Friday night 6-26-09

Rode to Willow Pond with DC and Mary, Darryl and Deloris, John, Jerry, John and Rhonda and her daughter and Grandson rode along in their car.
We took Hwy 70 to Hwy 109 and down 62 to Princeton.
From Princeton, we took hwy 293 to Hwy 93 straight into Eddyville.
we left there and rode Hwy 62 back to Princeton and took the WK back to Dawson.
Got off on Hwy 109 at Dawson and back down 70 to Madisonville.
Along about Richland, it started sprinkling and the road was really wet where a rather good soaking had occurred shortly before.
my feet and pants legs got pretty wet. Funny how it takes a lot longer to dry off that it does to get wet even when riding at 55 MPH!

The group got split up once or twice on the trip.
It's really amazing how inconsiderate people in cages are when they see a GROUP of motorcyclists and are willing to pull out BETWEEN them knowing they are together.
We managed to regroup fairly quickly since the cages turned off on a side road.

We stopped at the Dairy queen in Madisonville for an ice cream and had a good visit.
that's always a nice part of the ride when we can stop pretty close to the end of the ride and rest and talk for a while.
great friends and great rides are the best!
Like I told a girl I met last weekend, a motorcycle is a 2-wheeled anti-depressant!

6-13-09 Ride to The Overlook in Leavenworth Indiana

Well, it started out a very beautiful ride.
John and Rhonda Gibson, Bob Trover, Jimmy Lutz, Darwin and Mary Watts, Jerry Hughes and myself rode today. Rhonda rode in the Dodge Durango for a backup vehicle too.
Tommy Carr rode part of the way but had to be back by 5 to go to a class reunion with Alice.

The weather was great, nice and cool and just couldn't ask for better weather.
It didn't rain on us at all but there was a chance of it.
We rode to Evansville, got in some REALLY heavy traffic on the East side as we headed towards Newburg.
We stopped off in Reo for Gas, headed on down Hwy 66.
We went through Grandview... Boy that is the best name for that place.
Other towns were Troy, Tell City, Cannelton,
Rode through the Hoosier National Forest. It was just a little before there that the scenery started showing off!
It was absolutely one of the best rides I have ever been on.
I really wished I had a camera mounted to the bike to film all the places we saw today.
We stopped off in Derby at an Overlook and took a short break.






We left there still headed on Hwy 66.
Just before Dexter, in farm country, we had several 90 degree curves.
I looked in my mirrors and didn't see Jerry, Jimmy Lutz or Rhonda...
I honked at John but by then, he had already noticed something was wrong too.
We pulled off at an intersection at Dexter and John was trying to call Rhonda on the cell phone. Signal was terrible.
We weren't sure what happened but we knew we needed to go back. Darwin went ahead to try to catch up with Bob to get him to wait.
About that time, a woman in an SUV pulled up and said there had been a wreck. One of our bikes had went off in a ditch.

We high tailed it back to the scene.
There was Jerry down in the ditch walking around. He wasn't hurt. just shook up and muddy from head to toe.
The bike was Ok except for being covered in mud, a broken saddle bag and the tail light assembly bent.
Apparently, Jerry hit some mud that was on the road from a tractor from the wet fields. There was mud on several places along that road.
He said he hit that slick spot and just went down in the ditch. Had the ditch been dry, he might have been able to ride into the corn field and not drop it. (his thoughts).
I've done the same thing!


This is the rut in the ditch that Jerry left behind.

This is the complete path he took. Right behind where James Lutz is standing is where the bike ended up facing the opposite direction.









Just about that time, a guy (Also named Jerry)(Flamion was his last name) stopped in a pickup truck and checked on us.
We asked him if he had a rope and he did. So we tied the rope to his bumper and three of us got the bike pulled out of the ditch.
Here is Jerry standing by his bike.



This is the map of where Jerry Wrecked. See the "A" at the top....


The good Samaritan, Jerry, told us to follow him home (about 5 miles down the side road) and we could wash off all the mud.
It was a miracle he wasn't hurt and the bike (after a couple of tries) cranked up.
We all rode to the guys house and his whole family was wondering what in the world was going on with all these bikes pulling in their drive.
It took almost what seemed an hour to get the bike cleaned up.
Above is the bike after the clean up with a hose.



THEN, the family went in and brought Jerry out a pair of pants and a t-shirt to wear!
After Jerry got changed, we headed on to The Overlook.




