Monday, August 26, 2013

Breakfast with Biker Baby & Rich

When I was exploring the backroads of Indiana my plan was to stay around the Greater Chicago area so I could have breakfast with Biker Baby.  We had been sending emails back and forth and I missed her when I was heading East so I made an extra effort to contact her on my way home.    I sent her a message earlier in the day and I hadn't heard from her so I had to make a decision to start heading West on I-80.   The plan was to ride a few hours into the night to put on some miles but due to the Chicago Traffic and the heat I got tired and decided to stay the night in Ottawa, Illinois.   I had a nice sit down dinner and when I got back to my Hotel I got a message from Biker Baby that she and Rich would be available on Saturday morning

To make it easier she found a nice restaurant nearly in the middle from her home and my hotel so we decided to meet in Yorkville, IL.   This meant that I had to backtrack nearly an hour towards Chicago and wouldn't you know that when I got to the intersection to turn into the strip mall, they were in the left turn lane watching me


Meet Rich and Biker Baby with their shiney Harleys.   BB told me that when she bought her HD they went on a trip to California and they put on 10,000 miles.

I know we have been sending emails back and forth for some time and when we met, it was like meeting old friends


They serve very large portions here and I had to leave some food behind.  Rich, thank you again for providing breakfast for me.  Yes, that's my pancake.  I have a habit of making a crater in the middle for the syrup so it doesn't roll down the sides.  We spent a couple of hours at our table chatting about his planned trip to Alaska and the staff were in no rush to have us vacate our table


Eventually we finished and had to move on.   They decided to keep me company back to I-80


Here's Biker Baby posing beside her mean machine.


And here is Rich getting his glasses ready . . .


soon we are mounted and rolling .  On my way northbound on Hwy 71   I noticed a shell of a plane and I told them I wanted to stop there for a few photos


We chatted some more and said our goodbyes as we were just going to wave off as I found my way to I-80


Good bye Biker Baby.  It was great to finally meet you and hope our paths cross again .   Thank you both for making the time to meet up for breakfast.

Here is a video of us riding together, southbound on Hwy 71 about an hour north of I-80





14 comments:

  1. Bob, if you decide to post something about your trip stats, you should also do a post (or maybe a series of posts) tallying up all the moto bloggers you have met. I think you may be a world record holder. It's got to be you or Gary France for sure. You guys must be one and two at the top of the list.

    David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David:

      I already have a spreadsheet prepared of most of my expenses. Of course I was hosted many times by others, such as yourself which really helped with the budget and it was also nice to not be alone all the time.

      I really wanted to work out my fuel usage but now I notice that many places did not give me the litres used

      Delete
  2. That breakfast looks delicious. It is nice to get together with friends and have a long, conversation filled meal.

    The plane is an interesting find. Any idea why it is there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David:

      I think I value friendships more than riding. My plan was to meet people and ride some of the roads along the way

      here is the LINK


      Delete
    2. The plane was put there as a memorial to farmers and businesses that lived through the agricultural crash of the 80's.

      Delete
    3. It's on Rt 71 near Marseilles, IL.

      Delete
  3. @David - I think Bob would beat me to who has met the most moto bloggers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gary:

      My plan this year was to meet others on the other side of the country. Some meetings worked out and some didn't. If only I had more time

      Delete
  4. Always good to hear of the bloggers meeting up. it is amazing how much in common we all have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trobairitz:

      I don't do well being alone so it was very nice to be able to see friendly faces along the way. There are different dynamics to riding alone and having to find a home for the night, but I got better at it near the end of my trip

      Delete
  5. It was really a pleasure meeting you Bob.

    the video looks like we were going at least 90. Notice how Rich pulls away so easy. He's really got his bike powered up. He measures speed in cubic dollars.

    Now I know why I am always the one taking the pictures...I have really put on the weight since my hysterectomy. You would think I eat full portions like the ones served there. I only had part of Rich's meal and we were both stuffed when we left. Tonight we went out for dinner and I had a tuna steak sandwich, hold the bread, with ice water. It's not fair you guys get to stay so skinny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BB:

      it was great to be able to finally meet you and Rich too. If I had more time I would have liked to see your muscle car. I used to have a 1st Gen '67 Firebird Convertible. I wasn't using it much so I sold it a few years ago but I still have my Corvette C5 roadster

      I should be close to you again late June 2015. Perhaps I could get you to come North a bit.

      PS: I'm not skinny. There's blubber under my loose fitting T-shirt

      Delete
  6. Another great meet-up, Bob. I am glad you had nothing to do with the plane crash ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sonja:

      as you know, I love to meet people and socialize. I am not used to riding alone so it is nice to meet friendly faces along the way

      Delete