GUTTENBERG BY THE DOZEN

 We had a dozen Wednesday Night Riders show up last night for an expected journey to Guttenberg.  Only two bikes were present and they were occupied by Mike and Jim & Cathy.  Richard, Darrel, Bernell, Ron, and Bob all brought their 3 wheelers.  Occupying the "support" convertibles were Irv in his Vet, David with his Jeep, and Greg & Dale in the Pontiac.

PARKING FOR RED VEHICLES ONLY

GREG & DALE ENTERTAIN OUR GROUP

JUST WAITING FOR THEIR RIDERS

RON PRACTICES USING REVERSE

With overcast or maybe somewhat smoky skies and temps in the low 80's, the group departed Casey's at 5 and headed out of town south to HWY 9.  Following 9 for a short ways, we turned south onto CR W60, aka West Ridge Road, aka Old Stage Road.  Allamakee County must have received a bargain on chip seal again this year, since the first few miles of W60 was covered with the stuff.  This can present a problem for two wheelers, so we took it slow until we were clear of it.  At least Allamakee County looks out for us by putting up "Loose Gravel" signs.  It still made for a rather rough ride.

At the terminus of W60, we turned west onto Yellow River Drive where we had a much smoother but only two mile jaunt over to HWY 51.  After turning south on 51, we passed through Postville and onto HWY 18 east.  After a brief cruise on 18, we turned onto CR W64, aka Gunder Road.  The surface of this road up to Gunder is a real "teeth rattler".  It is a real test for your vehicle's suspension.

After passing through Gunder, the road becomes a real pleasant, smooth, and scenic ride into Elkader.  I guess that's the reward for putting up with all the previous bumps.  We turned onto HWY 13 south and soon discovered that 13 was being repaved, so we were stopped by a "chatty" flag guy who kept me entertained until the pilot car arrived.  He then chatted some more before getting in the pilot car himself and guiding us on the left lane through the construction.  Apparently this part of 13 is going to be resurfaced down to Strawberry Point in stages.

At the top of the hill, we turned onto appropriately named, Grandview Road  (CR X3C).  Along with Gunder Road, this road offers in MHO some of the best scenery in Northeast Iowa.  The views tonight were somewhat hazy, due to the Canadian smoke hanging in the air, but we were still able to enjoy some fantastic scenery.

Staying on X3C, we cruised on into Elkport, where the road name changes to Colesburg Road.  Normally in Elkport we turn onto Garber Road and follow it into Guttenberg, but since it was such a nice night, I decided that a trip through Osterdock might be appropriate.  So we followed X3C until the turn for CR X47, aka Osterdock Road, and we took it.  It had been a while since I traveled into Osterdock this way, but I did remember there were some excellent views, and we were not disappointed.  Their is a view from the top of the hill before going down into Osterdock that will take your breath away!

We were able to miss the "rush hour" in Osterdock and up the hill we went to connect onto the Garber Road (CR C7X), and downhill we flew onto HWY 52.  We then took 52 on into Guttenberg and to the Kwik Star store for our break.

WHILE JIM & CATHY GAS UP, MIKE CHECKS TO SEE WHERE WE ARE

After our break, we motored north on HWY 52 and passed through Garnavillo.  HWY 52 and HWY 18 west are detoured through Farmersburg due to the "never ending" bridge repair going on on HWY 18 near Froelich.  After passing through Farmersburg, the road, Golden Avenue (CR X28), is anything but golden.  It is actually more chip seal than pavement!  I'm sure this is due to the heavy truck traffic that has to be detoured from HWY 18, but I'm sure the state will reimburse the county and they will be able to resurface it. (LOL)

We did finally reach HWY 18 and turned west to be greeted by an orange sun peeking through the smoke.  Upon reaching Monona we passed through town on CR X26, aka Falcon Avenue, aka Volney Road, and on into Rossville.  We then took HWY 76 back into Waukon.  We were amazed at all the animal carcasses that were lying along the roadside on the way to Rossville and into Waukon.

Despite the sight of dead animals along the road, we still managed good appetites at the Uptown Grill.  I had about 125 miles on the trike when I got home.

WHO'S HARLEY?

The only guess I received was that Darren was the owner.  While Darren has a nice Harley himself, this Harley was owned by someone just a little more famous.

This was Elvis Presley's 1976 Harley Davidson.  It has currently obtained a bid of $80,000 from a possible new owner, but it is still open for bids.  Maybe Darren will own it yet!

NEXT WEDNESDAY

The plan is to cruise over to Boscobel to check out the ice cream store that now occupies the Dairy Queen building.

WINNESHIEK MEDICAL HOSPICE RIDE

This important charity ride will take place a week from Sunday on the 25th of June.  There is a breakfast at Winneshiek Medical that precedes the ride.  It has been a really good meal, and I do plan to attend both the breakfast and the ride and will leave from Casey's that Sunday morning.  Once I have more details on the times involved, I will post them on the blog, and anyone who wants to ride over with me will be welcome.  KEEP THE 25th OPEN!!