225-mile endurance ride

Wow, it’s Tuesday again, and I needed to take a break from yard work and put together a blog for you all today.

Well, week three of my summer vacation has rolled around, and I’ve finally gotten off my butt and jumped into some chores around the ole homestead. That monstrous old yew shrub that’s spread over the front of the house for the past 57 years received a radical transformation into a rather artfully crafted “Japanese bonsai”-looking topiary. I’ve cleaned out the 24 flowerpots and replanted them and several planting beds with over a dozen flats of summer flowers. That pile of yard debris, oops, I meant compost pile, I talked about several weeks ago has been tidied up a bit, and as soon as I get this weeks blog off to Paul, I’ve got 40 bags of “Classic Black” mulch in the driveway ready to spread around the newly planted flower beds and under the new “Japanese bonsai” creation in front of the house.

What happened to the motorcycles and lazy days in the saddle I’ve blogged about over the past couple weeks?

This past Sunday, the iDESMO Ducati club met up for a ride in southern Indiana. Seven of us met at Mann’s Harley-Davidson in Edinburgh, Ind., bright and early Sunday morning. What a sight! Five red Ducatis lined up in front of Milwaukee’s finest. iDESMO’s chapter president, Ryan, had laid out a full day ride all over the twisty state highways of south central Indiana. He even mapped out multiple fuel stops (yes, these Ducatis are thirsty beasts) and most importantly, laid out lunch, ice cream and dinner stops along the way. Hey Ryan, you would fit right in to the MSTA (Motorcycle Sport Touring Association) group quite well, as their motto is “We ride to eat.”

I rolled out of the garage around 8:30 a.m. to head down to Columbus, Ind., to start the ride. After several hours in the saddle, we stopped for lunch at the 58 Café in Kurtz, Ind. A couple more hours brought us to Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Bloomington for tasty treats. The ride wrapped up in Franklin, Ind., with another opportunity to sate our taste buds with dinner at The Willard Restaurant. By the time I arrived back at my garage around 6 p.m., I was suffering from a pretty good case of monkey butt after 225 miles on a very thin Ducati saddle. For most of the MSTA guys, that’s nothing. Add a zero to that, and now were talking about a respectable mileage number for a typical MSTA’r weekend jaunt. In my world of superbikes, that’s a pretty challenging endurance event.

Anyway, that big pile of “Classic Black” mulch is calling out my name, so I’d better sign off for now. I’ll see you all next week at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com

Greg