ANOTHER BONUS SATURDAY

 As long as Mother Nature keeps sending us lots of sunshine and warmer than normal temps, we keep riding.  Such was the case Saturday when a few Wednesday Night Riders took advantage of a great fall day and gathered at Casey's for a ride.

Four of us started the ride with Darrel and ChucK on trikes and Dee and Bob on bikes.  We left town via the Elon Road and then turned onto Waterville Road and cruised through Waterville and over to HWY 76.  As we stopped at the intersection of 76 and Waterville Road, the "check engine light" lit up on ChucK's trike, so he decided not to take a chance on the rest of the ride and returned home.

The three of us continued our route down 76 into Marquette and across the bridge into Prairie du Chien.  We continued on through PDC on HWY 18 and then took CR C west over to CR X and then onto CR P.  With the sun still warming us, we turned onto CR A and cruised on over to CR VV.  This scenic stretch of blacktop took us along the river and then past Nelson Dewey State Park and Stonefield Village. If you are ever in the area and want to visit a well done historic sight, then check out Stonefield.

(https://www.southwestwi.com>stonefield)

 CR VV ends at HWY 133 and we took it on into town and then turned onto HWY 81.   Just before leaving Cassville we stopped at the BP Convenience store there for warm drinks.

WE PARK IN THE SUNSHINE

ENJOYING WARM DRINKS

While we were on our break, Dee called ChucK and reported that he had made it home ok.  She also asked us about the ferry that crosses the river from south of Guttenberg over to Cassville. We indicated that is pretty dependent on weather and river levels, but I said that would be a good Ride To Eat trip for next year. 

We then continued on HWY 81 heading north and passing through Beetown and onto newly paved HWY 35.  Both of these stretches of road, particularly 81, offer some great views.  35 took us on into Lancaster and onto HWY 61 passing through town and and connecting with CR K just on the north edge of Lancaster.  CR K remains one of my favorite routes as it heads north passing through Mt. Ida and ending on HWY 133 just outside of Woodman.  Cruising through Woodman, we rolled into Boscobel and stopped at the Quick Trip for gas and a short break.  You could really tell the temperature differences between the sunlight and riding in the shaded areas.

After our break, we left Boscobel on HWY 61 and then took a short jog on HWY 60 west over to CR E.  This is a scenic route that takes us on a journey over to Steuben (all roads lead to Stueben).  I had planned to take E all the way up to HWY 27, but the bridge being out just west of Steuben prevented that.  As we were turning around and having to make our way back on HWY 35 through Wauzeka, a friendly local stopped and told us of a route we could take to get around the closed road and continue our journey on CR E.

We went back through Steuben, found Bridge St., and then onto Citron N Rd and Citron West Rd. and eventually ended up on the other side of the closed bridge and back onto CR E.  See, all roads do lead to Steuben!  We continued our westerly journey on E up to HWY 27 heading north.  We passed through Seneca and Mt. Sterling and turned back east onto HWY 171.  We cruised down the hill to HWY 35 and turned north again and on through Ferryville to HWY 82.  Across the grated bridge, we passed through Lansing and onto HWY 9 and arrived in Waukon after racking up about 189 miles on my Wing.  Darrel and Dee probably got over 200 miles on their OD's.  Again we were able to take advantage of a great fall day and continue our riding season!

Actually, the weather looks great for a Wednesday night ride this week. It will no doubt be our last for the season, so see you at Casey's at 5 on Wednesday.

And just in case you think you are too old....

TOO COOL WEDNESDAY, BUT WARM WEEKEND COMING

 While this Wednesday evening proved to be too chilly for much of a ride, the weekend looks to be warm enough to try it again (mid 60's).  So, as of right now, I am planning to ride Saturday (haven't decided where yet--maybe Potosi) leaving Casey's at 12:30 again.  If you want to join me, see you then.

With all the bugs (mostly Asian beetles) smearing up the windshields, I have been asked to give some tips on how I clean my windshields without scratching them.  There are 100's of methods of cleaning car windshields, but very few of them should be used on motorcycle windshields, since motorcycle windshields are made of entirely different materials than car windshields.

