Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Tuesday started off with breakfast between 6:30 - 8:00 am. Breakfast and dinners were provided each day by the staff of Lake Francis Resort. At 8:00 am, Woody was giving us the 15 minute signal with her air horn to get the bikes staged and ready to go! Let me tell you, that woman can use an air horn!

The morning was a bit chilly, but again, weather.com predicted temperatures in the mid 80's, so I was dressed in layers, prepared for the warm weather. There were 3 groups of bikes -- Early Detection (the "go fast" group), Self Exam (the mid-speed group) and Research Rules (the slower group). Each rider elected which group they wanted to ride in. I went with Self Exam and rode with some great riders. Our first stop was a fish hatchery in Oroville, CA. This hatchery had the biggest salmon I have ever seen! The temperature rapidly warmed up and soon, I was down to my t-shirt and vented jacket for riding. After admiring the fish, we were off to the town of Quincy where we would have our lunch and the Medallion passing ceremony.

The roads were absolutely beautiful and the leader of our group, Jack, did a great job. Along the route, we had "blockers" and "pointers". The blockers would block traffic at various intersections so we could all stay together and the pointers would point out corners where we needed to turn or freeway exits so nobody got lost.

In Quincy, the owner of the local deli donated lunches for all 50 riders. After a great sandwich, we had the Medallion passing ceremony on the steps of the courthouse. There is no way you can get through one of these ceremonies with dry eyes. Each rider who receives a piece of the Medallion states why they are riding. There is Carol who is riding in memory of her husband Bill, who died of breast cancer (yes, men get breast cancer, too). There is Mike who learned to ride a motorcycle this past summer and is riding in memory of his wife, Deanna, who died of breast cancer. There is Bev who is herself a survivor of breast cancer. So many people with so many touching stories.

After Quincy, we headed to the town of Downeyville for ice cream. We rode along Highway 49 which is a beautiful road. You can't buy scenery like this. After gorging ourselves on ice cream, we headed back to the town of Dobbins, where Lake Francis is located.

After dinner that evening, there was a tattoo contest. Many riders had beautiful tattoo's and stories that went with them. Mike has one in memory of his wife, Deanna. Gramps has a beautiful one of 2 mermaids which symbolizes her relationship with her partner and the pain and suffering she went through losing several close family members. Grumbles has a beautiful one of the pink ribbon symbol with "Sisters of Scota" across it and "Riding for a Cure" under the ribbon. It was a difficult decision to pick a winner, but in the end, Gramps with her mermaids took home the honors.