Rain doesn't dampen fun at June beer bust

We've had the second-wettest June in history, but the rain stopped in time for the Cavaliers to hold the first beer bust of the summer on June 27. In spite of wet weather, we drew a bigger than expected crowd to the patio of the Phoenix. And because of the all-day rain, temperatures on the patio were very pleasant indeed.

Our friend Mike M. from the bear club showed up to hawk T-shirts and tickets to the upcoming LazFest, the annual July 4 fundraiser for Lazarus House.

Most of the Cavaliers were on hand, too, including Poncho, William, Mike D., Doug, George, Mark, Collin, David, and Michael W. We were also happy to have our friend Michael G. come down from Jackson to join us.

Our friend Adam was just back from a week in Tuscany, and showed us lots of pictures of his travels on his Palm.

We were particularly pleased to meet plenty of folks who've just moved here to New Orleans, including one couple from California, and another from Texas. The Texas boys have a Gold Wing and were interested to find out more about our club. We'll be eager to have them join us on a ride soon.

Mark made the rounds with our famous 50/50 raffle. The winner and the club each took home an extra $91, our fattest pot yet. David brought his famous jambalaya, and Michael W. was behind the bar. William, Mike D., and Doug took their turns behind the bar too.

Cavaliers conquer Red Bluff Road

The ride was postponed twice, once because of Mothers' Day, once because of weather. Once it got underway, we missed an important turn and took a 15-mile detour. Then we missed a rendezvous with another rider by only minutes. Then we had a breakdown which delayed us over an hour. Then we missed another turn and had to double-back. But the Cavaliers Motorcycle Club prevailed, and we conquered all 30 twisty miles of Mississippi's infamous Red Bluff Road. And we had a blast!

The ride took place on Sunday, June 1 on day that was overcast in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. We had eight bikes, two with passengers, including:

-Alan rode his 1996 Honda ST1100
-George rode his 2003 Honda Shadow ACE
-Mark rode his 1998 Honda Shadow ACE
-Doug rode his 1998 Honda Shadow 750
-Guy and Darryl rode Guy's 2001 Harley-Davidson Road King
-Poncho rode his 1996 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic
-Michael D. rode Mike's 1999 Honda Shadow 750
-David and Michael W. rode David's 1996 Honda Gold Wing SE

The weather forecast was not looking good during the week before the ride, and we thought we were going to have a third cancellation. But on Friday the forecast shifted, and Sunday dawned overcast, but with only a slight chance of rain. We were off.

Our first mishap came early in the ride. We were headed for our first rest stop in Picayune, but as David approached the I-10/59 split, he took the wrong turn. This surprised everyone behind him, who knew which way to go, and caused a bit of chaos at the interchange. What's more, there wasn't another exit to turn around until we crossed into Mississippi more than seven miles farther. We regrouped at the exit, considered our options, and decided it was best just to retrace our steps on I-10 to I-59. This made for our first 15-mile detour.

Once we made it into Picayune, everyone took turns giving David an appropriate amount of grief over the goof. "We'll never let you live this one down," was heard frequently. Who knew that by the end of the day this would seem to be small potatoes.

After posing for an irreverent photo in front of the "Jesus is Lord over Picayune" sign, we headed off on Hwy 43 to Columbia, and got our first taste of the twisties. This road, which follows the Pearl River, goes through some beautiful Mississippi countryside and is really fun to ride. It's full of broad, sweeping curves, with many parts of the roadway covered by big, shady trees. We all took it at our own pace, with Alan up front going at warp speed on his ST1100, and Mark staying right up with him on his Shadow. David, Poncho and Guy made up a middle group who kept up a brisk pace, with George, Mike, and Doug taking a more relaxed ride. We all met up within minutes of each other at the north end of Hwy 43, not far from Columbia.

We rode into that town as a group, and stopped at the McDonalds where we were suppossed to meet BJ from Jackson. David had planned on our group arriving between 11:30 and noon, but because of our unfortunate detour on the way into Picayune, we arrived a little late, but only a couple of minutes after 12, and BJ wasn't around. She had ridden down from Jackson to meet us, but when we didn't show by noon, she rode home. We probably missed each other by only a few minutes.

