San Francisco Motorcycle Club - Est. 1904
- Thread starter SFMCjohn
- Start date
SFMCjohn
13
John
Those hammie pics so rock... dirt road up.. what glory!!
Must have been a biatch in the winter during heavy rains. :wow
Thanks for sharing as always... and butch is right. You rock!ort
Hey, we're all in this motocycle thing together ... :laughing
I went into Johnson Leathers on Wednesday and purchased
a new vest for my new BARF patch ... That was fun ... :thumbup
Our old scrapbooks and photo albums are fun, too ...
I always seem to see somthing new every time
we take the time to haul them out of the office (or storage) ...
see you soon!
-- John A
:laughing :thumbup
Hey Butch, your avatar pic is up on Mt. Hamilton, isn't it?
I don't recognize the brick observatory in the old
pic, I wonder if it's still up there somewhere ...
Fun to see the parking lot still unpaved ... :ride
Yup.. I think the buildings are the same, just the brick has been covered in stucco. The inside seems periodic, if that is the right word.
I'll ask next time I am up there, prolly later this week.
SFMCjohn
13
Hey Butch,
Cool, I don't get up to Mt Hamilton much ... it would
be fun to try to re-create that photo if the
building is still there ... :ride
see you soon,
-- John A
SFMCjohn
13
Progress ...
More flood-damage-renovation progress ...
This is a pile of 24' LVL floor joists ...
A new steel fire-escape door on the
side of the club house ...
... and a view of the temporary floor ...
We installed maybe 33 screw-style foundation
piers into the mucky sand that used to be an
estuary of the bay 100 years ago ...
So, that's progress ... :ride
see you around
the corner,
-- SFMCjohn
More flood-damage-renovation progress ...
This is a pile of 24' LVL floor joists ...
A new steel fire-escape door on the
side of the club house ...
... and a view of the temporary floor ...
We installed maybe 33 screw-style foundation
piers into the mucky sand that used to be an
estuary of the bay 100 years ago ...
So, that's progress ... :ride
see you around
the corner,
-- SFMCjohn
SFMCjohn
13
Old Timers' Dance, 8pm on December 5th, 2015
Hey BARF Vintage Cafe-ers,
We're having our annual Old Timers' Dance
at 8pm on Saturday, December 5, 2015 ...arty
The dance will be held at The Bay View Boat Club,
which is cool old-time San Francisco,
on the Bay a quarter-mile south of the new
Giant's Baseball Park ...
I'll be there on my 1973 Tiger, if I can start it :laughing,
celebrating my first SFMC Old Timers' Dance as an
authentic SFMC Old Timer, having joined the club
twenty years ago in December of 1995, and
thus having earned "Life Member" status,
which means I don't have to pay the monthly SFMC dues
anymore, ha ... :afm199
Apparently, we have a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/sanfranciscomc
It informs me that there is a $10 suggested donation at the door,
and that people will
"Dress their best 1947" ...
Of course BARFers in general are welcome as are
modern bikes ... :ride
See you around
the corner,
-- SFMCjohn
Hey BARF Vintage Cafe-ers,
We're having our annual Old Timers' Dance
at 8pm on Saturday, December 5, 2015 ...
artyThe dance will be held at The Bay View Boat Club,
which is cool old-time San Francisco,
on the Bay a quarter-mile south of the new
Giant's Baseball Park ...
I'll be there on my 1973 Tiger, if I can start it :laughing,
celebrating my first SFMC Old Timers' Dance as an
authentic SFMC Old Timer, having joined the club
twenty years ago in December of 1995, and
thus having earned "Life Member" status,
which means I don't have to pay the monthly SFMC dues
anymore, ha ... :afm199
Apparently, we have a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/sanfranciscomc
It informs me that there is a $10 suggested donation at the door,
and that people will
"Dress their best 1947" ...
Of course BARFers in general are welcome as are
modern bikes ... :ride
See you around
the corner,
-- SFMCjohn
Last edited:
SFMCjohn
13
Werkstatt's Moving on Sale and the SFMC OTD, 12/5/2015
Our friend Jennifer--BARFer, SFMC member and for 21 years
owner of San Francisco's iconic independent motorcycle shop
Werkstatt--had a "moving on" garage sale on Saturday ...
some of the gang at her Capp Street shop ...
