WIN A $50 Gift Card to J&P Cycles

As you all know Daytona Bike Week started today and runs through the 13th. To promote their HUGE Superstore in Daytona and their online catalog, J & P Cycles has offered me a $50 gift card to give away to a lucky reader of my blog. What you need to do is leave a comment on this post from March 4th - March 14th, 2011 and tell me how you would spend this $50 gift card if you win it. I will pick a winner at random and after March 14th announce the winner. At this time I will need you to contact me so that I can get your information and let J & P Cycles know where to send the gift card. Is that easy or what?? Enter!! Enter!! Enter!!

We Had Joy, We Had Motorcycle Fun!!

Looking at my blog I really didn't write any ride posts this summer. I had great thoughts of ride posts but never really got around to them. Between riding with Dan and learning to ride my own, the summer just got away from me. I do have photos to share so I decided to make a picture montage of the sights we saw this summer. The best trip was the Great River Road in Wisconsin. We also took a day trip to the National Motorcycle Museum with a group from Struther's Brothers. The last big hurrah of the summer was the Annual Abate Toy Run. The turn out this year was amazing and the weather was excellent! We made it to one Indianola Bike night and I threw in some pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch just for fun.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I hope you all were able to make some amazing memories this summer on your motorcycles! I hope to get a few more rides in before that snow begins to fall.

Extreme Motorcycle Bling

These motorcycles on display at the National Motorcycle Museum had the most bling of any motorcycle I've ever seen. Holy Bedazzler Batman!

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.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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

Motorcycle Events of Interest

B.A.F. Spring Fling and Blessing of the Bikes - April 5th, 2008 at Party Town 1820 E Army Post Road in Des Moines, IA. The event begins at 3 pm and music starts at 5 pm.(Music by *Gilmore James McIntosh*Rukus*Calous*Second Side* There will be music, vendors, food and door prizes. B.A.F. is a great organization that helps bikers and families of bikers in need.

Fun Run / Bike Blessing - April 13th, 2008 at Flanagan's in Des Moines, IA. The ride starts at noon. Flanagan's is located at 2120 Ingersoll Ave. If you have questions about the event please contact Jodie Carlson @ 515.490.6316 or Abe @ 515.210.5668. Stop by the Abate web site for more details and directions. http://www.abateiowa.org/districts/d04/eventsched.html

Bike Down to I-Town - Bike Night in Indianola, IA. This event is a blast! It happens the 3rd Friday of each month from April - September. Visit the I-Town Bike night website at http://www.bikedowntoitown.com/. If you see me there make sure you stop me and say hello! I would love to meet the actual people who read my blog! :)

The Original Bike Blessing - Road Runners MC - Sunday May 4th, 2008 from Noon - 5pm. Blessing of the Bikes @ 2 pm. Admission is $10 a person * $18 a couple. There will be FREE BEER. This event is held in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Visit http://www.roadrunnersmc.com/ for more information about this event.

Valhalla MC Nebraska Lost Brothers Poker Run - Saturday June 7th, 2008 Sign up from 11:00 am - 1:30 pm at Joe Bananas 1022 South 10th Street in Omaha, NE. $10 per hand and the top 2 hands will get a pay out. Last card will be drawn at Anchor Inn Freedom Park in Omaha, NE. Proceeds go to Juvenile Diabetes and Prosthetic Rehabilitation. Support Your Local Valhalla MC.


Four Seasons Festival Bike Night - Friday July 25, 2008 on the Square in Polk City, IA. This event is from 5 - 11 pm. This event includes a Street Dance, Food, and Beer. Live music by Free Style. Ride across the mile long bridge and help Polk City celebrate their first ever BIKE NIGHT!

The 6th Annual Sandhills Rally will be held in Johnstown, NE on July 11th - 13th. Visit http://www.sandhillsrally.com/ to get all the lowdown on this great event. This one looks like a really fun Rally!

J & P Cycles Cruise Night - May 20, June 17, July 22, Aug 19, and Sept 9. The evening begins at 5:15 pm. This event is held at J&P Cycles in Anamosa, IA. For more info go to http://www.jpcycles.com/.