[ST] The return blast

["STeve Duncan" <xhippy@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

So Sunday morning got up and went to see Dad, and took him to his favorite 
place for breakfast, the Golden Corral.  We had a really good time visiting 
and eating.  Got back to his place and checked the weather and there was a 
huge storm cell, must have been a 150 miles across, due west of Tulsa.  It 
looked to be maybe 50 miles off and headed straight for me.  I said my hasty 
goodbyes and suited up (air mesh, not raingear) and bid farewell.  Heading 
west on 244 then south on 75 out of Tulsa the clouds were ominous.  Dark 
heavy things.  It was quite brisk in the mesh and a light mist was in the 
air.  I was not looking forward to the straight shot to Dallas, in the cold 
and rain.

Guess what?  It never happened!  Light mist was the worst of it.  The 
further south I went the brighter the sky and the warmer it got.  Suddenly I 
realized that I was "in the zone".  Karma, whatever, was on my side today.  
Heck, I even rolled thru Okmulgee without hitting a single red light (there 
are about 7 of'em).  Then I picked up a BMW 740IL, rabbit, just south of 
Okmulgee and rode his wake all the way to the Indian Nations Turnpike and on 
down to the Toll Booth.  I had to stop off at the gas station and fill up.  
I squirted up beside him, just at the exit, we exchanged waves and I peeled 
off, to top off.  No getting off the bike, no taking off the helmet.  Gas 
and go!!

That was the last stop I made before hitting my driveway.  A good, quick, 
'uneventful' trip all the way home.  Traffic was there, but seemed to just 
part in front of me.  I hit several red lights getting thru Atoka, but even 
then, traffic seemed to stay in the right lane, leaving me the left lane 
open to the front of the queue.  Amazing, really.  Even coming into Dallas 
proper, where traffic is thick from McKinney all the way in, I seemed to be 
able to keep my pace, gently weaving and swaying thru traffic like a hot 
knife thru butta'

I'm tellin y'all, this may have been the most amazing run between Dallas and 
Tulsa I've ever had, especially considering nothing amazing happened.  And 
I've been making this run regularly since my friend, Chris first moved to 
Dallas in '84.  If it is at all possible to achieve moto-nirvana on a direct 
4-lane route, that you have done hundreds of times, this may have been my 
one (and only).

The only "bad" thing that happened, if you can even call it that was........
Just outside of Calera (just north of the TX. line), a left lane bandit was 
clogging the lane and I was right on his "6".  So he decided to be Mr. 
Smarty Pants and engage his windshield washer.  The squirters were aimed 
just at the top of his windshield (on purpose, I suspect) so I was getting a 
pretty good spray of windshield cleaner.  Did this make me mad, was I 
pissed????  To the contrary, my faceshield was nearly covered with bugs and 
this bit of spray softened it up just enough that the squeegee on my Held 
gloves forefinger wiped them away clean!!!  No lie.  As he finally edged 
enough ahead for me to squeeze past in the right lane, I turned in the 
saddle, pointed to my faceshield, gave him the "OK" sign, then the "peace" 
sign, and nailed it to 120 for just a bit, bye-bye, and a clean shield to 
boot.  I'm sure he did not understand any of this, he had Oklahoma tags, but 
it was a hoot for me.

This sure is a long post for a ride in which nothing happened, huh?

So, the hard numbers.........

272.2 miles in 3 hrs  41 mins, driveway to driveway
that's an avg speed of about 74.25 mph

Just another day ride, undocumented, we don't need no stinkin badges  :)


happy trails y'all

duncan
donut



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