BARFers and SFMC members Jenn and Cary, with glorious Capp and 17th Streets ...
Jenn and ThumperX ...
Some of the vintage machine's ridden by Jenn's faithful customers ...
a clean Bonneville ...
American Motors, FTW! :thumbup
Honda CB 500 four ... it's not easy being green ... :laughing
Battle scarred air-hear with ATW tank ... :ride
Clean RD400 with Moto Melee stickers ...
Neat old Moto Guzzi race bike ...
I'll miss Workstatt ... :-(
Then it was on to the Bay View Boat Club for the SFMC's 83rd annual
Old Timer's Dance ...
Great band ...
Good food ... 100 lbs of tri-tip on the BVBC's uber-BBQ ...
... happy motorcycle people ...
... cool old bikes ...
... a good time was had by all, I'd say ...
Thanks to the Bay View Boat Club for their
fantastic venue ...
-- SFMCjohn
Our friend Jennifer--BARFer, SFMC member and for 21 years
owner of San Francisco's iconic independent motorcycle shop
Werkstatt--had a "moving on" garage sale on Saturday ...
some of the gang at her Capp Street shop ...
BARFers and SFMC members Jenn and Cary, with glorious Capp and 17th Streets ...
Jenn and ThumperX ...
Some of the vintage machine's ridden by Jenn's faithful customers ...
a clean Bonneville ...
American Motors, FTW! :thumbup
Honda CB 500 four ... it's not easy being green ... :laughing
Battle scarred air-hear with ATW tank ... :ride
Clean RD400 with Moto Melee stickers ...
Neat old Moto Guzzi race bike ...
I'll miss Workstatt ... :-(
Then it was on to the Bay View Boat Club for the SFMC's 83rd annual
Old Timer's Dance ...
Great band ...
Good food ... 100 lbs of tri-tip on the BVBC's uber-BBQ ...
... happy motorcycle people ...
... cool old bikes ...
... a good time was had by all, I'd say ...
Thanks to the Bay View Boat Club for their
fantastic venue ...
-- SFMCjohn
Last edited:
Boris
Need no stinkin rep point
If I didn't know better, I think that's the Old Man's flathead.
The slapped on oil filter, lollipop mirror and fender buddy seat look awfully familiar.
He would have sold if before 2006.
'Cliff' of Pacifica, CA.
Shout out if it's true. Would be nice to know who ended up with it.
SFMCjohn
13
Hey G,
Jenn had a heck of a run ... end of an era for sure ... :ride
Missed you at the dance ... we always have fun
playing dress-up!
artyHey Boris,
I just snapped the pic on my way out the door ...
not a bike I recognize and didn't get a chance
to speak with the owner ...
I'll see what I can find out ... :thumbup
-- SFMCjohn
SFMCjohn
13
Looking for an Old Triumph Racer ...
Ever so often we get a post to our SFMC website from someone looking for information about
history or an old bike … Here’s a post from John H. looking for the fellow that used to race his old Triumph:
“Trying to locate person that raced my bike in early 1970 – 1972 .
Hi my name is John H. I know it’s a long
shot but I am trying to locate the original owner of my
Champion framed triumph 650 motorcycle.
I got this bike in 1977 from a friend of mine.
It was put on the street in about 1972 or 1973?
Marty Lewis at Lazer Frames thinks that the frame was
made in 1971. After 38 years I found Mark Prochnow–the guy
that put the bike on the street–and was able to meet with him
and let him ride his old bike after 40 years. He did not race this bike.
He got this bike from a guy that raced at Lodi Cycle Bowl and
lost his sponsor. Marc can not remember the racers name.
All Marc remembers is the tank was painted dark brown or
burnt orange with white panel and A&A as possible sponsor.
From what I am told that there was not a lot of these frames made.
I think guys that raced at Lodi Cycle Bowl may have been in district 36.
I will send picture of bike. I would hope you or some one you know could help me.
I checked with Ray Abrams at A&A racing. Ray says he was not sponsoring
Triumph bikes in those years.
This is my bike. It has original paint and everything else as I got it in 1977.
