Saturday October 21st 6:00am PDT we pull out of Squid World Headquarters headed for Beautiful Downtown Suches Georgia U.S. of A. My first Grits in 1999 was so much fun, I decided to bring along a couple more friends for the Y2K "Tour de Grits." Rose "Gracie" Ray, incomparable General Manager of the Squids (which is kind of like being a highly paid baby sitter), Margaret "Mamook of the North" Martinez, a formerly respectable career woman, housewife and mother, and of course Barb "Bubba" Pearce currently on the injured reserved list of the Squid race team with a broken collar bone, and two blown discs, who is my regular Squid travelling buddy. Margaret Rose Susan Barb (This picture has been edited to make Bubba appear to be as tall as the rest of us. She is not, but is very sensitive on the subject so don't mention this to her.) Turns out this is a great group to travel with, and indeed it was my priveledge to do so, of course except for Bubba, who do to her current injured condition (translate: in a lot of pain) is drugged out on Vicadin making her even more entertaining than usual. The trip was uneventful until we reached north east New Mexico where we encountered rain, hail, lighting, 60mph winds, and tornados! In a moment of lucidity, (this does not happen often,) we parked it in Santa Rosa New Mexico for 2 days and waited out the weather. Other than lightening striking about 50 feet from the motor home and discovering every possible leak in it (6 inches of rain in 12 hours), the time was passed by picking on Bubba, eating, and playing Canasta. Tuesday there was a slight break in the weather and we made a run for Centre Alabama, via Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas (Hey Bill, these are the worst roads in the U.S.), Tennessee, and Mississippi. Why Centre? To Visit John Garmon and his family. Great folks. Friday we took off for Suches and after all of us getting car sick, (yeh, I was flattracking the motorhome) except Bubba who didn't notice anything different, we arrive at the T.W.O. Campground mid afternoon.  Setting up Camp in the T.W.O. annex at the local airport (The local airport consists of a grassy valley nestled in the mountains with a grass strip for the occasional airplane. With complete rest room and shower facilities it is loctated 1/2 mile from the T.W.O. Lodge. There are also camping cabins at this location. There were tons of people camped there, so if you tired of the party at the lodge, just come out to the airport for a change of pace!) While we are on the subject of the T.W.O. Campground, I cannot express how welcome the owners and staff make you feel. It is a very warm atmosphere. The facilities are great, first class food, and located in one of the prettiest spots in our country. Thanks Britt and G.T., you are part of what makes the drive worthwile! Saturday, we all went for a warm up ride. The only sad part of this adventure for me was the fact that Bubba couldn't ride due to injury and drug abuse. Not only is she my travelling buddy, but she is my teammate for this event. So I did what I had to and had enough fun and went fast enough for both of us. We got the bikes sorted out on this ride. I was trying to make a decision wether to ride my YSR or my NS and decided in favor of the YSR. Really felt like it would be more fun on the smaller wheels, i.e. faster. This proved to be a correct decision as only one person finished Sunday ahead of me. Maybe next year for the NS and these old knees are getting too hard to bend for the YSR. Sunday morning came and we were off to the lodge at 6:30am for a killer breakfast. Now the rookies of our group were all nervous and couldn't eat, but as this was my second time I knew how much energy it took to go 75 miles fast, and of course, have never been able to push myself away from the table anyway! Ben Cheatwood, promoter extrordinaire and all around good guy, lined us up. The Suches volunteer fire department kept us in line and controlled 4 wheel traffic, what little there is. And soon, we were off! Being old and decrepid, I don't get real serious about riding any more, but there is something inspirational about the Tour de Grit, and I put my head down and never turned it off except for the mandatory check points and the finish. I had several goals; 1. pass all the Aprillia's-done 2. Pass all the NSs-done 3. Pass all the MB5s-done 4. Pass all riders ahead of me-Not done! I got all but one. Rob "I started in front" Palmieri got back first. He was riding a Cagiva, and it was his rookie year, next year he'll be starting in back with the rest of us! In spite of these goals it is totally possible to accomplish them safely, as I didn't get this old by being stupid on the street. Full leathers, back protector, and never ride over your head. If you can't get the person in front of you so what! There's always next year. Actually my time was a couple of minutes slower this year due to the cold pavement conditions. The pavement for the first 45 minutes of riding was very cold and a little damp. Not the time to push it. Did I have fun? I cannot wait to do it again. This is a great group of people who truly know the meaning of riding for fun and laughs. The whole time I was participating I was laughing. You come up on another rider, who has an inflatable woman strapped to his bike, how can you not laugh? I came into one check point only to find Susan Galpin and Carol Yourorski in Haloween costumes pulling away on their NS's. Come around a corner and there is G.T. Turner dressed as a Bumble Bee on an MB5. What about Randy Rosebo dressed as Elvis on his Aprillia, or Doug "Conehead" Bailey on his MB5? It ain't easy to keeep it twisted while laughing your butt off! After turning in my rout sheet to Ben "Head Grit Person" Cheatwood, got a cup of coffee and the bench racing started. An hour or so later, Ben handed out the awards. Everyone gets one. So Cool. And Ben, thanks for the award for Bubba, she may not have ridden, but she definitely participated. We packed up Sunday afternoon and headed for Tennesse. Passed Jack Seaver at a gas station about 60 miles from TWO, right arm in a cast. Jack gets the squid of the day award, and has promised not to crash next year. Hey Jack, those Aprillia's can hurt you! Went to Memphis. Why? It was time for Margaret and Bubba to get Tattoos. Went to see our good buddy Paul and had this taken care of. Now we have pictures of this.....good taste will prevail for a change and I will not be posting them! Stopped in Oklahoma City to see Beau and Sena Wilke. Bench raced about Ohio East-Coast Can Am and YSR Invitational in Portland. Great to see them both. Leaving Oklahoma we headed for the left coast, driving, eating, shopping. Arrived back to Squid Headquarters Sunday 12:30pm. I am unable to fully express how much fun this was. The whole grit experience is nothing but positive. Ben Cheatwood knows how to make an event fun for all. The TWO Campground is fabulous. Re-kindling old friendships, (I've know Sheriff Mac for over 20 Years), making new friends, sharing enthusiasm for the sport of 50CC riding, listening to great blue grass music, riding killer twisty turnies, and all else that accompianies this experience makes it a must for 2001. So for the "2001...A Grit Oddessy" I will be sending in my entry early. Join me. |
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