Divas ride to Jefferson, Iowa

Had an absolutely fabulous Sunday this past week riding with the Chrome Divas of Des Moines on our first annual Anniversary Ride. I had helped found a local chapter of this national organization last Fall, and we’ve been working to slowly build membership since that time. What has really hit home for us is how difficult it is to get all of us together for a ride, with varying work schedules and family commitments. So, suffice to say I was ecstatic to have 100 percent participation for this ride!

Our destination was the Mahanay Bell Tower in Jefferson, Iowa (population: about 4,500), located about 70 miles northwest of Des Moines. I thought it might be fun to try something different than the usual meet-in-the-middle starting point, so instead we did kind of a progressive gathering – those of us to the south met at one location in Des Moines, then rode to a stop in West Des Moines where we picked up more members of the group, then rode to the third stop to complete the group. It was here – in the parking lot of American Furniture & Electronics in Johnston – that we were finally able to get our first full-group picture!

Weather was looking like it could go either way, sunny or rainy, even as we gathered at American. It had been cloudy while enroute, but once there the sun came out. Then once we took off to the west, the clouds returned and I was leading us west along Highway 44 all the while thinking it was surely going to rain. (I have a habit of trying to carefully check out cars coming at us from the opposite direction – if they aren’t covered with raindrops, I figure we’re good at least til the next car comes along. LOL)

Anyway, we traveled west along 44 and stopped at the lake town of Panora. The convenience store there is a busy place because of Lake Panorama, but since we found actual sit-down tables and chairs inside, we stopped for a 20-minute late-morning snack and chat.

From Panora, we headed north along Highway 4 and straight into Jefferson. Along the ride we could definitely tell that Fall is on its way, and like all the seasons so far this year it’s a little early – a lot of the corn is dried out and crispy already, but it was the soybean fields that really caught my attention. The tops of the plants are golden yellow, but often the lower portions are still lush dark green. So it gives the effect of a huge field of flowers. Throw in a rustic barn and a softly rolling landscape, and it’s really beautiful. It’s hard to get a photo that adequately captures the colors – this one, which I took a few days later from a moving car, is close.

We arrived in Jefferson and easily found the bell tower and another attraction we had come to see: a statue of Jefferson High School graduate Doreen Wilber, who in 1972 became the first woman to earn an Olympic Gold medal in archery.

A friend of Janet’s is related to Doreen, so we took some time to read the marker and enjoyed the clever design of the statue itself: Ms. Wilber is in “firing position” (I’m sure there’s a real phrase for this in archery), aiming to the northeast. And across the intersection is the other half of the statue: a bronze target, ready to take the arrow.

Next we walked over to the bell tower for our turn at the top. The tower was a gift to the citizens of Jefferson (and really, all of Iowa!) by residents William and Nora Mahanay, who provided funding for its construction. It stands just over 168 feet high and houses 14 cast bells imported from the Netherlands. On a beautiful day like we had for our visit, you can see across 30 miles and five counties from the observation deck at 128 feet.

Our tour guides were Sandy and Dennis, an older volunteer couple who shared lots of color commentary about the tower, the town of Jefferson, and the surrounding area.

We spent about 20 minutes or so checking out the view from all angles in the tower, and even managed to pick out our lunch spot while looking down at the surrounding Jefferson business district. Eventually we took the elevator back down, snapped a few pictures with Sandy and Dennis, and walked back to the bikes. Scooted over to the Uptown Cafe for a very good local lunch, and again took the opportunity to “snag a stranger” to snap some group pictures.

Finally we also walked around the square and took pictures of the courthouse and surrounding businesses – some neat old architecture in this quiet little town!

The Mahanay Bell Tower is open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day, and weekends through September. I highly recommend (oh, get it? highly recommend… because it’s 128 feet up in the air… highly… yeah.) a visit! Here’s more information.