The guy on the left is Marc and on the right is me. Marc was so happy to
see and ride his old bike like a old friend that he had not seen for a long while.
Marc said that it was the best day of his summer.
Well thanks for reading all of this . I know that my chances are
slim but I am always hopeful.
Thanks a lot hope you can help .
John H.”
If you remember anything about this old racebike, drop me a
comment here and I’ll pass it along! :ride
see you in
The paddock,
-- SFMCjohn
Ever so often we get a post to our SFMC website from someone looking for information about
history or an old bike … Here’s a post from John H. looking for the fellow that used to race his old Triumph:
“Trying to locate person that raced my bike in early 1970 – 1972 .
Hi my name is John H. I know it’s a long
shot but I am trying to locate the original owner of my
Champion framed triumph 650 motorcycle.
I got this bike in 1977 from a friend of mine.
It was put on the street in about 1972 or 1973?
Marty Lewis at Lazer Frames thinks that the frame was
made in 1971. After 38 years I found Mark Prochnow–the guy
that put the bike on the street–and was able to meet with him
and let him ride his old bike after 40 years. He did not race this bike.
He got this bike from a guy that raced at Lodi Cycle Bowl and
lost his sponsor. Marc can not remember the racers name.
All Marc remembers is the tank was painted dark brown or
burnt orange with white panel and A&A as possible sponsor.
From what I am told that there was not a lot of these frames made.
I think guys that raced at Lodi Cycle Bowl may have been in district 36.
I will send picture of bike. I would hope you or some one you know could help me.
I checked with Ray Abrams at A&A racing. Ray says he was not sponsoring
Triumph bikes in those years.
This is my bike. It has original paint and everything else as I got it in 1977.
The guy on the left is Marc and on the right is me. Marc was so happy to
see and ride his old bike like a old friend that he had not seen for a long while.
Marc said that it was the best day of his summer.
Well thanks for reading all of this . I know that my chances are
slim but I am always hopeful.
Thanks a lot hope you can help .
John H.”
If you remember anything about this old racebike, drop me a
comment here and I’ll pass it along! :ride
see you in
The paddock,
-- SFMCjohn
Last edited:
SFMCjohn
13
SFMC at 2016 Dakar in support of Team ICO Racing/Rally Pan Am
So, the SFMC has been around for 111 years this season,
and as an AMA club (and indeed well before the AMA was
formed in 1924) had been involved in promoting motorcycle racing and flat-track
racing, and more recently used to host a well-attended good luck party for
Team Rally Pan Am when they were supporting
Jonah Street starting in 2006, back when the Dakar was still held in
Africa ...
This year, San Francisco Motorcycle Club life-member
Phillip Bowman was crew chief in support of
the current owner of Team Rally Pan Am, David Peckham
and team racers and Dakar rookies:
Ian Blythe, 24 years old ...
and 45 year old Scott Bright ...
Dave Peckham, owner of ICO Racing/Rally Pan Am, and
Crew Chief Phil Bowman ...
Dave, Ian, Scott and Phil ... ICO Racing/Rally Pan Am, 2016
Phil submitted this race report form his
experience shepherding both of the team's
racers to the finish line of the notoriously difficult
two-week rally-raid race:
"A few thoughts about the rally experience:
Our Support Truck:
The 2002 F250 with 160k on the clock, held up just fine.
Plenty of power, comfortable, ac running good, and per the Dakar
rulebook was eligible for upper tier speed limits along service routes.
One of the side swing up door hinges gave way. Easily repaired in Tarija,
Bolivia after a brief search for a welder shop.
Miles driven: 5800, averaging 8 mpg....insert barf emoticon
A few changes/additions for 2017 in store:
*add a 20 gallon water tank, mainly for pressure washing bikes and showering.
*add a 12volt on-board air compressor ... ditch the small portable
*add another "house battery"... ditch the generator
*add a pit bike. The bivouacs are huge. A pit bike would save the
team a lot of time walking back and forth to the meal tent, shitters,
and other bivouac services.
*add a wheel mover for hauling wheelsets back and forth to the tire changer.
A simple t-handle shaped device, wheels are easily mounted on cross-bar,
then schlepped to the Michelin Man!
*redo the shelving inside the truck box. Nothing failed just needs to be fine tuned,
re-design to improve storage bin/shelf compatibility.
