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Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:13 pm
6.24.07 Ardmore, OK KawiDavis birthday party & ride

 This weekend was a special time to celebrate and remember Allen Davis (kawidavis) on his fifteenth birthday. For me, it was a wonderful 673 mile, two day ride.

I headed to Dallas Saturday morning while my county was under a flash flood warning. I checked the radar just before leaving and saw that I would be hitting a small but heavy cell for about five minutes. The radar looked clear for 50-60 miles afterwards.

Well, the radar was either inaccurate or the cell grew quickly. Five miles from my house, I hit the cell, which soaked me. I didn't put on my rain gear as it looked like I'd be out of it in five minutes and would dry out. I was wrong...

The cell drowned me for about ten minutes and then slowly subsided for the next fifteen minutes. At this point I was traveling through Okmulgee on HWY 75 South. This is when the skies opened up and began flooding the roadway. I had to stop at the first covered gas station as I was concerned about hydroplaning on the standing water.

The drowned rat, me, put on my rain gear over my now thoroughly drenched clothing and suit. The two bright spots of the day were that my helmet wasn't fogging up and that my thumb mounted squeegee was working alright to clear my face shield. Once the rain subsided off the streets, I continued in the rain headed South towards Dallas.

The rain finally stopped around Kiowa, OK where I stopped and stripped off my rain gear. The sun wasn't out, but at least it had finally stopped raining. About twenty minutes later, the sun came out and I began to slowly dry out. By the time I reached Dallas, my coat was dried out and my pants/boots were tolerable. I hung all my rain gear in the hotel room and hoped that it'd all dry out for Sunday.

Sunday morning, I awoke to mostly clear skies across North TX and Southern OK. It was a good omen for the day. I spoke to Brad Swindell (redshad) and we agreed to meet in Irving, TX off of HWY 183. We met at 10:15 AM and headed West towards Ft. Worth, TX to meet Jay (phrack) at his home. We hooked up with Jay at 11:00 AM and headed North on I-35 towards Gainesville, TX to meet up some other riders.



Brad (redshad), Jay (phrack) & Michael (hickman71) in Gainesville, TX

We arrived in Gainesville at 12:15 PM and headed over to Applebees to eat lunch. We were waiting for the arrival of Evan 'Doc' (emdsd), Drake (drake) & Joseph (otsego_amigo)

About an hour later, David (blind man) arrived from Tulsa, OK. I had though that David was going to meet us Ardmore, OK but he went ahead and drove down to Gainesville.

Shortly afterwards, Evan et all arrived. We headed outside and determined the course to reach Ardmore, OK.



The cycles: drake, phrack, redshad, hickman71, blind man, emdsd, otsego_amigo



We arrived at the Lowe's in Ardmore about 2:30 PM and we were glad to see several other cycles already on-site.





It was a great mixture, of www.ninja250.org riders, riders from Ardmore, and friends/family in automobiles.





Of course, we did what many riders do when in a group, we walked around and talked cycles to one another.

Doc and I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and get a picture or two of the group taken as pictures didn't work out well last time in Talimena.



Ninja 250 forum members: (front row) Michael (hickman71), Joani (KawiDavis), John (jbell); (back row) Brad (redshad), Drake (drake), David (blind man), Mike (geekonabike), Jay (phrack), Joseph (otsego_amigo), John (jkennedy)

Joani held the helmet that Allen wore when he had his accident. The helmet didn't tell the full story that it was unable to fully protect Allen from the severe head trauma that occurred.





Ninja 250 forum members: (front row) Michael (hickman71), Joani (KawiDavis), Joseph (otsego_amigo), John (jbell); (back row) Brad (redshad), Drake (drake), David (blind man), Mike (geekonabike), John (jkennedy), Jay (phrack)





The group lined up (about 15 cycles) and we headed to Lake Murray State Park to ride about 40 miles around the lake. The ride was a nice, twisty road set at a very conservative 30-45mph ride.

We pulled off 77S at a picnic area where Allen's family and friends joined us to celebrate at a campground. Allen's mom, Joani, set up food, beverages, a big birthday cake, balloons, and pictures of Allen.







Joani setting everything up for the rest of us.











John (jkennedy) talks about his CBR to two friends.







Joani (KawiDavis) and Evan 'Doc' (emdsd)



Candid Camera shot of Drake (drake)



Joseph isn't afraid to be the first person to dig into the food!



Allen's birthday cake and pictures of him.

Note: Allen in the picture has a on blue riding jacket that Gordon (sonny) had given to Allen. Joani said that the wreck tore up the jacket but it was going to be used in a patchwork quilt being made.



Additional pictures of Allen.



Allen's fifteenth birthday cake.



Brain power: Evan (emdsd) & Mike (geekonabike)



Allen's cousin is ready for cake!



Joani lights the candles.







Everyone signed a card for Allen, that was attached to balloons that Joani had fly away.



Joani & Allen's sisters prepare the balloons and cards to fly away.





Joani prepares for launch while Allen's brother video tapes the event.





Up, up and away...











Allen's mom and step-dad, brother, sisters and friends appreciated everyone that showed up. It was a wonderful, but difficult, day to celebrate what would have been Allen's fifteenth birthday. There were lots of stories told about Allen and many laughs about his wonderful life.

Joani plans to make this an annual event in Ardmore, OK to celebrate Allen's life. I, for one, already have it on my calendar for next year. Godspeed Allen...

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