jwhite518
Well-known member
Ride The Wieenie Ride Report
On Saturday Nov 20, the annual Bite The Wieenie RTE was at Pink’s Hot Dogs in Hollywood, CA. Dean Tanji, the organizer of this event, was going to be out of town this year so he asked me to plan the event for him. This meant that attendance was mandatory for me. I needed to be there, come rain or shine. This year, that meant rain.
I took liberty with my Event Organizer mantle, and added a fun mini-rally for people to do on their way to the RTE. It was called Ride The Wieenie. Simply put, people could spell words or phrases by visiting towns along the way to Pinks. They would take a picture of their bike in front of a sign that proved they were in the town. Riders had great leeway in choosing the words they spelled, and the towns they visited to spell the words.
Being the new owner of a Gold Wing luxury touring motorcycle, I decided to honor my bike’s legacy by spelling DAIRY QUEEN. This would also be the first long trip on my Wing. I was eager to get to know its long distance personality. In the weeks before the ride, I had fun researching places that would be big enough to meet the the rules of the ride. Also in the plan was to visit DQs along the route, and hopefully eat a Blizzard or two. My route was baked a couple weeks before Nov 20, turning a 350 mile direct ride into 600 miles of bonus hunting.
Houston, we have a problem.
I started from my house in San Leandro at 8:30 AM in a pretty good downpour. I was actually looking forward to the rain, as this would be good training for future rallies. Plus, it added to the insanity. The first letter was the U of Union City. The sign turned out to be right on a corner with no good parking opportunity, so I parked in the street and turned on my emergency flashers. After getting the photo I got back on my bike to ride away. The flasher button would not release, and the four way flashers were stuck on. Damn! I couldn’t continue the ride without proper turn signals. I rode to somewhere safer to work on it, but made no progress. A call to a Wing-riding friend of mine yielded advice to drench it in WD40 and keep working the button. Fortunately there was an auto parts store nearby, with a convenient overhang to work on the bike and stay dry. A half a can of WD-40 and a lot of pushing on the button eventually released it. I was wet, frustrated, and ready to call it a day already. But my friend urged me to keep going. I remembered that my commitment to the goal had to be stronger than my feelings right now. Off I went to the next stop.
Dinking Around
I spent the majority of the day riding around the Bay Area, photographing various town halls, police cars, and “Welcome To…” signs. It was a really enjoyable day. I had a grin on my face the whole time. The weather dried up and I rode under patchy skies most of the time. Occasionally there would be a cloudburst but mainly the conditions were pleasant, if cool. The temperature stayed in the low 50’s all day, and I never needed my electric jacket. Here are the next few bonus photos I took.
Town of Albany. In retrospect this isn't a very good bonus photo. You can barely read Albany. Butt, as Rallymaster, I approve it.
This is the Vallejo Dairy Queen. I didn't eat anything here because I was saving my appetite for later.
My favorite stop was Yountville. This little burg is in the Napa Valley, just north of the town of Napa. Years ago it was a sleepy little farming town, but now it is an upscale wine country destination. It has a few world famous gourmet restaurants, mixed in with spas and chi-chi hotels. The road there is dotted with vineyards. In the distance I gazed at the hills that are the defining borders of the valley. No wonder this is a popular tourist area. It’s gorgeous.
This is the Manteca DQ. I was going to eat a Blizzard here, but I just wasn't in the mood. Got the photo and boogied.
Later in the afternoon, as I left Ripon headed for Newman, I looked at the map and realized that I was at roughly the same latitude of my home. I’d spent all day dinking around home and hadn’t gotten a mile closer to Los Angeles. Reflecting on my day it made me smile even more. Those of us who ride endurance rallies get our kicks riding around taking pictures of meaningless signs. Meaningless, that is, to the general public but quite valuable to us because they are BONUSES! We live for the bonus hunt. This whole Ride The Wieenie thing was just a game made up by each rider for his/her own twisted enjoyment. I was certainly getting my money’s worth today.
Finishing
In Newman I took a long break to check in with Sally and gear up for colder weather ahead. With the heated jacket keeping me toasty, I steamed south on I-5 with nine out of ten letters (and two Dairy Queens) in the bag. All I needed was Quartz Hill, down near Lancaster, and then I could head for Pinks. The sun went down. A lovely full moon rose in the east and smiled at me through the clouds. I-5 is what it is, so I turned on the music and hunkered down for a couple hundred miles.
This time of year, the Grapevine is likely to have snow, ice, high winds, and general motorcycle discomfort. When I passed through, traffic was moving at the speed limit, and the road was dry. My temperature gauge read 37. All fears of impassable conditions were unfounded. I turned east on CA-138 and found myself on a straight line to Lancaster. The Wing has great lights, and is smooth as silk, perfect for a road like this. According to the thermometer it was back up into the 40s, but with high winds it actually felt colder than the Grapevine pass. One last gas stop before Pinks, directions from the attendant to the Welcome To Quartz Hill sign, and I was outta there and back on the road to Hollywood. I arrived at 9:30, 13 hours and 600 miles from home. It had been a great, great ride. I rode the wieenie!
The RTE turned out to be lots of fun. There were about 30 people there, which was lighter than usual. Most likely it was bad weather (or the threat of it) that kept folks away. Also missing was the SoCal IBA Mafia (Landry/Tanji/Hobart and their consiglieri.) But those of us who braved the elements had a great time socializing and enjoying our wieenies. My Gold Wing did really well on the ride. I learned a few things that I’d want to fix if I was going to use it for future Iron Butt rides, but those were all “nice to have” items. As a touring platform, the bike is a winner.
