WWR Conga III 2010

Slide Show from the Conga III 2010

Wwr Conga III 2010 2

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NTX Conga has completed

Today was a hot ride as it was all in Texas. Boy am I glad Princess loaned me an evaporative vest for the journey. I spent the ride reflecting on the past days events. Although some of it feels like a dream, the evidence of it's reality is that between the two countries, we raised $28K. Nice work!! A big thank you to all of our riders, supporters, and donors. We may actually kick cancer to the curb in our lifetime.

There will be a Conga IV. It will be in Shell, WY. More details to come as to why Shell.

TRC

Heading Home

Yesterday I started the long ride homeward. Stayed at the Stage Stop Hotel in Springfield, CO and they did not offer wifi so I had to forego the blogging and concentrate on resting. I made it to 9:30 and had to call it a day. The ride from Colorado was windy, but finally I had a day without rain. However, a day without rain when you are headed southbound means the heat begins to take over. Thank you, Princess for the cooling vest! I finally got to use it and it's awesome, really cuts the heat.

Today I got up early to get on the road and make some time. One mile out of town I was stopped for road work in a zone where only one land gets through at a time. Couldn't figure out why we were stopped when there was no traffic coming the other way. Didn't understand until 20 minutes later we got underway. Then I could understand because the zone was about 6 or 7 miles long. WOW. The highway will someday be 4-land divided all the way to Texas, but today it's a road work delay.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I had to get through several more construction zones. They were nothing like that first one, but  still a slow down, detour, and the ever present pucker factor.

Tomorrow, home.

TRC

Concluding the Conga III

Spending the day not on the bike makes one reflect on the events of the past few days. The Conga III has concluded and people are making their ways home. We have many people to thank for contributing to our success. The Conga 2010 raised $24K to kick cancer to the curb. That's like solid gold! Now Flo is still on the road and she shines on the road when it comes to fund raising. Final tally will be in about a week.

To say that this is a fine bunch of folks is like saying the ocean is a gathering of waterdrops. Yes, it correctly describes it, but does not accurately convey how magnificant it is. To melt these women into a group of fund raisers is combining the talents of each person into one awesome machine. They learn to be pieces of a whole, then roll down the road scaring cancer.

Conga Group

This IS the Conga. Wonderful group of folks. Some are survivors, some lost loved ones, some just want to give back more than they take from this world. This pic was taken at Maverick Motorsports on the day of the celebration of life.

Big Event at Maverick Motorsports

Today was the long awaited Conga celebration at Maverick Motorsports in Cheyenne. We were reduced to one word, WOW. It kicked off with a cookout, some music, and a shopping frenzie. LOL I took the mic, turned off the music and made a couple of presentations of appreciation to Flo for her tireless service to the Conga and those it touches. After that I opened up the mic to anyone who had something to say about what the Conga means to them. First up was, the "Twisted Sisters" from Canada. They lost their mother to breast cancer 20 years ago and the older was now the same age as their mother when she died. This was particularly sweet Conga ride for these two to ride together on the anniversary of their mom's passing. The younger presented her sister with matching denim jackets with pink embroidery with their mom's birthday, some other loved ones who had struggled with cancer and messages of hope and courage. Neat stuff!  Then a couple of survivors told their stories. One gal wanted to ride last year, but was in a fight for her life. She shared that following the Conga online was the best thing she has to look forward to everyday when she felt like dog doo. More stories of love, compassion, encouragement, friendship, and love.

We stayed until about 3p then headed back to the hotel for a riding demo led by Doc Donna showing the skill and grace of precision riding. She was joined by Mark and Pam, of Top Gun Competition fame, Harris, from Denver, an awesome rider, Flo, and Tanya, from Canada. These folks had never ridden together and were able to demostrate the three basic skills needed to properly control the motorcycle. We learned some new skills to practice.

We then returned to Maverick Motorsports for an evening of grilled burgers, a live band and more fundraising. The band was "Another Type of Majick". They looked young, but were awesome played awesome blues and Jimi Hendrix. When they were between songs, they introduced themselves and it was then that we found out that only one of them was old enough to drive to the gig. Watch for these 5 guys, we'll be seeing them again, probably on the tonight show.

