New Years Eve Ride

Sunny and 56 degrees on December 31, 2011. A good day for a ride. Four couples (Bill and Jamie, Carl and Marge, Larry and Bev, and Chris and Charlie) and one singleton (Bruce) met at Johnson Dr. and Renner.

We took off north on I-435 and then Hwy 45 north past Weston, MO, KCPL’s IATAN power generating plant,and Lewis and Clark Lake to Hwy 59 east into Atchison. As we rode east, the wind from the south would have blown off my helmet were it not for the chin strap.

We parked along the Missouri Riverand had lunch at the Riverhouse Restaurant. Most of us had their fried chicken, which was tasty. I’d provide you with the link to the web site for this restaurant but the waitress told us this was the last day they would be opened.

From Atchison we rode south on Hwy 7 into the strong  wind to Leavenworth, KS and past the U.S. Penitentiary. The temperature reached a high for the day, 64 degrees.

We rode Tonganoxie road south from Leavenworth, passing several road closed signs.Sometimes the road is not really closed so I decided to test it. I found out there really was a bridge out just north of Tonganoxie so we had to turn around and take another route. I was wrong. It happens once a year and this year I made it to December 31st.

We took a bathroom break in Tonganoxie and then rode on home via Hwy 24/40 and Kansas Hwy 7 into Shawnee. It was an enjoyable ride of 135 miles.

For pictures from today click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/NewYearsEveLunchRide?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIOWid_Eodnk4QE&feat=directlink