Benefit ride for Theresa, 10-20-2007

Photo above: a stitched-together panorama of the bikes gathered at Kung Fu Tap & Taco.
Click here for the full album!
This was a near-perfect day in so many ways. After last weekend’s Toy Run rainout, I was anxious to see what the weather would have in store for Theresa’s benefit ride. I needn’t have worried - our high for the day was in the upper 70’s, with a beautiful bright blue sky. This in late October, in Iowa! The ride was scheduled to begin around 11 a.m. at Big Barn Harley Davidson, where Theresa works in the Warranty Service department. We arrived shortly after 10 a.m. to find there were already around 100 bikes gathered. By 11 that number had doubled and they were still coming in, so the ride start was bumped to Noon. Eventually I think they had almost 300 bikes and probably 500+ people.
Around Noon the bikes started leaving, and we made a very impressive and continuous mile-long column traveling down 2nd Avenue toward downtown Des Moines. (If you’ve never been in such a column, I don’t know how to describe the feeling. But it can be a little emotional realizing that all these people are gathered for the same big-hearted purpose.) Bikes in the lead blocked intersections so we could pass through as a group without worrying about cross traffic. (Probably illegal but what the hell… we’re bad-ass bikers, we’re supposed to do shit like this!) As we approached Downtown, traffic got a little heavier and around Court Avenue there were lots of pedestrians - the Farmer’s Market had just closed, and lots of those patrons were standing around watching us pass, some taking pictures or shooting video. There was a police officer at 3rd & Court who held off the cross-traffic there for us to pass through the intersection as a group.
Just south of the Iowa Cubs triple-A baseball stadium, we turned and headed toward the home of Theresa’s sister Vicki,
where T is recuperating. Family members had arranged for T to be outside when everyone arrived - I’m not sure they were expecting quite so many of us! All those bikes took up probably two full blocks! After a short benediction and opportunity for as many as possible to meet and greet Theresa, we took off again, this time for the Kung Fu Tap a few blocks away.
The stop at Kung Fu was really just an opportunity for us to hang out while Theresa’s family helped transport her to the site of the actual pot luck dinner waiting for us at the end of the ride. We were there long enough to enjoy a beverage and then the group took off again.
Our final stop was the clubhouse of the El Foresteros. This is an old-school motorcycle club; these are the folks who actually hosted the ride and dinner. They certainly don’t normally open up their clubhouse to the general public - it’s a members-only gathering spot. I for one appreciated their hospitality and willingness to let non-members show their support for our mutual friend.
As for T herself - she’s doing pretty well but still has a long recovery ahead. I wish her the very best, and I’m really pleased to have been part of such a great turn-out for this event!
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Carole wrote in with a quick report on her recent trip to Utah with Judy (oh, and, their hubbies!) - wow, it looks like a must-ride! Thanks for sharing the trip with us, Carole!
and I guarantee you will love it!”
Labor Day weekend couldn’t have been better, weather-wise… I took Friday off so I’d have a four-day weekend, and it was mid - to upper 80’s and clear blue sky all weekend! On Friday night we went to the final “bike night” in the
Friday night was Indianola Bike Night - we rode down with Kristin and Hollie (Hollie got her bike fixed!) but along the way noticed a person waiting with a bike on the side of the rode… realized as we rode by it was SUSAN (Coyote)!! So I stopped and waited with her while she waited for Paul to return with tools to fix the problem… they then rode home to switch bikes and I went on down to Indianola. Got there just as Steve, Garry and Shirley were getting off their bikes… Susan and Paul arrived a short time later. Did our usual pass around the square and had dinner at the One Stop Cafe.
the east. We traveled Old Highway 6 east through Mitchellville, Colfax and Lambs Grove, then south on Highway 14 down to Monroe where we hit a little rain. We had intended to go a little farther east to Pella, but we could see the wall of rain off in that direction so we changed plans and just took 14 on south out of Monroe, over the Mile Bridge over Lake Red Rock. We turned to the west on County Road G-40 into Pleasantville, then north on Highway 5 back into Carlisle where Garry & Shirley live.
