Wednesday, July 01, 2009

The J & P Cycle Open House and Much More!

Last weekend was the 30th Annual Open House at J & P Cycles in Anamosa, IA. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was my first open house I'd attended there. Friday morning Dan and I rolled out of Des Moines at about 11:30. Even though the heat index was in the upper 90's it wasn't too bad when you were moving down the road at 80 mph. Traffic was pretty tight on Interstate 80 heading east and we had two near misses, once with a Toyota car and once with a big ol' semi. Dan is one awesome pilot of our ZP...he held his own as we rumbled along the shoulder trying to get Mr. Toyota's attention so he wouldn't kill us. After we got by that I was crossing myself and saying Hail Marys like they were going outta style. Geesh...dumb ass didn't even look. We backed off from the semi when I noticed his turn signal go on as we were just beginning to go around him. I gave him a friendly little wave when he finally got back over and we were able to get past. We stopped in Williamsburg to regroup and I suggested that we head on off on Highway 151 through the Amana Colonies. It was a much better trip after that because there wasn't a lot of traffic.

We stopped off at J & P Cycles on our way to my sister and her families place in Dyersville. There wasn't much going on there besides people setting up for the big weekend. It was estimated that there were going to be about 20,000 people in attendance. WOW! I took a few photos of things I thought were cool.





We got to Margo, Tim, and Sydney's place about 45 minutes later and hung out with them for the evening. My niece is 15 months old now and cute as a bug. I should have taken a pix of her so you could see but I know you'll take my word for it. I'm not bias at all! HA!

Saturday we were up and headed out to the J & P Open House. Glad we got there early because it ended up being very hot and there were sooooo many people. It was great though. John and Jill Parham really appreciate their customers. There was free food, free soda, and free water. They were even walking around greeting their guests. It was a real family affair and surprisingly there was no alcohol that I could see. I met the guys from Throttler Magazine and they were super cool...again...no pix. WOW! lol I met Rick Fairless and Michele Smith. I told Michele how much I missed her on American Thunder. She told me that she could have stayed on but not as the host. I can see why she left. She really did make that show. And I do have to say...that biker chick is a Hottie. She was dressed so freaking awesome! It was funny watching men get their picture taken with her. It reminded me of my experience with Billy Lane and not being able to talk. I just had to laugh. Michele has a website http://www.michelesmith.tv/ which I'm sure the guys will all like. I told her about my blog and she wrote down the addy. Don't know if she'll look at it but I'll believe she has already! lol


Rick Fairless was as cool as he always is. I got his autograph a few years back at the Easyrider Bike Show in Kansas City. I told Rick about my blog and he told me to send him a link to it. Cool! Rick is having a huge bike show and parts expo in Dallas at the Dallas Market Center on April 10 - 11, 2010. If you are interested in attending the event visit http://www.rickfairlessbikeshow.com/ or call 952-746-7786. The Strokers Dallas website is http://www.strokersdallas.com/. I took a photo of my favorite Fairless creation. It's the Janis bike...love Janis Joplin. Peace Baby!


We went inside of J & P a few times to cool off and on one venture into the store I was greeted by the Motorcycle Monster. The look on my face is priceless...I'm being jabbed in the head by one of his spikes and he's also telling Dan that I'm pretty cute and then tells me to ditch Dan and hook up with him later. Too funny!


I've made a slide show of the other photos that Dan and I took of our adventures at J & P Cycles. We watched a stunt show where the guy was doing stunts on a sportster. Amazing. There are a couple pictures of Jason Britton the stunt rider in the slideshow too. The Daytona Harley Davidson Drill team was there and did some incredible drills on their big old baggers. WOW! Visit http://www.daytonaharleydavidsondrillteam.com/ if you would like to learn more about them. And the rest of the photos are bikes, bikes and more bikes.




We headed back to Dyersville for lunch and then loaded up The Ketels' family Suburban and headed over to Lake Delhi to stay at Tim's parent's cabin. It was lots of fun. Drank a lot of margaritas and I finally got to sit by a bonfire! I was soooooooo excited. I got a pix of my sister and Dan both enjoying beers.






Sunday morning came quick and we headed back to Dyersville and packed ZP for the trip home. We decided to take Highway 20 back and stopped in Cedar Falls to see my folks at a car show they were attending. There just happened to be some motorcycles there to be judged too so I got some more motorcycle photos for you to enjoy. LOL!






What a great weekend we had! J & P put on a great Thank You for their customers, I got to see my family, and I got to ride almost 400 miles on ZP! Who could ask for more? :)


Happy Riding! xo


IHG

15 comments:

Learning to Golf said...

Looks like a great time was had by all. Thanks for taking us along.

B.B. said...

sounds like a great weekend Steph, and great pics! I met Michel Smith last year in Santa Maria, and I thought she was very nice, and dressed to kill, of course. I too was laughing at all the men falling over themselves to get her attention.

RazorsEdge2112 said...

Looks like you and Dan had a helluva trip there. So, that "friendly" wave and Mr. Semi, was that the one-finger variety of wave?

Thanks for the mention of J&P. Reminds me that I need to get a front tire for Athena ordered from them. Looks like they put on a heck of a get-together.

Thanks also for the pics! Fantastic.

My expressions LIVE said...

I thought about riding out myself....maybe next year. Michelle's photo is nice, thanks for sharing, but I think you are much prettier....maybe its the Harley girl look...;) xoxoxoo

Mr. Motorcycle said...

Quote from a Stephen King Short Movie. "Hey Lady, Thanks for the ride!"

Great Pics!

Dean "D-Day" said...

Awesome review! I've been meaning to get to one of their open houses. Looks like a great time!

And yes, your look while getting poked in the head is priceless.

mq01 said...

great pics stephanie, it looks like a fun time!! michele smith is such a kick, i dug her on american thunder too. we'll be seeing more of her im sure...

Michael said...

Truly awesome post. Great photos. Great content. So cool that you hung out with the celebs. I love your site. Proof that there is far more to us bikers than tattoos and loud pipes! Keep up the great work, sister!

Ann said...

Excellent post! What a great weekend!

fasthair said...

Ms. IHG: I suck! I sat on my lazy ass all weekend knowing this was going on and that it was going to be a great time! Now I'm really kicking myself in the ass for missing this and the old time Funny Cars and Dragsters that were in Cordova just across the river down the road.

Thanks for sharing with me and making me make sure I don't miss the next one.

fasthair

Unknown said...

You do the absolute coolest biker stuff!

Pappy said...

Wow Great Ride, thanks!!

Enjoyed the ride start to end keep up the good work. Ride safe.
Thanks ...

Lady R (Di) said...

What a fun ride and visit to J & P! I considered going over there while we were in Iowa, but just didn't come up with the time. My brothers go over there all the time.

Your pics are awesome! I can see your surprise in your eyes while taking the temple piercing!

dan said...

Hi Steph, looks like you had a great weekend. Sorry I missed you, we went on sunday. J&P was great, they must spend a ton of money putting that on, but we do spend a lot of money there. J&P has saved my ass in sturgis more than once having the right parts for the regular price. Hopefully we will get to meet another time. dan

Baron's Life said...

What a great adventurous weekend...well written and presented in all aspects...