By Jack Nesbitt

Chapter 2 – 2018

THE CLASS OF ’69 GRAY HOG MOTORCYCLE RIDE NUMBER 2 – APRIL 2018 TO COMFORT, TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY!

     With the success of the first ’69 Gray Hog Motorcycle ride, Jack Nesbitt suggested that we consider the Hill Country of Texas as our destination for ride number 2!  Jack picked out the Meyer (Hotel) Bed and Breakfast in Comfort TX as our headquarters and hotel for the 2018 ride!  It was right on the Guadalupe River and right in the center of the Texas Hill country with many great motorcycle roads and routes!

     Of note on this ride was the fact that Colleen Smith was riding the Can Am Spyder on her own while husband Dale was on his beautiful new Indian Motorcycle!  Kudos to Colleen for riding all the way from Oklahoma and with us old guys!

     We gathered for dinner on the arrival date, April 18.  In attendance on this trip were:

Riders:

• Jack & Mimi Nesbitt
• Dale & Colleen Smith
• Phil & Leti Brant
• Gary & Donna Bogema
• Dan & Suzy Meischen
• Jim Calandro
• Jim Russell
• Bob Yaap
• Ed Johnson ‘66

Non-riders:  Steve & Arlene Vitucci, Judy & Mike Ludlow, Sam & Barbara Granett, H & Patty Lobdell

     Day 1 of riding (April 19) was a wonderful drive on the Twisted Sisters highways.  Lunch was at a great motorcycle hangout/bar/restaurant all by itself in the middle of the hill country!  There were about 40 Polaris Slingshots at the facility which was a sight to see.

     That evening Dan Meischen had arranged for a dinner and a wine tasting at a Winery near Comfort.  We had a lesson in grape growing and making of wine by the owner.  We were then hosted for a dinner of just our group on the Winery grounds.

     Day 2 was another beautiful day and we rode the hills of central Texas.  We stopped in Spanish Oaks (just west of Austin) and Sam and Barbara Granett hosted us to a great lunch at their community center.  We had the whole place to ourselves, and it was a great time to visit.  We returned to Comfort that night for a nice dinner in town.

     Day 3 of riding was a trip to Fredricksburg, TX for lunch and a visit to the Nimitz Museum and hotel.  There was even a submarine at the museum!  We concluded the 3 days of riding with a group dinner. 

     Day 4 was departure day, and we all returned home!  Gray Hog Ride number 3 was in the history books and a good time was had by all!

Chapter 1 – 2015

Background:  In 2014 Bob Yaap and Jack Nesbitt were talking about our motorcycles and rides that we had been on.  Jack suggested that we try to organize a gathering of our classmates for a destination trip of all those classmates that ride motorcycles.  We gathered a list of those we knew were still riding motorcycles and we sent out a message to the Class forum and Class blog finding out if there was any interest. 

        We were pleased with the response by many classmates that were interested.  Jack and I felt like it would be best to schedule our first classmate ride in the summer months and in the middle of the country.  Jack suggested Taos NM which was near his home in Ruidoso NM and provided great roads for riding motorcycles.  Jack secured the Taos Inn as our headquarters/accommodations for the trip and the date was for August of 2015.

     One side story of our survey of interest was that of classmate Dale Smith and his wife Colleen who live in Oklahoma City.  Dale told Jack that he would be interested in joining in on the ride.  Jack asked him what kind of motorcycle he had.  He answered that he didn’t have one yet, but he was looking forward to getting one!  We’re not sure if he had ever owned one, but come August of 2015, Dale and Colleen arrived in Taos on their 3-month-old Can Am Spyder.  They have been on all 4 of our rides so far, organized and planned our 2019 Northeast Oklahoma ride and now Dale owns 4 motorcycles and Colleen rides the Can Am Spyder by herself to the gatherings!

     We decided to call ourselves the Gray Hogs (Harley Davidson Motorcycles are respectfully referred to as Hogs in the Motorcycle community)!  I had my granddaughter who is an artist develop a logo and we ordered shirts, hats, patches (most motorcycle riders adorn their riding vest w/ patches of where they have been, unit patches from military units, etc.) and polo shirts.  Here is the coin minted for the ’69 Gray Hogs!

’69 Gray Hog 1^st Motorcycle Rally/trip to Taos NM August 20 – 23, 2015

We gathered at the Taos Inn for drinks, meeting and dinner on August 20^th at the Taos Inn. In attendance from ’69 were:

• Jack & Mimi Nesbitt-Riding a Can Am Spyder
• Dale & Colleen Smith – Riding a Can Am Spyder
• Dan & Suzy Meischen – Riding a Harley
• Phil & Leti Brant-Riding a Harley
• Jim Russell – Riding a Honda
• Jim Bachta – Riding his 70’s vintage BMW
• Pete Miles – riding a rented Harley
• Bob Yaap – Riding a Polaris Slingshot
• Ed Johnson ’66 – riding w/ Bob in the Slingshot

Roger Balog hosted us on day 1 to a nice barbecue at his 2nd home in Red River, NM

Gray Hog Motorcycle Riders Get Started

     Day one-Aug 21  We did a nice loop around the towns of Taos, Angel Fire and Red River.  Angel Fire is a scenic valley with a Ski resort and a nice Vietnam War Memorial.  We toured the Memorial which was originally built by Dr. & Mrs. Westphal in honor of their son David, who was a 1^st Lt and killed in Vietnam in May of ’68.  The Memorial is now run by the VA and is a must see, particularly by Vietnam vets visiting the area.  Pictures of our group are shown below. The West Point Class of ’63 has a plaque honoring their classmates who fell in Vietnam.

     From Angel Fire we drove to Red River NM and were hosted to a wonderful barbecue by classmate, Roger Balog at his beautiful cabin.  On the way back to Taos Jim Bachta’s vintage BMW motorcycle had the clutch cable break.  No clutch…no shifting…no go!  Not Jim!  He figured if he got the RPM’s just right, he could shift without a clutch.  Difficult, if not impossible to do on newer bikes!  Jim did it masterfully and made the 50-mile ride to the hotel safely. 

 

     On day 2 we drove down to Santa Fe to spend the day.  Beautiful weather and a pleasant day in a unique town.  One highlight was the local church that had a circular staircase that was not supported by a center pole!  Quite the engineering fete and a great story of its construction. 

     We had a group dinner in Santa Fe and we were joined by Jack & Becky Gloriod who drove (their car) down from Colorado Springs.  Jim Bachta and Jim Russell were unable to join us as they were trying to track down a clutch cable for a 45+ year old BMW.  With no luck in finding the cable they decided to depart Taos early.  Bachta drove approx. 400 miles back to Colorado Springs on his ‘clutchless’ BMW with Jim Russell traveling as his wingman.  Bachta said it wasn’t that hard as most of the ride was on the freeway!  Regardless, he is a true motorcyclist to say the least!

     On day 3 we had an easy short ride to Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.  It was a deep river chasm in the middle of the NM desert! 

     We returned to the Taos Inn for a group dinner the last night!  On the next morning, we all departed for our individual homes!  The first ’69 Gray Hog Motorcycle ride was in the history books, and it was a big success for all!

To see videos of the Gray Hogs, click this link: Gray Hog Motorcycle Riders – YouTube