FRIDAY RIDE

 If the weather forecast for sunny skies and mid fifties temps holds, I am going on a ride tomorrow afternoon.  I have no idea where yet, but I plan to pull out of Casey's at noon.  If you would like to ride along,  see you then.

FINAL WEDNESDAY ATTACKED BY THE WITCH

 The "Weather Witch" couldn't wait until Halloween to put a damper on our last Wednesday night ride for 2024.  She hit us with wind, rain, and cold temps right around 5 PM.  With daylight savings time coming to an end this weekend, it will be dark at 5 from now on .  We didn't miss very many Wednesday night rides or special rides this year, so it was a great year for the Wednesday Night Riders!

Although the extended forecast looks to be cool and damp, there may be a chance to sneak in a ride some time before snowfall.  Since we take the trike to Florida, we don't have to winterize it.  So it can be ready about anytime.  If I decide to go on a ride and want some company, I'll post it on the blog.  

IN THE MEANTIME

I was able to catch some colorful trees before all the wind and rain knocked all the leaves down.  Here's a couple of photos.

I also like to cruise around town and take photos of Halloween decorations.  This year, thanks to the wind and wet, I was only able to catch a few.  Here they are.

SO, HERE'S WISHING ALL OF OUR WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDERS' FRIENDS AND FAMILIES A HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN!!

While on a trip to the Carolinas, Dennis & Marlene and Jens and Jane stopped to tour the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, TN.  Marlene snapped this photo of the Jack Daniels Harley.

AND FINALLY

WHERE WE GOING?!

FEARSOME FOURSOME RIDES SUNDAY

 On what may well be the last weekend ride for this year, we had four determined souls show up on Sunday, which looked to be the best for temps for the next 10 days.

Lois arrived on the only two-wheeler.  Richard had the Slingshot ready to roll, and Dave and Bob rode their trikes.

ALL BUNDLED UP

REFLECTION OF LOIS

There are four roads in northeast Iowa that I consider top rides.  They are Gunder Road, Grandview Road, Colesburg Road and Littleport Road.  They are well maintained, offer some sweeping curves, and have some great scenery.  So. the goal for what may be the final ride of the season was to ride at least part of these roads today.

With temps still in the 50's, and a stiff south wind blowing, we departed Casey's at noon, with the Gunder Road as our first route.  There are two ways to access the Gunder Road.  We could take it from the start just east of Postville.  However, the portion of this road to Gunder is a real teeth shaker. So instead, we progressed down HWY 76 to Rossville and took the Volney Road (CR X26) down into Monona after we pass by Carl's Used Car Lot.  After passing through Monona, we arrived at HWY 18 and took it for a short jog over to Golden Avenue (CR X28) and turned south heading for Farmersburg.

Golden Avenue isn't as pleasant as the name sounds with a lot of uneven pavement, but it is still a bit better than the Postville route.  The only downfall is that you miss a pretty good section of the Gunder Road coming this way.  After arriving in Farmersburg, we continue on X 28 (now called Fawn Hollow Road) into St. Olaf.  By the looks of the number of vcehicles parked in front of the St. Olaf Tavern, the tenderloins must still be in demand.

We turn back west on CR B65 in St. Olaf and take it for a short distance to our goal, the Gunder Road.  We turn south and again Gunder does not disappoint as we have a smooth scenic cruise into Elkader.  We make our way through the ouskirts of Elkader over to HWY 13 and take it north to our second goal, Grandview Road (CR X3C).  We get a "grandview" on this stretch of pavement all the way into Colesburg.  After passing through Elkport, Grandview Road changes to Colesburg Road, but still remains CR X3C.

After we arrive in Colesburg, we jump on HWY 3 and into Edgewood we go for a break at the Casey's store there.

PARKING ISN'T THAT EASY

BUT WE DO MAKE IT TO EDGEWOOD

After our break, our next goal is to find Littleport Road.  That's no problem since it is just a short distance out of Edgewood on HWY 3.  Again, this road does not disappoint.  There are some views from this road that are almost breathtaking, and the best way to get these views is to travel north as we are doing.  And now that "pesky" wind is at our backs.  We "gawk" our way along on into Littleport and arrive back on Grandview Road.  We backtrack on it and enjoy the views going the other way back to HWY 13.

Instead of going back through Elkader, we turn south on 13 and make our way on new pavement through Osborne and onto HWY 112 heading west into Volga.  HWY 112 offers up some great views also, and we make our way through Volga and onto Bush Road (CR C24) and head north again.  Bush Road parallels the Volga River over to CR W 51 (Cedar Road) and we take it north on into Wadena.  We stay on W51 all the way into Elgin.  This section of W51 could use some work, but there are still some great views.  After this many miles, we don't see much color in the trees along the routes, but in the towns we still see some beautiful color and some unique Halloween decorations!