At mid-afternoon we were ready to head home via Highway 30 and County Road E57, which eventually would take us down to Madrid. So – thinking that the road marked with the original “Lincoln Highway” markers was Highway 30, I led us west out of town on what turned out NOT to be Highway 30. (Hey, as long as we’re on pavement and going approximately the right direction, I figure it’s all good…) After a bit if easterly and southerly meandering we did finally connect up with E57 at Rippey, Iowa, rode east past Berkeley and Highway 169, then south on R26 down to 210 and east into Madrid. Took another gab-stop at Madrid, and finally back into the Des Moines area via the Mile Bridge over Saylorville Lake. Our final stop was at a Casey’s in Johnston where we bid our farewells and all headed home in individual directions.

In all we rode about 150 miles – seven great gals, beautiful landscape, lots of laughs (I think we all agreed that the commemorative Bell Tower lapel pins had an interesting shape – THANK YOU, girls, for the one I received as a gift! Don’t you think it looks like the space shuttle? Haha, yes, I did too, but some of the girls had other ideas.), and yet another enjoyable Iowa destination. It’s why I love to ride, even if the road I’m on is not always the one I think I’m on! (Click here for the full photo album!)

 

 

Freedom Rock Ride 2012

I recently had a few days off from work and the days were sunny so I was determined to get at least a couple of good day-rides in. Steve had been wanting to get out to see the 2012 mural on the Freedom Rock, so Greenfield was our first destination along with Shirley, Garry, Dave R., Kristin and Teri Ann.

It was going to be another very hot day, so even though Greenfield and the Rock are only about 60 miles away, we planned a stop halfway. We took off along SW 9th Street in Des Moines, which quickly becomes County Road R63 heading south, and turned west at Highway 92. In the past we’ve stopped frequently at the Casey’s General Store that sits a hundred feet from the junction of 92 and 169 at Winterset, and such was my plan here again – but, upon making the left turn off 92 I quickly realized that the familiar building was gone and the site was under re-construction. Thank goodness this is Iowa, and there is always another Casey’s!

After a brief stop to “stretch and hydrate” (as my former boss used to say), we took off again to the west – traveled the 24 miles to Greenfield along 92, then north another 12 miles along Highway 25 to the Freedom Rock – so named because local artist Ray Sorensen paints a new military-themed mural on the rock every year. This year’s Rock recognizes the Tomb of the Unknowns, US Naval Petty Officer Taylor Morris, the POW experience, and Iowa’s Sullivan Brothers.

 

The Rock has become a destination for bikers, veterans, and other military supporters from around the country. There is a contingent of bikers that now stops here each year while en route from the west coast to the Viet Nam memorial in Washington, D.C. just before Memorial Day.

While at the Rock we encountered an older gentleman who was also visiting – turns out he is a Greenfield area resident and also a WWII veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor. He said he visits the rock frequently to chat with the people who come to see it.

We also met a fellow rider – a gal named Michele who had come down on a solo ride from her home in Story City. She gave us a terrific gift – a group photo that included ALL of us (rather than the usual “all minus the photographer”). It was neat to chat with her there at the Rock, and we invited her to head north with us to our next stop at Guthrie Center.

We left the Rock and headed north along Highway 25, which took us into Guthrie Center and yes, another Casey’s. This was the same location where we’d stopped in 2006 and met the woman whose dad helped trowel Albert the Bull over in Audubon.

Visited a little more with Michele here, and finalized our route home. She traveled a few miles east with us to Panora, where we waved a farewell and turned to the south on County Road P28. We picked up F59 a few miles outside of Panora, then F60 outside of Redfield, and stopped again for a final stretch-and-hydrate at Adel. We picked up Highway 6 going east out of Adel, and took that all the way into Des Moines. It’s funny that this used to be a very rural drive. Now, after decades of record growth westward from Des Moines, it’s a short 7 mile path from Adel to Waukee and then 100 percent developed from Waukee clear through to the far east side of the Des Moines area. So we’re now “back in town” even though we are riding through a town that used to be considered “out in the boondocks.”

In all we traveled 150 miles and were pretty well roasted by the time we got home (I was going to say we were “baked,” but I think that might mean something else!), but it was certainly a great way to spend a vacation day!

Fun with flags: ride to Brooklyn, Iowa

What a crazy summer! We had a very short break in the heat recently, then back up into the upper 90’s and low hundreds for a couple more weeks – yikes!! Now here we are at the end of July already – but, thankfully I have three days off from work and temps are only going to be low 90’s so I’m going riding! Hopefully I will have a few more adventures to share soon!

