A Warm Up, or is this what they call Spring Training?

Last weekend, I made a trek out to the Pittsburgh, PA area. This was sort of a 'season opener' for longish rides. I think I was ready for it, because I didn't really notice any fatigue or stiff muscles after we were done.

Let me back up a little.

Matt and Lorraine invited Jannette and I to join them for a 'cross-Ohio' trip to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. They were going to support friends Scott and Brenda Henwood. Scott is the pastor of First Christian Church of Beaver Falls. It was a little longer for me, as I started on Friday evening from Fort Wayne to St. Paris, Ohio. That's right at 100 miles. I left the Fort at about 6:30pm and pulled into St. Paris, (prounounced Sahn PaREE by me and nobody else) at about 8:3pm. Normally wouldn't take me quite two hours, but this was the first ride of the season, so I took my time to get reaquainted with Cheeto. (I should mention that Jannette didn't make the trip with me, she stayed home with the kids. It was a change to the plans after we learned that the kids' Mom couldn't take them on the weekend we had planned. But I thank my wifey for being so understanding and urging me to still go no matter what).

Next morning, we got up to get moving, and we were all prepared a little EARLIER than usual. It was truly amazing. We were supposed to pull out around 10am, but we were all ready around 9:20 or so and Bob and Rita pulled up about that time.


We ended up leaving a bit early and we were in Urbana at 10am, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. After a very warm and somewhat windy ride (that was quite pleasant no matter what), and 250 miles later, we ended up at our destination for the evening - The Super 8 hotel in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Quite possibly the strangest layout for a hotel I've ever encountered. Truly a 'you can't get to your room from here' kind of situation. But the rooms were clean and comfortable.















We had dinner at Brenda and Scott's place and parked the bikes safely in their garage. The next day it was Blessing of the Bikes and it was really a blast.















After a very entertaining service, a really swell sermon, and a long blessing (I don't mean to offend, Scott, but I wondered if you were going to thank everyone by name. Individually!) the majority of the audience was off on a ride around the area. Big Rick Hoffman, famous chopper builder, was leading the ride even though he didn't feel well. I guess I didn't realize what a big name he was until after it was all over.






We had all but decided to mount up and leave shortly after the parade of bikes left the lot, but then Brenda convinced us to stay for the early shot at the food. So we opted out of a stop at McDonalds, enjoyed the VERY fine grub at the church and then got ready to make the long drive home.



I'm no math major, so I guess it's no surprise that a 350 mile trip for me took 7 and a half hours. To be fair, the first 250 took about 4.5 hours, then I stopped in St. Paris for a good hour before taking off for home. Matt rode along to St. Mary's (was this place a breeding ground for saints or what?) before he bid me adieu and we both pulled into our respective homes right at 9pm.

My last 40 minutes was a pure bug festival, as I must have hit every bug between Fort Wayne and Wilshire, Ohio. Unfortunately, they weren't the big ones either, but the little, itty bitty ones that tend to 'splat & stick' which makes them a real pain to remove later. My windshield looked like I had been going cross-country in South Africa.

I was delighted to see my wonderful family greeting me at the door as I rolled up the driveway.

750 miles, good company, and the wind in my face (now I know why dogs stick their heads out the window) over 51 hours. Good for the soul! I'm warmed up now. Where we goin' next?!