BREAKING NEWS Temperatures forecast for Wednesday are getting dangerously close to 100 degrees. We have made a change to a breakfast / lunch ride to try to beat the heat. Please take note of the new time. I'll post our departure time on Tuesday after breakfast.
Set your alarm clocks. We're leaving with the dawn patrol. Hoping to beat the heat we're leaving from the Iron Skillet at 7:30. The forecast high has been revised from 105 to 102. So you might want to bring a jacket. You know. JUST IN CASE.
TIME....................9:30 - 10:00
Here it is.............. Bull City Cafe
602 Mill St
Alton, KS
(785) 984-2221
Facebook page........https://www.facebook.com/BullCityCafe/?fref=ts
Map site.............http://bit.ly/1uLkbOc
Richard was the first one to Iron Skillet when I rolled in. It was pretty early since we needed to leave by 7:30. We had 7 leave from Salina with one who had prior commitment so he turned back after going along for the ride. Terry Powell took the lead and I was fourth in line. Although the temps were quite moderate I think I could feel the heat from terry's after burners.
The route was scenic and relaxing, for the first half anyway. Then the wind started to kick up and that started the wrestling match with my Guzzi. It wasn't bad when we headed north, but the westbound legs were a little messy. It was an enjoyable ride, nonetheless I was glad to see the sign for Alton. The turnout was lighter than I had estimated. I attribute that to the forecast temps and the distance. We did pretty much beat the heat on the way up. The restaurant was very well laid out and and had much more room that the pictures would lead one to think. The breakfast menu was very homey and I opted for the "Poor Farm Platter". It was made up of American fries topped with two eggs, crumbled bacon, and country gravy. They did the fries just the way I like them, with a little crunch. And free refill on the orange juice. It was a delicious and filing breakfast. When it came time to leave Richard and I elected to follow Big Jim and we all pulled out together. Jim pulled into a gas station so Richard and I pulled up to the pumps to top off. That's when Jim made good his escape. That left Richard and I, neither of which knew how to get home. I had a vague idea of taking Highway 24 to 81 and south to Salina and Lindsborg, so the mantle of leadership once again hit me like a speeding freight train. Channeling the mirror image of the current political philosophy I found myself following from the front. By this time the wind was starting to make its presence known while eastbound on 24. We finally reached 81 and much to my surprise we didn't need to go through Concordia. Turning south the wind wasn't as bad and when the speed limit rose to 75 I kicked it up. Keeping Richard in the mirror I pressed on with 37 miles to Salina. Slowly Richard faded into the distance in my mirrors. I hope he wasn't abducted by aliens or anything like that. The temps weren't too bad, but there were spots that were like driving through a toaster oven. When I pulled off on Crawford Street I kind of looked for him to pass by on the highway but traffic diverted my attention and I missed him. By this time the temp had gotten to the mid 90s and I was half expecting my neighbors to find a melted blob wearing glasses in my driveway. Entering my house we were met by an ecstatic Fritz who clearly didn't know how good he had it in an air conditioned house all day.We had a total of 13 join us today with the hard rider going to Delbert Schriner from Canton with 163 miles.
We had riders from Salina, Culver, Russell, Lindsborg, and Canton
We were riding Honda, Harley, Suzuki, Kawasaki. And Moto Guzzi.