We had 7 show UP for our ride Wednesday evening. With the weather looking "iffy" and the predicted low temps later, we still were determined to make a run again this Wednesday. A few sprinkles did greet us at Casey's before we took off.
Rolling in on bikes were Bill and Mike. Mike had been soaked on a previous ride that day, so any rain wasn't going to bother him. Sporting three-wheelers were Ron, Richard & Melodye, and Bob. Irv roared in with the "support" Vet.
The 'Vet is the first to arrive |
MIKE SAYS THAT HE'S BEEN WET ALREADY |
BILL ARRIVES FROM LANSING |
RON MAKES HIS WAY OVER FROM DECORAH |
LOOKS LIKE THAT'S EVERYONE |
The original plan was to ride to Arlington, but still heading the possible rain and cold weather warnings, Bob "hand picked" a new route. After leaving Casey's we took HWY 9 west just to West Ridge Road (CR W60) and then turned south. WRR took us down to Yellow River Drive where we turned back west and arrived at HWY 51. We then motored on into Postville, turned onto HWY 18 west for a short distance, and then pointed our wheels onto HWY 52, and made our way through Castalia and on into Ossian.
After arriving in Ossian, we turned south onto CR W42 and followed a rather rough stretch of pavement down to The Great River Road (CR B40) and turned eastwardly. B40 skirts along the Turkey River, and actually crosses it three times before we arrive on the ouskirts of Clermont. Once again we were back on HWY 18 and after turning west, we rolled on into West Union for a break at Dairy Queen. Since the predicted cold weather hadn't arrived, we figured some ice cream would be appropriate.
THIS LOOKS LIKE MY BIKE |
YEP, IT IS. LET'S GO. |
Before we left the Dairy Queen stop, Bob passed out the "ride sheets" to Bill, Mike, and Richard for the upcoming Summer Ride.
After our treats, we took a short jog on HWY 18 over to HWY 150 and headed south to the edge of town. There we found the newly resurfaced HWY 56 and headed east enjoying the warm temps and smooth riding. When we arrived at Cedar Road (CR W51) we took it northward on a scenic drive into Elgin.
After arriving in Elgin, we stayed on W51 and arrived back in Clermont again. Only this time we took HWY 18 back east into Postville again. We passed through Postville and onto HWY 51 north which took us up to HWY 9 again. All this time, the temps remained very comfortable, and we avoided all but a little sprinle all the time. After a short stretch on 9, we took West Ridge Road again, only this time northward up to Old Stage, and turned east into Waukon where some of us stopped at Uptown. There the conversation turned to all the good reasons not to install a swimming pool at your home.
I actually ended up with exactly 100 miles on the trike outside of Uptown. What started to be an "iffy" situation, turned into a great ride for the 7 UP gang.
SMILES !!
Once again the Wednesday Night Riders brought smiles to the faces of 18 residents of Wellington Place in Freeport by giving them trike rides. Ron, Roger, and Bob gave the rides while Julie took photos and handed out the pins to the riders.
BOB TELLS WHO WE ARE AND SOME DIRECTION TO THE EXCITED RIDERS |
Here's some of the photos Julie took of some of the smiling faces.
RON WITH ONE OF HIS PASSENGERS |
ROGER WITH A SMILING PASSENGER |
BOB WITH AN EXCITED RIDER |
Special thanks to Roger for filling in, especially with the number of riders we had. Also thanks to Julie for taking the photos and passing out the pins. Of the 7 passengers I took ranging in age from 75 to 94, only two had ever been on a motorcycle before and the other five were thrilled for their first ride! All of our passengers said they had a great time, so again, it was "heart warming" for our group to do this, and what great publicity for the Wednesday Night Riders!
NEXT WEDNESDAY WE'LL TRY HOUSTON AGAIN
How many of us remember this?!