In Elgin, we stay on W51 (now called Canoe Road) and on into Clermont we go.  We have passed several golf courses on this journey and have seen no players out on the courses.  WIMPS!!

Once in Clermont we turn onto HWY 18 and wind our way into Postville.  Dave heads home from here, while the threesome heads out on HWY 51 to Yellow River Drive and take it past the Gelo plantation and on to the freshly paved portion of Forest Mills Road.  A smooth ride north, and we are back on HWY 76 and into Waukon we go.

I had 148 miles on the Wing when I got her home.  It was a "cool" ride in more ways than one.  Hopefully it's not our last, but the next 10 day forecast looks like rain and cold temps.

RECOGNIZE THIS GUY...MY FAVORITE SINGER

SUNDAY--MAY BE THE LAST ONE

 After the Boy Scout omelet breakfast on Sunday, Bob does plan to ride from Casey's at noon. Looks like a cool start, but it looks to be sunny, and the temps are supposed to get into the 60's.  Destination unknown as of yet, but anyone is welcome to come along.  From the looks at the upcoming weather predictions, it may be our last one for a while.

BRINGS BACK SOME MEMORIES!

NO GO

 With temps only in the mid to low 50's now, and a sunstantial wind from the north blowing, it will be well below 50 for the ride tonight.  So Bob will not be going on the ride tonight.  If some of you do decide to go, ride safe!

There is a possiblity that I may go for a ride on Sunday after the Boy Scout omelet breakfast that morning.  It would probably be around noon from Casey's.  More on that when I'm sure what the weather will be like on Sunday.  Stay tuned to the blog if interested.

Troop 64 Boy Scout Omelet Breakfast

Made to order omelets, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, with choice of juice, coffee or milk.

Serving 8am to Noon on October 27th at the Waukon Event Center. Tickets are $10 at the door.

STAY WARM !!

EIGHT LEAF LOOKERS

On a fantastic fall day to be riding, eight riders showed up at Casey's for our second leaf looking tour.  We had Richard in his Slingshot with neice Darby aboard.  Richard's brother, Bob, also came over from Wisconsin to join us.  He rides a Harley.  The other two-wheelers were Mike & Joan and Jim on Gold Wings.  Terry came with his Spyder, and Bob led on his Gold Wing trike.

THE GROUP GATHERS

BOB P CHATS WITH SOME OTHER BIKERS

MIKE, JOAN, AND TERRY CONVERSE

JIM SHOWS UP FOR GAS, BUT NO COFFEE YET

I THINK I MIGHT BE ABLE TO HOOK UP TO THAT TRAILER

RICHARD WELCOMES DARBY TO THE RIDE

ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN'T HELP ME HOOK UP TO THAT TRAILER?

 Under sunny skies and temps already in the 70's, we roll out of Casey's with the Lancaster, WI, area as our destination.  There are some great county roads to ride in that area, and hopefully the sun will shine on some pretty trees.

We cruised down HWY 76 into Marquette and were treated again for some of us to spectacular colors on the bluff behind the old school, post office, and motel.  A great start for our leaf look!

After crossing the Mississippi River bridge into Prairie du Chien, we took HWY 18 bypass and continued on 18 to Bridgeport and turned onto CR C heading west.  After C, we negotiated CR X and P and arrived just outside of Bagley onto CR A.  All along this route, we were able to see some great colors at times, but great scenery all the time.

CR A is an interesting ride that goes all the way from near Bagley and winds up in Lancaster.  There wasn't much for tree color on this route, but the hills and sweeping curves kept things interesting.  After passing through Bloomington on A, we stayed on it all the way into Lancaster.  The road on this section runs atop a ridge, so the views of the valleys below really catch one's attention.  After arriving in Lancaster, we opt for lunch at the A&W.  Burgers and chicken strips seemed to be the main choices, and Joan told about her experiences working at the A&W when there was one in Lansing.

After lunch we passed through Lancaster, avoiding a stop at a fancy, over priced coffee shop, and turned onto CR K just north of town.  CR K is another one of the neat riding alphabet roads that make up most of southwest Wisconsin.  It's well maintained and along with some curves and hills there are some great views.  We were able to catch some colors as we passed through a wooded area on the way to CR T. after passing through Mt. Ida.

CR T is another treat.  It also runs along the top of a ridge that lets the rider view some spectacular surroundings.  It ends at the Junction of HWY 60 at Port Andrew after passing through Hickory Grove and Blue River.  We stopped at the Citgo Converience Store there for gas and drinks.  Jim was able to get coffee before "dts" set in.

