A LITTLE "TOASTY"

 With the air temp at 102, I really debated taking our usual Wednesday night ride, but I've always said, "If it's above 50 and not raining, I'm riding."  I first thought that no none else would be showing up at Casey's, but Irv and I arrived at about the same time.  Shortly thereafter Richard & Melodye showed up with their Slingshot, and then Chuckles arrived on his bike.  That made five either "hard core" or "crazy" riders.

OPEN AIR VETTE

OPEN AIR SLINGSHOT

OPEN AIR BIKE

TEMP CHECK--ARE WE HARD-CORE OR JUST CRAZY?!

With 5 of us now at the start, and no one saying "I'm not going.", we depart, with Bob taking the lead on his trike.

"IF YOU'RE CRAZY, FOLLOW ME!"

The priorities for this ride would be "let's go a little shorter, and look for shady roads."  So we cruised through town and took HWY 76 north.  Again, the never-ending bridge repair caused us to stop for a light before passing on.  Fortunately it was a short wait and we were able to park in the shade of the bluffs.

After we crossed the bridge under repair, we made a turn to the east onto Iowa River Drive.  We were able to ride through several shady stretches along this river route, but the temps were still in the mid 90's in the shade.  Iowa River Drive took us near New Albin where we turned south onto HWY 26 and cruised along the Mississippi River into Lansing.  This stretch of highway also offered some shade at times.

We passed through Lansing where we spotted a couple of other "crazy" bikers.  On both of these first routes, I had to slow down for deer.  If you're riding near streams in hot weather, you need to be looking out for deer who are leaving their habitats and crossing roads to get to water.

On through Lansing, we picked up CR X52 (aka Great River Road) and made our way towards Harpers Ferry.  On our way we passed by the now defunct Lansing Power Plant, and I was stunned by the amount of dirt that has been hauled in to cover the coal pits.  If you ever get a chance to ride by and see this site, I'm sure you will be amazed also!

X52 did offer up some shady areas as we cruised on into Harpers Ferry and a "get hydrated" stop at Barry's Minimart.  The air conditioning in the store felt great, and Barry even escourted me into his freezer to let me cool off.  Actually it was too cold in there for comfort.

NO AIR CONDITIONING IN THE JAIL!

TIME FOR REHYRATION

We pulled out of Harpers and got back on the Great River Road taking it all the way up to HWY 76.  Again, riding along the river bluffs allowed for some cooler temps.  After arriving at 76, we turned back north and then turned onto CR B25 and a ride through Yellow River Forest.  This route provided us a considerable amount of shade from the overhanging trees.  My favorite way to come into Yellow River Forest is off HWY 76.  The view from there is fantastic!

After passing through Yellow River, we turned onto Lansing/Harpers road and then west onto Elon Drive.  After a short jog on Elon, we turned onto Waterville Road and followed it through town and all the way back to HWY 76 and then into Waukon for a stop at Uptown. I had exactly 100 miles on the Wing when we arrived at Uptown.  Needless to say, the drink for the night was WATER!

Next Wednesday it should be cooler, and we'll head to Volga.