Here's the method I have used for well over 50 years and have managed to keep my bike windshields pretty much clean and scratch free.  Keep in mind, I was asked about MY method.  There are others obviously.

1. Rule #1--Never use the gas station wand to clean your motorcycle windshield unless you want to look through scratches forever!  These wands pick up the dirt and grime from previous uses, and you will rub these right into your bike windshield causing scratches.

Here's my step by step method.

I try to clean the windshield asap after a ride.

I use hydrogen peroxide from a spray bottle to coat the windshield.  This stuff works great and is cheap.  The bug guts will foam up and make them easier to remove.

After the H2O2 spray sits for a short time, I take a CLEAN soft sponge with clean plain water and wipe the windshield down.  This will remove the bug guts without leaving scratches.  I have also used a product called Bug Begone, but it is much more expensive and doesn't work any better than hydrogen peroxide.

I then take a clean chamois and wipe the excess water off.

After the windshield is dry enough, I spray on a small amount of a product called Plexus.  This stuff is expensive, but I only use it sparingly on the windshield, so a can of it lasts me well over two years on two windshields. I have also used a product called Bug Slide that seems to work well, but requires more rubbing.

I use the softest cloth possible to spread the Plexus and wipe it clean.  The best thing I have found for this is cloth baby diapers, and I don't know if you can even buy them anymore. I also use the Plexus on the inside of the windshield and on the control screens.

The hydrogen peroxide may remove some of the polish you use on the front of the bike, if you use it to remove bug guts there.  So after I'm done using it there (same procedure as the windshield, except you don't have to use the baby diapers) I use Original Bike Spirits spray polish with a microfiber cloth.  I also use Bug Slide at times, but the OBS is a lot cheaper and seems to work as well and is more available .

Again, this is the method I use.  I'm not saying it's the only one, just that it has worked well for me for a long, long time.

In the meantime--HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BONUS WEEKEND (CONT.)

 The weather Sunday was way above normal again, so to polish off the bonus weekend, I scheduled a ride again for that day.  Same time, same place, except this time I wanted to go south, since the colors seemed brighter down that way on Friday.  Down to Colesburg and Edgewood and back was the plan for the afternoon.

Again, Lois on her bike and Darrel on his trike were there at Casey's.  Also joining us would be Howard on his bike and Gary & Gloria on their trike.

JULIE WAS THERE TO SEE US OFF

LOIS PHOTOS THE "FEARLESS LEADER"

With temps well into the 70's, but a southwest wind howling at 20+ mph, we departed down CR X16 (Forest Mills Road) heading south into Luana.  I ran through the largest dust devil I had seen in a while right at Woodchuck Road.  Must have been left there from Dee turning the corner on Saturday or from Jim & Cathy farming down that road!

After arriving in Luana, we turned east onto HWY 18, passing through Monona and then turning on CR X28 (Golden Avenue) and cruising into Farmersburg.  We then took Fawn Hollow Road over to St. Olaf where another dust devil blew through.  In St. Olaf I was able to capture a video of some tree color.

We passed through St. Olaf on 200th St. and over to the Norway Church at the corner of the Gunder Road.  We turned south on the Gunder Road and motored on into Elkader where we stopped at the Fast Trak for a break.

LOIS WITH WINDBLOWN HAIR

DARREL PARKS NEXT TO A BUCKING BRONCO

After our break we headed for Colesburg by taking HWY 13 south to CR X3C (Grandview Road).  We followed this scenic route all the way into Colesburg.  The scenery seemed almost like the Smokey Mountains with all the dust in the air from the crop harvest.  The bugs today weren't near as bad as the previous days, only because they were being blown away by the stiff wind.  Grandview Road does still offer some spectacular scenery.

Grandview took us down through Elkport and into Garber where we avoided the rush hour and got onto the aptly named Colesburg Road (still X3C).  This is another scenic stretch of blacktop that took us into town.  After passing through Colesburg, we took HWY 3 west over to Edgewood where we stopped at Woods Edge Golf Club for some ice cream treats.

WOODS EDGE ALSO HAS A VERY NICE PICKLEBALL COURT

Once we got inside the clubhouse, we were served some tasty hand-dipped ice cream.

