North Central Kansas Weekly Ride 6/21/23
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 1:53 pm
Here's a place we haven't been to in just a little over a year. It's the dictionary definition of a small town. I went through Simpson a few years back and it looked like the whole town was on vacation. There was nary sign on life in the town. However every time we had lunch there it was a good time.
It looks like the weatherman is smiling on us this week. He's promising 89* and partly sunny. I think I can handle that. Launch time is 11:00 from the Quality Inn. I'll see you there if I can get through the rest of the day with a minimum of self inflicted injury.
RED ALERT!! THE WEATHERMAN DID ANOTHER BAIT AND SWITCH ON US. IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL HAVE THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE DAY. I HAVE A MESSAGE TO TRAPPER JOE'S ASKING TO RESCHEDULE FOR TOMORROW. I'M WAITING TO HEAR BACK FROM THEM.
WATCH FOR UPDATES.
OK. I just got word from Trapper Joe's. We're on for tomorrow. Same time.
TIME........12:00
Here it is.......Trapper Joe's Bar & Grill
304 S Elkhorn
Simpson, KS 67478
(785) 593-6678
Facebook Page....https://www.facebook.com/trapperjoes
Map site.............https://tinyurl.com/wd4hsez
What a day! The weather turned out to be perfect. The ride not so much. The plan was to go through Tescott and then north. There was no one with a GPS to follow, so that put me in the lead. We launched from the Quality Inn and it wasn't until it was almost launch time that I realized that this wasn't my original plan. I meant to launch from the car wash at State and Broadway, since we had to head out State street. Things are starting to go down hill. We had to backtrack from Burma road to Halstead road to find our way over to state. Back on track all went well to Tescott. The plan was to take the first road north, west of Tescott. As lead lemming. I found the road. Slight problem. The road in question appeared to have a total lack of pavement. A quick survey of the group confirmed that nobody wanted to go dirt biking with their street bikes. Of course, always being prepared, I didn't have a map.
Bill Gibbons suggested that we go up K14. I said you lead. We all fell in tow behind Bill and after a seemingly interminable time we came to Beliot and then had to cut back east to Simpson. Turning south I saw the ever so welcome sign "Simpson 2 Miles". As we rolled up to the train tracks it started to look familiar. I then saw the chrome and color of all the bikes, and I knew we had arrived. A half hour late, but we were there. Fritz was all too anxious to get off of the bike. I got him settled and embarked on my photo mission. I was the last to go inside and had to ask the waitress for directions to where our motley crew was. I found them and immediately was greeted by some familiar faces that I haven't seen for a while. It was great to see them again. I got the inside shots and and found a spot to plant my butt. At last! I can take a breath. I opted for their Farmhouse burger. A cheese burger with an egg, and fries. It went down well. As usual I was among the last to leave. I saved a bite of my rather sizeable burger for Fritz. He enjoyed it as much as I did. We mounted up and headed east on US24. It was shaping up to be a pleasant ride home but I was beginning to realize that before long my fuel situation would become critical, so I was keeping my eye out for some sign of civilization. About half way to US81 I came upon an unattended Central Valley Ag gas station. I figured this is NOT the time to pass gas, so I pulled in and presented my magic plastic and convinced the pump to give up it's golden elixir of motion. Now all bellies filled we pressed on to US81. Southbound we cruised along with a minimum of construction to deal with. Back at home Fritz made a bee line for his water dish, and we both went inside to soak up some serious air conditioning. All in all, despite the rough start it turned out to be a pretty good day.
It looks like the weatherman is smiling on us this week. He's promising 89* and partly sunny. I think I can handle that. Launch time is 11:00 from the Quality Inn. I'll see you there if I can get through the rest of the day with a minimum of self inflicted injury.
RED ALERT!! THE WEATHERMAN DID ANOTHER BAIT AND SWITCH ON US. IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL HAVE THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE DAY. I HAVE A MESSAGE TO TRAPPER JOE'S ASKING TO RESCHEDULE FOR TOMORROW. I'M WAITING TO HEAR BACK FROM THEM.
WATCH FOR UPDATES.
OK. I just got word from Trapper Joe's. We're on for tomorrow. Same time.
TIME........12:00
Here it is.......Trapper Joe's Bar & Grill
304 S Elkhorn
Simpson, KS 67478
(785) 593-6678
Facebook Page....https://www.facebook.com/trapperjoes
Map site.............https://tinyurl.com/wd4hsez
What a day! The weather turned out to be perfect. The ride not so much. The plan was to go through Tescott and then north. There was no one with a GPS to follow, so that put me in the lead. We launched from the Quality Inn and it wasn't until it was almost launch time that I realized that this wasn't my original plan. I meant to launch from the car wash at State and Broadway, since we had to head out State street. Things are starting to go down hill. We had to backtrack from Burma road to Halstead road to find our way over to state. Back on track all went well to Tescott. The plan was to take the first road north, west of Tescott. As lead lemming. I found the road. Slight problem. The road in question appeared to have a total lack of pavement. A quick survey of the group confirmed that nobody wanted to go dirt biking with their street bikes. Of course, always being prepared, I didn't have a map.
Bill Gibbons suggested that we go up K14. I said you lead. We all fell in tow behind Bill and after a seemingly interminable time we came to Beliot and then had to cut back east to Simpson. Turning south I saw the ever so welcome sign "Simpson 2 Miles". As we rolled up to the train tracks it started to look familiar. I then saw the chrome and color of all the bikes, and I knew we had arrived. A half hour late, but we were there. Fritz was all too anxious to get off of the bike. I got him settled and embarked on my photo mission. I was the last to go inside and had to ask the waitress for directions to where our motley crew was. I found them and immediately was greeted by some familiar faces that I haven't seen for a while. It was great to see them again. I got the inside shots and and found a spot to plant my butt. At last! I can take a breath. I opted for their Farmhouse burger. A cheese burger with an egg, and fries. It went down well. As usual I was among the last to leave. I saved a bite of my rather sizeable burger for Fritz. He enjoyed it as much as I did. We mounted up and headed east on US24. It was shaping up to be a pleasant ride home but I was beginning to realize that before long my fuel situation would become critical, so I was keeping my eye out for some sign of civilization. About half way to US81 I came upon an unattended Central Valley Ag gas station. I figured this is NOT the time to pass gas, so I pulled in and presented my magic plastic and convinced the pump to give up it's golden elixir of motion. Now all bellies filled we pressed on to US81. Southbound we cruised along with a minimum of construction to deal with. Back at home Fritz made a bee line for his water dish, and we both went inside to soak up some serious air conditioning. All in all, despite the rough start it turned out to be a pretty good day.
- When you want to ride but there's yard work to do.
