Coop's Corner: Rhubarb and BMW's

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Rhubarb and BMW's

Though not necessarily in that order, it was another rally weekend for me with the main focus on the Hiawatha (Minnesota) BMW Rally in Money Creek. The weather was perfect, many of my friends that had not been at the rally a couple of weeks ago were at this one; the first time I'd seen many of them since last fall. Once again the club, the volunteers and Money Creek Haven Campground put on a worthy show.

Out of the norm for me, I did very little actual riding on Saturday, instead spending more time with friends and for the first time, attended the Rhubarb festival in Rushford, a now-common event for Gene and Dave. So, between the rally site being relatively close to home in addition to little other riding, it was a low mileage weekend.

The Morphous at a gas stop Friday afternoon; note the fine BMW pendant on the 'hump' bag that Mike loaned me to increase the Morph's Cred among the other Bavarian machines.

Old and dear friend Chris was finally going to make it to the rally and true to plan, arrived late Friday evening; in his words "a full 20 hours before I did last year".

In the Registration area.......

We could tell Friday sitting around the campfire that it was going to get cold and my Coleman thermometer confirmed when I climbed out of the tent Saturday morning.........39 very fresh degrees where we were tucked into the low valley.

Sunrise down at the pavilion, waiting for our coffee to finish brewing. There were still enough coals from the hotdog roast Friday evening to get some dry chunks started for some very welcome heat. I cast a looooong shadow.......

After our coffee and bananas (as well as more sun), we rode over to Rushford for breakfast at Stumpy's, always busy rally weekends serving groups of attendees. From there it was up to the Wayside/Lookout above Rushford for a view of the Root River Valley. The turkey vulture that was willing to fly at our eye level and a scant 20 feet from us was an amazing site. Ugly creatures on the ground, they truly fly as though they know what they're doing.

Not to slight anyone of the other guys, but Gene's always the most photogenic.

After the overview of our world, it was back in the saddle west to Lanesboro; some of us took a direct route, some of us wandered their way over. Lanesboro was a busy place with rhubarb celebrators flocking around the City Park, the summer location on other weekends of a large Farmer's Market with many Amish products offered for purchase. We saw some pretty fine baskets and furniture.

Quilts as well.....

The Rhubarb Girls commemorating the plant with song.......

In case anyone forgot why we were there, the canopy was very plainly marked........

Chris inspecting a quiet spot in the Root River.......

Chris very kindly buying us both Rhubarb Sodas, a product of the Spring Grove Bottling Co.

A rhubarb recipe author and her books for sale......

Dave and Gene opted for the rhubarb pie, my original intended sweet but then I saw the cheesecake with rhubarb, changing my mind........... I would do it again too. Though I'm not in the photo with my desert, I will admit that an image of my "pie place" would match those featured......we are after all, pie connoisseurs and know where good pie belongs.

After leaving the Festival, we explored a Rustic Road, then headed back to the campground since Chris and I were booked for some Demo Rides that the fine Leo's South motorcycle dealership annually makes available for free. I was signed up for a Moto Guzzi Stelvio; Chris was going to try out a Norge on the test loop.

Chris calmly waiting for the group to get back for our slotted 2:45 ride......

The riders and machines back from the 2:00 group, those of us ready for the next ride suiting up.

I enjoyed my ride on the Stelvio more than Chris enjoyed his time on the Norge, but the ride I was most excited about was in the next time slot. Friend Dave's recent interest in sidecars has piqued my curiosity, enough to get me eagerly on the list for a spin on the Ural Patriot rig.

The rider and his daughter that had the Ural out before me, discussing their experience with a current Ural owner. My lack of a passenger came up and it was suggested that the 'expert' here accompany me on my test ride. It didn't take him long to decline the offer, wishing me very good luck.

I wasn't interested in the Can-Am Spyder but very interested in the Ural......

My view from the saddle.......

The group was taking a bit longer than usual to get ready and since I wasn't going along with them, I went out on my own, heading west up the hill on County 26 to the point where the road starts dropping down into the valley again and turned around there. I really enjoyed the ride and would find it very easy to spend time on a rig, riding the backroads as is my normal practice. The 4 speed tranny and shift points were right up my alley. Thanks Leo's!

The group in the Shelter, finishing up their pulled pork meal and waiting for the awards presentation. I should mention that I was again a winner, this year a $25 Gift Certificate from Dennis Kirk. Last year it was a $100 Cert from Aerostich. Hopefully the BMW folks will let me come back again next year.

I think we all slept better Saturday night, partially due to being more tired but also due to it being just enough warmer. Another bluebird morning, with not a cloud in the sky. I was down extra early for coffee and easily managed to get the last couple of logs glowing from Saturday night's coals.

The crew getting packed up......

Dave's 650 Burgman, was a complete surprise to me; I guess our long winters don't allow enough time for Dave to have SHARED with me that he was now a fellow scooterist. By the next rally, he'll be fully forgiven for keeping his new machine such a secret. Dave likes his new scooter, but is a bit critical of the harsh ride. He kindly offered me a test ride for my opinion in return and I'd agree with him that it does seem a bit harsh for what I would have expected, but then Dave's most likely spoiled with the plush BMW smoothness he's been accustomed to for 127 years. We'll see if together we can't get it tamed down a tad.

Once packed up, the 4 of us headed down to Houston for a Departure Breakfast. In only one of many things discussed, Dave informed us of the possible pitfalls of a certain pancake restaurant chain. He returns again and again, only to be more disappointed with each and every visit. Sooner or later he's going to avoid the place.

So, to sum it up, quite possibly one of my best Money Creek rallies to this date. Dan and I discussed our Helices (he owns REAL BMW's), Sidecar Dave introduced his new friend to us and taught me more about 3 wheel rigs, Tim and I discussed family history and old rural memories, Chris and I discussed the pros and cons of Hill People vs. Valley People, Bob and Gloria helped me with prioritizing time management, I was corrected on the fact that Gary drives red tractors rather than green (I guess I just assumed.....)when he's not riding German or Italian motorcycles, Gene and I covered more than enough in the political realm and of course Dave tried to save us from dining disappointments in our ongoing quest for good, wholesome and nutritious morning meals, only one of his interesting topics.

Had a great time all and topping this one will be a worthy quest!

1 comment:

AnonymousJune 3, 2012 at 8:53 PM
OH Great... after Erin reads this to Mark... he'll get stoked and want to attend the ruffage fest also... I guess he'll want to borrow the Bee Mer badge for one of Hondas... :)
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"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)