ROAD CLOSED--NO PROBLEM!

On another beautiful night for a ride, we had 11 riders show up at Casey's for our Wednesday night ride.

Mike, Dee, Bill, and Jim rolled in on bikes, while the three-wheelers arrived with ChucK, Terry, Richard & Melodye, Wayne, Dave, and Bob.

THE GANG STARTS GATHERING

JIM ROLLS IN

DAVE HAS A DRINK FOR THE ROAD

Under sunny skies and the temps in the upper 70's we depart Waukon with the plan to explore the St. Lucas area.  We take HWY 76 for a short jog over to Forest Mills Road and cruise down to Yellow River Drive.  We roll past the Gelo ranch where Grassanova resides, and wind our way over to HWY 51.  From there we head into Postville.

Once in Postville, we turn westardly onto HWY 18, and make the short run into Clermont.  Just outside of town we find Great River Road and cross the Turkey River about five times before we come to the junction of Juniper Road.  We noticed that Juniper looked like it had just recently been repaved, and there was a "Road Closed" sign sitting next to it.  "What the heck." We were up for an adventure, and to our delight, we were able to take a smooth scenic ride on into West Union!

We passed through West Union on HWY 18 and then turned back north onto HWY 150.  After a short cruise on 150, we found the turn to St. Lucas via Nature Road and Rose Road.  Once we arrived in the metropolis of St. Lucas, we discovered another "Road Closed" sign for the route into Ft. Atkinson. "What the heck!" We lucked out the first time, why not try again.

We lucked out again!  The first stretch of CR W14 into Ft. Atkinson had just been recently resurfaced, but was open.  "We don't need no stinkin' yellow lines!" The last stretch of the route was still he original surface that was rough yet and needed resurfacing, so we bounced our way into Ft. Atkinson for a short break at the Lickity Split Connvenience Store.

LICKITY SPLIT!

During our break, we were informed that ChucK had tangled with an angry owl but escaped unscathed.

We continued our journey by taking HWY 24 into Calmar and then picking up HWY 52 into Ossian.  Once there, we took Sand Road out of town over to Centennial Road and up to HWY 9.  Four of us arrived at Uptown for eats when we arrived in Waukon, while the rest of the tribe split for home.  Bob had 98 miles on his Wing as he arrived at Uptown right at sunset.  Really nice, scenic ride on some adventurous stretches of new asphalt.

SATURDAY'S RTE

So far the weather looks good for our Ride To Eat on Saturday.  A friend and collegue of Bob's passed away this last week, so Bob will be attending his wake on Saturday morning.  So, instead of leaving Casey's at 10 that morning, it will be 10:30.  The food plan and the route up to Houston and down the Thumper will still be on the adgenda.  So, see everyone at 10:30 instead of 10 at Casey's on Saturday morning.

Health Update

On top of all our other health issues, Julie now has a bout with kidney stones that caused her some real pain late last night.  After a trip to the ER here in Waukon, she was transported by ambulance up to Mayo in LaCrosse at 2AM this morning.  She is scheduled to have the stones removed later this afternoon, but will probably remain in the hospital there overnight. So I will be spending most of today (Thursday ) in LaCrosse.  What next?!

Our guest motorcycle celebrity last in last week's blog was Steve McQueen.  He starred in many action movies.  My favorites were "Great Escape", "Bullit", and "The Magnificent 7".  He was nicknamed the "King of Cool".

HOW ABOUT THIS GUY?!

LOTS OF DOUBLE DIPPERS!

As usual, our annual Labor Day "Double Dip Ice Cream Run" turned out a large number of Wednesday night riders at Casey's Monday afternoon.  It was a near perfect day for a ride with temps in the mid 70's and mostly sunny skies.  We started out with 18 riders that included Jim & Cathy, Dee, Lee & Jill, Bill & Beth Ellen, Chuckles, and Lois on bikes.  The three-wheeled gang was made up of ChucK, Mark, Terry, Uncle Wayne & Karrie, Dave, Richard & Melodye, and Bob.

 

THE SLINGSHOT IS BACK IN ACTION

BETH ELLEN PLAYS PEEK-A-BOO

CHUCKES & LOIS GAS UP

LEE & JILL ARRIVE

DEE SHOWS DAVE HOW TO DISMOUNT

UNCLE WAYNE, KARRIE, AND TERRY WATCH THE ARRIVALS

THE USUAL PRERIDE CHATTER TAKES PLACE

As Bob announced at the start, with nobody listening as usual, the stop for our first dip would be The Porch in Prarie du Chien, and be especially careful of the construction and pay close attention to the round-a-bouts in PdC.

Leaving Waukon via Elon Road, we followed it to its end at Lansing/Harpers Road and took L/H for a short jog onto Lafayette Ridge Drive.  This smooth/scenic stretch of concrete took us over to the Great River Road which we followed all the way into Harpers Ferry.  How many times do you get to see the Bigfoot family?  We did!