We gathered Monday morning in the hotel parking lot. A few riders were going to take the Interstate home so they could fulfill some evening commitments; a few others were going back down to Galena’s shopping district before heading home. The rest of us - 11 bikes, I think - had planned a slow westward mosey with stops that included the Wilwert’s dealership in Dubuque and J&P Cycles in Anamosa.
mecca, J&P Cycles. J&P is a retail and mail-order company offering all manner of bike parts, accessories, apparel and gifts. Their catalog is a must-have for anyone who rides, and their annual Open House event draws thousands of bikers from around the Midwest. We did some shopping and then headed on down the road to Scooter’s, a biker bar and grill that looked brand-new, where we had a really good lunch and took some time to pass our cameras around for a preview of some of the weekend’s pictures. That was an eye-opener, to say the least.
few minutes, count fingers and toes to make sure we were all still in one piece, and get familiar with the westward route home. (I didn’t get the full story, but I know Judy B. had a close call with an impatient driver during this portion of the ride. She was understandably pissed and a little shaken at the gas stop.)
Having conquered Poopy’s, we left Savanna around 5:45 p.m. with Laurie and her GPS-equipped bike in the lead, and headed for Sunday night’s supper destination: Breitbach’s Restaurant in Balltown, Iowa. Breitbach’s is Iowa’s longest-existing restaurant and bar, dating back to the mid-1800’s.
the road - I’m sure several of them must be bed-and-breakfast inns.
The ride back to Galena was interesting. I hate riding deer-laden roads at night. (I’m quite certain the little buggers hover behind every tree on these dark country highways, just waiting for the opportunity to spring out onto the road and offer a cheerful - if stupidly mutually-destructive - “hello!” to us bikers.) By the time supper was concluded, it was dusk and now we had to ride back to Galena… along an unfamiliar deer-laden road at night. To further complicate things for me, I happened to be the last bike out of the restaurant, and the closest bike to me was a good hundred or more yards ahead for the first several miles of the trip. I had to ride about 10 mph faster than was comfortable for me on that road just to keep tail lights in sight, and that made me far less confident that I would spot any lurking deer far enough in advance to avoid a collision. (This is where the “ride your own ride” advice kind of fails: if I had ridden my own ride, I would’ve slowed down - but then would have quickly lost the rest of my group, and been forced to ride alone at night without a map in unfamiliar territory.)
Day Two started out with a fond (if slightly hung-over) farewell to McGregor and a short hop down the road to the Isle of Capri Casino, where we enjoyed the breakfast buffet.
anyone visiting that area. It’s a narrow little road under a canopy of trees which runs right alongside the Lower Wisconsin River (which feeds into the Mississippi back at that Pikes Peak Overlook) and offers constant twists and curves as well as beautiful views (woops! and deer!). Our group spread out a little so we could each enjoy the road, and when we pulled up to the stop-sign at the end of it we all let out a “WOOHOO!!” so Holly would know we had enjoyed it.
I met up with Susan S. and Michelle C. once I got parked; my only purchase (besides bottled water) was a bottle of homemade hot sauce from
out Poopy’s had relocated a little ways out of town), but true to our womanhood we were not afraid to stop and ask directions so we soon found it.
What do women bikers want?
and east to Grundy Center where we had our first gas/potty stop. We eyed the western sky a little nervously at first - it looked like it might rain on us - but eventually the clouds went away and we never saw a drop.
By this time the Iowa landscape had certainly changed: in central Iowa, there are some gentle hills and lots of lush green cornfields, but in the northeastern part of the state you start to see some significant bluffs and hills as the land climbs up from the Mississippi River.
bathroom) and getting everyone to stand still at the same time proved nearly impossible. (I’m pretty sure Marquette and Joliet didn’t have this problem.)
WOW!!
More great riding this weekend - man the weather has been beautiful! Mid- to upper-80’s, sunny, no humidy… which is so unusual for July in Iowa! Last weekend we had the nice group ride up around Brushy Creek State Park, and this weekend we went to Indianola for Bike Night on Friday and then up to the local Harley dealership on Saturday to celebrate the grand opening under the new owners. They had a poker run, BBQ feed, carnival games and of course in-store specials.
