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A Midweek Ride to Beemerville

J Brase

Braz
Yesterday dawned clear and 50 degrees with a predicted high of 70. The workload was light and a couple of quick phone calls to reschedule cleared the day. I decided to head to Beemerville just for fun. About 150 miles from here (central Indiana) to there, the new 1150RS just reaching the break-in point...

I pushed it out of the garage, suited up and set the trip odometer to zero. I noticed that the big odometer read 1150. Coincidence?

I picked out a black line route, US36 east, US127 North, OH81 East to Lima, OH309 through Lima to the Beemerville site. Along the way I passed the Wilbur Wright birthplace site (didn't stop) and the Annie Oakley gravesite (didn't stop but considered it). I did stop at Celina and had lunch at a very acceptable Italian restaraunt on the west shore of Grand Lake St. Mary's. By lunchtime it had warmed enough to zip open the vents on my First Gear jacket. But it was very windy, straight out of the south, making the east/west legs of the trip something of a chore. No time to relax with the bike blowing around and the wind trying to rip my helmet off.

309 through Lima was a piece of cake. The route is decently marked and traffic was light in the early afternoon. The rally site is HUGE. You could camp an army there. I rode around inside the fairgrounds on the many paved roads which loop and loop all around the facility. Nothing was going on except for some maintenance work. And, two guys dressed in prison stripes picking up downed branches and limbs. I didn't know any jurisdictions still used stripes. I thought they had all gone to the more stylish orange by now. After a smoke break inside one of the shelters next to a pond, I saddled up for the return trip.

I decided to jump on the slab, I75, and run it south for a few miles. Slab access is about a mile from the fairgrounds gate so it is, as they say, easy on - easy off for anyone coming from the north or south and wanting to grab some slab along the way. And, if you are packing light, there is a Wal Mart superstore about a quarter mile from the front gate.

Got back home at 4:30, 350 miles total. Boy, was I beat up. First moderatley long ride of the year and the combination of being out of shape and the wind made the ride seem a lot longer than it really was. But it was good, really good.

Great rally site! I've already made my Sherpa reservation.

John
 
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