GOOD ICE CREAM!

And while eating our ice cream, we were entertained by the Woods Edge Halloween Band!

 After the treats and entertainment, we passed through Edgewood and headed back north towards Littleport on CR X21 (Littleport Road).  This smooth stretch of blacktop offers some outstanding scenery also, and with the bugs being less of a problem, I was able to capture some of the views on the video camera.  Keeping the trike steady in the never ending wind took some doing.

We motored down the hill and passed through the metropolis of Littleport, which has been flooded out numerous times.

Littleport Road took us back to Grandview Road then back to HWY 13 and back through Elkader.  I had planned to venture through McGregor and take HWY 76 north to the Waterville turn and go through Waterville and over to the Elon Road and back into Waukon.  However, I think we were all being tired of fighting the wind that never did let up, so when we came to HWY18 we turned west again and headed for Monona, the shortest way back.

While some of us turned into Monona off HWY 18, Gary & Gloria continued their journey back home by passing through Luana again.  The rest of the group motored through Monona on CR X26 (Falcon Avenue and then Volney Road)  While on the Volney Road, we were treated to some fall colors.  You can see some of the reds on the bluffs on the east side of the road through the trees.

Another view of some color on the Volney Road.

The Volney Road took us into rosey Rossville and onto HWY 76 again.  We turned north on 76, which was the roughest stretch of road we had been on all day, and bounced into Waukon.  I had about 130 miles on the trike, which ran my total for the weekend to just shy of 500 miles.  I hope all of those who rode with me enjoyed the great fall weather, the colors, and most of all the fun on the rides.

WHAT ABOUT JIM & CATHY?

While we had some Gelo's along (Gary & Gloria) and Votsmier's (Lois) to make the rides official, everyone was wondering about Jim & Cathy.  They did go for a ride on Saturday (for coffee naturally), but most of the time they were riding this.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fpgibWfX3ysi1uLj6

BONUS WEEKEND

With the unusually warm weekend giving us some more riding time, a few of the Wednesday Night Riders took full advantage.  Bob racked up close to 500 miles on the three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).

On Friday Bob R rode his two wheeler on a journey through the Bagley area and back.  He put over 180 miles on that day, starting from Waukon about 1 in the afternoon.  It proved to be a very enjoyable afternoon filled with some great views of the tree colors.  I didn't realize there was a railroad museum in Fennimore, so I'm going to have to get back there sometime.  However, the bugs were also out and not only smeared up my windshield, but also smeared up my camera lens.  So, I only got one shot of a tree.

On Saturday, at 12:30 at Casey's, Bob on the trike was joined by Dee and Lois on bikes, and Darrel and ChucK on trikes.  The destination was Teschemper Road (Thumper Road), a scenic five mile downhill stretch near LaCrescent.

A good looking gang of leaf lookers

With temps well above average (70's), and a brisk south wind, we departed Casey's heading north on HWY 76.  After passing by Eitzen, we turned west onto CR 27 (Styling Road), and cruised on into Spring Grove.  Just outside of Spring Grove we found familiar CR 4 and headed north again until we reached HWY 76 again.  We then followed 76 on into Houston for another familiar rest stop at the BP store there.  The bugs were again too numerous, and our windshields and my camera lens were messy again.

SPECIAL PARKING SPACES FOR BIKES

NOTICE THE "BUGGY" WINDSHIELDS

LOIS SNAPS THE GUYS

After the break, our route would usually take us either over to LaCrescent and up CR 25 or CR 9 to CR 21 to CR 25 and then to Thumper.  I decided to try a "back" route to Thumper that I hadn't ridden in a while, so I really didn't know what to expect.  

We followed CR 9 all the way north to CR 11 and turned west on it for a short distance to CR 8.  CR 8 actually runs back east until we turned southwest onto CR 5 and onto CR 6.  We were in Winona County for a short distance, and CR 6 took us to the edge of LaCrescent where we could turn onto CR 25 and head up the hill to Thumper.  The decision to take the "back" route proven to be a good one.  We were treated to some spectacular scenery and smooth blacktop roads!