AT LAST, I got to do a little riding! Wednesday and Thursday nights last week, we took a couple short jaunts - one to the HOG club meeting and on Thursday, out to supper followed by a park-and-walk through bike night at Porky’s - first visit to Porky’s all year!
Another beautiful weekend here, 70’s and 80’s for daytime temperatures - a little windy, but bound to be that way in Iowa til July so might as well ride. And attempt to answer the age-old biker chick question, “Rizzo? Or Corn Dog?”
What a great weekend! Weather was beautiful both days, and Mother’s Day was sweet as always with my daughter and husband indulging my weakness for garden statuary.
The problem with coming off a long winter is that one becomes really anxious to ride. And that means that one tends to venture out on the first warm day, no matter what the conditions other than temperature might be. Today was a day like that - nearly 80 degrees and sunny, but the “other conditions” were that there was a steady 30 mph wind. This didn’t deter us from taking a ride “up around the lake.” Only about 30 miles total but hey, it counts! Saylorville Lake & Dam is an Army Corps of Engineers project just north of Des Moines. The lake and dam are used to control the levels of the Des Moines River as it passes through the city. (Interesting to note that in 1993, all these efforts failed: steady, heavy rain over a period of weeks in northern Iowa resulted in extremely high water levels in both the Lake and the River, and in early July the River overlflowed not only its banks but also its levees, causing more than $150 million in damage within the contiguous cities of Des Moines and West Des Moines. I think about this every time we ride up around the lake because our house was almost completely destroyed in this flood.)
Participated in the 2006 ABATE of Iowa District 4 Toys for Tots Toy Run on October 8 - it was a nice event with, I’m guessing, over 2,000 bikes. We gathered at the State Capitol building here in Des Moines, left there right at Noon and rode to Plaza Lanes which is a popular “bike night” spot during the summer, where we donated our toys and socialized for a bit before heading home. This event is always an impressive one… a lot of people don’t like the challenge of getting out of the parking lot at the Capitol because it’s not organized. You just *go*, along with 2,000 others, and hope you don’t crash into anyone. I’ve found that the secret is to be just aggressive enough that you can hold your spot (or claim a spot) without actually competing for it: meaning, I will creep forward and get my nose in there (into the column of moving bikes), but I will also let someone else in if it looks like
they aren’t paying attention or for they *really* want my spot. (In other words, the secret is to never occupy the same physical space as another rider! LOL) It IS a challenge, but it can be done - I’ve done it without incident for four years in a row now, and many others have done it much more than me.
It was a beautiful weekend here in Iowa and here are two biker chicks who took full advantage of it! After our successful trip to Albert Lea last summer, my friend Susan and I decided we needed to plan another overnight trip for this year. We had originally planned to visit Galena, IL, but the day before the trip we checked the weather and learned that “they” (whoever “they” are) were predicting rain for that time period in that locale so we switched gears and decided that it looked like it was going to be warmest over in northwest Iowa. So we decided we’d ride the Loess Hills Scenic Byway from about the middle of the western border of the state up to Sioux City, and then spend the night in Le Mars.
The Loess Hills region of Iowa is beautiful, and fall colors have not quite peaked here so everything is just barely turning red and gold. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see anything terrain-wise that really surprised me… but, I think if we had explored the State Park or the western side of the hills, we would have been better able to appreciate what makes this region so unique.
Slept in Saturday morning and after getting the bikes packed we went to see the Wells Blue Bunny Visitors Center. Le Mars bills itself as “The Ice Cream Capital of the World,” because the Wells Blue Bunny company produces more ice cream in their Le Mars dairy than any other company in any other location in the world. They’ve built a very nice museum which tells the history of the company and the history of ice cream, and includes a 3/4-scale model of part of their production line so you can see how the products move around on the line. The facility also includes a full-service ice cream parlor, where we learned that ice cream tastes even better when it’s fresh - meaning, you’re eating it right next door to where it was made and it hasn’t been frozen, thawed, re-frozen/etc. at the whim of your freezer’s defrost cycle.