*mount a couple of under-hanging aluminum storage boxes.
*patch a few minor roof leaks.
Typical day in the bivouac:
Wake up at 3:30am. Get up, make sure riders are awake, go for breakfast.
Riders had start times as early as 4am.
*About 45 minutes to pack up camp stuff into truck.
*On the road by 6:30am ... drive an average of 400 miles.
Longest day was 650 miles, when we started at 6am in the Uyuni, Bolivia, bivouac,
and arrived in the Salta bivouac at 11pm. The next day was a "rest" day
meaning no travel for racers or support crew.
*Take turns driving and snoozing.
*Arrive next bivouac 3pm-ish. Set up camp (EZ up, tarps, work station, chairs, etc)
*Await arrival of Scott and Ian. Hit the pasta bar for lunch. The Dakar Rally is a
24-hour-a-day operation. Food/water/coffee available just about around the clock.
Pasta bar open all the time and a proper hot breakfast, bag lunch, and hot dinner.
*Racers arrive, take notes regerding the bike condition/repairs needed.
Every day oil change/tire mousse change/air filters/bleed brakes/chain tension.
Then work on one-off repairs: cracked motor mounts, leaking fuel tanks,
chafed/leaking oil line, carb re-jets, etc.
*Eat dinner, then later on check the changes/edits board for updates
pertinent to next day racing schedule.
*Riders in the sack by 9pm. Service crew crashing out anywhere from 11pm to 3am.
The Service Team averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. We would catch up on sleep
during the next day's drive.
*Repeat 12 more times
The 2016 Bivouac:
A sprawling mess of 480 racers, 1800 support crew, THE TV RESOURCES IN FIGURES:
• 3 helicopters and 5 TV cars on the tracks.
• 13 cameramen positioned along the race's sites,
11 on-board camera systems, 2 super slow-motion cameras
(1,000 images per second), 7 satellite antenna, 21 editing suites.
• 45 tonnes of equipment.
• 250 people.
The Bivouac was typically located at a racetrack, airport, or military base.
Hundreds of ASO (race promoter) workers. 24 hours a day off-road
rally racing motorsport mayhem.
As the race trucks are last to arrive at the bivouac (typically 7-8pm) the truck crews
work through the night. It's quite normal to have service work being performed at 5am.
The noise is omni-present. Noise is everywhere, no escaping the generators.
It's my firm belief that standard staffing for Kamaz truck service crew requires
at least one guy whose job it is to make noise using big industrial 5 ft long pry bar.
This guy just walks around and bangs on metal shit all night long. :laughing
Sleeping is an art requiring ear plugs and the occasional 1/2 tab of ambien.
Bivouac services:
ELF fluids and chemicals. ELF is a sponsor of the rally. Slap their stickers on the
bikes and receive free motor/air-filter/fork oil, contact/carb/brake cleaner, etc.
Another benefit is free espresso when you stop by their truck.
Michelin tire changers. Drop off wheelsets and new tires and mousse.
It would usually take about 20-30 minutes to get the rubber swapped.
We brought 50 tires and mousse to the rally. The guys burned through about 80%
of what we brought. Towards the end of the rally we sold new and used tires and
mousse to local moto peeps.
KTM parts truck. Paying a $2000 fee (access fee) gained us access to buy
spares and parts for the rally bikes.
Hanging out at the factory-race-team KTM pits was uber-cool. :cool
Super-sano anti-ghetto set-up. 40 crew to take care of 5 riders.
An occasional cold beer was had (only on rest day).
The Austrians are bad-ass, no one else comes close.
Yah Gunter is over there working on the motors, WP suspension over here,
and in the background yah some lousy eighties heavy metal ...
yah at night we listen to Beethoven and in the morning
Wagner Also Sprach Zarathustra ... and so yah we vill win ze rally ... :ride
Karcher power wash. Available at 3 of the bivouacs.
M*A*S*H style medical tent.
Trash/waste oil pick up.
The moment when I thought we were fucked: :mad
Uyuni, Bolivia, elevation 12,000 and change, 5pm, 6 days into the rally.