On Saturday Nov 20, the annual Bite The Wieenie RTE was at Pink’s Hot Dogs in Hollywood, CA. Dean Tanji, the organizer of this event, was going to be out of town this year so he asked me to plan the event for him. This meant that attendance was mandatory for me. I needed to be there, come rain or shine. This year, that meant rain.
I took liberty with my Event Organizer mantle, and added a fun mini-rally for people to do on their way to the RTE. It was called Ride The Wieenie. Simply put, people could spell words or phrases by visiting towns along the way to Pinks. They would take a picture of their bike in front of a sign that proved they were in the town. Riders had great leeway in choosing the words they spelled, and the towns they visited to spell the words.
Being the new owner of a Gold Wing luxury touring motorcycle, I decided to honor my bike’s legacy by spelling DAIRY QUEEN. This would also be the first long trip on my Wing. I was eager to get to know its long distance personality. In the weeks before the ride, I had fun researching places that would be big enough to meet the the rules of the ride. Also in the plan was to visit DQs along the route, and hopefully eat a Blizzard or two. My route was baked a couple weeks before Nov 20, turning a 350 mile direct ride into 600 miles of bonus hunting.
Houston, we have a problem.
I started from my house in San Leandro at 8:30 AM in a pretty good downpour. I was actually looking forward to the rain, as this would be good training for future rallies. Plus, it added to the insanity. The first letter was the U of Union City. The sign turned out to be right on a corner with no good parking opportunity, so I parked in the street and turned on my emergency flashers. After getting the photo I got back on my bike to ride away. The flasher button would not release, and the four way flashers were stuck on. Damn! I couldn’t continue the ride without proper turn signals. I rode to somewhere safer to work on it, but made no progress. A call to a Wing-riding friend of mine yielded advice to drench it in WD40 and keep working the button. Fortunately there was an auto parts store nearby, with a convenient overhang to work on the bike and stay dry. A half a can of WD-40 and a lot of pushing on the button eventually released it. I was wet, frustrated, and ready to call it a day already. But my friend urged me to keep going. I remembered that my commitment to the goal had to be stronger than my feelings right now. Off I went to the next stop.
Dinking Around
I spent the majority of the day riding around the Bay Area, photographing various town halls, police cars, and “Welcome To…” signs. It was a really enjoyable day. I had a grin on my face the whole time. The weather dried up and I rode under patchy skies most of the time. Occasionally there would be a cloudburst but mainly the conditions were pleasant, if cool. The temperature stayed in the low 50’s all day, and I never needed my electric jacket. Here are the next few bonus photos I took.
Town of Albany. In retrospect this isn't a very good bonus photo. You can barely read Albany. Butt, as Rallymaster, I approve it.
This is the Vallejo Dairy Queen. I didn't eat anything here because I was saving my appetite for later.
My favorite stop was Yountville. This little burg is in the Napa Valley, just north of the town of Napa. Years ago it was a sleepy little farming town, but now it is an upscale wine country destination. It has a few world famous gourmet restaurants, mixed in with spas and chi-chi hotels. The road there is dotted with vineyards. In the distance I gazed at the hills that are the defining borders of the valley. No wonder this is a popular tourist area. It’s gorgeous.
This is the Manteca DQ. I was going to eat a Blizzard here, but I just wasn't in the mood. Got the photo and boogied.
Later in the afternoon, as I left Ripon headed for Newman, I looked at the map and realized that I was at roughly the same latitude of my home. I’d spent all day dinking around home and hadn’t gotten a mile closer to Los Angeles. Reflecting on my day it made me smile even more. Those of us who ride endurance rallies get our kicks riding around taking pictures of meaningless signs. Meaningless, that is, to the general public but quite valuable to us because they are BONUSES! We live for the bonus hunt. This whole Ride The Wieenie thing was just a game made up by each rider for his/her own twisted enjoyment. I was certainly getting my money’s worth today.
Finishing
In Newman I took a long break to check in with Sally and gear up for colder weather ahead. With the heated jacket keeping me toasty, I steamed south on I-5 with nine out of ten letters (and two Dairy Queens) in the bag. All I needed was Quartz Hill, down near Lancaster, and then I could head for Pinks. The sun went down. A lovely full moon rose in the east and smiled at me through the clouds. I-5 is what it is, so I turned on the music and hunkered down for a couple hundred miles.
This time of year, the Grapevine is likely to have snow, ice, high winds, and general motorcycle discomfort. When I passed through, traffic was moving at the speed limit, and the road was dry. My temperature gauge read 37. All fears of impassable conditions were unfounded. I turned east on CA-138 and found myself on a straight line to Lancaster. The Wing has great lights, and is smooth as silk, perfect for a road like this. According to the thermometer it was back up into the 40s, but with high winds it actually felt colder than the Grapevine pass. One last gas stop before Pinks, directions from the attendant to the Welcome To Quartz Hill sign, and I was outta there and back on the road to Hollywood. I arrived at 9:30, 13 hours and 600 miles from home. It had been a great, great ride. I rode the wieenie!
The RTE turned out to be lots of fun. There were about 30 people there, which was lighter than usual. Most likely it was bad weather (or the threat of it) that kept folks away. Also missing was the SoCal IBA Mafia (Landry/Tanji/Hobart and their consiglieri.) But those of us who braved the elements had a great time socializing and enjoying our wieenies. My Gold Wing did really well on the ride. I learned a few things that I’d want to fix if I was going to use it for future Iron Butt rides, but those were all “nice to have” items. As a touring platform, the bike is a winner.
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