NICE RIDE, JUST NINE

On a nearly perfect Wednesday night, 9 riders ventured out for our usual ride. Under partly sunny skies and temps in the high 60's, Bill, Jim & Cathy, and Mike rolled in on bikes.  Three-wheelers were Mark, Richard & Melodye, Dave, and Bob.  With all the road construction taking place and the daylight growing shorter, it's becoming a real challenge to put together a good ride on Wednesday nights.

THE THREE-WHEELERS GET LINED UP

 

BERNELL & KATHY COME TO SEE US OFF

COMPLAINTS ABOUT GAS PRICES?

After some good-natured chit-chat, the group headed out through Waukon and onto HWY 76 north.  We cruised on up 76 to CR A26 (Bear Creek Drive) and followed it to Locust Road, while Bob had to stop dead to let a gobbler and his harem of hens cross in front.

We crossed Locust Road onto what's called 337th St. and breezed along it to CR W34 (North Winn Road).  There we turned south and soon arrived at HWY 52.  So far, pleasant weather and smooth concrete surfaces.

A short jaunt down 52 took us to Madison Road and we turned back west.  With the sun was just the right height now to be directly in our eyes, but it still beats rain!  Madison Road is a rather straight stretch of concrete that passes by the Madison Church and becomes gravel  at the junction of CR W14 so we turn onto it.  The first part of W14 is rather rough, but once it passes through Ridgeway, it becomes smooth asphalt with some 20 mph curves and we meander on into Spillville.

We pass through Spillville and after a short jog on CR B16 (Dvorak Memorial Highway), we find 265th Ave. to our liking and soon arrive at 175th St. and follow it past the South Winn Golf Course and over to HWY 52 just outside of Calmar.  After a short bop into Calmar, we stop for a short break at the Kwik Star there.

After our break, and just about leaving Dave behind, we continue our journey speeding along HWY 52 into Ossian.  Once in Ossian, we find Sand Road.  We use it, because the never ending construction on CR W42 (Becker Avenue) continues.  Sand Road takes us over to Centennial Road and we turn north and arrive at HWY 9.

After waiting for all kinds of traffic to pass by, we turn onto 9 and make our way to Waukon, where all but Richard, Melodye, and Bob headed for home, as darkness was setting in.  

The three-some did stop at Uptown for eats.  Bob had a little over 100 miles on his trike for this ride.  That is probably going to be the absolute maximum for miles on Wednesday nights from now on.  Good roads, good scenery, good ride.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Sunday, the 27th, is our annual fall ride to Camp Courageous in Monticello for their Pancake (waffle) breakfast fund raiser.  The Wednesday Night Riders have been supporting Camp Courageous for well over 25 years now, and as many of you know, this charitable organization does not depend on government funding, which is the reason why it's so well run!  It depends on contributions from folks like us for their existence, and they are well-worth supporting.  If you can't make the ride, and wish to donate, we will be leaving from Casey's at 9 that morning.  We always have a scenic ride back, and usually try to make an ice cream stop. SO LET'S HAVE A GOOD BUNCH HEAD DOWN THERE SUNDAY!!

The following Sunday, October 4th (Can you believe it's October already!) is our annual ride up to Rockton, WI, for their nearly world famouus barbecued chicken.  That's always a fun and scenic trip.  We call it our "Run, Chicken, Run Run, and the plan is to leave Casey's at 10:30 that morning.  More info on that in the next blogs.

Our mystery rider from the last blog was Captain Kangaroo.  A lot of people thought it was Chuckles, but Lois got it right!  Apparently a lot of different characters played Captain Kangaroo, but Chuckles wasn't one of them.

Who can guess who this guy is?  Clue..It is definitely not Chuckles!