OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

 Yep, nine other riders joined me for a ride across the new Lansing Bridge on Sunday.  Lining up for the "maiden" voyage were  Mike & Joan, Bill, and Jim & Cathy on bikes.  The three-wheelers were Terry, Dave, Richard & Melodye, and Bob.

MIKE & JOAN ARRIVE

SOME OF THE REST OF THE GANG

NOT ENOUGH CLOTHES

THERE!

With temps nearing 60, we departed Waukon on HWY 9 cruising for Lansing, while a stiff breeze kept us on our toes.  We approached the new bridge not knowing what to expect for others who may be waiting to cross.  Actually, we were surprised that there was no waiting to go, so Bob led the way.

Bob then waited on the other side and tried to take photos of the gang as they crossed.  ("tried" is the key word).

BILL

DAVE

JIM & CATHY

MIKE & JOAN

R & M (exceeded the speed limit!)

TERRY

After the bridge crossing, we proceeded over into Wisconsin and took HWY 35 north.  When we got near Desoto, Bob led the pack onto Old HWY 35 pointing towards town.  However, after getting about halfway there, a "road closed" sign appeared with a bridge out ahead.  So we backtracked to Lawrence Hill Road and up the hill we went.  Actually, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Most of this lane was newly laid blacktop (we don't need no stinking yellow lines) and offered a scenic route over to HWY 82 to the hamlet of Wheatland.  

We continued with a cruise on HWY 82 until we came to CR N and followed it through the village of Retreat, home of the Retreat World's Fair.  After scouting out Retreat, we returned to HWY 82 at West Prairie and found our way to HWY 27 at Fargo.  We meandered down 27 passing through Rising Sun and then turned onto our "old familiar" CR C.

Down the hill we went on C to HWY 35 and on into Ferryville, where the street was lined with all kinds of vehicles.  The speculation was that these Wisconsin folks were getting early seats in the bars for the upcoming Packer game.  We passed up the bars and landed at the Arco Convenience Station.  (No ice cream, but other refreshments)

After the break, we continued on 35 up to HWY 82, and back across the bridge we went.  After crossing, we turned onto HWY 26 and headed north along the river toward New Albin.  Just short of town, Pool Hill Road beckoned us, and we cruised along the new pavement into Eitzen.  There, some of the "coffe gang" headed north on HWY 76 to the Ruptured Rooster in Caledonia, while the other half headed south for Waukon.  Bob had about 80 miles on his trike for the day.

Bob's impression of the new bridge:  It's well-built and nice and wide and should help Lansing get back on her feet.  I don't think the semi drivers are going to be too impressed with the turn onto the bridge.  I still miss the old "singing bridge" where you could look down through the grating and see the river.  I'm glad the new one opened a lot earlier than expected!

It doesn't appear that Bob & Julie will be going to Florida this year, so we will suffer out an Iowa winter with most of the rest of you. 

How about one final Guess the Famous Rider!

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?!

A SALUTE TO OUR VETS

 Today is the day we honor the veterans who have proudly served our nation.  They have kept our nation free, enabling us to be able to enjoy the activities that our Wednesday Night Riders do.

We all should be proud of the veterans who are in our Wednesday Night Riders group.  So today, we honor Bob Z, Carl, Bernell, Terry, Richard, and Karrie.  (If I left anyone out, or that I don't know about, plaease let me know.)

So stand proud veterans!

OVER THE NEW BRIDGE

 If you haven't been over the new Lansing Bridge yet with your ride, Bob is going to take his trike across on Sunday.  He plans on leaving from Casey's at noon after the 4H breakfast fundraiser at the fairgrounds (something everyone should attend).  After crossing at Lansing, he plans to take a short ride in Wisconsin, and return across the bridge back into Lansing.  He will be back before dark. It looks to be a sunny day. If you want to go along, see you tomorrow at noon at Casey's.

BILL'S REPORT ON THE RIDE SATURDAY

 THREE GUYS!

On a great November 1st weather day for a ride, Dave, Mike and Bill set out from Casey's at 10:30 AM with a Potosi Brewery destination in mind.

With a good bit of sunshine before lunch and mostly clouds in the afternnon, light and variable winds all day, we had a goal of maximizing roads that had no stripes. 

We generally took the following route;

Highway 76, 18, & 35 through Marquette, PDC, Bridgeport, Patch Grove, and Bloomington. County road U through Beetown and across the Grant river to a short stretch on CR N and on to a beauty named Dutch Hollow Road and back to U south towards Potosi. Just short of Potosi we turned westerly on a blufftop manicured scenic gem named Dogtail Road. Down the hill to 133 and along the Grant and Mississippi rivers to Potosi Brewery for eats.

After lunch we decided to extend southerly a bit and do a loop Bill was familiar with from having camped at the Grant River ACOE Rec Area several years. From the brewery we took Brewery Hollow Road to Slazing Road to River Lane Road to Dean Lane to Ruff Lane to W Banfield Road across the Little Platte River when the road becomes Indian Creek Road up to Highway 61 North just outside of Dickeyville. 61 to the hamlet of Tennyson where we turn onto 133 thru Potosi, past the brewery again and northerly to a left-hand turn onto CR N for a short stint to Irish Ridge Road but not before missing it and having to execute the only u turn of the day. Once on Irish Ridge we popped out on 133 again and took it just through Cassville and onto CR VV past Nelson Dewey State Park and Stonefield. VV to CR A and into Bagley and onto CR X through Wyalusing to CR C to Highway 18 and back to PDC for some "go juice" ($4.29/gallon) at the first Kwik Trip.