After arriving in Harpers, we continued on the GRR, skirting along the Mississippi River, on up to HWY 76.  There we turned south on into Marquette where their annual Flea Market was taking place under the bridge.  We crossed the bridge and entered PdC, noting the construction, and maneurvering through the 3 round-a-bouts, arrived at The Porch and parked where available,

MOSTLY ALONG THE STREET

SOME IN THE OTHER LOT

SOME BESIDE THE PORCH

OTHERS FIND A HANDY SPOT

MIKE & JOAN ARRIVE. 

While we were all getting parked at The Porch, Mike & Joan arrived on the new Wing and rounded out our gang to an even 20.  It was 2 PM, and Bob announced, again with no one listening, that we needed to be out of The Porch by 2:45 to continue the ride and be back before WW Dairy in Waukon closes at 5.

We did luck out.  We were the only ones at the ice cream bar, so we were able to make our dip choices right away from the over 20 varieties of ice cream available.

GOOD ICE CREAM!

TERRY & LEE TRY TO CALL EACH OTHER

MORE GOOD ICE CREAM

ABOUT READY TO DEPART

The plan was to take in a scenic drive through Wyalusing Park before returning to Waukon.  So again we proceeded on through the round-a-bouts on HWY 35/18, except before Chuckles got to the turn, a cage driver decided he needed the whole two lanes on the round-a-bout, and scraped the side of Chuckles bike.  So he and the group behind him had to stop.  Fortunately he had minor damage and no one was hurt.  However, as Bob has preached over and over, if the unit behind you drops out, you have to pull over safely and stop also.  If this is not done, Bob leading the group would never know if anyone was having trouble or needed help if he still saw units still following him, and would keep going, leaving the stranded unit(s) behind.  This happened, and there is no excuse for it!  We ride as a group and stay together as a group.  WE LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!

Not knowing that there was trouble behind, the ride continued without Chuckles, Lois, Jim & Cathy, Mike & Joan, and Richard & Melodye, and they never did catch up.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT!  LOOK IN YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR!

After some of us rode the scenic route through Wyalusing and Bagley, we took CR P up to HWY 18 again and back through PdC.  We found the round-a-bout that pointed us across the bridge again and into Marquette.  After waiting for quite some time, hoping to see the rest of the group, we continued on 18 to Monona.  From there we took the Volney Road up to HWY 76 and took 76 back into Waukon for our second dip at WW Dairy.  Once there, we were joined by Dennis & Marlene and Julie, which made our total group of 23.  The rest of the gang finally showed up with the story about what happened.

Except for the round-a-bout incident, and leaving part of the group behind (THAT HAD BETTER NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!), it was a really good ride along with some great ice cream.  Bob had 116 miles on his trike as he arrived at WW Dairy.

NEXT WEDNESDAY

The plan will be to head over towards the St. Lucas/Spillville area.

NEXT SATURDAY, THE 12TH

The plan is to have another RTE (Ride To Eat) departing from Casey's at 10 that morning.  I can only promise that we will have lunch somewhere in the Houston (MN, NOT TX) area, and the Thumper (Tschumper) Road will be on the route.  The Iowa/Iowa State game doesn't start until 6:30 that evening, and we will be well back by that time.  See you then, and EVERYONE IS INVITED!

SMOOTH & SCENIC

 We only had 10 riders show up for our Wednesday night ride yesterday, but they were treated to some smooth riding and great scenery.  Maybe the temps in the mid 80's spooked some riders, but most of the ride (THANKS, BOB) was in the shade!

Arriving for the ride from Casey's were Jim & Cathy, Chuckles, Lois, and Mike on bikes.  Congrats to Chuckles & Lois on becoming grandparents again, and to Mike for becoming an owner of a brand spanking new Gold Wing!  The less famous trikers for the night were Ron, Terry, Wayne, Dave, and Bob.

THE GANG GATHERS

WAYNE ARRIVES

JIM NEEDS A HAIRCUT?!

UH, OH, HERE COMES LOIS!

CHUCKLES INSPECTS MIKE'S NEW RIG AS DAVE ARRIVES

LOIS TAKES A GANDER AT THE NEW MACHINE

BOB GETS TO SEE THE NEW GRANDCHILD

The plan was to include Lansing, New Albin, Brownsville, Caledonia, Spring Grove, and Eitzen on our journey tonight.  So we stayed on HWY 9 to Lansing and stopped at a stop light before proceeding onto HWY 26.  We were able to get a good view of the new bridge and were surprised that the one lane used for traffic was now some smooth concrete.  Continuing on 26 north, we passed through New Albin where Mike dropped off for some babysitting.  

