IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER!

 If there was ever a time to call a ride "perfect", it would have been Wednesday night as 9 riders gathered at Casey's for a trip to Bagley and back.  We had perfect weather, not too hot or cold, no humidity, and plenty of sunshine.

Our riders for the night consisted mostly of bikes, with Mike, Jim & Cathy, Bill, Chuckles, and Lois all riding in on theirs.  Dr. David and Irv supplied the "support" vehicles, and Bob let the parade on the only trike.

MIKE WELCOMES OUR WANDERING COFFEE DRINKERS

IRV & DR. DAVID ARE READY TO ROLL

BILL SWINGS IN FROM LANSING

CHUCKLES ARRIVES

AND LOIS SKILLFULLY MANEUVERS INTO THE PARKING LOT

After some "meet and greet" time, the group heads out of Waukon heading east via the Elon Road.  With no humidity in the air, we could see for miles and miles, and with everything being green, the views were fantastic.

At the end of Elon Road, we turned onto the Lansing/Harpers Road and scooted down the hill south into Harpers Ferry.  On the way to Harpers, Bob almost came face to face with an eagle when he disturbed the bird feasting on a road kill.  Fortunately the eagle decided to exit away from the roadway.  Once reaching Harpers, we headed south on CR X52, aka Great River Road.  While skirting along the Mississippi River, we could observe how all the rains had swollen it enough to cover most of the islands.

At the end of the Great River Road, we arrived at HWY 76 and cruised down the hill into Marquette.  As we rode along the bluffs along the highway from Effigy Mounds to Marquette, we could see where a good number of rocks had fallen into the ditch.  These were probably dislodged from the recent heavy rains.  Fortunately none of them were on the road or fell while we were rolling along.

Once we reached Marquette, we took HWY 18 across the bridge into Prairie du Chien.  We skirted around PDC on the HWY 18 bypass and ended up on HWY 18 again near Culver's.  Turning south on 18 we passed over the Wisconsin River near Bridgeport and could see that it was bankfull also.  When we arrived at the intersection of CR C, we took it through part of Wyalusing Park and up to CR CX.  CX is a short stretch of blacktop that runs into CR X near the entrance to Wyalusing State Park.  We continued on the loop that X makes all the way around through the village of Wyalusing and into Bagley.  CR X is an interesting stretch of road to say the least.  There is some great scenery, but you can't gawk too much, or you could end up going off the narrow road with no guard rails and down a steep enbankment into the Wisconsin River!  It has always been and still remains a fun road to ride.

Once reaching Bagley, we continued out of the metropolis and picked up CR P.  This is another fun route to ride.  I call it the "roller coaster" because of all the hills along the way, some of them being quite long and fairly steep.  The road is smooth and well maintained which helps make it fun.  At the end of CR P, we backtracked a little onto HWY 35 towards Patch Grove and arrived at the New Horizons Cenex convenience store for a break.  The couple who operate the store are always very friendly, and the guy loves to talk motorcycles.

After the break we returned to HWY 18 and cruised back into Prairie du Chien.  Again we took the bypass around and continued on 18 through Marquette and into Monona onto CR X26, aka Volney Road.  The Volney Road took us into "rosey" Rossville and back onto HWY 76.  We followed 76 on into Waukon to stop for eats at the Uptown.  While waiting to eat, Irv showed us a photo of his new Harley trike.  We can't wait to see it up close on our next ride.

I had racked up 116 miles on the trike on this "perfect" night, and next Wednesday the plan is to ride over to Boscobel for some ice cream.  Also, by next Wednesday, I'm going to need to know who all plans to make the summer trip to Ohio from July 29th to August 4th.  Right now I have ChucK, Dee, Dr. David, Bob Z, and myself planning to go.  So, if you think you might like to make this trip with us, let me know by next Wednesday, so motel reservations can be made.

AGAIN A REMINDER !!

This Sunday at noon, we will be leaving Casey's at noon to take the ride that had to be postponed from Memorial Day.  Afterwards we will have our cookout at Rotach's.  Bob will grill up some brats, so if you come (and we certainly hope you do!) bring along your own drinks and a snack, salad or desert to pass. The cookout should start around 4, and again, if you cannot or do not want to make the ride, you can still come and enjoy the company at the cookout.  Everyone is welcome, and it has always been a time for good food and lies!