Lake Erie Winery Run

What a great run, and an opportunity to meet new friends and swap stories. But it was questionable whether or not it would even happen! At 4:00am, I was awaken by tornado warnings, and a tornado watch remained in effect long after we left. As Henry rode about 1 mile to my house, a cloudburst occurred. It lasted only a few minutes, still soaking him to the skin. Then after we left, about 6 miles down the road, his bike needed to have a part tighten. So we stop and he tightens it in just about 5 mins. But then, as I try to start my bike, I get nothing...nothing at all. So we took the side off my bike to check fuses, then the seats to check the battery. Luckily, after 15-30 mins, we narrowed it down to a loose battery connection. So we headed off and still made it to Bucyrus just a couple mins late.


In the picture below, we all gathered in Bucyrus and posed for this pic. From the left it is Henry (a friend of mine), April and Brad, Theresa and Jeff (friends of DavidRN), DavidRN and Maura. Remember to click on the picture for a larger version!

We headed to the wineries, but made a pit stop in Castalia. 30 years ago or so, there was a Road Side attraction called Blue Hole. It was billed as a bottomless pit fed oxygen-less water that gave an illusion of infinite depth and water clarity. Now, that water is the source for a trout farm run by the state. Dozens, if not hundreds of fish are in the creek and stack to have people feed them bread or popcorn.

After we hit the wineries, Jeff came up with the idea of stopping at Big Boppers for a hardy lunch. Here are all the bikes, lined up in front of the restaurant. You can find the establishment at 7581 E Harbor Rd, Lakeside Marblehead just outside of Port Clinton.

What great food – from breakfasts of sausage gravy & biscuits, to lunch of award winning chili ("Real Chili should never have beans in it") or a fried walleye sandwich. And with a bunch of new friends to share it, what could be better?

But like all good rides, there is a time to start the return route. With DavidRN and team living east, they opted take a more direct route home. But with all the chili and beans that he had to eat, poor Maura was going to have a challenging ride home. Not one to let an opportunity pass by, he also opted to light up a stogie to add a little more aroma for that trip home. And, if things worked out just right, there might be enough heat to spark a methane blast!

So April and Brad, Henry, and I headed down Rt 53. We fought wind gusts all the way home. Had to have been upwards of 35mph or more! Felt like it was going to rip the helmet off my head, and leather jacket off my body. On the way, we ran across these Prop planes that we were told flew in the Pacific theater and the European theater in WWII. You can be the judge of that, I just thought they were cool! And with Kermit (my bike) alongside, you can see the size of these giants.