Our ride continued on taking HWY 60 west to CR W and a turn towards the north.  On W we enter some real "back" country.  This where the owls and the pussycats live in perfect harmony.  We did get to view some beautiful trees however.  We cross HWY 61 still on W and skirt through Mt. Zion.  At this point CR W has been resurfaced and has no road markings. (We don't need no stinking yellow lines!) and after going down several exhilarating hills and negotiating some sharp turns (a rider's paradise!), we arrive at HWY 131 at Barnum.

HWY 131 at this point has been in need of some serious repair.  We bump our way into Steuben (all roads lead to Steuben) and catch HWY 179 out of town.  We soon find CR E, and trying to avoid "tar snakes" take it west up to HWY 27,  where a turn north puts us into Seneca where we make the "mandatory" ice cream stop at Greener's.

After indulging in the ice cream, we continue on HWY 27 passing through Mt. Sterling and Fairview before reaching CR C and turn back west.  Bob P lives on CR C, so he dropped off at home while the rest of us continued on down the hill to HWY 35.  Here again on C we got some great views of the leaf colors.  We passed through Ferryville on 35 and then took HWY 82 across the Black Hawk Bridge into Lansing.  I am still amazed at the equipment (especially cranes) being used to build the new bridge.  We then take HWY 9 back into Waukon.  

I racked up 188 miles on the trike on a thoroughly enjoyable ride.  We may not have seen all the color we would have liked, but the scenery on this ride made up for it!

It looks as if a lot of cooler temps are headed our way for Wednesday and the weekend with highs only in the mid 50's.  Hopefully we are not done riding for the year, but it sure has been a good year for it.  It just went by too fast!

IS THAT DEE, LOIS, OR LISSA?!

FIVE REDS ON A COOL FALL EVENING

 As the daylight continues to grow shorter, so do the rides, but Bob has always said, "If it's above 50 and not raining, I'm riding."  This was the sceneario this Wednesday with the temps at 62 under clear sunny skies as a group of all red vehicles showed up at Casey's.  We had Jim with his red Gold Wing bike, Richard with his red Slingshot, Bob with his red Gold Wing trike, and Irv with his red Vette with Terry aboard.

JIM ARRIVES--NOTICE THE FULL MUG OF HOT COFFEE

RICHARD IS CHECKING THE TEMPS

JIM SAYS, "LET'S GO.  MY COFFEE IS GETTING COLD!"

THE VETTE ROLLS IN--NOTICE THE TOP IS UP!

After deciding that red was the only color we were going to allow, the five of us departed Casey's and headed out on the Elon Road hoping to see some red in the trees.  We followed Elon to the Waterville Road turn and down into Waterville we went.  Every once in a while the sun would strike one of the surrounding bluffs, and the color would come out.  Waterville Road took us to HWY 76 and we headed south.

When we came to the turn for the Great River Road we followed it all the way into Harpers Ferry while skirting the Mississippi River.  This proved to be a "cool" route since most of it was in the shade.  As we passed through Harpers on our way to Lansing, we were in and out of the sunlight, and again at times we could see some color in the trees.

On our way to Lansing, we had two deer cross a ways in front of us.  We slowed down to make sure there were no more coming, but kept moving slow since the two we saw were actually running along side of the road on a path in the woods.  Being concerned that they might try to cross the road again, we made sure they disappeared into the woods before we sped up again.

It had been a while since I had taken this route into Lansing, and I was surprised to notice that practically all traces of the power plant were gone.  I still think they will wish they had it back sometime in the future!  Also along the edge of the road I spotted an eagle who was having a squirrel for supper.  He just glanced at me like I was an annoyance and continued on with his meal.

We cruised on HWY 9 into Waukon and four of us stopped at a rather busy Uptown for eats.  After the ride, the hot soup was the popular choice.  I had about 70 miles on the trike when I got her home.  A COOL BUT STILL A GREAT WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDE!  HOPEFULLY NOT THE LAST ONE!

ANOTHER LEAF RUN

This Sunday, the 20th, the temps are predicted to be in the 70's along with sunny skies.  So Bob is going to go on another leaf looking ride.  He will be leaving Casey's at 10:30 that morning, and will stop for lunch on the way (probably pizza).  No exact route has been set yet, but the backroads around Lancaster are probables, since it has been a while since he has ridden them.  Anyone who would like to ride along is welcome, just be ready to roll at 10:30.  Hopefully the sunny day will allow us to see some great leaf colors.

WHAT TO RIDE WHEN IT'S COOL OUTSIDE!