GREAT NIGHT/SPECTACULAR VIEWS

On a beautiful Wednesday night, eight Wednesday Night Riders arrived at Casey's for what would turn out to be a ride with spectacular views.  Bike riders were Lissa, Jim G, Mike, and Bill.  Richard & Melodye came in the Slingshot  while Irv and Bob hopped on trikes.

MIKE IS THE FIRST TO CRUISE IN

BOB GETS READY TO LEAD THE PACK

IRV ARRIVES ON HIS NEW RIDE

BILL ROLLS IN

RICHARD & MELONYE ARE ABOARD THEIR SLINGSHOT

JIM COMES IN "COFFEELESS"

HERE COMES RON

AND LISSA JOINS US AGAIN

With our destination being Guttenberg via Osterdock, we left Casey's under mostly sunny skies and temps in the high 70's.  We cruised out on HWY 76 and then down Forest Mills Road (CR A16).  Passing by some good looking crops growing on the Gelo estate, we arrived in Luana.  From there we got on HWY 18 heading east past Monona and onto Golden Avenue (CR X28) and headed south passing through Farmersburg (and by Asshole's Garage) and on into St. Olaf.  Apparently the state was supposed to do some work on X28 since it was used as a detour much of last year.  However riding on this stretch into Farmersburg indicates the state isn't very handy at repairs either!

After arriving in St. Olaf (home of the giant tenderloins) we turned west onto 200th St. (CR B65) and after a short ride, we came to the Gunder Road (CR X16).  This road offers a fun cruise with some great views on into Elkader.  We picked up HWY 13 (newly paved) and climbed the hill up to the aptly named Grandview Road (CR X3c).  This is where the real adventure begins, because it's difficult to maintain control of the vehicles while gawking at all the surrounding beauty.

We did pass through Communia, Elkport, and Garber avoiding the rush hours there, and continued on X 3C (now called Colesburg Road) up to Osterdock Road (CR X47).  With all the rain that fell in this past week, we were surprised to see that the rivers we passed were just a little above normal, but still very muddy.

Now turning northward on the Osterdock Road, we avoided the traffic jams in Osterdock as we passed by and continued our journey down CR 47.  There is a point on this stretch of concrete where you ascend a hill and at the top you are offered one of the best views in northeast Iowa.  It's worth slowing down and almost stopping to savor a spectacular view!  I have always said, If I ever get an atheist on the back of my bike, I'll take him over some of the routes we ride, and I'll either scare the "hell" out of him, or he will believe a "superior being" created this beauty.

CR 47 took us over to the Garber Road (CR C7X) and we made the turn down the mountain into Guttenberg and HWY 52.  We stopped at the Quik Star there for our break. 

After our break, we took a more direct route back.  We took HWY 52 back through Garnavillo and back onto HWY 18 west.  After arriving in Monona, our ride continued onto the Volney Road (CR X26) and north we went on into rosey Rossville.  We picked up HWY 76 again and rolled into Waukon where four of us grabbed eats at Uptown.  I had 120 spectacular miles on the trike when I got her home.  I would say it was a great night!

Next Wednesday

It's July 3rd (already!), and right now I do plan to ride.  If the river is down, a ride over to Mt. Hope would work, otherwise we may take the "mountain run" into Houston.

Other photos

I do have some more photos of our group at the Hospice Ride that Dee sent me.  As soon as I figure out how to get  them from my new phone to the computer, I'll post them.

Yep, my granddaughters are coming to visit soon!