hppants
Well-known member
I rode about 300 miles on Saturday, but it wasnt what I expected or hoped for. Weeks ago, I started an idea for a 4-day weekend to do some East Texas camping and riding. There was plenty of interest from peeps close and far, but the weather in these parts is unpredictable this time of year. With a big rainy cold front scheduled to run through the heart of the weekend, we all bailed at the last minute. I will have to re-group for that idea soon.
However with the nasty crap still a day out, I might as well enjoy my Saturday. So I got my mental wheels spinning and came up with some decent stuff. As always, I brought my camera and I hope you enjoy the pics.
With an early morning low of about 68, and a high of about 80 predicted, packing for this trip was pretty easy. It is mid December, and I am going to ride in mesh. Sheezzzz
My nephew Jacob is 21 and a junior in Mechanical Engineering at our University. Jacob is on his second bike, upgrading from a beginner 250 Nighhawk to a 599 Hornet that he picked up a little over a year ago. In need of some love, I helped him get it right and he has put about 7,500 miles on it mostly commuting back and forth to school and work.
Jacob doesnt have much time, but with finals over, I thought we might ride a while today before he has to go to work. I packed my Sherpa early this morning while I waited for Jacob to arrive.
I didnt care for the way my fishing poles mounted, so I repositioned the bungie cords and that was much improved.
Jacob arrived about 7:30 and we took off for the back country with no particular route. The dew point is very close to the air temperature, so the road is damp. The roads are also pretty dirty from the sugar cane harvest, so we are taking things very conservatively this morning.
These two seem to be enjoying our mild winter as well.
We made it to our next stop about 9 am. Nice looking pair of horses in this picture too.
I thought a little time at the local range would be a good idea.
Jacob and I both own 9mm pistols. He shoots a Glock, and I have the Springfield XD
While we load up and get ready, others are already blasting away.
Jacob brought a couple hundred rounds with him. Pants followed his SOP, only one 50 round box. Im cheap, the shoe fits, and I will gladly wear it.
Jacob looks excited waiting for the range boss to declare hot.
Of course no range session among men would be complete without a little friendly wager. I posted 4 targets for each of us. We would shoot 10 rounds per target at 25 yards, and at $1.00 per round, may the best shooter win.
Jacob did pretty good.
But Uncle Pants out shot the young whipper snapper by a score of 3 to 1.
Squeeze the trigger, my little grasshopper.
For my last 10 rounds, I practiced both shooting under cover, and catching flies while under fire.
The range boss was very helpful in giving Jacob some pointers. His shooting improved immediately.
Here is Jacob doing a little plinking at the plates.
Now getting later in the morning, Jacob split off to get to work. On the other hand, Pants has plenty of time so I took off for the coastal marsh. I got stopped for a bridge opened to allow a barge through. So far so good on the weather.
Incidentally, that tanker truck did a great job of running bird dog for me at about 10 over. Sometimes you just never know.
About noon, I stopped at this place I like to fish at. It is on a canal that feeds to the Mermentau River. I opened up my picnic lunch and sat on the weir.
Meanwhile, the big red girl is content to just stand by. I cant stand the fact that people just leave their trash on the side of the road. I find this more prevalent in Louisiana than anywhere else. It flat out pisses me off.
No bites at this spot, so I picked up and rode a mile to another spot I like to fish at. Fishing conditions are far less than ideal today. The wind is howling in my face, and the tide is now slack. But I am alone and there is something special about this place.
These guys are enjoying a low altitude flyover along the coast line.
Things were not going much better at this spot. I was just about to chalk it up to bad luck, and decided to give it the proverbial one last cast. I popped my cork a couple of times and it sunk immediately. A few minutes later, I landed a very nice redfish in the 28 to 30 inch range.
I waited a couple minutes to see if I could offer this fish to anyone that was driving by. But I am well off the beaten path now, and with no company to find, I revived the fish from the bank and released her back into the water.
Invigorated, I casted back in this spot for 10 minutes or so without another bite. So I packed up and pointed my bike in the direction of home.
This is a nice place to bank fish by yourself.
Im now riding generally East across a fierce 20 mph southerly wind. While not ideal, with my Cee Bailey windscreen raised, the FJR is handling it very well. However, my fuel mileage is not very good this trip, so I stop in the village of Gueydan, Louisiana for some petrol.
This is not exactly my idea of a car phone.
That was the last picture I took. From the gas station, the final 40 miles was a piece of cake heading generally north and with the wind. As promised, I rolled into the driveway about 4 pm to greet wifey and the dog. After a nice dinner at a local beer and burger joint, we attended our nieces high school play, and laughed in stitches at the kids for a couple of hours.
So I ended up with a 3 for 1 kind of day. I got to enjoy 3 hobbies all in the course of 1 day. I did some riding, some shooting, and some fishing. I had some quality time with my nephew and some quality time with myself.