The bivouac was silty and the wind made it necessary to wear goggles to keep the
dust out of the eyeballs. Silt is the enemy of all things good in life.
Where there is silt, there is misery! Silt sucks. Silt=powdery fuck-all
which makes the ever dwindling comfort zone non-existant.
I had taken one of the bikes to the power wash station, which happened to be
relatively close (200 yards) to our camp. Finished that chore turned around,
looked back towards camp and noticed something did not look right.
Yep that's right ... the 12’X24’ ez up is gone. A monster gust of wind had picked
up the ez-up and blew it away. Fuckin’ bleedin’ hell mate, not good, like really bad actually.
So I’m thinking lots of bad thoughts, trying to keep from panicking,
if the first 6 days were hard then the next 6 days would be hell
without the ez-up ... then the other part of my brain kicks in that knows how to do things,
well ok go find the ez up and bring it back and then the darkside kicks in again:
the ez up is in the next county mangled and useless ...
all that mental noise took about 2 seconds.
After securing various bits of equipment and quickly retrieving 2 awol tents I set
out to find the ez-up. As I’m searching I’ve switched on data roaming so I could
text Dave and the riders to alert them to hustle back and help find the beast.
Meanwhile back home AT&T is having a field day, sucker this one's going to cost you,
the internet roaring as it forces all the shit that's been denied into my iphone in that
brief window of time while we had them turned to airplane mode to save
the cell-phone batteries ...
The wind is howling, visibility obscured by the dust storm.
As I’m looking one of the guys from a Dutch moto team points,
I look through the Bolivian silt haze and about 100 yards away their stands the ezup,
upright, looking just semi-fucked, tattered, and not so great. Luckily Dave shows with
Ian and Scott and we are able to haul the ez up back to the truck.
The next morning we were able to modify the bent legs which left us with a
functional shelter! Thank the 8#6oz baby lord Jesus once again.
A big thank you to team manager/head mechanic/master of mcgyvering/good
friend Dave Peckham!!! I’m super grateful to be a part of the team!
The racers 24yr old Ian Blythe and 45 yr old Scott Bright: 2 hard core enduro ISDE guys.
They never whined and helped a bit with some of the chores. Oh yeah they also kicked ass.
Both these guys are Dakar rookies. Ian took 3rd place in the Dakar rookie category.
Ian 23rd overall. He also finished 9th place on day 11.
A top ten finish for a stage is an awesome accomplishment.
Scott was 53rd overall. Scott is a big time trooper.
He broke both wrists back in September 2015.
Just barely healed up to make the start line.
rally on, :thumbup:ridearty
'Bicycle' Phil"
So, the SFMC has been around for 111 years this season,
and as an AMA club (and indeed well before the AMA was
formed in 1924) had been involved in promoting motorcycle racing and flat-track
racing, and more recently used to host a well-attended good luck party for
Team Rally Pan Am when they were supporting
Jonah Street starting in 2006, back when the Dakar was still held in
Africa ...
This year, San Francisco Motorcycle Club life-member
Phillip Bowman was crew chief in support of
the current owner of Team Rally Pan Am, David Peckham
and team racers and Dakar rookies:
Ian Blythe, 24 years old ...
and 45 year old Scott Bright ...
Dave Peckham, owner of ICO Racing/Rally Pan Am, and
Crew Chief Phil Bowman ...
Dave, Ian, Scott and Phil ... ICO Racing/Rally Pan Am, 2016
Phil submitted this race report form his
experience shepherding both of the team's
racers to the finish line of the notoriously difficult
two-week rally-raid race:
"A few thoughts about the rally experience:
Our Support Truck:
The 2002 F250 with 160k on the clock, held up just fine.
Plenty of power, comfortable, ac running good, and per the Dakar
rulebook was eligible for upper tier speed limits along service routes.
One of the side swing up door hinges gave way. Easily repaired in Tarija,
Bolivia after a brief search for a welder shop.
Miles driven: 5800, averaging 8 mpg....insert barf emoticon
A few changes/additions for 2017 in store:
*add a 20 gallon water tank, mainly for pressure washing bikes and showering.
*add a 12volt on-board air compressor ... ditch the small portable
*add another "house battery"... ditch the generator
*add a pit bike. The bivouacs are huge. A pit bike would save the
team a lot of time walking back and forth to the meal tent, shitters,
and other bivouac services.
