FOURSOME TOURS THE COUNTY

 With only a very few Wednesday night rides left, four riders took advantage of the 65 degree temperature and rolled into Casey's for a trip around Allamakee County.

Howard and Mike showed up on bikes, while Richard manned the Slingshot, and Bob straddled his trike.

THE GANG'S ALL HERE

We left town via Elon Road and then turned onto Waterville Road (aka CR X32) and scooted down the hill into town.  After a sharp right turn in Waterville we ascended the hill back up to HWY 76.  This stretch of road into and out of Waterville is always a pleasure to ride.  It offers smooth sailing and some excellent views of the surrounding valleys.

Once we reached 76, we turned south for only about four miles and arrived at State Forest Road (aka CR B25) and made our way onto it.  The next miles on through Yellow River Forest offered up some great views.  The speed limit through the park is only 35 mph, but I don't know why anyone would want to go faster on this twisty scenic path!  I did have a fairly close call with a hawk that flew out of a tree along side of me and then buzzed just above my head for a few yards.

After enjoying our ride through the park, we arrived at the Lansing/Harpers Road, and meandered down the hill into Harpers Ferry.  At the stop sign in Harpers we turned onto the Great River Road (aka CR X52) and followed it for the 14 miles into Lansing.

Once in Lansing we took HWY 26 along the river up towards New Albin.  This highway has recently been resurfaced with blacktop, but only about 1/2 inch thick, if that.  I have no idea why one would resurface a highway with only that much of a layer and expect it to last.  At least it is smooth for now.

Once we reached Iowa River Drive (aka CR A26), Mike scooted to home for a meeting, while the threesome continued the ride on IRD.  Actually we did encounter a few sprinkles as we made our way over to the Lycurgus Road (aka CR X20) and then on to HWY 9 at Lycurgus.  There was no significant rain on us yet, but the western sky looked dark, so once we arrived in Waukon, Howard and Bob put their bikes in sheds, and then joined Richard at Uptown for eats.  I had 76 miles on the Wing when I parked her.  This was definitely an enjoyable and worthwhile ride!

NEXT WEDNESDAY (WHICH WILL BE OUR LAST)😢

The plan is to run a loop through Postville, Ossian, Calmar, and Decorah and back.

THIS SATURDAY

Hopefully there will be some more nice fall days left this year to get in some more riding and leaf-looking.  One of these will be this Saturday for a ride through northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota including the famous "Thumper" road near LaCrescent.  The temps look to be in the upper 50's (warmer in the sun!).  We plan to depart Casey's at 12:30 that afternoon, right after the presentation at the Veteran's Museum in Waukon.  Everyone is welcome.  Dress warmly for guaranteed beautiful scenery!  We will be back in time to see the Waukon Indian football team beat LaPorte City Union!