Stacey Rides The Poker Run

Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for.  The roar of lots of motorcycles running is something you just can't put into words.  If you have never been for a ride with a large group, you can't even imagine what it is like.  I always get excited when we ride in a group but a large group is so much more fun.  Eager as I was, I needed to get everything ready and get some sleep.  I got our gear together and my mini cooler out.  When dinner was cleaned up I prepared for morning, setting the coffee pot and laying out my clothes. 

 Morning came early and we had to be on the road quickly to arrive on time.  I packed some waters in my mini cooler and put it and our hoodies in the tour pack.  Thankfully my planning made a huge difference and we were on the road right on time for once.  We actually arrived a little early.  The rest of our crew was there already, making me wonder how early they usually were and how late that made us look all the time.  Once we had our paperwork we were all set for the poker run.  We got in the line up for leaving.  They had so many groups that we were getting sent out at intervals so that our stops wouldn't be overwhelmed.  

We were finally next and as I looked back I saw Stacey was having some difficulties.  She had stalled her bike and was trying to get it started but she was panicking.  Bob, her husband, dismounted and had her do the same.  He got on her bike and finally got it started again.  He calmed her down and told her to breath.  We took off and it wasn't a long ride to our first stop.  Stacey was trailing behind a lot further than normal.

When we were all in and parked at the first stop I could see Stacey was upset.  Bob asked me if I could talk to her.  When I got her off to the side I asked what was up.  She explained that it was a little overwhelming to be around so many bikes and was afraid she would mess up.  I told her "Everyone has been the newbie at some point, breath.  Being upset won't help anything."  She protested stating that she was just nervous.  I told her I understood and that she did so great last time.  I knew she would be fine.  She agreed that she just needed to take a few deep breaths and treat today's run like any other time we had been out.  I reminded her it was not a race and it was just about fun.  "We get back when we get back!"  There was a time we needed to be back at but as long as we didn't spend a long time at any location we would be more than fine.  

Once we had our cards drawn and our paperwork signed we were ready to head out.  As we pulled out I was carefully watching Stacey.  She seemed much more relaxed.  While we were stopped she had taken a few minutes to calm down and it had made a huge difference.  There were significantly less people here and she was doing much better.  Stacey and Bob were up tight with our group and watching her you would never guess she had only been riding for a few months. We were bringing up the rear of a rather large group.

The roar of the bikes, as we rolled through Caro, was so impressive as it bounced off the buildings.  People would stop and stare or point.  Some car stopped and a couple of the cars blocked traffic until we all passed.  As we rolled into our next stop and found parking I took note of where Stacey was.  I went over to talk to her and give her some words of praise.  I told her she looked more comfortable.  She explained that she was much more at ease being at the very back with no one following her.  There was no pressure for her to keep up.  As a result she did keep up.  

The rest of our day was without issue and was fun until we rolled into Akron.  A few of the riders went down the far side of the Y in the road just before Iron Horse and it didn't go well.  There is a set of train tracks crossing both roads but the far side had some gravel just before the tracks.  One of the veteran riders caught it just right and went down.  Several of the other riders saw it and rushed to help him.  Other than being mad with embarrassment he was fine and no major damage to his bike but he couldn't get it started.  Several of the guys looked it over and no one could figure out why it wouldn't start.  They decided to try and let it sit for a few and try again.  The guys helped him push his bike the remaining distance to the bar and someone brought him a beverage.  

We went in to get our cards and of course my hand was shaping up to be the worst from our group.  We stayed at the Iron Horse for a little while longer.  The guy who had gone down was in better spirits now but his bike still wouldn't start and someone was coming to get him and the bike with a trailer.  His ride was done but he encouraged the rest of his group not to wait and to continue the run.  He told them he would meet up with them at their after party.  It wasn't much longer before we all headed out.

We still had some extra time before our return so our group stopped at a favorite local bar.  As we pulled into Kingswood Outfield I took a couple more pictures because you could see the line of bikes turning well before we made our turn.  I also took some pictures when we were all in and parked because it is just so beautiful to see all those bikes lined up.  There were motorcycles of every brand but mostly they were Harley, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki.  The different brands were all mixed together parked in a line.  The rest of our stops had been mostly chaos of getting cards and signatures.  Even though we didn't stay long, it was nice to stop and visit for a bit.  

We arrived back at the starting/finish point with 30 minutes to spare.  Once we all drew our final cards and knew we hadn't won the poker hand, they had the best 3 hands posted, it was time to go.  Stacey said she was happy she stuck it out.  I told her I was happy she finished the run because it would make the next one seem that much easier.  She wanted to ride some more on our own, without the big crowd, before we did another poker run.  We laughed and I said we could figure that out.

We said our good byes and headed for home.