Coop's Corner: GR3 2015 (Great River Road Rally)

Sunday, May 17, 2015

GR3 2015 (Great River Road Rally)

I missed last year's first rally of the season due to Hanna's graduation in Cleveland and now hopefully I'll be back on track and able to continue stringing this rally into the annual event it deserves to be. The Madison BMW Club and our host, the Soldier's Grove Lions Club do this one up right.

Since I haven't ridden the Yamaha to this event before the TW200 was a natural for the rally and knowing this fact ahead of time allowed me to Route a fine GPS purple line over into NE Iowa for Saturday. Since the predicted weather was calling for thunderstorms and possibly severe weather, I made the choice to leave the soft saddlebags at home this time and go with the H2W 'end-loader' and the Moto-Fizz bag. Strong headwinds can be challenging when this bike is packed for weekends. As so often happens, the resulting downside (cramped seating position) was adequately balanced by an upside (almost perfect posture). With the TDub at least, this packing scheme will likely be repeated.

Gas stop in Rushford....another group of enthusiasts of a different bent gathering someplace for an event.

Houston County 5, often criticized and disdained due to its "Pavement Ends" change-up sign provided a beautiful Friday morning ride as the clouds opened up to blue. No dust, the gravel just the right amount of moist for good grip.

I stopped for rations in New Albin.......

I crossed the river at Lansing and caught Cty C easterly to Soldier's Grove, arriving a bit after 11am. The Registration tent was up, the Nimbus car rig and BSA single there as quasi Ambassadors.

What we do, what they do for us and how.....

Eric and I ventured north Friday afternoon, made a long round-a-bout loop up to the Blue Goose for pizza.

A bit of gravel but mostly pavement for the two of us on Friday, working our way back to Soldier's Grove, riding beside and crossing the Kickapoo River numerous times.

Friday evening the grounds were filling up, attendance this year was reported to be around 240.

Dan and his pup........

Dave arrived, Paul not that much later on his Guzzi.......

Wally arrived from northern Minnesota, unafraid of being near this foreign bike.....

A small village......

Saturday morning....... I continue to marvel at the tidiness and organizational skills of some of my fellow rally-goers.

After a banana and some coffee, Eric and I ventured west into Iowa, a wet start to the ride though nothing very serious......just enough for good rain gear.

Lansing, Iowa across the bridge......

We did not stop here.....

Lots of merchandise in this half mile.......

Paint Creek Valley.......

Using Fire Tower Road, we climbed up to its namesake. Now abandoned, this was for fire watching in the Yellow River Forest back in the day.

We got dirty.......

.....and then dirtier still on Donahue Road.

Eric caught me on Donahue......and these weren't the dirtiest (slipperiest) spots.

Photo courtesy of Eric

We met a group of 4 bikes here, later we all happened to have lunch at the same place in Lansing.

Photo courtesy of Eric

Saturday afternoon it got really nice in the valley though. Ludwig's shiny and spotless Honda.....

Dave's Burgman.......pretty clean, just not spotless :)

We make good use of the park's gazebo across the street; the raised platform offers shady breeze, understandably a very popular place for us to keep an eye on things. Not everything important gets discussed but everything discussed is very important and you wouldn't be surprised that a great deal of that happens right here.

Almost time for the Award Ceremony and dinner......

Awards being awarded......most of us paying attention.

I did very well this time, awarded a door prize and my ticket number was picked for one of the drawings. After dinner, everyone scattered to their campsites, fire rings.....or the gazebo which is where I wound up.

This morning early, coffee, rolls and fruit to start us on our way home. It wasn't raining but looked and felt like it could start at any moment. Most of us packed up in record time in order to at the very least have that out of the way. If we were going to ride home in the rain at least we wouldn't have to pack up in those same conditions.

The grounds were clearing out early this time, not very many lingering.

I rode through steady though light rain which started just a few miles from Soldier's Grove and then lasted only as far as the river where I crossed into Iowa. From there it looked like things might get serious but it never rained again the remainder of the ride home.

By the time I got back into Minnesota, it was actually getting quite nice and the sun started peeking through as I rolled into Rollingstone.

Home before noon, another great rally and the perfect way to start the rally season. In 2 weeks we'll do it again, many of the same faces will gather once more.

Home in the garage, the bike dry (though dirty) with the tent, fly, sleeping bag, etc. hung up and drying out.

The entire trip.....

Friday afternoon and Saturday more detailed......

12 comments:

VStar LadyMay 17, 2015 at 8:32 PM
Coop sounds like you lucked out with the weather on this Rally. The weather guys are saying you might not be s(n)o(w) lucky next week so glad you got a good ride in this week. Some of the places on your map are looking quite familiar and others are making me think there must be a Rally out there somewhere that's worth crashing ;o) And you won a prize, well done!
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AnonymousMay 18, 2015 at 5:49 AM
what I remember about Houston Cty 5... was gravel roads are " farm dog fast.." . a nasty cur ran out barking and with major attitude .... I attempted to motor away..but being a street bike with street tires.. I wasn't able... the bike just fish tailed ... could not put any distance between me and " Cujo " ... eventually he either grew tired or didn't appreciate dust and flying gravel in his snout ...
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David MasseMay 18, 2015 at 6:40 AM
That's a very nice way to spend a weekend Doug. It's so nice to have a stable with so many choices.
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SonjaMMay 18, 2015 at 1:48 PM
Quite the distance for that lil' bike of yours. I bet it must be fun to play in the dirt with the TW.
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RichardMMay 19, 2015 at 12:58 AM
Lots of little zig-zaggy lines on your tracks! I really like the look of the TW and it's obviously useful for traveling...
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TrobairitzMay 20, 2015 at 3:34 PM
Got a little wet, got a little dirty. Sounds like a great weekend.

I enjoyed the pictures of the tent city that popped up from the campers and it is good they take such good care of you guys with the drinks and snacks.
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Coop a.k.a. CoopdwayMay 20, 2015 at 7:19 PM
You've summed it up well and yes, it was all we'd hoped for with a mid-May rally. All of it, the tents, the food and drink seem to fairly common with the regional brand rallies I attend. Some have slightly better dining but there's nothing wrong with any of them and I certainly believe that we get our money's worth. Two nights camping and whatever the other perks are, very cheap fun.
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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)