Mike and Bill said goodbye to Dave knowing it was discussed to head for home up 35 towards the Lansing Ferry and Dave would peel off back towards Marquette.

A good safe ride with good weather and good company. My bike showed 70 degrees as we boarded the Ferry and showed 202 miles traveled door to door.

FINAL TRIP ACROSS ON THE FERRY

Sounds like a great trip!  Thanks to Bill for organizing and leading on some new roads.  Wish I could have gone along.  

Hopefully it will warm up enough and quit raining so we could make a trip across the new Lansing Bridge.  Apparently, it looks like Friday may be the opening.  I'll bet they're starting to line up already! 

A FOLLOW UP

 I wanted to catlch up on a couple of items before we left town this weekend.

1.  Lois, the "Ray of Sunshine" in the Wednesday Night Rider gang, is recovering well from her recent shoulder surgery.  Her riding for this season may be over, but we expect her smiling face back soon.

2.  I hope a number of our riders take advantage of the ride Bill is planning on Sunday.  Hopefully that won't be the last ride for our group (I would like to cross the new Lansing Bridge on the trike yet this fall), but you never know.

3.  The mystery motorcyclist from the previous blog was Fats Domino, a very popular and very underrated singer from the 50's and 60's.  His "I Found My Thill on Blueberry Hill" still has me humming along.

4. Finally, on Halloween Day, here's some more photos from some of the displays in Waukon.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, AND BE SAFE OUT THERE!!

ANOTHER SUNDAY RIDE!!

 As noted on the previous blog, Bob is going to be out of town this weekend, and Sunday looks to be a nice day for a ride.  I indicated that if anyone wanted to possibly lead a ride on Sunday, I would put it on the blog.  Fortunately, Bill stepped up and offered the following invitation.

"I'm going to get one more nice ride in before I start thinking about migrating south. Plan to leave Waukon Casey's at 10:30 AM Sunday headed for the Potosi Brewery for eats.  ALL WELCOME."

As a group, we have made a couple of trips to the Potosi Brewery.  The ride is fun and the food is good, so this is a good chance to get in another great fall ride. I'd love to be able to go along! Special thanks to Bill for the offer!

As in previous years, I always have fun cruising around Waukon looking at all the Halloween decorations that some of the residents put on display.  Here's a few highlights.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAVE A GREAT TRIP TO POTOSI!!

7 UP FOR LAST RIDE

 Seven Wednesday Night Riders showed up for what is most likely the last Wednesday night ride for the season. Darkness will be setting in very early once daylight savings time draws to a close on Nov 1st.

Our riders arriving at Casey's at 4 PM (time change noted on the blog) were Dee and Bill on bikes, and Mark, Wayne, Terry, ChucK, and Bob on trikes. 

DEE MAKES A POINT TO BILL AND ChucK

THREE TRIKERS GET READY

The weather temps were well into the 60's when we took off, but there was a stong southerly wind that kept us on our toes.  The plan was to leave early and make the last ride a good one, so we started out heading north on HWY 76.  The sky looked a little dark, but we continued on to Dorchester Drive (CR A16).  The first part of this road has been newly repaved into town, but for some reason the hill leading up A16 was not redone.  When we reached the top of the hill, we were able to ride on all new asphalt on the Iowa part.  The Minnesota part called Division Avenue has been in good shape for some time, so we had a smooth, scenic ride into Spring Grove.  We must have just missed the rain, because the road was still wet with a few puddles at times.

After passing through Spring Grove, we pointed our rides onto Sylling Road (CR 27) and wound our way back to HWY 76 just north of Eitzen.  We headed north on 76 and on into Caledonia, saluting the Ruptured Rooster as we passed by.  We then found CR 5 and headed southerly out of town.  The roads still seemed to be wet in places, and the wind was still trying to jolt us at times.  We continued on CR 5 until we reached CR 14, and cruised down hill to HWY 26 north of New Albin.

Following 26 through New Albin we continued our journey along the river into Lansing, where we discovered that the stop light was no longer needed, since both sides of the road are now completed.  Looks like the time for the bridge opening (Nov 6th) is going to happen.  We connected with HWY 9 in Lansing, and continued our last Wednesday night ride by sailing into Waukon.  Wayne and Bob were joined by Richard for eats at Uptown.  Bob had 95 miles on the trike for our final Wednesday night ride for the season.  It might have been our last one for 2016, but we really did have some good ones this year!

Sunday sounds like a nice day.  I'm going to be out of town, but if someone else wants to lead a ride that day, let me know and I'll put the details on the blog before I leave.

No one guessed the mystery motorcyclist on the last blog.  I'm really dating myself, but it was Rita Hayworth, a great actress from times past.

GIVE THIS ONE A TRY.