FROM THE RAMBLIN RIDER
Reprinted from Iowa Chapter “L” Newsletter
Written by Mary Fox
Well did we have a great ride on Sunday or what. We had nine bikes join in the fun. The weather was the best and the roads were awesome. We even encountered some curves in Benton County. Just to keep things interesting we picked up transmission from an airplane. Let me explain a little. About twenty minutes into the ride a voice came over the CB and begins a narration as if we were in an airplane. The only thing missing was the part where the captain described where exit doors were and how to use the oxygen masks. We even were waiting for the drink cart with peanuts and pretzels. You guessed it, Dan Benson was in the lead doing a blow by blow. Never a dull moment. Dan took us on all the curvy roads in Benton county. You could count them on one hand. The scenery was the best though. We did a break in Tama just to stretch our legs and use the facilities. Some of the riders accused me of getting off the bike while it was still moving. Needless to say I had to use the little girls room and I didn’t want to wait. I may have climbed over the top of Don before the bike stopped so I could be first in line. I know you find that hard to believe because some of you have seen me getting off the bike,it is slow most times. I am not sure but I think Don still has the footprint on the back of his shirt. The facilities turned out to be a one holer so you had to be fast for fear of being beaten after you made your exit. We made quite a spectacle of ourselves. After that we ended up in Ames at Hickory Park for lunch. We only had to wait for 10 minutes, which was a surprise because there were a lot of people waiting in line. Just enough time to get in a potty break again and get to our tables. From what I heard the food was good as were the desserts. Not something I indulged in but I am glad everyone enjoyed themselves. On the way back we had a tour of Marshalltown, which was nice. We were looking for Highway 14 but had to drive around touring the neighborhoods first just to see the sites. Vern finally turned on the GPS and got us there. Hey touring the cities is all part of the trip. We got home around 4:00 and really had a fun time.
Rick and Donna Wierck hosted a ride on the 11th of September. We had another great turnout for our ride. Gary and Carolyn even rode up from Cedar Rapids to join us. We had a short meeting before we took off from the motel and rode to Lanesbourgh, MN. It is out in the country, as you might expect, with a fantastic view of the rolling countryside. Rick told us we had some grave to travel on which really fired up the chatter on the CB. Lucky for him he was fibbing. The food from what I was told was very good. From there we left and toured around Minnesota, stopped in Winona at a scenic over look and headed back to Iowa. The weather couldn’t have been better and the scenery was just beautiful. We only had one troublemaker in the group that couldn’t seem to figure out his left from his right. This time it wasn’t Vern either. If you ride with Vern you will notice that he has stickers on his windshield, an L for left and an R for right. I guess we need to get some more decals. Rick would tell us to take a right and then have to tell our other rider he had to take a left, his left. Fortunately he just followed the bike in front of him so we never lost him. I had surgery on September 1 but was on the bike and enjoying every minute of it. Well there might have been a few bumps that might have given me pause, actually pain, but for the most part I didn’t have any trouble riding. I was a little stiff on Sunday but it wasn’t too bad. My doc said I could go if I felt okay, so there was NO way I was staying home. Where big red goes, I go.