Did have one lovely ride back in early July, what a neat day this was! I’d heard about this small town called Brooklyn that has a large display of flags from all 50 states and several other nations. I thought it sounded like a perfect reason to ride, so off we went. Our group consisted of Steve and I, Garry, street-rodding-turned-biker-pal Dave R., and Howard and Jayka.

We took off in the afternoon heading east along one of my favorite roads – it starts out as Broadway Ave. in Des Moines, becomes 8th St. SE in Altoona, then morphs into County Road F48 and finally old Highway 6. This is just a beautiful road – pretty and curvaceous between Des Moines and Grinnell, then a straight bit east from Grinnell to Highway 63, where we made a right turn into Brooklyn.

Once in Brooklyn we stopped at a tiny convenience store that seemed to be the hub of Sunday activity in this town of just under 1,400 people. After a beverage I walked from the store up to the flag display, which was on the adjacent property. It includes 3×5 flags from every state, plus several special-interest (military service) flags and a 20 x 38-foot US flag at the center on an 80-foot pole, all installed along a pretty walkway next to the Brooklyn Historical Society Museum.

Gave me vertigo standing under the US flag, looking up… thought I was gonna fall over backwards!

Here are some of the state flags on display. This photo looks back toward the street.

Also thought this was neat, something I’d never seen before: the name of the street actually etched into the cement of the curb. Neat detail!

The international flags are displayed in smaller groups along the two main streets of town. You can barely glimpse a few of them on the left side of this streetscene.

Across from the convenience store stands this old Standard Oil station – looks to be about mid-1930’s to me. As I walked over to it to take a picture, a guy drove up in a ’50 Chevy. What a great photo opp! I flagged him down and asked him to pause for a picture – he told me he had just bought the car that day. I took a neat photo of his 50’s car in front of the 30’s gas station, then gave it a little ‘retro’ effect in my photo editing program to create a cool vintagey snapshot.

Here are a couple more pictures of the gas station – just because I know you love this stuff as much as I do!

Brooklyn also has several oldie-but-goodie buildings along its two main streets. This opera house…

… and my favorite, the First National Bank.

All of this exploration only took us about an hour, so it seemed in no time we were back on the bikes and headed home along the same route we’d come in. Along the route I noticed two bridges named for Civil War generals James Wilson & James Weaver, and in looking them up I learned that old Highway 6 (which runs coast-to-coast, by the way) is also known as Grand Army of the Republic Highway. I’ve long been aware that the GAR is/was the veterans organization serving Civil War Veterans, but I didn’t realize that Highway 6 was named for it. There are several commemorative markers and named bridges along the route.

Few things are better in my book – a perfect blue sky day for a ride along scenic Iowa roads, a stop in a pretty small town with a unique or interesting feature, and a little bit of history thrown in for good measure.

More adventures coming soon!

Holy crap, it’s been HOT!

Well June was pretty much a bust for riding – the weather has really been an issue. As I finish up this post it’s July 8 and the record-setting heatwave finally broke last night. For the past few weeks we’ve had unseasonably high temperatures in the mid- to upper 90’s and humidity pushing it over 100 nearly every day. This is quite unusual for June – usually that’s the month where the riding season hits its stride here in Iowa. This year, it was mostly a month to stay indoors and try to keep cool.

We did have one really nice Saturday on the bikes mid-month (obviously I am a little behind in posting about it!).

I had wanted to take a day-ride that day, but we didn’t plan far enough in advance so we decided to hit the Big Barn Open House instead. We met up with Garry and Shirley, and turns out they had come up with Garry’s son Mike and his girlfriend Tina, and their friends Charlie and Rita.

We poked around Big Barn for awhile and enjoyed the free lunch, then decided to take an extended “up around the lake” ride including the Madrid loop.

This is an easy ride with a very nice route. It takes us up the backside of Saylorville Lake with its lovely homes, across the Mile Bridge (boy the lake is LOW this year!), and up to the small town of Madrid, where we made a potty-and-beverage stop. Everyone noted the killer shrub that we had encountered in the middle of the road a few miles back (what IS IT with stuff in the road this year??) – fortunately we all got around it without being attacked.

