My dear biker friend, Marcy Boyle Galas asked me if I’d like to ride to a Waffle House with her and some friends for breakfast on Sunday. Marcy and I met through Open Road Girls. Love this site, thanks Malinda Johnson.
www.openroadgirls.com
Sure, I’ll ride about anywhere and what better destination for a person like me on a gluten free diet than a Waffle House? 
We ended up assembling 7 bikers for the trip and it was a fabulous group, mostly postal workers. There was a young woman veteran on a hot rod Honda 600 racer, a mature lady on a Sportser and 3 guys who looked like serious bikers, plus Marcy and I. Interesting that we had 4 women riding motorcycles and 3 men.
I’d looked up the locations of the nearest Waffle Houses in advance. St. Jo, MO (140 miles away) and KCMO (170 miles) were the closest. You see, when you take a bike ride, making sense isn’t always part of the trip.
I always like to ride in the back, to maintain safe spacing. Well, after a little quizzing, it turned out that no one had any idea how to get to the Waffle House in St. Jo. This is typical, as the precise details of a bike ride are relatively unimportant. It’s only riding bikes that matter.
I said I could get us there, using the address and navigation. So, now I’m the leader of the pack. Oh, boy.
We took the super scenic route on remote roadways and traveled through a number of small towns. It was absolutely lovely and everyone really enjoyed it. Rural eastern Nebraska is quite unique, as there is no such thing as a patch of bare dirt. This fertile land always grows something, whether you want it or not.
The Sportser only carries enough fuel to go 100 miles before refueling. We stopped every 50 miles just to be sure. It was hot as blazes, so the stops were needed to get into some AC and drink water.
During our second stop, it became obvious that several of the riders had never ridden this far at one time. It also was revealed that some had never ridden in a group, either.
They said I did a great job of leading, as I generously used signals to point out hazards in the road, turns, slowing down and so forth. I give great credit to the Women’s Freedom Ride and our leader Mama Bear, for teaching me these riding skills.
The riders were great. Everyone maintained proper spacing and held their lines in the lane. A disciplined group ride has two lines of bikes on the outside of the lane and you should be able to see right down the middle easily. That was exactly how these bikers rode.
We arrived 4 hours later, having stretched a 140 mile trip into 165 miles of scenery. Sunburned, dry and tired, the Waffle House was a welcome sight.
We had a great meal and enjoyed the experience. I think everyone on the trip learned new skills and improved their riding abilities.
I hope to ride with them again. It was great fun.
