Down along the Gulf Coast, Corpus Christi H-D had a fun get together on April 15, launching into the riding season with an open house, tasty bites, live music, and great camaraderie… Meanwhile, up the road in Houston, Mancuso Crossroads H-D hosted a day-long Easter egg hunt with fantastic prizes including complimentary free service on any model, free mototect, motor oil, first aid kit, and motorcycle cleaning kits. But we all know the real reason a healthy crowd turned up: they wanted a photo with the Easter Bunny at noon!… However, the highlight on this Saturday in the state of Texas had to be the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show which returned to Waco after a 24-year absence to entertain the crowd at H-D of Waco. The acts included axe throwing, crosscut sawing, underhand chopping, chainsaw racing, log rolling… you get the idea! While the crowd was thrilled with the two shows, the amateur competition was straight up at noon and the competitors were a sight to behold as several hundred riders showed up to be entertained by the shows… The Adam Smith family of H-D dealerships hosted a six-day poker run that involved close to 300 miles of riding through North and East Texas on a quest to visit each of their dealerships: Texarkana H-D, Roughneck H-D in Longview, Lumberjack H-D in Nacodoches, H-D of Waco, Texas H-D in Bedford, and Texoma H-D in Sherman. There was a mild hiccup with the Texoma location that had to unexpectedly close early on the Saturday of the ride so the other dealerships revised their game plan requiring that only five punches on the passport card would need to be punched. The ride began on April 19 and ran through April 26 and an impressive 148 hardy riders signed up to compete. A hearty congratulation goes out to winner of the best hand, Roy Hicks, who had a full house; his grand prize was a gift card valued at $2,000… On the weekend of April 21–22, the 7th annual Spring Classic Police Motorcycle Competition was held over in Grand Prairie at Longhorn H-D. Each year the Grand Prairie Police Department Motor Unit hosts this event and it is open to civilians and officers for competition; the rodeo attracts motocops from all around the country to show off their skills for tight maneuvering, quick stops, and sharp cornering. Congratulations go out to Sgt. James George of the North Richland Hills (Texas) Police Department for winning the “Mr. Rodeo” title in the Officer category and to Jim Tate for winning in the Civilian category. The motorcycle rodeo will return in 2018; dates have yet to be announced… That same weekend, LookLearnLive.org made a strong presence during the annual Earth Day event at historic Fair Park in Dallas and spent three industrious days educating tens of thousands of attendees about the importance of looking twice for motorcycles and sharing the road. This group is part of the Texas Department of Public Safety and they do some incredible work on behalf of Texas riders. Keep the shiny side up and I’ll see you next month.
