural, the road slowed through lots of construction zones and small towns.

I had high hopes as the US-259 began to rise out of the flatlands into Ouachita National Forest. I found myself climbing a pass with two lanes going uphill and one downhill. I don't normally ride so squidly (irresponsibly), but the completely empty road with tight-banked curves was screaming for full-utilization. I fell into a groove using both uphill lanes. As the road swept to the right I followed it in. Twisting back to the left, I leaned hard and moved smoothly over the dashed line to the inside. Somewhere inside I was offering hallelujahs that my tires were still rounded enough to take advantage of this opportunity.

I crossed the Talimena Parkway and pulled over at a vista point to compose myself.

The rest of the ride down US259 to Nacogdoches was mostly uneventful. Taking 259 was an experiment. I wanted to check out alternatives to the boring, busy dash down US59.

I had to request chopsticks when I ate lunch at a busy chinese buffet in Broken Bow, OK.

I was running on fumes when I found out that NOT all Interstate/major US highway intersections are blessed with gas stations. Fortunately, there was a town nine miles down the road with fuel.

Closer to home, I was proud of myself for leaving the highway at Moscow, TX for some local twisties. Usually, return trips are devoid of fun at the end of the day. This time I wanted to buck my trend and do some leaning. It was getting to be forest-rat time, but I kept an eye out and tried to enjoy the brief break from monotony.

I rolled into my garage at 8:15pm, exactly 12 hours after leaving Eureka Springs.