*add a wheel mover for hauling wheelsets back and forth to the tire changer.
A simple t-handle shaped device, wheels are easily mounted on cross-bar,
then schlepped to the Michelin Man!
*redo the shelving inside the truck box. Nothing failed just needs to be fine tuned,
re-design to improve storage bin/shelf compatibility.
*mount a couple of under-hanging aluminum storage boxes.
*patch a few minor roof leaks.
Typical day in the bivouac:
Wake up at 3:30am. Get up, make sure riders are awake, go for breakfast.
Riders had start times as early as 4am.
*About 45 minutes to pack up camp stuff into truck.
*On the road by 6:30am ... drive an average of 400 miles.
Longest day was 650 miles, when we started at 6am in the Uyuni, Bolivia, bivouac,
and arrived in the Salta bivouac at 11pm. The next day was a "rest" day
meaning no travel for racers or support crew.
*Take turns driving and snoozing.
*Arrive next bivouac 3pm-ish. Set up camp (EZ up, tarps, work station, chairs, etc)
*Await arrival of Scott and Ian. Hit the pasta bar for lunch. The Dakar Rally is a
24-hour-a-day operation. Food/water/coffee available just about around the clock.
Pasta bar open all the time and a proper hot breakfast, bag lunch, and hot dinner.
*Racers arrive, take notes regerding the bike condition/repairs needed.
Every day oil change/tire mousse change/air filters/bleed brakes/chain tension.
Then work on one-off repairs: cracked motor mounts, leaking fuel tanks,
chafed/leaking oil line, carb re-jets, etc.
*Eat dinner, then later on check the changes/edits board for updates
pertinent to next day racing schedule.
*Riders in the sack by 9pm. Service crew crashing out anywhere from 11pm to 3am.
The Service Team averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. We would catch up on sleep
during the next day's drive.
*Repeat 12 more times
The 2016 Bivouac:
A sprawling mess of 480 racers, 1800 support crew, THE TV RESOURCES IN FIGURES:
• 3 helicopters and 5 TV cars on the tracks.
• 13 cameramen positioned along the race's sites,
11 on-board camera systems, 2 super slow-motion cameras
(1,000 images per second), 7 satellite antenna, 21 editing suites.
• 45 tonnes of equipment.
• 250 people.
The Bivouac was typically located at a racetrack, airport, or military base.
Hundreds of ASO (race promoter) workers. 24 hours a day off-road
rally racing motorsport mayhem.
As the race trucks are last to arrive at the bivouac (typically 7-8pm) the truck crews
work through the night. It's quite normal to have service work being performed at 5am.
The noise is omni-present. Noise is everywhere, no escaping the generators.
It's my firm belief that standard staffing for Kamaz truck service crew requires
at least one guy whose job it is to make noise using big industrial 5 ft long pry bar.
This guy just walks around and bangs on metal shit all night long. :laughing
Sleeping is an art requiring ear plugs and the occasional 1/2 tab of ambien.
Bivouac services:
ELF fluids and chemicals. ELF is a sponsor of the rally. Slap their stickers on the
bikes and receive free motor/air-filter/fork oil, contact/carb/brake cleaner, etc.
Another benefit is free espresso when you stop by their truck.
Michelin tire changers. Drop off wheelsets and new tires and mousse.
It would usually take about 20-30 minutes to get the rubber swapped.
We brought 50 tires and mousse to the rally. The guys burned through about 80%
of what we brought. Towards the end of the rally we sold new and used tires and
mousse to local moto peeps.
KTM parts truck. Paying a $2000 fee (access fee) gained us access to buy
spares and parts for the rally bikes.
Hanging out at the factory-race-team KTM pits was uber-cool. :cool
Super-sano anti-ghetto set-up. 40 crew to take care of 5 riders.
An occasional cold beer was had (only on rest day).
The Austrians are bad-ass, no one else comes close.
Yah Gunter is over there working on the motors, WP suspension over here,
and in the background yah some lousy eighties heavy metal ...
yah at night we listen to Beethoven and in the morning
Wagner Also Sprach Zarathustra ... and so yah we vill win ze rally ... :ride
Karcher power wash. Available at 3 of the bivouacs.