We left Madrid going east on Highway 210, then south through the tiny town of Sheldahl and back into Polk City north of Saylorville. Stopped at the Saylorville spillway where the dammed-up lake is control-fed out into the Des Moines river. From there we took a round-about route through Johnston and down into Des Moines where we stopped at Sambetti’s for a beverage before heading home.

Although it wasn’t the epic day-ride I’d been hoping to take, it turned out to be a great afternoon anyway because of the new riding friends and of course the Iowa scenery. The next couple of weekends would turn out to be occupied with an out-of-state funeral and then the Good Guys Heartland Nationals hot rod show, all in the middle of a record-setting heat-wave.

The heat, fortunately, has broken at least for the moment – but it has felt more like August than June, so my internal “calendar” is a little off. We took a neat ride today that I’ll post about soon!

Five (woops – six!) more cool places in Iowa you must see

A few years ago I blogged about some cool places in Iowa that I thought were must-sees. While I’ve still only been to #3, 4 and 5 on that original list, we have been to some neat spots that I wanted to add to the must-see list for others who are interested in what the state has to offer. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Lincoln Highway Bridge – the last remaining original Lincoln Highway Bridge in the United States, people! In Tama, Iowa, northeast of Des Moines.

2. Palmyra Church – just a neat little place to stop and appreciate some chippy Gothic goodness, in the tiny town of Palmyra, southeast of Des Moines.

3. Freedom Rock/Iowa Veterans Cemetery – A giant boulder near Greenfield, Iowa, painted annually by Ray Sorensen, celebrating the valor of the U.S. Military; and, a beautiful cemetery just for veterans and their spouses, set in the hillsides of Dallas County just outside Van Meter, Iowa, west of Des Moines.

4. Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge – A high-quality museum dedicated to the native flora and fauna of Iowa. Just outside Prairie City, east of Des Moines.

5. Pella Dutch Heritage Village and Cordova Observation Tower – a little history, a great view, and Dutch letters, plus if you time it right, a boatload of tulips southeast of Des Moines.

6. Iowa Arboretum – A beautiful natural area and “library of living plants” northwest of Des Moines

And, a few new places I’ve added to my own list of future rides:

1. Lineville, Iowa – simply because of the curvy road that gets you there! South of Des Moines, near the Missouri border. (Hence, “Lineville.”)

2. Allerton, Iowa – home of a hundred-year-old restored round barn, and pioneer-era restored church and school. Southeast of Des Moines, on the way to or from Lineville.

3. Jefferson, Iowa – five-story bell tower donated by William & Dora Mahanay, looking out over 30 miles and five counties, northwest of Des Moines.

4. Lake Panorama – Apparently it’s a bit of a curve-hugger’s dream riding around the perimeter of Lake Panorama near Stuart, Iowa (or at least the part you CAN ride around), so it seems like something I should check out.

 

Chrome Divas come to Des Moines

I’ve been keeping this under my helmet for awhile, but am so excited to finally be able to mention that the CHROME DIVAS have come to Des Moines – and that I am a founding member!

While poking around on the Web one night last summer I did some reading about this organization for women motorcycle enthusiasts, founded in 2002. I was surprised to learn that although there was a very large and active chapter in the Cedar Rapids area, there was not yet a chapter here in Des Moines.

So, together with my gal pals Shirley, Susan (Coyote) and Stephanie (Iowa Harley Girl), we launched the Chrome Divas of Des Moines in August 2011. We’ve added two additional members since then – Janet (“Seven Over”) and Penney (“One Cent”).

The Chrome Divas is simply an organization for women who share a passion for motorcycles – all brands, all levels of riding. We currently meet monthly, and we’ll be creating opportunities to ride together and work on behalf of some our favorite community organizations. Our primary mission is four-fold:

• Promote a positive image of women who ride, and of motorcycling in general.
• Provide a social atmosphere for women who ride or simply love motorcycles to gather and get to know each other.
• Give back to our community by participating in local non-profit events and activities.
• Ride and have fun!

