ROMEOS

Guys - As I've mentioned before, it's becoming harder and harder to come up with a place that we haven't been to before. I guess that speaks well to our coverage of the State but it certainly adds to the difficulty of always trying something new and different. I was at my wits end until Joyce stepped in and within 5 minutes had a direction and came up with something that had never crossed my radar. Since Marty has been doing a fine job in his new role as "Official Photographer" for our group, I'm considering just letting Joyce handle where to go. I might call her the "LOCATOR". I could just give her a direction and send her off on her bicycle with a lunch bag and a bottle of water and tell her to come home when she's found somewhere interesting to go. Then I could take a well desrved 'NAP'.
Anyway it should be a fine day. The weather is supposed to be mild....for August anyway. Fill up your tank and let's make a day of it!

Here's the time.................................................11:30 am

Here's the place...............................................Village Cafe
400 Grand Ave
Esbon, Kansas 66941
785-725-3019

As always....................................ride careful, ride safe and I'll see you in Esbon. Richard
http://mapq.st/1FGty7L
=======================================================================================================
Guys - This was a long one for me but I had a great time today. First was the fact that we had a South wind which made the ride up even more enjoyable. Joyce and I had checked out this little place the previous weekend while we were up in that area searching for some of her unfound geocaches. If you're not familiar with what that is please look it up. I don't intend to go into detail other than to say is all about finding hidden worthless, non valuable stuff using your coordinates on your GPS. If it sounds like i'm not highly enthused about this "game" it's because Joyce now has found well over a thousand and each one represents (to me) nearly a quarter tank of gas and many car washes. These are mainly off road finds thus the numerous car washes.
On ocassion I'm allowed to take the bike or the Ural if time allows and that was the reason for us being in the area of the cafe last weekend. The cafe wasn't open when we were there but we did get a feel for the area.
I had a better time today! I got to eat, ride some twisty roads, smell some alfalfa, stand on the Geographic Center of the United States and had an ice cream bar and visit a motorcycle junk yard, ride more twisty roads and had a carmel sundae before fighting the now mild south wind on the way home. What a way to spend a day? Woohoo!
My friend Marty, when he gets up from his nap, will have some entertaining photos of the day so check back often!
Oh, I should mention that we had 38 attend the lunch today including a brand spanking new member from right there in Esbon. He reported dutifully on the attendance sheet that he came over from his house a whopping .1 mile. Actually he said he walked over rather than getting his bike out. He can't wait until we come back up his way!

chrono adjustment

Richard, you talk about sending Joyce off in a direction and finding a place, Well, locator may work for her new title but I think I have another possible title. How about " Bird Dog" ?
Bird dogs submit very well to their masters in hunting situations and that's what you want her to do. PS don't tell her I said this!

Apparently Martys new camera has malfunctioned.

Wednesday showed a lot of promise for a good ride to Esbon. After we made meeting arrangements at Spangles on Tuesday there was a minor change that Randy Clark called to inform me of. It seemed there was a decision to send out a scouting party ahead of the rest of us and they were leaving a little earlier from the Iron Skillet. Morning proved to be as promised. Mild temps and sunshine. After loading Leo and leaving the house, I thought I was going to be way early, but I got there just as the dawn patrol was leaving. I could have left with them but I needed to let Leo out for his “morning constitutional”, so I opted to go with the second wave. Soon Big Jim rolled up and shortly thereafter there was almost a steady stream showing up. During the tire kicking session before we left someone noticed that Jim's rear tire was worn almost to the point of transparency. We were ready to go when Jim decided to return home and get his back up bike. A wise decision considering the distance we were going. I must admit I've found myself in the same situation. It ruined a great riding day for me as my back up bike was down too. We offered to wait for him but he told us to head out and he would catch up. Emory took the lead and we were on the road. If there is one criticism I have it's that I would like to see us leave closer together, so we're not stretched out so far. I like to ride in a group so I can see where the leader is going. Otherwise I might end up in St. Louis before I realize I'm going the wrong way. It's also easier to keep an eye on each other in case there's a problem. OK I'm off the soap box. I had the route to Esbon all mapped out in my GPS but that's not the way we went. No problem there for me. After all I had the GPS so I could find my way home if need be. I ran up through the gears just to hear my favorite music, and settled in for a long ride. Soon I was in the zone and thoroughly enjoying the ride. Following Emory we pulled through a town and soon ran out of pavement. Slight re-route and we we were back on track. It wasn't all that long before we joined up with the route I had in my GPS and I new we were almost there. We pulled into town and quickly found the restaurant. To my surprise there were only about two or three other bikes there. I couldn't believe that we had beaten the dawn patrol. After getting Leo settled I got the camera out and started snapping away. Soon there was a steady stream of bikes rolling into town and the restaurant started filling up. Even Long John made an appearance. Unfortunately he wasn't on his bike, but it was that good he and his wife could join us. As the crowd grew I was trying to get a shot of everyone and every bike when Richard noted that I was shooting everyone but me. That was actually by design. Richard was having none of that and confiscated my camera and attempted to take my picture. He was having a little difficulty finding the shutter until I pointed out that he had the camera upside down. Operational issues resolved he got the shot so your stuck with my mug in there too. After I finished my meal with the obligatory portion left for Leo including the half drumstick donated by Dave I went outside to get shots of the late comers. I caught Rich McCall, Big Jim, and Little Jim rolling into town. Glad to see they all made it too. Joyce decided that Leo needed to look the part of a biker a little more so she tied her bandanna around his head. Maybe I should look into a leather jacket for him. As the crowd started to thin Richard suggested a ride to the Geographical Center of the Continental U. S. It wasn't a long ride and there we were. Smack in the middle of everything! By this time I was pretty much running out of steam. The others wanted to ride over to Burr Oak to check out the “bike dealer” there. With 100+ miles to go to get home I just opted to follow my GPS back. About half way to my first waypoint the low fuel light came on. The bike was saying “your belly is full, how about me?”. Not having any idea where gas was on my planned route I opted to go to Mankito confident there would be gas there. A full tank and I was back on the road. I could backtrack about 5 miles to pick up my planned route or press on ahead to HY14 and head south. The later sounded good and I followed the GPS down there til I hit I70 and back to Salina. Great ride but I was glad to get home.

Marty

More pics