Not knowing she had left already, we waited half an hour in Columbia to see if she might show up, and tried calling her on her cell phone. Then we reluctantly took off at 12:30 without her, and headed for the nearby turnoff to Red Bluff Road.

We had only gone a short distance down US 98, with Alan in the lead, when we made the turn off the highway. We hadn't gone far at all when we realized our group had gotten separated at the turn. Alan, David, and Guy stopped and waited a few minutes to see if they showed up, then Alan went back to find them. He came back to report that one of the bikes had broken down. We dropped off Guy, Darryl, and Michael W. at a gas station we'd passed, and Alan led David back to the breakdown. Mike had gotten a flat on his rear tire and was off the side of US 98, with Doug, Poncho, and George. The good news was that he wasn't hurt.

We wrestled with the tire for over an hour, and received some very generous assistance by two local motorists, a friendly fellow on a big trike, and a local mechanic. Afterr a lot of effort, they finally got the tire inflated enough to ride it off the highway to the mechanic's nearby shop. The decision was made to leave the disabled bike overnight with the mechanic, and Poncho would return on Monday with Mike and Doug's truck and trailer to retrieve the bike.

By this time Alan and George had returned to the gas station to wait with the others, and David, Poncho, Mike, and Doug showed up soon after. After a much needed break to cool off, we finally headed off to Red Bluff Road, with Alan in the lead, and our new friend on the trike tagging along. Mike took Doug's bike, and Doug rode buddy for the rest of the ride.

But there was more adventure awaiting us. Alan was leading us to Red Bluff Road because he knew the route best, but he missed a turn and headed us down the wrong road for a short distance. This time, though, none of us knew there was a mixup, until Alan made a turn and led a parade of gay bikers through a rural church parking lot. As Alan later put it, it was a little bit of Vacation Bible School for us as well as for them. David said he felt vindicated for his earlier wrong turn. We turned around and got headed in the right direction, and that's when the fun really began.

Red Bluff Road is one of the twistiest roads in our region, climbing up and down the bluffs along the Pearl River between Foxworth and Monticello, MS. The road is full of sharp, technical turns, broad sweepers, plenty of curves hidden over the crest of hills, and a few decreasing radius turns thrown in for fun. The southern half of the road is great pavement, but the northern half was resurfaced with a material that leaves a lot of loose gravel on the surface. Otherwise, it's 30 miles of great motorcycling road through beautiful countryside.

Soon after we got on Red Bluff Road, we stopped at the overlook that gives the road its name. There's a spectacular geological feature of large, deeply eroded bluffs made of vibrant red, pink, and orange soil. The road goes along the top of these bluffs, and there's a safe, paved place to pull off and take a look. Looking off into the far distance over the forest-covered countryside of rural Mississippi, the view is pretty spectacular. Hard to believe that anything like this exists less than 150 miles from New Orleans.

We stood and marveled at the view for quite a while, and took the requisite photos of the bluffs and of our group. Everyone said that our twice-postponed, twice-detoured, and breakdown-delayed ride was worth it just for a look at this view.

We soon saddled up and Alan rocketed forth with instructions to meet him at the Pizza Inn in Monticello. The rest of us took the tricky road at our own pace, but enjoyed every twist and turn. We soon arrived in Monticello, hungry, hot, and tired, but feeling great about the ride. The salad and pizza buffet made a perfect lunch as we sat around and recounted the day and talked about many future rides to come.

After lunch, Alan made plans to reverse the route and enjoy the twisties again, but the rest of our group chose to high-tail it back to civilization on the superslab. David and Michael found an appropriate stretch of the Interstate to take action shots of all the riders. We ride to Brookhaven, picked up I-55, stopped for gas at Kentwood, and again at Ponchatoula, before heading back into the city. With our little detours and all, we put 320 miles on the road on this trip, making it our longest distance ride so far. Some of us gathered at Lafitte's on Bourbon Street after the ride to celebrate. After the day we'd had, that first cold beer tasted mighty good.

And at the end of it all, after two postponements, after two missed, turns, even after a breakdown, everyone — even Mike, who had endured the breakdown — said that they had an absolutely wonderful time conquering Red Bluff Road.