M*A*S*H style medical tent.
Trash/waste oil pick up.
The moment when I thought we were fucked: :mad
Uyuni, Bolivia, elevation 12,000 and change, 5pm, 6 days into the rally.
The bivouac was silty and the wind made it necessary to wear goggles to keep the
dust out of the eyeballs. Silt is the enemy of all things good in life.
Where there is silt, there is misery! Silt sucks. Silt=powdery fuck-all
which makes the ever dwindling comfort zone non-existant.
I had taken one of the bikes to the power wash station, which happened to be
relatively close (200 yards) to our camp. Finished that chore turned around,
looked back towards camp and noticed something did not look right.
Yep that's right ... the 12’X24’ ez up is gone. A monster gust of wind had picked
up the ez-up and blew it away. Fuckin’ bleedin’ hell mate, not good, like really bad actually.
So I’m thinking lots of bad thoughts, trying to keep from panicking,
if the first 6 days were hard then the next 6 days would be hell
without the ez-up ... then the other part of my brain kicks in that knows how to do things,
well ok go find the ez up and bring it back and then the darkside kicks in again:
the ez up is in the next county mangled and useless ...
all that mental noise took about 2 seconds.
After securing various bits of equipment and quickly retrieving 2 awol tents I set
out to find the ez-up. As I’m searching I’ve switched on data roaming so I could
text Dave and the riders to alert them to hustle back and help find the beast.
Meanwhile back home AT&T is having a field day, sucker this one's going to cost you,
the internet roaring as it forces all the shit that's been denied into my iphone in that
brief window of time while we had them turned to airplane mode to save
the cell-phone batteries ...
The wind is howling, visibility obscured by the dust storm.
As I’m looking one of the guys from a Dutch moto team points,
I look through the Bolivian silt haze and about 100 yards away their stands the ezup,
upright, looking just semi-fucked, tattered, and not so great. Luckily Dave shows with
Ian and Scott and we are able to haul the ez up back to the truck.
The next morning we were able to modify the bent legs which left us with a
functional shelter! Thank the 8#6oz baby lord Jesus once again.
A big thank you to team manager/head mechanic/master of mcgyvering/good
friend Dave Peckham!!! I’m super grateful to be a part of the team!
The racers 24yr old Ian Blythe and 45 yr old Scott Bright: 2 hard core enduro ISDE guys.
They never whined and helped a bit with some of the chores. Oh yeah they also kicked ass.
Both these guys are Dakar rookies. Ian took 3rd place in the Dakar rookie category.
Ian 23rd overall. He also finished 9th place on day 11.
A top ten finish for a stage is an awesome accomplishment.
Scott was 53rd overall. Scott is a big time trooper.
He broke both wrists back in September 2015.
Just barely healed up to make the start line.
rally on, :thumbup:ride
arty'Bicycle' Phil"
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SFMCjohn
13
Thanks, Butch, it's an honor and pleasure
to be a part of BARF, another AMA institution! :ride
Here's a snippet on Team Rally Pan Am from
the 2016 Dakar, posted by Cycle World, read the entire article at the link ...
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Titus58
Need moar dirt
What Butch said :thumbup
Awesome stuff John - let us know if you put on a Dakar night up at the club - would love to hear more and happy to contribute $ towards funding them next year!
T
SFMCjohn
13
Hey Tim,
Will do, I'm pretty sure the team is
psyched to return in 2017, so a Dakar Night
would be fun ... we're almost ready to
put a floor back in the clubhouse,
so I'll keep you posted!:thumbup
artysee you in the
bivouac,
-- SFMCjohn
SFMCjohn
13
After a year we are looking forward
to getting home again, but the silver-lining
over that time has been to have (to use BARF parlance. :laughing)
"traveling meetings" at old-school venues like the
Oakland MC,
the Bayview Boat Club,
the Yerba Buena Boat Club
and the DNA Lounge ...
But yes, I've particularly missed
Ace Cafe Rob's Moto GP Sundays
at our clubhouse ... hopefully those
will resume this season ... :thumbup
Thanks, Bill! :ride
god bless AMA
motorcycle clubs,
arty-- SFMCjohn