Twenty-Two Treated To "Thumper Road"

 On a warm and sunny Wednesday night, 22 Wednesday Night Riders arrived at Casey's in anticipation of a ride down "Thumper" (Tschumper) Road.  This is without a doubt the most scenic three mile stretch of road in the tri-state area making it worth the drive up though  La Crescent to ride it.

Showing up at Casey's on bikes were Terry, Dee, Al, Jim D & Honey, Larry, and Lois.  With trikes were Irv, ChucK, Wayne & Sandy, Darrel, Ron, David M, and Bob R.  Our "support" contingent included David H and Bob Z in the Jeep, Jim & Cathy & the grandsons in the "Bug", Dale & Greg in the red convertible, and Kenny (Short Stretch) in his convertible.

WELCOMING LOIS BACK

TERRY AND BOB Z BACK IN THE FOLD

LARRY WANTS TO MAKE SURE HE GETS IN THE PHOTOS

LARRY CHECKS OUT ChucK

LARRY GREETS THE REST OF THE GELOS

DARREL WELCOMES DAVID M  AGAIN

KEN PUTS IN JUST ENOUGH GAS TO GET HIM BACK HOME

DALE IGNORES THE GELOS

We depart Casey's at 5:30 and pass through the only stop light in Allamakee County and continue on HWY 9 up to Lansing.  We turned north in Lansing and onto HWY 26 and followed it all along the Mississippi River passing through New Albin, Reno, and Brownsville.  HWY 26 ends at HWY 16, so we took 16 on into LaCrescent to the stop light (Houston County has more than one!) at 3rd St. and turned left past Kwik Trip.  Third Street took us over to S Elm (Apple Blossom Drive) where we turned left.  Following Elm to 7th St. we made a right turn onto what is actually CR 6.  We were only on CR 6 for a short jog before we turned left onto CR 25 and headed up a long but scenic hill.  At the top of the hill are the towers for WXOW TV, and just past the towers is the turn onto Tschumper (Thumper) Road.  The actual speed limit on this scenic stretch of blacktop is only 25 mph, but riding at this slow speed lets you take in some breathtaking views!  Down the three mile hill we went trying to take in the spectacular scenery and stay on the road.

We were finally able to "catch our breath" at the bottom of the hill and turned south onto CR 25.  We cruised along 25 over to HWY 16, turned right and journeyed on into Hokah and a stop at the Kwik Trip for a break.

THE JEEP AND CONVERTIBLE ARRIVE

THE BIKES AND TRIKES GET PARKED

WE TAKE UP A LOT OF PARKING SPACE

ChucK DOESN'T NEED HIS ROCK!

 After our break we passed by Hokah Hardware (Horsefall's #2) and turned onto CR 18 and scooted down the hill into Brownsville.  CR 18 also offers some nice views of the surrounding valleys.  When we arrived in Brownsville, we turned west onto CR 3 pointing our way over to Caledonia.  CR 3 is a nice smooth blacktop with some sweeping curves to keep riding interesting.  We passed through Caledonia (another stop light!) and arrived at HWY 44/76.  Turning south we split off onto 76 and passed by Eitzen, Dorchester, and Hanover and into Waukon for our eats at Green Valley Getaway.  This time we were able to order whatever we wanted off the menu and not just pizza.

Overall, this is one of my favorite Wednesday night rides.  For the most part the roads are in good shape and the scenery is incredible.  And this time we hit it on a perfect night!  I had 120 miles on the clock when I parked the Wing in the shed.

Here's Jim D and Honey's map of our trip.  Honey does not want to stop at the Kwik Trip in Hokah again!  No dogs allowed!  Maybe we need to try to pass her off as a small sheep?!

PIZZA! PIZZA!

This Sunday is our annual "You Gotta Love Summer" Pizza Run.  We will depart Casey's at 11 AM that morning and we should be able to get in a nice ride and enjoy some good pizza.  Right now I'm leaning for Northern Lights Pizza in Montfort. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!