Riders started arriving late Thursday afternoon. The rain had stopped, but everyone had ridden through a good bit of rain.

Several of us walked across the street for dinner. The food was OK. The portions, as in most restaurants, were very large.

The weather was overcast on Friday, but the roads were dry enough to ride on. Before the group left, however, everyone had to wipe the pine tree pollen off the bikes. The yellow powder covered everything.

I wasn’t feeling 100%, so I stayed in the hotel for a couple of hours then rode to the lunch stop when I was feeling better. The food at the BBQ place was not very good. I had a “small” order of nachos covered in chicken chunks, beans, and cheese. I could barely eat half of it.

I rode back to the hotel by myself taking a longer route. I had a good time riding the curves successfully. “Success” for me is selecting the right gear, setting a good entry speed, and following a pretty good line through the curve.

I had dinner at Pizza Hut – I had chicken wings and salad bar. There was a birthday party in the party room, so the whole restaurant was filled with the noise of excited, screaming kids.

After dinner everyone gathered on the hotel patio to rehash the day’s events and recount stories from other gatherings. My pictures were too dark because the flash didn’t go off. Just image 20 people slumped in deck chairs drinking something and trying to keep warm.

Saturday I rode with a small group. We took the direct route to the lunch stop, which was Grandma’s House Cafe.The place was packed and the parking lot nearly full.

Most everyone had the buffet, but I was too full for that and had what is probably the best grilled ham and cheese sandwich I’ve ever had. The ham was thick and salty. We were on our bikes ready to depart when the main group arrived.

Tom, our ride leader, took us over to Oklahoma where we rode along the Illinois River. The route was very scenic. The river was high and brown and moving along pretty swiftly. We were on roads with very few straight stretches all day. Tom led at a comfortable pace and I was able to keep up. Today’s ride was the best ride on twisty roads with the Road Gliders I’ve been on.

Everyone returned safely, but we did see an accident on our way back. Someone drove an old Gold Wing off the side of a road and down an embankment. People were getting the bike up on the road as we arrived. There were no ambulances and I didn’t see anyone who looked injured, so I assume the rider was OK.

The nightly gathering on the patio commenced after everyone returned from dinner.

As the evening drew to a close we said our goodbyes as we’ll be leaving in the morning.