My bonus was the reminder that lemonade can be pretty sweet if you mix it right. If things dont go as planned, we all have a choice. We can either sit in the corner and suck our thumb, or regroup and make the very best of it.
And often, the very best of it is pretty darn good.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
However with the nasty crap still a day out, I might as well enjoy my Saturday. So I got my mental wheels spinning and came up with some decent stuff. As always, I brought my camera and I hope you enjoy the pics.
With an early morning low of about 68, and a high of about 80 predicted, packing for this trip was pretty easy. It is mid December, and I am going to ride in mesh. Sheezzzz
My nephew Jacob is 21 and a junior in Mechanical Engineering at our University. Jacob is on his second bike, upgrading from a beginner 250 Nighhawk to a 599 Hornet that he picked up a little over a year ago. In need of some love, I helped him get it right and he has put about 7,500 miles on it mostly commuting back and forth to school and work.
Jacob doesnt have much time, but with finals over, I thought we might ride a while today before he has to go to work. I packed my Sherpa early this morning while I waited for Jacob to arrive.
I didnt care for the way my fishing poles mounted, so I repositioned the bungie cords and that was much improved.
Jacob arrived about 7:30 and we took off for the back country with no particular route. The dew point is very close to the air temperature, so the road is damp. The roads are also pretty dirty from the sugar cane harvest, so we are taking things very conservatively this morning.
These two seem to be enjoying our mild winter as well.
We made it to our next stop about 9 am. Nice looking pair of horses in this picture too.
I thought a little time at the local range would be a good idea.
Jacob and I both own 9mm pistols. He shoots a Glock, and I have the Springfield XD
While we load up and get ready, others are already blasting away.
Jacob brought a couple hundred rounds with him. Pants followed his SOP, only one 50 round box. Im cheap, the shoe fits, and I will gladly wear it.
Jacob looks excited waiting for the range boss to declare hot.
Of course no range session among men would be complete without a little friendly wager. I posted 4 targets for each of us. We would shoot 10 rounds per target at 25 yards, and at $1.00 per round, may the best shooter win.
Jacob did pretty good.
But Uncle Pants out shot the young whipper snapper by a score of 3 to 1.
Squeeze the trigger, my little grasshopper.
For my last 10 rounds, I practiced both shooting under cover, and catching flies while under fire.
The range boss was very helpful in giving Jacob some pointers. His shooting improved immediately.
Here is Jacob doing a little plinking at the plates.
Now getting later in the morning, Jacob split off to get to work. On the other hand, Pants has plenty of time so I took off for the coastal marsh. I got stopped for a bridge opened to allow a barge through. So far so good on the weather.
Incidentally, that tanker truck did a great job of running bird dog for me at about 10 over. Sometimes you just never know.
About noon, I stopped at this place I like to fish at. It is on a canal that feeds to the Mermentau River. I opened up my picnic lunch and sat on the weir.
Meanwhile, the big red girl is content to just stand by. I cant stand the fact that people just leave their trash on the side of the road. I find this more prevalent in Louisiana than anywhere else. It flat out pisses me off.
No bites at this spot, so I picked up and rode a mile to another spot I like to fish at. Fishing conditions are far less than ideal today. The wind is howling in my face, and the tide is now slack. But I am alone and there is something special about this place.
These guys are enjoying a low altitude flyover along the coast line.
Things were not going much better at this spot. I was just about to chalk it up to bad luck, and decided to give it the proverbial one last cast. I popped my cork a couple of times and it sunk immediately. A few minutes later, I landed a very nice redfish in the 28 to 30 inch range.
I waited a couple minutes to see if I could offer this fish to anyone that was driving by. But I am well off the beaten path now, and with no company to find, I revived the fish from the bank and released her back into the water.
Invigorated, I casted back in this spot for 10 minutes or so without another bite. So I packed up and pointed my bike in the direction of home.
This is a nice place to bank fish by yourself.
Im now riding generally East across a fierce 20 mph southerly wind. While not ideal, with my Cee Bailey windscreen raised, the FJR is handling it very well. However, my fuel mileage is not very good this trip, so I stop in the village of Gueydan, Louisiana for some petrol.
This is not exactly my idea of a car phone.
That was the last picture I took. From the gas station, the final 40 miles was a piece of cake heading generally north and with the wind. As promised, I rolled into the driveway about 4 pm to greet wifey and the dog. After a nice dinner at a local beer and burger joint, we attended our nieces high school play, and laughed in stitches at the kids for a couple of hours.
So I ended up with a 3 for 1 kind of day. I got to enjoy 3 hobbies all in the course of 1 day. I did some riding, some shooting, and some fishing. I had some quality time with my nephew and some quality time with myself.
My bonus was the reminder that lemonade can be pretty sweet if you mix it right. If things dont go as planned, we all have a choice. We can either sit in the corner and suck our thumb, or regroup and make the very best of it.
And often, the very best of it is pretty darn good.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
