Coop's Corner: My first (The 3rd Annual) Lorem Ipsum Rally

Saturday, July 21, 2012

My first (The 3rd Annual) Lorem Ipsum Rally

I made an early start this morning, arriving in Alma for breakfast a bit after 6:30, having ridden through no rain though the skies looked like they certainly could. From the radar images I saw, the day's recently predicted small chance of rain looked like an almost sure bet. After suiting up, my breakfast finished, it did start to rain and did so most of the way to La Crosse.

Using some of the back roads, I managed to sneak through some of the valleys east of town, cresting the ridge at St. Joseph and then followed M, NN and 162 down to Coon Valley, sticking with US 14 the rest of the way into Viroqua.

As is typical for me, I was early (event to start at 11), arriving around 10, so headed back downtown for some coffee, but not until after meeting DrMikey there walking his dog past the grounds. We both agreed that we'd be back once everything was set up and ready.

Harvey was kind enough to introduce me to Joe, though he seemed familiar and we've most likely met at some other event. Living in the area, he didn't have far to go and has been a regular at the gathering. With my VJMC shirt on, he was skeptical but willing to welcome me :)

Harvey introduced me to Cliff as well.......

Not the only unique pairing present today....

Some vintage fans that left long before they should have.......

Mack history......

A couple of the guys that came up from the BBC rally a few miles south.....

Ben and Andy.....

Looking for the kickstand......not the kickstarter.

Nimbus car-rig.....

Bob, another arrival from the BBC gathering......he needed to do some shopping on his way up and it was pretty important.

The musicians.....

Very clean old CX500......

Cagiva (Ducati motors were prevalent)............

Yes, there was the obligatory rain as well......

Seems pretty plain to me.......

Two shots at the peak of attendance......

Harvey and friend heading back to the BBC.....

Chad discussing his big KTM..........

Lots of British right here.......

About the time I was leaving, the skies got brighter and from Westby north and home, the sun was out and the predicted day's heat was ramping up. It was a good day, even with the rainy start and it was very much worth the trip back to one of my favorite towns.

3 comments:

Erik RJuly 22, 2012 at 12:27 PM
Lots of great old bikes there. Nice pictures.
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Lone Wolf ExpeditionsJuly 22, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Nice seeing you again Doug, see ya at the Guzzi Rally!
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FJRickJuly 22, 2012 at 10:41 PM
Nice Pics as always! Thank's for sharing!

Rick
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Others say....

"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)