1st Annual "Bursch Biker Bake-off" - Day 3 Still no Rain
submitted by Fred Busrch June 25,2009
Yesterday morning I was up bright and early and to the Rochester office by 815 am. I was a bit surprised that I am not stiff or sore from all the riding but I guess I am spurred on by the thought of fresh baked goods. Marlene had taken some time off but made a special trip into the office just to serve me a piece of bunt cake with lime pudding frosting. They should really call it butt cake, because I think that is where I am putting on the pounds.
Marlene did a little research and found a statue of a goose in downtown RST. I rode downtown and took a picture of my motorcycle in front of this painted goose standing on the street corner before leaving town. There were some dark clouds on the horizon and the radar showed that I would have to race them to Austin, about 40 miles away.
The Austin office was ready and waiting for me. They had a lace table cloth spread out on the conference table, complete with china place settings and plastic champagne glasses. They definitely earned bonus points for presentation. They had prepared a raman noodle salad with fresh, home grown strawberries and grapes on the side. (Even the light lunches are filling me up)
The coup de grace was a raspberry dessert prepared by Heather. When I announced my trip and the theme both Mary Jo and Edie pointed to Heather and said that her raspberry dessert was the only choice possible. It is hard to describe but imagine a light meringue or sugar base covered with a raspberry sauce. It was very tasty and light; a perfect summer dessert. You are going to want to check out the recipe when we publish the results.
From Austin I traveled west on I-90 to Worthington MN. I didn't get a picture of a bird in Austin (Edie had given me directions but I couldn't find the statue) but I just about got a bird leaving town. I came under an underpass on a freeway and a bird swooped down in front of me and narrowly missed the windshield and my face. I ducked and blinked, all at 70 mph. I think it was only the slipstream off the windshield that blew the bird up and out of the way. No picture, but definitely a memory.
At Worthington I turned south on MN 60. This is a great 4 lane highway with limited traffic and goes all the way to Sioux City, IA. I made good time and drove 160 miles straight before having to stop for gas. Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car and driving for a whole tankful without stopping is unusual. The temperature was 87 degrees but not as humid as the day before and it made for perfect riding.
Not knowing the area, I turned off the highway when the fuel warning light came on. As fate would have it, the only gas station in this small town was boarded up and I drove all over town looking for another. I finally fired up my GPS and found that the neighboring town had 3 stations and it was only about 5 miles away. I coasted into town on fumes and filled up both tanks (the motorcycle and mine.) I continued on I-29 into OMA, arriving about 930. I covered just over 400 miles on Wednesday but wasn't stiff or sore this morning.
For all the thunderstorms that have moved through the area I can still say that I haven't encountered any rain. Yesterday it started to sprinkle as I neared Austin but it stopped during my visit and it was clear sailing all the way to Omaha. There was a big thunderhead building on the horizon west of OMA. It made an impressive sight with the sun setting behind it. I pulled off along the highway to take a picture but there are some pictures that never quite look as impressive in the camera as they do to the human eye.
Today it is off to visit the OMA office and then headed North.