Covered Bridge Ride Report!
Reported by Paul Weber

We had 19 brave souls come out for the Sunday, October 29th, 2000 ride through Parke County, the Covered Bridge Capital of the US. Sixteen bikes (three were riding two up) and fifteen of them were Valkyries!

The early morning temperatures (we met in Bellmore, IN at 10-11am) were in the upper 30's and low 40's. When Mark Huntzinger and I arrived at the meeting place around 10AM, at the corner of US 36 & US 59 in Bellmore, there were already 6 or 7 bikes on site. From that point, we watched as the others showed up, mostly one by one. Most arrived in full leathers, including their chaps, some with electric vests and all! I was even guilty of putting on my recently acquired chaps (from the State Ride IN to Nashville in September!).

It wasn't long til we were able to shed some of the extra warmth to allow for the warmer afternoon sun to keep us comfortable. The riders bikes included many two toned Standards, several Interstates and a few Tourers. We even had Dave Sproul and his wife Cheryl from central Illinios with his 97 red & white custom that looks like an early design study for Honda's own Valk Interstate!

All told, the group included (at least the ones we could remember): Larry Beemer, Jim Tsareff, Phil Emerich(gr I/S), Rick M. (Y/B std), Dave & Cheryl Sproul, Mark Huntzinger, Jim White(Sabre), Garvey ?(from Greenfield), Steve Shea, Paul Weber, Jim Morse (ride organizer and leader), Don Gastineau, and Jeff Cole. There were three others that we could not remember the names. Sorry, but it's hard to keep track! We need to do sign in's so that we can track who was who!

The sunshine during the afternoon was fabulous. You couldn't dial up a better late fall day. It was pointed out to those with CB's that it was likely that most of the trees were "PAST PEAK" color by our own 'agronomist', Jim "Shooter" Tsareff. He also pointed out (as he did in the fall Ride-IN) that "the sky was so beautiful, it looked like someone had painted it just for him". Responses ranged from groans to laughter. I posed a question to him about the brown field to our left (a cornfield that had already been harvested) as to whether the corn had peaked or not!!! He responded that it in fact had.

We all had plenty of time to kick the tires and look at new goodies, getting ideas for our next acquisitions. A short visit to Billie Creek Village was the first order of the day, then on to the downtown Square of Rockville, Indiana. The diner we stopped in was named "Weber's Family Restaraunt", no nepotism was involved, as they didn't even offer me a discount for my own lunch! I'm sure the food would have met with VFT-BOH (Valkaholic Food Tester-Band of Hooligans) member Tiny's approval, but in his absence, I, MGM-BOH (Minister of Good Meat) gave the food and ambiance two thumbs up, way up!!! If you went away hungry, it was your own fault.

After the lunch, we had our 50-50 drawing and luck was with member Mark Huntzinger of Bloomington. Mark is usually riding with his daughter Meg, but she opted to sleep in on this brisk fall morning! Good thing Mark didn't! Several other potential riders had her sentiments and slept in also, as this was a frosty cold morn and it did keep some away!

Those who came along for the ride had a great day, even if he bulk of the riding was done getting to and from the meeting place. We all enjoyed the talk and fellowship as well as just examining all the things we could do with our bikes that somebody else has already tried. Exhaust systems were of great interest as there must've been 10 different systems present in our group! Even though there were several of the same basic bike (two tone 98's), not one of them was identical to the others due to customization.

Individuallity, that's one thing that brings us all together, and makes us have this common lust for the fat lady! Looking forward to the next group ride, which may come along at any time, or maybe some time after the real Millenium kicks in!

Ride safe until then... Keep the shiny (painted!) side up...
Paul Weber (Hoosier Daddy) VRCC #370, Indiana State Contact MGM-BOH