We’re lucky and thankful to have Sambetti’s, a local bar and grill, as the “official home of the Chrome Divas of Des Moines.” A big THANK YOU to Paul Strome, owner of Sambetti’s, for his encouragement and support of our little group!  (I personally recommend the “10 oz top” special, the chicken strips, the house dressing on the crisp, cold salads, and – OMG – the ONION RINGS!! Lunch, dinner or drinks – Sambetti’s is one of my favorite spots in Des Moines!)

As for membership, right now we’re keeping growth slow and purposeful so as not to get too big too fast, but we are excited about being part of this great organization and are definitely planning to increase our numbers!

 

 

 

The ride with the ugly soul

Just wanted to share my little solo ride from back on Memorial Day. Now I have to be honest, it wasn’t so much that I really wanted to go for a ride, it was just that it was a beautiful day and I wasn’t at work, so I felt kind of obligated to take advantage of it.

I thought I would ride down to Winterset again, and pick up the St. Charles/Truro loop that the girls and I had missed out on due to closed roads last Fall. So I set off along my usual route to points South – down R63 to G14, across G14 through Norwalk and Cumming and over to 169 South. (Yes, Iowa has a town called Cumming. Go ahead and snicker quietly to yourself, I’ll wait.)

Ready? Ok. So anyway, I was really close to Cumming when I had the big idea to stop at this small old gas station and take a picture or two. It’s a neat little place I’ve wanted to photograph for awhile, so being by myself I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

I pulled off the highway onto a narrow concrete approach alongside Sweeney’s, put down my kickstand, and snapped a few photos. Getting back on the bike revealed the problem I had created for myself: because of the angle of the approach, which I had thought was flat and level, I couldn’t lean the bike over far enough to the right to get the stand back up, without tipping the bike all the way over. I tried a couple strategies to correct this, but they only served to inch me forward so that by the time I decided it really couldn’t be done, I had run out of approach and was left with very sketchy footing on the right-hand side. For the second time in as many weeks, my right foot was holding up the entire weight of the bike and I was in danger of going over, with no immediate “fix” and no companion around to help me out.

Fortunately for me, this is a well-trafficked highway and it was only a moment before another vehicle came along, so I managed to flag them down. A very nice guy named Troy pulled over and helped me steady the bike, get the kickstand up, and get on my way.

I beat myself up plenty over this little faux pas for the rest of the day – I admit it clouded my enjoyment of the remainder of the ride, but at least I did get to experience the Madison County loop I’d been studying all winter.

Make no mistake, it was a very scenic ride – though I did get the feeling I was seeing it from the backside, as though it would have been prettier going the other way. My route was to head south out of Winterset on P71, east on R50, south on R35, then back to the west on G60 to P71. The problem with this part of the ride wasn’t the view, though – it was the incredibly poor condition of the roads!

At one time I thought these bumps in the road were the result of badly engineered repairs. But it appears they are actually places where the road has buckled up to the point of needing repair. In any case, they are raised sections of the road (always at a seam in the asphalt) that lift you up out of your seat and re-arrange your innards by the time you land on your ass again. (No kidding – I actually felt like I was sitting on my liver by the time I stopped.)

I had hoped to be able to call this the prettiest route through Madison County – but, just like elsewhere in life, it’s not worth being pretty if you have an ugly soul. And the crappy roads and the lingering bad karma were definitely the “ugly soul” of this ride. I did make it home without any further stupid decisions, so I’m happy to say I’m tanned, rested and ready for the next opportunity not to waste a day off!

Ride to eat: Williamson

In addition to the graduation and Memorial Day activities we enjoyed this past weekend, we also managed to squeeze in a ride. (I actually squeezed in a solo ride, too.) On Saturday, we took off on a short “ride to eat” trip with Garry and Shirley to the tiny town of Williamson, Iowa.

This trip took us southeast along Highway 5 out of Carlisle to County Road S45, which we took south through Melcher-Dallas, then a short jog on State Highway 14 and in to Williamson.

At our destination, lunch at the Williamson Tavern was large and cheap – it was also the only thing to do in this tiny town of under 200 people. The view from the main road in either direction is testimony to the “sleepiness” of this little place, which is still three times bigger than Millerton! (Garry & Shirley also ended up buying us lunch – what Williamson lacks in venues it also lacks in ATM’s. Thanks guys, next time we’ll try to remember to bring cash!)