We sold Conga items for donations, discovered more folks who had heard about us and stopped in to support the cause, and managed to dance the conga line before the sun set. When we got back to the hotel and started counting the monies we had raised $1500 on this one evening. That put our Conga total to 24K. That's solid gold, baby!

Now I'm am tired, I mean whopped tired, and have to sign off so that I can get some rest for the ride southbound tomorrow. It's been a wonderful day.

TRC

Day 4 of the NTX Conga

 Well, I only had 150 miles to go and you guessed it, RAIN. Are you kidding me??? Four days of riding and four days of riding through at least some rain eventhough the weatherman told me there would be none, or at least it would be at a time of day I could avoid. Wrong! I found it in only 150 miles and it was accompanied by thunder and lightning. That will get your attention on a bike!
 When I rolled into Cheyenne, there were PINKed out bike lining the overhang of the hotel. It was a awesome site. The Texana recognized me and there were hugs all around. Love these folks. From that point on the entire group are all friends and even a feel of family.
 This has been an emotional experience for me and I'm thinking tomorrow's celebration will be no different. Pics when I can get them into cyberspace.
Later,
TRC

Day 3 of the NTX Conga

 Today, leaving out of Amarillo, the temperature was 65 degrees. Nice break from the 100 degree days we've been surviving in NTX. I actually put on my long underwear and was comfortable. It was a beautiful day and the loop took me right to 287 without much traffic. Arrived Dumas, then Dalhart, then Clayton under clear skies and cool temps. I couldn't pull into a pit stop without more bikes pulling in as well. Met some great folks!
 Clayton to Raton was mostly under construction, 55 mph, but mostly uneventful.  The only vinyl sucker was when I came over a hill to meet a pair of headlights passing an 18-wheeler and the 10 cars following it. I forced him to make a decision and luckily we all went on our way. Upon arrival on Raton, lunch and a long break was in order. After all, we had Raton Pass to get ready to deal with.
 The Pass turned out to be uneventful, but on down the road was another story. Light rain turned to heavy rain. Easy enough to deal with, but when I was hit in the chest by a piece of hail, it was time to find a spot. Yeah, right! In the middle of a long lonely stretch. I looked up a few miles later and saw the old familiar gas station sigh. There was nothing else around, no town, no other business, just the God-sent gas station complete with attendant and hot coffee. I pulled under the overhang in front, which was away from the pumps. When I came out of the bathroom there were three other bikes who had pulled off the freeway and done the same. After the wait it was back on the road.
 After the hail there was only wind, not because of the storm. I mean there were actualy signs warning of the "gusty" winds. I mean actual state approved yellow signs about the wind stating that wind was "likely". They were right, the wind was strong, gusting, and unmerciful.
 I'm proud to say that tonight I'm staying just north of Colorado Springs. Tomorrow, Cheyenne!
Conga, Conga, CONGA!
TRC

The Conga is underway.

didn't post yesterday because the wifi wasn't working properly, so I'll wrap two days into one post. Rain seems to be a running theme, but we are hoping to break that trend tomorrow. Yesterday we rode into rain just to get up this morning and ride out of rain. Rain, rain go away. Yesterday at lunch we had two ladies interested in all the pink. They told us about a surviving mother. They were impressed by the Conga and wanted us to have a donation. I've been traveling for two days and I'm still in Texas. I did discover that when you are traveling westbound and the winds are from the south, then the right side of my bike is REALLY toasty. Today I saw a largest cross I've ever seen outside Amarillo along with a statue series of the passion of Christ. If you've never bothered to stop it's worth a look. Warning: the parking lot is gravel.

Countdown begins

In just a few days it's kickstands up for the launch of the NTX leg of the Conga III Ride for a Cure. Pink is flying off the shelves and donations are at a high. Thank you to one and all who support the ride, in spirit, with donations, and hospitality. We are excited to get the NTX Conga on the road. See you soon!
Meet us at Stroker's Dallas on July 4th. KSU 11am.