3rd Annual Lance Crprl Shayne Cabino Memorial Run

The weather had been looking iffy, leading into the weekend. Checking three different weather web sites on Friday afternoon, I found three different forecasts. One said showers, one said only mostly cloudy, and the last said t-storms in the afternoon. No worries, we all had rain gear if needed. Some quick phone calls that night to make sure we were all working on the same plan, and things were looking good.

Greg was the first to arrive on Saturday morning, with Flex and Sue showing up shortly thereafter. Our flags were affixed to our bikes, our spirits were good, and we rolled out, picking up Ed, Sue and Kevin along the way.



We arrived at the Legion, set the kickstands to the pavement and registered. Still having some free time before the procession was to pull out for the run, we made the rounds and said our hellos to friends not seen for a while. And also to friends seen all too often – like the BAR! We grabbed several rounds and headed out back to relax for a few and share some laughs. An announcement was made that Taps would be played shortly, and that we should fire the bikes up as soon as that was completed.

Greg had stepped inside for a minute and happened to find out that we’d be without some of the police escort that had been anticipated today. Not a problem, we’ve done traffic-blocking before – just need to check with Danno to see exactly what he needed/wanted for assistance. We swilled the last of our beers and made ready to clear out.

Catching up with Danno and the m'cycle cop that would be co-leading the pack, I checked to see if blocking was needed. He said yes, but to check with the cop for specifics. Turning to said cop, I asked him if he wanted us to just block once and then pick up the sweep position, or make our way back to the front, to be in position to block again. The cop said to keep coming back to the front, that we’d be needed all day long. I smiled and said that that would require a lot of speeding and wrong-lane travel for someone that's not a cop, was he ok with that? He laughed and said “Raise your right hand, I’ll swear you in now!”

Quick run to the bike, fire it up, kick into gear, assume position behind Danno and the m’cycle cop, and we rolled out. The run would follow the same route as last years – free of highway travel (always nice) and winding through many different towns (also nice).

Greg, Brother Bill, Flex and myself took turns peeling off to hold traffic at bay, then hammering up the left side of the column and sliding into position again. I’m not going to lie to you; it was a rush and a half screaming up the wrong side of the road. For the most part, traffic coming the other way was already pulled over from when the cop (in the lead) had signaled them to their side. However, there were those that insisted on not moving over, even when we came right at them, leading to some adrenaline-fueled moments.

I tried snapping some pics as we were rolling along, but it was tough, as a lot of focus needed to be paid towards prepping for blocking, blocking, and then returning to the front of the pack. But anyways, here’s what I was able to get.

We made it back to the Legion after about an hour and a half, set the kickstands again, and settled into the BBQ (and beer).


Each of us had eagerly handed over some green from our wallets, in exchange for raffle tix, hoping to win some of the fantastic prizes up for grabs. Unfortunately; our group had apparently bought nothing but losing tickets. Good thing our beer tickets were all winners – each one of those yielded a tasty prize!

We did have one raffle winner – Greg had a winning ticket early in the drawing. He’d heard me comment about a signed Tedi Bruschi framed picture up for grabs, so get this; he used his winning ticket to grab the pic and then gave it to me. How cool is that? Thanks Man!

As the afternoon (and the daylight) began to fade, we parted ways; some of the crew headed home, but some headed back to the house. We fired up the chimenea to heat our outsides, and enjoyed many more beers which cooled our insides. Patty had brought a buffalo chicken dip and it was frikkin’ YUM, and I ate much more of it than I should have. (But if you’d tasted it, you would have, too.)

And that brought and end to the days events. It was a good day; we wound up with decent weather – not sunny, but no rain, either. Everyone made it home safely at the end of the day, and that’s what counts.

Our thanks to Danno and the Cabino family for putting this run on again. A lot of time and effort goes into putting something like this together; lining up the route, obtaining permission from the various towns, and securing support from the LEO's.


Our respect and our gratitude to Lance Corporal Shayne Cabino for his sacrifice towards our safety. Your memory lives on in the hearts and minds of your family, your friends, and those of us that ride in your honor.

http://www.shaynesrun.com/

Ride Hard, Take Chances