It all started with the rest of the team coming down with Pussitis (holy fuck, yet again). This got even worse when I found out I had no ride back from Burlington. It looked like a no go, but there was a little part of me that still needed to make the trip. Glad that inner-drunken-biker got his way. It was a simple plan: leave my bike close to the route (thank you Jim), get on the route (only a few blocks from Jim's), drink on the route (first town was only 5 miles from Jim's), go off-route (no more Jim references), get back on the route, arrive at the Streicher's. Mission accomplished (but not in a dumbass GWB way). Comments about the ride:

• Meet up with Angry in Mineola (why wouldn't you let me be an associate member)
• Off-route to Silver City - hope the bar that's left there is open
• In Silver City - hope that bar realized that rogue riders don't like it when you run out of vodka
• Malvern was ready for the hoard
• You won't find full lunches at that price on the regular route
• You won't find a bar offering free hot dogs and iced tea to riders on the regular route
• You won't find a bar offering bottles of beer under $2 on the regular route
• If you're going off-route, you should know how to get back on route (rogue rookies...they'll learn over time to carry an Iowa DOT map)
• If you're going off-route, fill one panier with beer and ice (you never know when a shelter will show up along side the highway)
• In Emerson you can see: Marsha, Chickenman, Team HARD, HARD boobs, too fast HARD riders (Thanks to HARD for a good time...sorry we didn't hook up later that night - email me)
• Bruce and Linda wrote the book on how to be a great host: fridge full of beer, piles of grilled meat, uber-sweet corn, hot showers, own bed
• Bruce and I make our way to downtown to the bars (one mostly local, the other riders) and the main stage (the Fishheads are still together?)
• Why is it everytime there is nudity, Bruce is looking the other way?
• Nudity in Emerson was far superior to nudity in Red Oak
• The next morning was filled with tennis in the garage
• The ride in rain wasn't that bad (from the inside of Linda's SUV)