Photo courtesy of Daniel Peirce - Lord of Light, Master of the Pixel.  Click on photo to enlarge.
Alton Gillespie making a painting of the Three Engine Hog Slayer at the Lake O' the Pines Rallye.

Some folks go to the Lake O' The Pines Rallye for riding and the thrill, I go for relaxing and to chill. At the 2012 rally I refined relaxing and chilling to a fine art. This is my recap of the rally... at least as much as I can remember.

I arrived early afternoon on Thursday. Weather was ideal with warm breezes and a clear sunny sky. I positioned the ice chest for easy access and set up camp. At the top of the hill Alton Gillespie was beginning the set-up for his painting of the Hogslayer 3. I spent some time there making inane suggestions for Alton's artwork. Artist's really like suggestions.

Grand Marshal, TC Christenson, was talking to admirers about the Hogslayer 3. The three engine nitro burning Norton dragster is an impressive creation. Unfortunately the power to weight ratio left it slower that the two engine version and it never raced in competition. Still, it is an impressive beast to behold. I wandered around the campgrounds the rest of the afternoon and evening just relaxing and trying to annoy as many folks as possible.

Friday morning was still warm and breezy but small clouds were beginning to roll in ahead of a cold front. Reid Schulze, Mike Mediterraneo and I decided to do a breakfast run into Jefferson. We discovered to our dismay that Annie Skinner's doesn't serve breakfast on the weekdays. We were also out of luck with a restaurant I knew of on the highway. We finally managed to get breakfast after we rode back to the lake and found the Brushy Creek Cafe. So ended my only ride of the rally.

I committed myself to relaxing and chilling for the rest of the day. At one point I lent a feeble hand to setting up some of the 3,026 tiki torches Richard wanted planted. Party-central doesn't set itself up. The weather continued to be warm as more clouds were gathering from the west. Most of the day I just took pictures and annoyed people. A good day.

As the weatherman predicted, a cold front pushed through during the night. Saturday morning was cold (at least by Texas standards), cloudy and with a heavy mist in the air. Regardless, people began to get their bikes ready for the bike show. The heavy mist wasn't an ideal environment to show bikes in, but at least it wasn't raining. I always try to look at the bright side.

For the bike show the only class my 1988 BMW K75s would qualify for was the modern category. An hour after show registration opened there was only one bike in the modern class. Impulsively I entered my bike hoping for a default second place trophy. Unfortunately, by time registration was over, there were seven bikes in the modern class and my meager K75 was merely an also-ran.

But the bike show is still my favorite part of the rally. The diversity and quality of the machines in this show is always one of the best in Texas. Show stand-outs, at least in my opinion, included a 1924 Beardmore Precision, Phil Dansby's resurrected 1973 Commando, a 1972 H-D Sprint flat tracker, and a 1961 Lambretta 22. However, the belle of the ball was the People's Choice winner; a 1936 Brough Superior sidecar rig, beautifully restored by Stewart Garrison. Stewart suggested not trying to get into the sidecar. It was designed for small people.

By the time of the awards ceremony the weather had moderated. Still chilly, but the dampness had abetted. During the awards the 25 year NTNOA club members were recognized: Joe Edwards, Phil Dansby, Dave Howe, David Popovich, Doug Fox, Richard Cross, Paul Valentine, Russell Foster.  And even though Joe Edwards couldn't make it this year, he was well represented by a photo of him appropriately propped in a chair. After the awards I lent a feeble hand to helping set up the serving area for the meal. I volunteered with good intentions but I was mostly just in the way. I was pretty relaxed by this time.

After dinner the documentary movie, "Hogslayer" was presented on a screen at the top of the hill. TC was there to answer questions and give everyone a chance to take home their own copy of the movie. It's a good documentary, and it even shows one of my photographs in it... for 2.5 seconds. Oh well, they spelled my name right in the credits.

To top off the night I was summoned to a bonfire around which about 30 people were seated listening to a band energetically playing music. To me, relaxed as I was, it was delightfully primitive. Folks sitting around a large blazing fire, listening to music - it has to one of mankind's oldest pastimes. It was glorious. I hope it becomes a rally tradition.

Sunday morning was still cool and cloudy and many of the rally-goers had already pulled out. The Rolling Concourse had fewer riders than the previous year. Likely because of the weather. I was ready to head home but I stayed during the Rolling Concourse to photograph each participant as they returned.

Once again Chairman Richard Asprey and the club's officers pulled off another memorable rally. My relaxing and chilling time was over. Frankly, I'm not sure my body can sustain three days of constant relaxation like it used to. But I'm pretty sure I'll recover by the time the next Lake O' The Pines Rallye rolls around.