On up CR 25 soon took us to the WXOW tv towers and we turned onto Thumper.  As usual, Thumper did not disappoint.  The views of the valleys and coulees below were outstanding and with the sun bringing out the colors on the trees below, the five mile ride to the bottom was incredible!  At the bottom, we arrived onto CR 21 and followed it east over to HWY 16 and then took 16 on into Hokah for a break at the Quik Trip there.

WE ALL REMARKED ABOUT THE GREAT RIDE WE JUST HAD

After visiting with several other bikers, we departed Hokah and beat a bee line (speed limit is 60 here) for Caledonia to hook up with some ice cream treats at the Wired (Ruptured) Rooster.  After our tasty treats we followed HWY 76 back south to Iowa River Drive and turned east over to Lycurgus Road and headed back south to HWY 9.  Lycurgus proved to be the roughest stretch of road we were on the whole day.  We cruised on into Waukon where I had exactly 150 miles on the trike when I garaged her.  What a day for this time of year!

Sunday's ride report to follow later.

IF YOU HAVEN'T PUT THEM AWAY YET...

 Tonight, Wednesday, does not look like it's going to be above 50 degrees for riding, so don't plan on it.

HOWEVER, this weekend really looks good for maybe getting in some last rides.  Right now I do plan to ride both Saturday and Sunday, leaving Casey's at 12:30.  As of yet, I don't have any routes planned out, but I would like to make one last fall trip down fabulous Thumper Road above LaCrescent and hopefully see some fall colors along the way.  A stop for ice cream at the "Ruptures Rooster" in Caledonia may be another stop.  

If you would like to join me on either or both of these rides, then see you at Casey's at 12:30 both Saturday and Sunday.

I SNUCK ONE IN!

 After doing some service work on the trike, I looked at the forecast for Wednesday afternoon/evening, and decided it didn't look good for the ride that night.  So, being anxious to get on the two-wheeler again, I took it on about a 100 mile trip starting about 1 o'clock.  Since this was only the second time I've had the two wheeler out since the shoulder injury, I have had to remember to very important procedures after riding the trike for so long..  First, REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN WHEN YOU STOP!  Second, YOU CAN COUNTERSTEER AGAIN!

I cruised through Decorah, Spring Grove, Caledonia, Eitzen, and back to Waukon.  I even discovered that you could take Iowa River Drive off HWY 76 over to Lycurgus Road and back to HWY 9 now.  It was great being able to lean into the curves again! I was also amazed at how much the leaves are starting to color up.

Just as I arrived at the Lycurgus Church, I looked at the sky over Waukon, and beat a path back home.  I pulled into the shed just as the rain started pelting down.  It didn't last long, but I would have been soaked if I stayed riding.

I did pass by Casey's about 5 to make sure anyone waiting there knew I wouldn't be riding that night.  The lot was empty, so everyone assumed the same thing I did--WET & COOL.  Actually this was the first Wednesday night in a long time that we didn't ride.

The sky did eventually clear later, and I was able to get this shot of a spectacular sunset.

Now, if it's going to be sunny and fairly warm on Sunday, I'm going to go on a ride to look at the leaf colors again, and possibly stop for a dip of ice cream.  I plan to leave Casey's at 1 on Sunday afternoon after I do the sermons at the two worship services at Zion that morning (Pray for me on this one!)  If anyone wants to ride along, you are welcome.

Last Sunday while some of the more sane WNR traveled up to Rockton (see previous post), Jim & Cathy took a cool ride over to the mighty metropolis of Leland, Wisconsin for what is called the Slimey Crud Run.  Even though the actual ride is only about 40 miles, apparently motorcyclists from all over the midwest arrive there on some vintage and unusual rides.  Jim sent along some photos while Cathy was warming up from the ride over.

I ACTUALLY RODE ONE OF THESE ONCE!

QUITE A FEW PARTICIPANTS

THE OLD INDIAN

DOWNTOWN LELAND

I WONDER IF HONEY WOULD LIKE THIS BETTER!

A LITTLE MORE POWER THAN OUR TRIKE!

HOW ABOUT A "CHOPPER" TRIKE

HOW FAR WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON THAT SEAT!