All I can say is WOW. What a day!
The Overlook was good. I'd recommend getting there before 2 PM .
You could tell the Meatloaf I had was several hours old and starting to get tough.
It was still good. Can't say Its the best I ever had though. Cracker Barrel was better in my opinion.
However, the Blackberry cobbler was excellent!
But, The overlook is mostly about Atmosphere. It is a very nice place.
Great views of the Ohio River.
We rode on over to Corydon via Hwy 62. Took Hwy 135 South to the Ohio River Bridge to Brandenburg.
Took Hwy 79 to Irvington. We went south to Rough River Dam area. Stopping off at Cave Spring for a short break at a campground.
Got run off by a volunteer security guard on a moped..........nuff said...
Took 79 South to Caneyville, West on Hwy 62 through Horse Branch, Rosine, Beaver Dam area.
Rode through McHenry, Rockpory and Central City.
Stopped in Greenville to get a drink at Sonic.
Left there and rode 62 to Nortonville and then 41 back to Madisonville.
WOW.
Based on Google maps, It is over 318 miles.....

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Crossing the Mississippi-Ohio River confluence bridge.

The Olive Branch church gang met at Johnny Stevens house and rode to Lamberts for a late lunch.
we had a great time. That is a great bunch of people to ride with.
Johnny and his Wife, B'etta, (SP), Paul McConnell, Tammy Wilderman Eddy and Suzi McCrady, David Jessup and his wife, and a new couple (can't remember their first names!!) last name was Vance (I THINK!!!) Boy, if I don't repeat it a million times when I hear it, i'll forget it!!
Anyway, we didn't leave till around 10 since Johnny had to work the night before and only got a few hours sleep.
We rode the parkway and interstates most all the way (except for between Paducah and Missouri)
coming back, we took Hwy 60 out of Paducah to Marion and then Marion to Providence back home.
While we were in Lamberts, the kid throwing rolls saw me hold my camera up to take his picture from across the room and he threw one AT me..
It landed between me and Tammy and hit the bench!!!
Here is the picture!

Owensboro, May 31st

Sunday, several of us rode to Owensboro to eat at Cheddar's for lunch after church.
We met at Bob Trover's in Brentwood and rode out Brown Road and cut over to Rumsey.
Rode through Calhoun to Mosleyville and took the shortcut over to Hwy 431.
After eating at Cheddar's, we came out to the parking lot and I had a very shiny object sticking in my rear tire....
So, Knowing better, I did NOT pull it out.
I rode home, clinching the seat.
We came home via Hwy 431 to Livermore. Connected on a side road to Island, over to Buttonsberry and then to Sacramento. Took Hwy 85 to Madisonville.

I took the bike to the Bike shop (Bluegrass cycles) and had Frank look at it.
He called me to tell me it was only a pencil lead size broken screw in the meat of the tread... VERY VERY HAPPY for that.
Frank is a great guy and as good a Mechanic as you can find.
I've know him since the late 70's.
Anyway, Just goes to show how honest he is.. I was prepared to buy a new tire if it couldn't be plugged and still be safe...

Saturday 5-30-09

Rode to Pennyrile on Saturday and it still looks like a disaster area. They have cleaned up the campground enough for campers to get in.
Left Pennyrile and rode to Hwy 398, down to Hwy 91, Rode to Hopkinsville and connected back to Hwy 109.
From 109, rode to Hwy 800 and into crofton, back home on Hwy 41.
Nice curves and good road all the way!
Only got sprinkled on once!!!

Friday, May 29th Paglia's

The group from Abundant Grace Fellowship church rode to Princeton to Paglia's for dinner and MAN was it a big group this time. About 13 bikes rode down but there were also some others that met us there.
Of course, typical after dinner split up and get home on your own at break-neck speeds.

Sunday, May 16

Darwin, Mary and I rode to Henderson to start out the morning at Golden Corral.
It was pretty good but I REALLY should not have eaten so much and then go riding!
We left Henderson and rode Hwy 60 to Owensboro.
At Owensboro, we took the 60 bypass to Hwy 54 and rode to Short Creek just West of Leitchfield. We rode up Hwy 79 To Rough River Dam State Park for a rest. Got to watch a bunch of people flying radio controlled air planes at the Airport there. That was pretty cool! VERY large planes. (Pics to follow)
We left the Airport and headed down Hwy 79 to Caneyville and connected with Hwy 62.
We rode 62 to Central City and stopped off and got a burger. Had to settle for Burger King.
Seems no mom and pop places are open on Sunday's at all. Only chain places.... I guess the economy is really good if they don't have to be open every chance they get!!!
We finished the ride by hitting Hwy 601 and up to 175 to Hwy 70 and back in to Madisonville.
A little over 220 miles.
Great ride and pretty tiresome!