After lunch we headed back out along the same route, but stopped in Melcher-Dallas for a couple of pictures. We had detoured through this hyphenated town on our way down (instead of passing right by), and I wanted to go back and catch pictures of a bridge and a mural.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any information about either of these local features. My “keen eye for the obvious” tells me the bridge is very old, given the weathered boards showing through under the top layer of asphalt. It arches over train tracks that run parallel to the highway. Heading into town isn’t as tricky as heading back out – the bridge dumps you right at the highway with a very short approach and a sharp downhill slope.

The other photo opp was this really neat mural painted on the back wall of the Melcher-Dallas Coal Mining Heritage Museum. A small landscaped seating area provides space to enjoy the artwork, which is signed simply “D.E. Adams, ’98.”

I posted more pictures from this ride on the BCN Facebook Page.

After taking my pictures we headed home along a route that included G76 west and S23 north. We did have one near-incident along S23 – I spotted what I thought was roadkill in the middle of the road up ahead, but quickly figured out that it was actually moving (walking) right to left. Uncertain whether it was something that could quickly reverse course, I slowed way down and went around it on the right – turned out to be a large turtle – my friends followed, but not before riding up on each other a bit too quickly. Of course I didn’t see this happening behind me, but I learned later that by slowing I had almost caused them to wreck in the back. Not good!

This, plus another near-incident on my solo Monday ride and my recent bike drop in the garage, have sort of caused me to wonder if I’m “off my feed” this year for some reason… maybe thinking too hard, or not thinking enough… anyway, it feels like I need to take a breath and push the re-start button on this riding season!

 

 

A big milestone!

It’s been a crazy-busy month around here as my daughter wraps up her senior year of high school. As of this writing we are two days away from the actual graduation ceremony, but at this point she has officially completed her required education. She is just plain excited – to be done with high school, to be heading off to college in the Fall, to be entering a new phase of life. I’ve been a little emotional, and honestly it’s hard to explain exactly why – I’m not sad, though this time does indeed signify her passage into adulthood. I’m very, very happy for her, and extremely proud of her… but maybe just a little blue that my role in her life is changing. I’ve had to consciously remind myself that this time is not about me and my emotions – it’s about her, and her accomplishments. And I’m very, very proud of the young lady she has become, so, onward and upward! And congratulations to my beautiful daughter!

(P.S. – her stunning senior pictures were taken by Randy Shebek of Des Moines, Iowa, owner of Great Life Photography. What a wonderful experience it was to work with Randy!)

Route 65 bike blessing and ice cream ride

After having a bad start last week that resulted in my beloved Kitten going over onto her side, Steve and I ended on a high note with a lovely bike-blessing event at Route 65 Harley Davidson in Indianola on Saturday. The event included live music, complimentary lunch, and group and individual blessings offered by the Christian Motorcyclists Association.

Following the food and fellowship, we decided to take a short ride so we headed south out of Indianola on Highway 65/69.

The “dual identity” of the highway ends just a few miles outside of Indianola – with a left turn it becomes Highway 65, while going straight means you stay on 69. Our plan was to ride to the town of Osceola at Highway 34, so we stayed on Highway 69.

While in the northern part of the state this highway is straight as a string, this stretch of 69 has some lovely curves as it meanders to the southwest. We passed the tiny town of Medora at the G76 junction, where I noticed a beautiful little field of purple-blooming Dames Rocket – the roadside version of garden Phlox. So pretty in the dappled sunlight.

We cruised into Osceola from the north a short time later, and stopped to top off gas. While there, we asked a local where we might get an ice cream cone, and she directed us to Junction Creamery a few blocks away along Highway 34.

We pulled into this nice locally owned shop, which has lunch and dinner selections as well as sweet treats. (Apparently they also do catering!) Enjoyed our soft-serve sundaes, then decided to head back home. We headed back the way we had come – out of town on Highway 69. Just a couple miles up the road, we turned north at the junction of County Road R45, which is a straighter stretch that took us through New Virginia, St. Mary’s and Martensdale.

« PREVIOUS PAGE — NEXT PAGE »