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Spent a bunch a time this year just walking around looking at some of the great custom chops from smaller shops. Some guys had tents and stuff with maybe three or four killer rides. The Rat's Hole is always good...
Generally I pick some strange ass chop I just happen to see as my top pick. There's no logic to this, it's just what I like. This year I picked it out - and then later figured out it belongs to Billy Lane. Huh, go figure.
Bikers can really do some flat-out dumbass crap. This year it seems I saw more of it than usual - maybe I'm just getting cranky in my advancing years, but some stuff just makes you scratch your head and utter "What the hell were you thinking?"
| When it rained, it was, like, huge: Got dowsed coming into South Dakota near NewCastle. Spent some quality time in the Pamida store... Watch Rat's Hole Chopper Show Video (yeah, it's from last year, but you can watch it again) Totally Spooked, Man - We left Hill City one night after we thought the rains has died down. It was dark, cold and drizzling - with 45 miles to go to a warm bed, not a big deal, right? Well, the rain picked up and the night closed in as we headed down the twisty two lane to Lead. The waves of water on the road slowed us down to about 25 mph. This is some twisty stuff and Wendy's deer radar started pinging. Just the two of us and Michael and Robin on a dresser picking up the rear. Rain really picked up and runaway truck ramps loomed out of the blackness as the road got steeper. Down to about 20mph - it was getting hard to see through the sheets of water. What else could happen? Fog. Thickest I've ever seen - you couldn't see 4 feet in front of you. I just hoped the deer were fast asleep by now, because there was just no stopping for anything. Damn near zero visibility, pouring rain and pitch dark. Down to 15mph - crawled like that all the way to Lead. Got off the bike in front of the hotel - and I'm not ashamed to tell any man that that ride spooked the hell out of me. Thanks to Wendy for keeping it light and Michael and Robin for bringing up the back. "That took balls, man" said Michael. You don't start shakin' until you stop and think about what you just rode through. When you're doing it, you're too busy staying alive. -Warren |