SIDECARS FOR GOLD WINGS

YES, EVEN THE ICONIC SILVER WING

IS THAT CATHY HAVING LUNCH?

MORE SLIMEY CRUDDERS

This would certainly classify as a unique event, and something that would be worth seeing once if you like vintage bikes.  Thanks to Jim & Cathy for the info and photos.

BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR THE "CHICKEN RUN"

 Despite the great weather and the promise to devour nearly world famous barbeque chicken, we still only had six riders appear at Casey's on Sunday for our annual "Run, Chicken, Run" Run to The Rockton Bar.  Two of our women riders on bikes were Dee and Lois.  Aboard trikes were ChucK, Darrel, and Bob & Julie.

DARREL GASSES UP "OL YELLER".

OUR TWO BIKERS

Under partly sunny skies and temps in the low 60's we headed for "clucker" heaven by taking HWY 9 through Waukon and up to Lansing where we crossed the Black Hawk Bridge into Wisconsin.  After crossing the river, we turned south on HWY 35 and passed through Ferryville and then turned east onto CR C.  We wound around the hills and the valleys on C until we reached CR J and turned north for Viroqua.  J is a smooth strip of scenic asphalt and we followed it all the way into Viroqua for a rest stop at the Quick Star there.

After our break we backtracked some until we reached CR SS and turned east again on it.  This county road had been just recently resurfaced (apparently they knew we were coming) and hadn't received any yellow lines yet.  We cruised on SS to HWY 56 and took a short jog on it to Liberty and then turned north again on CR S.  CR S is another scenic stretch of blacktop that passes through Avalanche and Bloomingdale until it merges with CR P.  We then took CR P over to HWY 131 and turned north into Rockton.

As we devoured the almost world famous barbecued chicken along with macaroni salad, beans, and bread, our conversation turned to the color changes in the trees as we made our way up here.

DOWNING CHICKEN IN THE WARM SUNSHINE

ChucK TRYING TO FIGURE HOW FAR WE WENT

We also found out why we were dodging so many "road apples" on the way here.

LOTS OF TRAIL RIDING GOES ON UP HERE ALSO

There was a large crowd of bikes (mostly Harleys) when we arrived.  We were also greeted by another group from Allamakee County including Nancy.  While we were eating, a lot of the bikes cleared out.

After eating all of the chicken we could hold, and even taking some home, we departed for Gays Mills and Sunshine Orchards where we sampled the cider and apple cider donuts.  The temps were now well into the 70's.  We followed HWY 131 through LaFarge, Viola, and Kickapoo Center and on into Readstown where we picked up HWY 61 heading south.  After passing through Soldiers Grove on 61, we made a turn west onto HWY 171 at Rolling Ground and enjoyed another scenic journey down to Sunshine Orchards and our much anticipated donuts.  Since they didn't have any small packages of frozen donuts, ChucK and Dee were "forced" to take home two large packages!  Also arriving on the scene were Jim & Cathy who just completed the famous "Slimy Crud Run".  (Sounds like fun!)  After they chose a pumpkin roll to take with them, Jim & Cathy followed us home.

We took a considerably more direct route back to Waukon by taking HWY 171 through Gays Mills and Mt. Sterling and back down the hill to HWY 35 again.  This time we turned north passing through Ferryville again, then turned onto HWY 82, slithered across the bridge into Lansing again, and onto HWY 9.  HWY 9 made for a smooth, warm ride back into Waukon.  We had about 170 miles on the trike when we garaged her.

I don't know how you could have asked for a nicer fall day along with great food, spectacular scenery, and good company.  

This ride wraps up our Wednesday Night Riders "special" rides for the year, but we will continue our Wednesday night forays as long as daylight prevails.

SOME MORE ON OUR TRIKE RIDES FOR NORTHGATE CARE CENTER RESIDENTS.

I received an e-mail along with some more photos from Diane Juran, the activities director at Northgate.  She said, "The residents are still talking about the ride and thoroughly can't wait until they ride again.  Thank you so much!"  She also sent along a couple more photos.

Jim also sent me some photos from the "Crud Run".  I'll post some of those on the blog after the possible ride on next Wednesday night.

See you then!