Mountain View Ride

De-Brief

This ride was rained out earlier this year but Mama Nature paid us back in spades. The day began with a dreary look but the forecasters swore we would have a good weekend and this time they may have erred in the wrong direction. It wasn't a good day. It was a fantastic day. The perfect temperature is supposedly seventy two degrees. We were off by only a couple degrees and that combined with low humidity, incredible roads and great company made this ride as near perfect as you can get...

Roll Call: We had eight motorcycles and eleven souls on this ride. Bob Branch and David Elston on Valkyrie Interstates, Charlie and Darnell on their Yamaha Venture with white wall tires, Buck and Donna on an 1800, Paul Romesburg on his very dependable Nomad, Bob and Lou and yours truly and Hildia on an 1800 Wing. Bob, on an Ultra Classic Harley and Lou on an 1800 Navi were invited by Rick Totty. They made it but Rick didn't. That's OK Rick. Bob and Lou fit right in and are welcome back anytime.

We were scheduled to have dinner at the Dogwood Hollow Restaurant in Mountain View. Best steaks in the south was their claim. They must have been the only one who thought so because the place was closed. Yep. Boarded up. But it was an excellent location with a nice level concrete parking lot, perfect for a Cracker Barrel...

So, where do we eat? Good question. We asked some locals and they recommended Angler's down on the White River and that's where we went. Nice location but the food? The menu promised one pound fillets but mine looked more like one ounce and they looked like tennis shoe tongues that had been run over several times by a Boss Hoss. But we were hungry and good food or no, we ate with gusto.

Afterward, we left Angler's and took a circuitous route on more great roads that eventually led us back into Mountain View where we pulled up at Woods Pharmacy just off the square. No, we weren't sick and didn't need any pills. But Woods Pharmacy has an authentic Old Fashioned Soda Fountain with all kinds of unhealthy stuff to eat. They even serve phosphates in several flavors. What's a phosphate? Phosphates are carbonated beverages made-from-scratch by the "soda jerk" using carbonated water, flavored syrups and phosphoric acid, an ingredient still used today in many brands of soda-pop including Coke. Very popular drink in the forties.

Afterwards we headed home and except for a fuel stop in Wallenburg, we slept all the way. The ride to Mountain View was, up to this point, the ride of the year. We will definintly be going back soon. Thanks to all for your cooperation and support. These rides run smooth because of you. To those who missed this trip then we missed you and look forward to seeing you the next time...

A few trivial facts about our ride: Officially we logged 394 miles, we averaged 53 MPH and our total saddle time 7:28 and we attained a maximum velocity on this ride of 84.6 MPH