so on our summer trip last year we happened to be in town when the last bastard bash was going on and we popped in. Id love to make this one too, but alas, the timing is but a few months off. ah well... if you can make it, go. good guys, good party.

Hollywood hasnt come out with an original movie since God knows when. I think theyve completerly run out of ideas and have started doing bad remakes of the things we all cherished when we were kids (scooby doo, Fat Albert, GI JOE)...... Yet, finally, i think i see a ray of hope. I think i speak for any and everyone reading this page that this book was one of the most memorable books from their childhood, right along with Goodnite Moon, and Where the Sidewalk Ends- and i think it may just be the remake that nails it. it better be or im gonna be livid!!!

hold on to your hats! it's coming! second annual!

dont remember if i ever put these up- Jerrys crazy chopper collection @ the iron horse social club in Savannah, IL. This is his personal collection, not in the bar. Somehow warren and brian got him to show us these bad boys.

holy molding!!!!

from Peach Johnsons stash- Time Tunnel - this bike is sick!

CMIII day four - farewell pals.

it was the last day. the day nobody wants to see. slow starts, bike repairs, cold sodas. we didn't want to leave but we had to- back to the daily grind. it's hard to say goodby to a bunch of guys that you've grown closer to on the road. We split in to 2 packs at the freeway: the MKE boys, and the chicago crew. They were supposed to take er easy cause brians replacement belt wasn't quite sitting right and he needed to take it slow to get home.

 

that didn't last. not even 10 miles later i see brian in my rear view. he's rolling nice and steady catching up at a relaxed pace with the rest of the guys not far behind.... seems its harder than we thought to break up the group.

then brian drops off behind me and i see his light turn off. 

the belt decided that it was going to turn itself into a super trick 1/2" wide belt the hard way about 30 miles from MKE. Eugene peg-legged him to the next gas stop where warren would be bringing him the last belt that would get him to chicago. I didn't want to, but Brad, Ratchet and i split leaving the rest there and getting me back home to my truck in case it was needed.

I nearly fell over from exhaustion the second i walked in the front door of my place. 1000 miles never felt so good and so short. It was 4 days i will never forget with a bunch of guys i now hold dear to me. Many a good time spent on the road, in the grass at gas stations, in parking lots, at campgrounds... theres but one thing i can think i would have changed....

I can't thank the chicago boys enough for asking me to come along on this one. Brian, i'm grateful for being invited on something you guys hold so dear to your hearts- I now see why. Eugene, I can't thank you enough for making this financially possible. and for convincing me to get down there. i was upset i wasn't gonna be able to make it, but you were so quick to tell me that you wouldn't let me miss it because of money- i thank you genuinely. I was gonna go down the list of everyone but there were so many instances of kindness that i'm grateful for that i would be here well after my lunchbreak ended. So to anyone that offered up a sandwich, cup of coffee, tank of gas, parts, tools, zip-ties, anything... i truly thank you.

Oh, and thanks to the Country Mile III sponsors: Miller High Life, and Thin Lizzy.

ho. lee. crap.

ok, i swear. the last of the country mile pics up shortly. been working on shirt stuff and just life in general. in the meantime, here's your video for the day: Rob "you got a friend in metal" Hulz in his garage in 1988! that's him playing bass... check out that mustache!!!!!

Kevo's girlfriend Ashley is having a birthday on wednesday and she requested that we all go down to CHICAGO to go see Beardo play at the house of blues. I dont' know much about him or his group (the Dyslexic Speedreaders: Mickey Avalon, Dirt Nasty, etc...) but all that i've heard is off the wall! If any of you chicago boys wanna go, let me know. we'll only be in town for the show then splitting back up here to mke after. Hope to see at least one of you fools!

CMIII day three part deux

so when we last met up i was telling you about shawn getting yanked by the boys in blue for whatever reason they felt necessary. the cop let him go after playing twenty questions with him and telling him to put a brighter taillight on. sure. thanks roscoe.

  we all rejoined in time to go through the quaint little town of Escanaba. at this point it looked like all fifteen of us were playing a game of tag on the highway- everyone jumping in and out of lanes, stopping on the shoulder, splitting between cars- i dont know exactly what happened, we were just all over the place and apparently the people in escanaba dont take to kindly to these sort of motorcycle tomfoolery. As were nearing a stoplight i see yellows a flashing and the cop, er, excuse me, public safety officer motioning for us to pull in to the gas station.

crap.

not good.

shut the bike off.

get off the bike.

pocket check

spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch

oh man.

