Soup Run 2007, Day One: We Need the Juice!!
Friday, June 1st, 2007
The first weekend in June, and if you have read this blog back for a year, you know it is time for Soup!! Early in the week it looked like I would be riding up with the biggest group I had yet, but as the days dwindled, so did the numbers. Bike problems, fear of weather, and other reasons abounded.
One couple that said they were going was Pete and Patty. I hadn't ridden with Pete for several years, and I was looking forward to it. He lives about a mile north of me, and I asked if he just wanted to meet and leave at my house. We still planned to go to the other meeting spot.
They arrived shortly after 10am, and Pete announced he had trouble getting his Goldwing to start, and wanted to drop by his house again to get a set of jumper cables. We wound our way through the two neighborhoods, and he retrieved his cables. We went north up Shadleland Avenue, and took I-70 a short way to the ramp for I-465.
We rounded the east and then the north side of Indy, spilling onto I-65 heading north. The rest of the group was to meet at a truck stop at SR 334 and I-65. I was not expecting to meet anyone there.
Pete's bike would not start again after fueling up, so he got another jump. I figured he would not want to idle too long, so I suited up, and we headed for the exit of the truck stop. I pulled out, but as I was approaching the exit, I couldn't see the pair behind me? I made a u-turn, and saw them sitting at the exit of the station. I could tell he had stalled it getting out of the truck stop.
Pete was on his way back to the station, walking, when I pulled up. He would have to beg for another jump start. It was apparent that his battery was dead, and not taking a charge!
After getting on our way again, about 15 minutes behind schedule, we went north on I-65 until Lebanon, and veered off to US 52, which we would take through Lafayette, our lunch stop. Before lunch, we would find a Sears, and Pete would get a new battery. We filled it with fluid, installed it, and the bike fired right up. We rode another fifteen minutes, and stopped for lunch. It was a nice place called Christo's Family Restaurant.
Now that Pete had the juice to get started, we headed back out, using US 52 to leave Indiana, and make most of our way through Illinois, at least mileage wise, not time wise. The delays put us on the outskirts of Chicago, in suburbs like Naperville, right at afternoon rush hour. We were slowing going for most of the next 60 miles or so.
Just short of the Wisconsin Border, in Antioch, we got stopped by a train. After a brief chance to stand, we headed north into cheese land. We found a nice county road that lead us east and north, so we could get to the hotel. Just in the nick of time, also, as the skies grew dark, and eventually let go with lightning, thunder, and rain. So much for going out to dinner at Frank's Place tonight, but we can still go for breakfast on Sunday Morning.
Tomorrow, Soup's On!! And it may come the sky as well as the pot!!
The first weekend in June, and if you have read this blog back for a year, you know it is time for Soup!! Early in the week it looked like I would be riding up with the biggest group I had yet, but as the days dwindled, so did the numbers. Bike problems, fear of weather, and other reasons abounded.
One couple that said they were going was Pete and Patty. I hadn't ridden with Pete for several years, and I was looking forward to it. He lives about a mile north of me, and I asked if he just wanted to meet and leave at my house. We still planned to go to the other meeting spot.
They arrived shortly after 10am, and Pete announced he had trouble getting his Goldwing to start, and wanted to drop by his house again to get a set of jumper cables. We wound our way through the two neighborhoods, and he retrieved his cables. We went north up Shadleland Avenue, and took I-70 a short way to the ramp for I-465.
We rounded the east and then the north side of Indy, spilling onto I-65 heading north. The rest of the group was to meet at a truck stop at SR 334 and I-65. I was not expecting to meet anyone there.
Pete's bike would not start again after fueling up, so he got another jump. I figured he would not want to idle too long, so I suited up, and we headed for the exit of the truck stop. I pulled out, but as I was approaching the exit, I couldn't see the pair behind me? I made a u-turn, and saw them sitting at the exit of the station. I could tell he had stalled it getting out of the truck stop.
Pete was on his way back to the station, walking, when I pulled up. He would have to beg for another jump start. It was apparent that his battery was dead, and not taking a charge!
After getting on our way again, about 15 minutes behind schedule, we went north on I-65 until Lebanon, and veered off to US 52, which we would take through Lafayette, our lunch stop. Before lunch, we would find a Sears, and Pete would get a new battery. We filled it with fluid, installed it, and the bike fired right up. We rode another fifteen minutes, and stopped for lunch. It was a nice place called Christo's Family Restaurant.
Now that Pete had the juice to get started, we headed back out, using US 52 to leave Indiana, and make most of our way through Illinois, at least mileage wise, not time wise. The delays put us on the outskirts of Chicago, in suburbs like Naperville, right at afternoon rush hour. We were slowing going for most of the next 60 miles or so.
Just short of the Wisconsin Border, in Antioch, we got stopped by a train. After a brief chance to stand, we headed north into cheese land. We found a nice county road that lead us east and north, so we could get to the hotel. Just in the nick of time, also, as the skies grew dark, and eventually let go with lightning, thunder, and rain. So much for going out to dinner at Frank's Place tonight, but we can still go for breakfast on Sunday Morning.
Tomorrow, Soup's On!! And it may come the sky as well as the pot!!
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