After arriving in Brownsville, we turned onto CR 3, and made a smooth scenic cruise through the countryside into Caledonia.  As I looked in my rearview mirrors, I noticed that Jim was having a tough time keeping his bike from pulling into the Ruptured Rooster!  We did stop at Kwik Trip for some needed hydration.

RON & TERRY FIND EXECUTIVE PARKING IN THE SHADE

THE REST HEAD FOR THE AIR CONDITIONING

After our break, we continued on HWY 44 into Spring Grove, where we picked up one of Bob's favorite county roads, CR 27, (Sylling Road--I would be interested in how it got that name.)  This is another smooth, scenic strip of asphalt that offers up some rolling hills and sweeping curves that keep the ride fun.  We come to the end of CR 27 at its juction with HWY 76, and we turn south passing by Eitzen, and winding our way into Waukon where five of us ate at Uptown.  It was another beautiful Wednesday night and a really neat ride.  Bob had just at 100 miles on the Wing at Uptown.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Monday, Labor Day, (I know it's hard to believe it's here already) is our annual "Double Dip" Ice Cream Run.  The plan is to leave Casey's at 1 that afternoon and then venture out to some ice cream shop out of town for one dip, and then return to WW Dairy in Waukon for the second dip, or as many dippidy doos as you want.  EVERYONE IS INVITED!

Then on Saturday, September 12th, when we normally do the Couples' Trip, we will be doing another RTE (Ride To Eat).  The plan is to depart Casey's at 10 AM that day, find a lunch spot, and continue the ride on into the afternoon.  So we should be back sometime in the mid afternoon.  Right now the weather looks good for that day, but who knows!  If it's not good, we'll try Sunday at 10:30.  AGAIN, EVERYONE IS INVITED!

LOOK WHAT THIS GUY SAYS--HOW TRUE!!

Route for Wednesday

The planned route for tonight's ride (Sept. 2) will be from Waukon to Lansing on HWY 9, then up HWY 26 to Brownsville.  There we will take CR 3 up to Caledonia and get on HWY 44 over to Spring Grove, and depending on time take one of the three ways back to HWY 76 and back to Waukon.  Possible breaks for hydration either in Caledonia or Spring Grove.  If you plan on splitting off early to go home, then move to the back of the pack after the break. 

LUCKY 13

 On another near perfect night for riding, we had 13 lucky souls arrive in anticipation of a trip over to Protivin.  Bill, Lois, Chuckles, and Lissa made up the two-wheel crowd.  Arriving on three wheels were ChucK, Bernell, Richard & Melodye, Wayne, Mark, Dave, Terry, and Bob.

IMPORTANT CONVERSATION

MORE PRERIDE CHATTER

CHUCKLES & TERRY DISCUSS THE COMING RIDE

I THINK THIS GUY WOULD RATHER COME WITH US

SOME NEW RECRUITS?!

LISSA FILLS OUT THE GANG

With Protivin as our goal, we started out on Bob's shortcut by rolling through the county's only stop light and heading onto HWY 76 north.  Apparently we pass right by the Blake ranch before we reach Bear Creek Drive (CR A26).  We cruised along BCD up to Locust Road where the school that Bernell attended used to be. As we continue on A 26 its name changes to Big Canoe and then 337th St.  This route does offer a smooth surface, nice curves, and good scenery.  Once we reach North Winn Road (CR W34) we turn south and connect onto HWY 52 heading towards Decorah.

When we come to the turn for CR A34 (Pole Line Road) we turn onto it and cruise through the scenic contryside all the way over to HWY 9 just outside of Cresco.  Passing through Cresco and by the now closed Kwik Star (There is a new one west of town) we turn onto Dvorak Memorial HWY and on into Protivin we go for a quick stop at thr Fast Mart Convenience Store.

HARLEYS MUST BE GAS GUZZLERS!

ANYBODY KNOW WHERE WE ARE?!

MAYBE TIME FOR JACKETS

WE TAKE A SHORT BREAK

The original plan was to follow CR B16 (Dvorak Memorial HWY) over to Spillville on the way back.  However, as seems to be the case where ever we go, the road is closed for construction.  So back we go through Protivin towards Cresco again.  However before we get to Cresco, we make a turn onto CR A46 (Schley Road) and take some rolling hills on into Ridgeway.

Once in Ridgeway, we get back on HWY 9 and head for Decorah.  With HWY 9 under construction, getting through Decorah can be a challenge.  This is where the group split up.  Bernell headed back up toward North Winn, Dave and ChucK headed to Postville, another group continued on 9 to Waukon, and the rest took the Old Stage Road back to Waukon. Lissa's husband, John, joined us at Uptown.  As near as I can tell, I racked up 112 miles on the Wing at Uptown.  Since the days are becoming shorter, we may have to ride less miles or forget taking breaks on Wednesday nights.

Despite the unplanned detour, it was still a good ride!

