What: Charity ride sponsored by The Chain Gang and Rhinewest to raise $$ to help homeless families in San Antonio. The ride is a morning ride to Cooper's for lunch. All bikes welcome!

When:  This year the ride is set for Saturday, April 19th. We leave at  9:30 from Rhinewest....come early for juice, coffee, and donuts!

How Much: pre-register with a $15 check to "The Chain Gang" (and your shirt size) to Steve Johnson (210-341-9247) sent to: PO Box 160074  SAT  78280. No shirt? A $10 donation is expected.

Perhaps it was the rain

That kept some from an appointed ride

But those who persisted

Got some bar-b-que that couldn’t be resisted! 

That is a brief summation of The Second Annual Sweet Sixteen ride. On March 30,2002 the few, the brave, and the damp set out from Alamo BMW in San Antonio and headed for what may be the best open-fire chicken/pork chop/beef/sausage in Texas. That’s Cooper’s on State Highway 71 in Llano, Texas in case you would like to join us next year on April 5^th.

Many had expressed interest in the ride, and it was advertised at local bike shops and radio stations, but only 11 hardy souls made it to Cooper’s. Kariem Hendy of Catholic Worker House rode with me and after the meal accepted a check for $135.00.

The donation came from t-shirt sales and the generosity of Chain Gang Inmates and others who contributed to the CWH “fund.” CWH is the only shelter in San Antonio devoted exclusively to helping homeless families.

            The rain that plagued the group early on was gone by the time we got to Bandera.

The day and the ride were worth the effort. Kariem was accompanied to Llano by “Sweet Sixteen first-timers” Dave Brown (#1067), Hal Koehler(#9) and Margaret Yalois, Rod Barnes, Lloyd Sherwood, and Kerry Martin (#893). Ron Waldrep (#304), Scott Stance (#678), Barry Keenly (#425), and yours truly (#1) were on hand for the 1^st Sweet Sixteen. Barry rides from California for this event!

            Dave Brown took many pictures at Cooper’s and at Harry’s Café when some rode back to San Antonio via Willow City Loop. They can be seen at his website:  http://dave.brown.org  Thanks, Dave!

            Alamo BMW had one of the new F650 CS models on hand. It had been sold, so it was not available to a “test ride” to Cooper’s. The Chain Gang has a Black Belt Gang for those F650 riders who are into belts, not chains like the rest of us. Sounds a bite kinky, if you know what I mean…. and I think you do….But I digress…

            Please ride with “The Gang” and their guests next year. “Sweet Sixteen” is that part of State Highway 16 that goes from San Antonio to Llano. The road surface is great all the way. At Helotes, just north of Loop 1604, State 16 is a series of sweepers, a great way to start a morning ride. The Texas Hill Country scenery is pretty this time of year, the wild flowers just starting “to riot.” The highway begins to have some twisties further north after Bandera, and gets funky after leaving Medina, the Apple Capital of Texas. All this takes only 2 or 3 hours. We left San Antonio after 9:30 AM and arrived at Cooper’s before 1:30 PM.

            Ask anyone who ate at Cooper’s…. I could not finish the pork chop I had selected and I had neglected to bring my “Big Boy Jeans”…. about the bar-b-que, the peach cobbler, or even the pinto beans! After the meal, after the moaning and groaning, after the toothpicks and smiles, we all took various routes home.

            Peace and a safe (and tasty) journey. Steve Johnson.