A Surprise Group Ride On Our Harleys

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and since we had nothing going on we decided to take the bike and go for breakfast.  We went to this cute little diner called Cross Roads on M-53.  The service was fast and the food was great.  Little did I know that before we left the house, my husband had group texted our little group to see if anyone else was out.  By the time we had finished eating breakfast everyone had responded (not that he told me).  We rode out to Kingswood Outfield and this is when I discovered what was going on.  There were familiar bikes out front.  Bob's Road King, Stacey's Sportster, Joey's Fat boy, Tom's Electra Glide Ultra Classic and Mike's Road Glide.  

My husband had surprised me with a group ride.  When we went inside I saw that Linda and Cindy were with them as well.  It had been a couple weeks since our trip up north and I was excited to get out.  While they were finishing their drinks we discussed where we would go.  There were a couple of stops they wanted to make.  Joey wanted to meet a couple of friends out near Bay City at John's Bar.  Tom wanted to stop at Iron Horse.  Once I knew where we were headed I asked if we could stop in Munger at Shannon's Firehouse so I could visit with my friend Kristen.  When I got the green light from the group I texted Kristen to see if she would meet us there.  She was free and said she would be happy to see me there.  

Since our trip was unplanned we need to stop for fuel.  We headed out towards M-24 on M-46 to the closest gas station.  We were in and out quick and on our way.  Stacey was doing great on her 1200 Custom.  She had improved so much that you might almost forget that this was her first riding season.  I was willing to bet that by next year you would think she had been riding her entire life.  It made me think that maybe it was time for me to get my own motorcycle.  

The ride out to John's bar wasn't our normal ride, there were new and cool things to see. Mike with Linda were directly behind us with Joey next to them.  Bob and Stacey were bringing up the rear and Tom with Cindy next to us.  I was taking pictures and Tom was his same crazy self.  He was posing for pictures even though he should have been watching where he was going.  Tom has to be the only person I know who can seem to not be paying attention but never miss a beat.  He is one of the best riders I know by far.  Cindy is no better and encourages his bad behavior.  She was posing and making faces as well.  This is probably the main reason I love to go riding with them, they are so entertaining.  

We arrived at John's Bar on M-15 and Joey's friends were there waiting for us.  Their names were Scott and Dan.  We visited with them for a while.  When they found out where we were headed from there they decided to join us.  Scott was on a Yamaha V-Star and Dan was on a Honda Goldwing.  I texted Kristen to let her know we would be at Snannon's soon.  Our group headed out on M-15 to Munger Road to Shannon's Firehouse.  It was only a couple miles down the road so it only took a few minutes to get there.

Kristen arrived shortly after we did.  The guys did their thing while us girls did ours.  The four of us girls played pool and talked.  I hadn't been out this way in a while and both Kristen and I had been so busy that we hadn't talked in what seemed like ages.  After about 4 games of pool the boys were ready to ride so we said goodbye to Kristen.  She and I agreed to not wait so long before hanging out again.  I hugged her and climbed onto the back of out Electra Glide Ultra Classic.  She commented that I was spoiled with my big comfy back seat.  I agreed that I was and with that we left.  We headed west on Munger road.  Our next stop was Akron.

The road was quiet and the weather was perfect.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  The farm land didn't offer a ton to look at but that meant I could make faces at Cindy and her at me.  As we pulled up to the Iron Horse we realized just how perfect the day was for riding.  There were motorcycles everywhere.  While most of them were Harleys there was a wide range of brands from Yamaha to Kawasaki to Suzuki and others too.  We decided to hang out on the porch this time.  It was too nice to be inside.  We visited with the other riders some of whom we knew.  When we decided it was time to head back towards Kingston, Scott and Dan said they were heading the other direction along with Bob and Stacey.  However, there was a group that we knew that wanted to join us on our ride back to Kingston.

As we prepared to leave I looked at the amount of people getting ready and realized that our little group wasn't going to be little amymore, even with the loss of 4 motorcycles.  As the motorcycles fired up the roar was so intense that it gave me chills.  I love the sound of a bunch of bikes running.  As we began to roll out the rumble grew as did my excitement.  Turning on to Akron road our friends that were parting us turned the opposite direction.  Our much larger pack rumbled on towards Kingston and I took several pictures.  We took an outside route around Caro to avoid the majority of the traffic.  As we rolled down Deckerville road the trees provided something for the sound to bounce off of intensifying the rumble of the engines.  I was in my happy place with the wind in my face and the rumble of the bikes.

We arrived in Kingston at Kingswood Outfield to a similar situation.  There were bikes everywhere and our group added that much more.  If we would have been in cars, they would have been running out of parking.  Fortunately for us, there were only a few cars, leaving us enough room for the entire group to park.  The patio out back was an entirely different situation.  It was standing room only.  We found a table inside and ordered some burgers.  Once we had finished eating we joined the crowd on the back patio.  We stayed for a while and when the crowd started to thin out we decided it was time to be on our way.  Bob and Stacey had texted our group text and let eceryone know they made it home safe.  Everyone else from our group had either left already or was staying, so we said our good byes and headed home.  Today was a great day.