(now, I was going to put this in quotes, but its not exact so this is the best i remember it.)

*Gentlemen, weve been getting some calls from some people about a bunch of guys on motorcycles passing on the shoulder and between cars, and travelling at an excessive rate of speed. I just want you to know that we dont tolerate this sort of behavior here in Escanaba and we would appreciate it if you would refrain from doing it again. ok? ok. have a nice day guys.*

uh.

wait.

what.

ive never seen fifteen bikes fire up so fast and split out of a parking lot like that- below the speed limit of course. wow. again, thanks chopper Gods.

hey. buck up little camper!

the rest of the day was a blast. a couple quick rounds of motorcycle jeopardy with topics like charging systems, ignition switches....

double jeopardy- makes a popping noise while riding and makes your bike run like garbage.

the question- what is torn intake seals?

correct!

Eugene got to check out a shop with some pretty cool stuff as he found a mom and pop shop that sold him intake seals and clamps ON A SUNDAY NITE!!! and he came to pick him up!! talk about service!

and final jeopardy-  4 hours

the question- what is the maximum amount of time you would spend working on a bike on the side of the road/in a gas station parking lot when you are 27 miles from your destination before calling someone with a truck?

and thats exactly what we did. Brad scooped up the bike and again, Team B rolled in with still enough time to hang out and tie a good one on. We were staying at a buddy of Warrens place named Terry, or Gator as he preferred to be called.

oh my.

soft grass.

warm fire.

green grass.

cold beer.

what a way to spend the last nite. Then cody decided to egg gator on about the size of the fire. So Gator decided that he was going to change that with the help of Cody. I think i moved my chair back about 8feet by the time this sucker got REALLY cooking. it felt like i was sitting next to a pizza oven. I rolled out my sleeping bag out about 10 feet from the fire dozed off to the continual sound of exhaust pipes, open primaries, and kickers in my head.

day four is gonna be a short one. thanks for watching.

i received this picture on my phone by a friend back home. if you're from the south, you know waffle house. damn do i miss it.

CMIII day three

i awoke to the sound of a really loud crow flying super low over our camp. I thought it was mitch at first doing his best to communicate with the wild, but even he was woken up by the noisy foul. slowly the bodies came back to life and staggered around, while Brad sat on his bike, already packed, ready to rock n roll.

We  took our sweet time at the gas station as the crew evacuated their bowels, filled their stomachs, and chewed the fat about where we were headed. Alexs fuel tank was cracking around the mount- a simple application of some epoxy to keep the fuel from eating through the rest of his rattle can paint job and it was good. Patched up, we split for the Mackinaw

t

The Mackinaw Bridge is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere. At 8,614 feet (2,626 m), The length of the bridge's main span is 3,800 feet (1,158 m), which makes it the third-longest suspension span in the United States and twelfth longest worldwide. seeing this thing in pictures just doesnt do it any kind of justice. sucker is huge.

jimmy the weed.

its funny how lake michigan smells so horrible when you live in Milwaukee, yet up here, its gorgeous and void of any kind of odor. We stopped for a few to get some sand in our shoes while waiting for some of the guys to catch up. seems its a game we would play for the better part of the day, but hey, Im in no hurry.

i have no idea what he is so fascinated by.

We got back on track and re-formed our giant 15man road python. splitting lanes, passing on the shoulder, upsetting the locals..... oh yes, all of the above.

one of our gas stops brought us to a ma and pop gas station called bobs. a quaint little store, bob took cash only on his two pumps, and let us hang out for a bit on his front lawn.

these shots were taken shortly after our first run in with Johnny Law, or as Kevin calls em, One-Time. The cop musta saw a pack of bikes roll by and had to snatch up the opportunity. he banged a U-turn so fast he almost caused an accident, and tailed shawn for at least a mile before pulling him over. we all continued on to the next gas station to wait for him. The cop apparently just wanted him to clean his lisence plate off of all the mud and oil that had caked on.

I will have to fill you in on Johnny Law experience #2 a little later. Im late for work as it is and im still eating my raisin bran in my underwear. stay tuned.