Since no one has stepped up to take over the Couples' Trip in September (I can't blame them), I plan to do another RTE (Ride To Eat) on Saturday, September 12th.  More details on that later.

The rest of the September events aside from Wednesday nights are September 7th (Labor Day--our annual "Double Dip Ice Cream Run"

September 17th we are giving trike rides to the residents of Eastern Star Home in Decorah.

September 23 & 24 is a fishing trip invite from Dee and ChucK.  You should contact them ASAP for details!

September 27th is the pancake (waffle) fund raising breakfast at Camp Courageous in Monticello.

Our celebrity motorcyclist from the last post was Patrick Swayze, an actor whose most popular films were Ghost and Dirty Dancing.  He passed away in 2009 at the age of 57.  Lois made the identification on the blog.

HOW ABOUT THIS GUY?!

Wdnesday Night

The plan for the ride this Wednesday is to go to/through Protivin and stop there for a break.  There may be some of you who want to stop there and eat at the buffet at The Place. The rest will continue on with the ride through Calmar and back to Waukon.  I'm leaving it up to each rider to decide what they want to do in Protivin.  I'm a little bit concerned about the dark, so I plan to stop at the Fast Mart there for a break and continue on with the ride from there.

ROUGH ROADS!

On another great night for a ride greeted 10 of us for our usual Wednesday night ride.  Arriving at Casey's on the only bike to begin with was Bill.  All the rest of the trikers were Wayne, Ron & Helen (a rose amoung thorns), Terry, Mark, Dave, ChucK, and Bob.

RON & HELEN ARRIVE

TERRY GETS READY

MARK, WAYNE, AND BILL CHAT

DAVE THUNDERS IN

 

The trip Bob fashioned was to take the group to Volga, or as some call it, Volga City.  So we left Waukon, picked up HWY 76 south for a short ways, and then turned onto CR X16 (Forest Mills Road).  After about six miles, we came to Yellow River Road, and made our way past the Gelo plantation to pick up a straggler.  That put our number at 10 riders.  We continued on YRD over to HWY 51 and cruised on into Postville.

We then picked up HWY 18 east for a short distance to CR W64 (Gunder Road) and turned back south.  This stretch of Gunder Road has gone under a little repair (grinding down the frost heaves), but it certainly is not a pool table top.  After following W 64 for about 5 miles, we turned westawardly onto CR B 60 (Apple Road) and headed for Clermont.  The first few miles of Apple Road were rough, but some resurfacing along the way helped this road greatly, but the worst was yet to come.

After entering Clermont we came back to HWY 18, and just inside the town we turned onto CR W51 (Canoe Road) bound for Elgin.  W 51 wasn't the smoothest ride, but the worst was yet to come.  Once we reached Elgin, we turned at Guppy's staying on W51, but now called Cedar Road. We passed by the old depot on the edge of town, and I was impressed by the railroad mural on the depot wall.

Cedar Road was no treat either. It seemed like we were hitting swale after swale on the road surface.  We were offered some great scenery if you could focus being bounced up and down!  The worst is satill yet to come.

After crossing Hwy 56, Cedar Road becomes what could be called a real mess of a county road!  I cannot believe that Fayette County could let a county road get this bad.  Again, there is some great scenery, but you have to watch the road so closely, that your eyeballs are bouncing!  We finally reach CR C24 (Bush Road) a few miles south of Wadena, and finally cruise along a stretch of smooth and scenic asphalt over to CR 2W (Domino Road).  Turning easterly on Domino, we arrive at the suburbs of Volga and pull into the Volga Valley Convenience Store for a break.

WE MAKE IT TO VOLGA

READY TO DEPART AGAIN

After our break, we continued on Domino Road heading for Elkader.  This road does have a few rough spots, but for the most part it offers some spectacular views. Bob had to stop for a deer to make up its mind to cross in front or not.  We arrive at HWY 56 again, and motor down the hill into Elkader.  After passing through Elkader, we pick up HWY 13 and head north.  

HWY 13 led us up to CR 290, and we turned westardly on into Farmersburg.  There we picked up CR X28 (Golden Avenue) and made our way back to HWY 18 again.  We headed west on 18 and as we reached the turn into Monona, a number of riders continued on 18 heading for home.  The rest of us passed through Monona on CR X26 (Volney Road) and passed by Volney and into rosey Rossville.  Then it was onto HWY 76 and back into Waukon where Wayne, Terry, and Bob stopped at Uptown for eats.

Bob had about 100 miles on his trike at Uptown.  Having to do it over, and heading for Volga, he would come through Fayette and skip the crappy county roads around Elgin and Wadena.

Next Wednesday he will try to find smoother roads, and possibly travel over to Protivin and check out The Place.  Apparently they have an "all you can eat" buffet on the last Wednesday night of the month.

Who knows who this guy is?