Texas DevilDogs,
The 2003 Longriders MC Tyler Toy Run is history.
Alpha Company was decently represented by the Magnificent Seven + Cathy and Anita...kinda.

Sunday dawned chilly, which means downright FROSTY when you're ridin' a motorsicle down tha' highway @ 80 MPH (more on that later...). My day started with a faux flat tire... checked the pressure, screwed the cap back on and the O-ring seal got cross-wise and depressed the valve stem. I didn't notice it till I sloppily wobbled outta' tha' driveway... Back in the driveway...after callin' Top Billy...sayin' I had a flat?? & would call him in 10 w/ a prognosis. Pulling the valve stem cap I knew what'd happened. A can of Seal-a-Tire got me to 20#, and to the gas station for 20# more. Problem fixed??? Me'n "Scary Bear" roared off at ungodly speeds toward the rally point.

I arrived only 15 minutes late to greet Billy and FNG FireDog J.R. (who couldn't ride because it was too cold...or that he had to study for finals...can't remember which excuse he used) Don Roden and Jim Rooth met us at Taco Cabana a few minutes later...

HTGW Rooth wanted to know where E-1 was... REFUSED MY "COVERIN' YOUR ASS BRO" EXPLANATION, insisted on calling said AWOL E-1.
All Dogs in attendance good-naturedly gave E-1 tha' "red-ass" for not showin' up...again. Hey! Remember all the "slack" we NEVER got in tha' Corps...nothin's changed w/ this group!

Bundled up like leather-clad Pillsbury Doughboys and Michellin Men, we blasted East to complete the pincer movement with the
East Texas Dogs in Tyler. Billy did a partial "high-speed" strip tease...shuckin' his vest after the side laces became untied. We stopped to fix the vest & all had a roadside hit of "Brother Jack)... my medicinal reserves... We took the back roads thru Kaufman, Gun Barrel City ( I was told THERE WERE ABSOLUTELY NO "REACH-AROUNDS " at the pit stop) and Athens. A beautiful ride!

We rolled into Bruce & Cathy's hootch around 1300 & Cathy plied us with high-priced imported beer and Bruce kindly allowed me to refill the medicinal flask... with Tequila.
In attendance from the East Texas contingent: State VP Brix and Tom Perrin (in addition to our host & his lovely Cathy). Beers later and having again "drained tha' snakes'" we blasted off for the City Square where Brix's Anita was waiting for a photo op. She wasn't gonna' ride...opting to put up Brix's tree instead.

Seven Dogs...all showin' tha Colors..and Cathy...ridin', I might say, a beautiful "bitch" behind Bruce blasted off thru the beautiful Tyler countryside with 800-1000 other bikers to the Longrider's rural club house.
Not too long into the Toy Run, Cathy threw her sunglasses at me. Try as I might...I missed'm, tho am sure somebody(s) behind me ran over'm. At the clubhouse to drop off the toys ... drink beers, eat chili and bullshit, we immediately assessed the problem. Food line stretched almost back to Cedar Hill. The beer line wasn't much shorter! BUT...having endured Billy's bellyachin' RE: no beer on the previous two road trips, I'd come prepared with 6 beers. I may be up for a commendation.

In the food line drinkin' beer, Cathy came back from the beer line w/ ONE BEER! NOT THE 8 THAT WERE NEEDED. Bruce assured us that Cathy is indeed trainable...and that such an oversight wouldn't happen again! Thru the food line, we sat outside to eat and bullshit and try to stay upwind of the kids throwin' pine needles and cones into the fire...We talked about Alpha Company. It seems that Don Roden is the new Alpha Company Commander... by default...nobody else wanted it... and by the fact that he'd had Rooth print up some cards in his name bearing the title "Alpha Company Commander".
Congratulations Sir... You'll make a damn fine Company Commander!

Also talked about was the possibility of the eastern portion of Alpha/1 calving off into a 2nd Platoon.
Everbody thought it'd be good as long as we don't end up clumped into tiny inconsequential clumps.
This is probably not the forum to mention that some of the Dogs in attendance commented favorably
RE: Cathy's endowments...and were not beaten down by Bruce, who, along w/ Cathy herself, acknowledged the obvious... so I won't...

Fearing the approaching darkness and the cold it'd bring,
the western contingent bundled up...mounted up and started chasing the sun.. E-1 is buyin' my beer next time we meet. We blasted off @1620 and were thru Tyler (even stopping so Jim could raise his blood-sugar) and on I-20 by 1700. HTGW in the lead, cruisin' along at a law-abiding 70 MPH.. till I pulled up beside him and pointed to the sky and then held up 5 fingers. Jim finally figured out I was sayin' increase tha' speed to 75...which he did... EXACTLY (cruise control ya' know). We was passin everthin' in sight when Don signaled that he hadda' pee.Into the rest stop... a little Tequila to fight tha' cold, and all told me we were goin' 80MPH. My speedo indicating exactly 5 MPH under.

Onward again into the darkness we sped at warp speed. Don peeled off @ 67...Rooth @ Carrier Pkwy...
Billy @ 360 and I rolled into the driveway at exactly 1900 having posted 324 miles.
What a great ride and time everbody had visitin' w/ Dogs we don't get to see often enough!
Especially good to meet Tom Perrin, Cathy...get a hug from Anita, and get my crotch sniffed by Andy, Bruce's dog.
Note from Bruce: Andy only WISHES my dog was named after him. Her name is "Indy".
You Dogs not ridin' are missin out...

S/F,

Andy
(HMFIC...not tha' crotch-sniffin' dog)