March of Dimes RIDE 2005

First I want to give a shout out to all my peeps - especially those who sponsored the Snow Queen and I on the 2005 March of Dimes Ride for Babies. I ended up with $642.00 in pledges - a new high for me. I am pleased to say that a good portion of that came from this forum (yes Dennis - the check arrived on Saturday so I took it with me yesterday).
The MOD people told me they don't get alot of pre-registrations. This being Michigan most people wait until the morning of the event and make their decision then. (I know of 3 riders who did just that and didn't show). They had 50 people or so pre-register and only 15-20 who did the internet option like I did. (I was the first to take advantage of it and will do so in the future - how easy for support to come from friends in OH, TX, MN, WI, etc. etc.)
Anyhow, we started at a local circle track. Lots of bikes stayed home on account of the lousy weather forecast, but what I was excited about was the good mix of bikes. Two years ago it was probably 80-85% Harleys, but this year it was much more diverse.
Here you can see a GS along with some other kinds. The four guys in the middle of the picture were (honest to God) gathered around my Rockster and saying nice things about it.

Here is one cool Native American bike!

This old BSA ended up winning the Vintage Bike portion of the Bike Show that took place at the end of the Ride.

I have always liked tasteful Trikes. I can see Julie and I tooling around on one of these if we ever retire.

And a Beemer shall lead them

One of the local news anchors, Christian Frank, is a BMW rider in addition to being the chairman of this year's Ride. He was able to convince GR BMW to loan him this K1200R for the event. He led the whole shebang.
We got to leave in groups of 15-20 and we took two laps around the 1/2 mile paved oval before going on the 60 mile cruise.
It was fun taking the two laps - especially on the same track I had driven a race car on a few weeks ago. Didn't look to check my speed, but I did move up to the front of our group by passing 3 or 4 bikes in the process.

Weather Report

for the day was grim. 70% chance of thundershowers etc. Thankfully the rain held off until we reached our destination.
I broke off from my group and rode alone so I could stop and snap at my leisure. The new tank bag (gift from Lorazo) came in handy with the directions right under my nose.
Here you can see some of the trees are starting to change colors. Whoo-hoo Rounders Unite!

Only one horsepower on these babies

When I saw these two having a talk by the side of the road, I had to pull over and get a shot. I waved at them, but they didn't wave back. (Probably didn't like the cut of my jib!)

The Route was fun

we zipped around through farm country NW of Grand Rapids on our way to the ending point at Grattan Raceway. We got to go by a few of these. (Arizona riders - FYI a "lake" is a body of freshwater. They can be small to extra, extra, muy Grande in our part of the country. This be a small one.)

This is NOT a lake

This sizable puddle is not to be confused with a lake. The rain had passed by this bar, our 2nd of 2 stops, earlier in the day. Gee- nobody wanted to park in it. I met a guy outside this bar who was traveling the route in a car because of the rain forcast. But he had his Harley ball cap on backwards so we would all know that he was a bad-a$$ biker boy!

We also went through

Cedar Springs Michigan which is the Red Flannel capital of the world! They are having their annual festival next week and the town had these wooden flannels flying from a lot of the utility poles.

The Real Reason for the Ride

This would be Geoff and Tara Evans next to his Vulcan Nomad. Their son, Nathan, was the Ride Ambassador this year. He was born 10 weeks early when Tara was in CA last year on business. He weighed 3 lb 9 ozs.
It is largely due to the ongoing research and funding of the March of Dimes that Nathan is still with us. Here is a quote from Geoff:
"You hear about the March of Dimes, the March of Dimes - what do they do? They save little kids. I had heard of the March of Dimes a thousand times and didn't know what they did. Now I know firsthand. As long as they are doing this Ride I will be involved."
A surfactant developed by the MOD is what enabled little Nathan to begin to breathe with his little, underdeveloped lungs last year. He spent 3 weeks in the hospital in CA then came home for another 5 weeks in a local hospital. And Nathan is one of the "very, very fortunate ones" according to his dad. Nathan got to go home relatively quickly - very quickly compared to some of the little ones who can spend as much as a year in a hospital.

Conclusion

Did it rain? Yup - so the wussies were right in staying home! However, it didn't start to rain until we made it to Grattan and some of us had taken our seats to begin feeding. Yum....brats, burgers, baked beans and 'tatoe salad courtesy of the local Hooters.
A band made a valiant try at entertaining us, but wisely decided to pack up their electronics when the sky opened up on us.
The ride home put my rain suit to the test, but it was sure worth it. I met some really great people and was able to contribute to a good cause (thanks again sponsors - heads up - next year my goal is to raise $1,000!)
Geoff Evans is part of a group of riders who meet every Thursday with the purpose of riding their bikes! They have all kinds of scoots - Geoff also has a '02 Honda Interceptor and a cafe racing '82 Honda Ascot (remember those one lung 500 cc coolio bikes?).
You can learn about his group here: www.ridemotorcycle.com
They speak our language - ATGATT, don't drink and ride, ride instead of talking about it, etc. etc.
Great day in spite of the rain. Thanks to everyone for their help.

Here is a pic of me and the Snow Queen just before the clouds opened up for the third time. I was just heading home.

Great report Dookey! So... What did you have to give up for that tank bag? Rumours has it that Loraz is seeking new I.D.'s...

Mike

Great riding El Dookey!

It does my heart proud to see a rounder doing some good for the community. Glad you had fun, and maybe you can start earlier on the fund raising, and bugging folks for money.

Mike, I have enough alternate identities for now, Just need motorcycle plates so I dont get stopped at the border.