Coop's Corner: The Tenderloin Ride

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Tenderloin Ride

After a two year break, I finally was able to join the crew for the gathering in downtown St. Olaf, Iowa. There may be other places on the edges of town that offer fine sandwiches, I don't know, but we go right into the heart of the city to the St. Olaf Tap for ours.

Never afraid of an excuse to ride-and-then-eat, the event was initially suggested by Scott from the Quad Cities area a number of years ago; this was my 3rd time. We Sport-Touring.Net joiners from Chicago, southern WI, southern MN and central Iowa have found it both easy and worthwhile to make the trek to the rolling hills of northeastern Iowa. We'd ride there anyway, food (or coffee) is just one more reason to get the bikes out of the garage. Most of us make it a day ride, some a weekend. Oddball and Bomber were on the weekend plan, both of them on Dual Sports looking for dust and dirt.

I left home at 8AM with 45 degrees and blustery, dark skies. It wasn't until a half hour later that the low thin clouds gave way to bluebird skies though they were still very cool. I stopped in Dover to meet up with Dave and Justin.

The RT100, affectionately known as Herr Fritz by its previous owner.

When Dave and I first arrived, there were motorcycles aplenty, various groups of rides and riders parked in front of the 'Tap. We were scattered and for the most parked further down the street. No valet parking required.

St. Olaf's famous Tap and new patio dining. Oddball's Tiger out in front.

I believe the final count was 13 attendees; we've had bigger crowds and expected the same today. Had the ST-Owners folks showed up, our count easily would have doubled. Where was Ben??

What we came for.......

Breadman went for the "Large".....more of us stuck with the "Medium" versions. We all wanted to confirm that the event would be documented for perpetuity.

Once finished with our sandwiches, there was plenty of time for discussion and for getting caught up. This was my first chance this season to see many of these folks. I saw Don at our Wildcat Rally over the Labor Day weekend.

Bomber was doing something......pretty sure I saw some fuses being fiddled with in the tool bag.

A good mix of brands and machinery......

The St. Olaf Auditorium and Opera House, built by the WPA in 1939 of native limestone.

Dave and I headed north from there, mixing big highways, back roads and some pretty fine gravel neither of us had visited before.

Tourists at the Yellow River State Forest Information Kiosk.

I really enjoyed my sandwich and seeing everyone again; I've been too long away from these people. 320 miles for me yesterday.....Herr Fritz seemed pleased to get out and stretch his legs once again. Hopefully we're all back on track for the annual Tenderloin Ride.

20 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 7:21 AM
What a great day for a ride.Was good to see you again my friend.Everyone seemed to be in a great and talkative mood too.
Sheri says thanks for thinking of her.

Scott
ReplyDelete
Replies
Erik RSeptember 22, 2013 at 7:54 AM
The "large" looks almost too big to finish. Even the "medium" look like a lot of food! I see the I♥DeltaDiner sticker on one of the bikes.
My longest ride to eat trip was about 100 miles each way. From our old place in Prescott, WI to Tep's Drive-In in Augusta.
ReplyDelete
Replies
RichardMSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:19 AM
A "large" or "medium" of what? Couldn't figure it out from the picture. But it looks like a great ride to eat opportunity.
ReplyDelete
Replies
TrobairitzSeptember 22, 2013 at 11:10 AM
I enjoy it when starting out on a cool day and the clouds break up to blue sky. Even though the day is still cool the sun always feels so good on the gear.

It looks like a great reason to get out and ride. 13 seems like quite the showing. More than what has been showing up around here lately. We've all been lazy.
ReplyDelete
Replies
SonjaMSeptember 22, 2013 at 11:59 AM
What on Earth did you have? It looks like a schnitzel from an elephant or dinosaur. Beautiful trip. Good to get some more miles under the belt before the white stuff shows up again.
ReplyDelete
Replies
David MasseSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Coop, I'm curious too. 'Sandwich' surely doesn't do justice to anything people would ride that far to eat. We need details, details! Closeups, ingredient lists, tasting notes, descriptions of the sides that work, those that don't... While you're at it, were there sounds from the diners that would help us understand? Grunts of delight, sighs of satisfaction, smacking of lips (only the nice sounds please)?
ReplyDelete
Replies
Coop a.k.a. CoopdwaySeptember 22, 2013 at 7:09 PM
Well David, there are sandwiches and then there are sandwiches. Essentially the bun is there, only to be held down by the tenderloin. You can see the fried onions on the Large version, I had some of them as well on my more modestly sized Medium. Here's a link by people that I'm sure know more about "what's in there" than I do. I can tell you with confidence that yesterday's servings were very good. None of us wasted any time making our meals disappear.

Scott's telling us on the forum that the 3rd weekend of Sept. might just be the official time for our gathering. We'd love to see a Vespa show up next year.

A few years ago, I didn't think I was going to make it but buddy Rick saved the day, as well as kept us both from wasting away sans sandwich. Almost there on the dustiest road ever known to man, I had a flat tire and was having trouble getting it sealed.

https://picasaweb.google.com/coopdway/2010_10_09
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 7:12 PM
.... I'v had one of those... mine was just a small coronary sized... not clogged arteries size or the big one.. massive cardiac arrest..call an ambulance size . But tasty... :)
ReplyDelete
Replies
Dar September 23, 2013 at 1:51 PM
Ride to eat, I never miss out on those rides, infact just about every ride my friends and I do involves this at some point or another on the journey. Looks like it was a very good time!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:07 PM
Yeah Doug.I think the 3rd weekend in September will be the annual Tenderloin Ride.I'd like to think Larry would be tickled pink to have this ride in his honor.

Scott
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

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)