MAN, WHAT A LABOR DAY RIDE!! For those of you who have followed my writings, the beginning of this article may be a little redundant but, because you have been following my writings you know that redundancy is an integral part of being Woodsy – I write like I ride – back and forth, covering the same trail, making sure no one stays PERMANENTALY lost!
That being said, lets get started with this report….
Some of you will recall that last year, while riding with Randy, Larry and Young Ted, I “invited” another rider who I had met on the trail to continue our Monday ride with us as he was all alone (I am ALWAYS picking up stragglers). I had stopped on Kadie, introduced myself as Scott Barnhard from Ravenna and Dan introduced himself as Dan Smith from Chicago. After accepting my invitation to ride with us Dan and I rode and caught up with the others. Now, keep in mind that the others guys in my group had NO idea that I had stopped and talked to this new rider and at the first stop after he had ridden with us a ways I took FULL advantage to “pull the wool” over Teds eyes BIG TIME! I introduced Dan to him as “my good friend from Chicago”. Of course, Ted was TOTALLY confused – we left with 4, now have 5 and I am telling him that this new guy is a good friend from Chicago – I still laugh when thinking about the look on Ted’s face… Now to present day……
After that ride, Dan was SO impressed with most of us that he decided he would like to have us ALL get together at his summer cottage on Labor Day (yesterday) for a reunion ride. His wife, Sally, was going to cook breakfast for us and then, those that could were going to ride.
Being the honorable type that I am, I decided that I HAD to make this ride – besides, I LOVE food :moon:
Young Ted drove up from Chicago and met Larry, Randy and I at the Fremont exit off US-31. The 3 of them spent a few minutes making sure that I felt a warm “IWAACer” welcome and we proceeded to Dans cottage about 15 minutes north. We pulled in and another rider, who introduced himself to us as “Andy”, came out of Dans garage. Of course , Young Ted who happens to know EVERYONE said – “ANDY, what the heck are you doing here!!!”. Apparently Andy and Ted are fellow members of a group of riders out of Chicago – SMALL WORLD!!
We proceed down to the cottage where breakfast is already cooking (my internal compass may be broken but my sniffer works GREAT!!!). After intro’s we all sat down for a hearty breakfast.
While we were eating, Sally accidentally stumbled and fell. ALL of us jumped up to see if she was OK. She was unable to put pressure on her arms to roll over. After talking to her for a few minutes, we decided that it would be best to call the EMT’s in. The ambulance arrived shortly there after and we all SADLY watched as Sally was transported to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon :(
Of course, Dan went with her (even though she was INSISTANT that he stay and ride – WAY TO GO DAN!!). This left Larry, Randy, Andy and Ted as the days riders.
I agreed to haul a cooler of Gatorade up to Horseshoe for the riders. I stopped at Wesco in Fremont for some “trail food treats” for my buddies and continued over to the “Shoe”.
The new parking area at Horseshoe was empty when I pulled in. A few minutes later I heard Randy’s WR426 coming up the road, Andy came in behind followed by Ted and then Larry. The trails were pretty dusty but, by all the smiling faces I could tell that these guys didn’t care – they were having a RIOT! We sat in the parking lot, shared a few minutes of “trail tales”, drank Gatorade and ate the goodies.
The 4 of them headed up to Bitely for lunch. After I left the gang I decided to stop back over at Dans and see if Sally’s sister had heard anything. Of course there was no one there because Sallys sister had probably gone to the hospital to be with her sister – dahhh. I left Randy’s cooler on the trailer and headed home for drugs and sleep.
I awoke about 4:30 and the first thought that came into my mind was “I wonder how Sally is..”. I got up and my wife asked where I was headed. I told her I was going to go up and check on Sally and asked if she wanted to come along. Cheryl was not feeling well so she decided to stay home but completely understood my concern….
I was back at Dans around 5ish and noticed that Dans car was back.. I also noticed right away that Randy’s rig was gone but Young Teds van and Larrys rig was still there – hmmmmm. I walked down to the house, knocked on the door and a ladies voice said come on in..
There was Sally sitting on the couch with what appeared to be a straight jacket affect on her arms. I asked how she came out and she said she had broken BOTH arms right below the shoulders!! OH MY GOSH!!! She said that she was going to have to stay in a 24 hour health care home for a while – UNBELIEVEABLE!!! We chatted for a few minutes before she asked me if I knew that Ted had FALLEN!! I said – WHAT, I knew nothing about that!! We chatted just briefly about it – she didn’t know a lot about what had happened but they had gotten a call from the guys and Dan had taken Randy’s rig up to get Inca and Ted…
About that time I heard a noise out front and saw Randy’s Jeep pulling in. I went out to find Larry unloading the bikes, asked how Ted was and Larry said he was beat up pretty bad. I walked around Teds van and with one look KNEW he needed medical attention. Of course, Young Ted, not wanting to be a bother, was trying to convince me that he could just drive home!!!! I BEGGED him to let me take him in, I talked FIRM (like us riding buddies that REALLY care for each other can do when we have to) to him about ALL the times he had been there for me and how he had preached to me about needing to stay healthy.. FINALLY he agreed to let me run him in to Hackley Hospital..
The examining Doctor immediately found a broken collar bone and at least one broken rib WITHOUT an x-ray! The x-rays agreed with her diagnosis. Of course, Timers first question to me was “how long do you think I will be down from this – I sure hope I don’t hafta miss the Rendevous”. :worship:
Now here is a guy that is 76 years young, been up since 4 am, riding all day, in the hospital with 2 confirmed broken bones and HE WANTS TO KNOW HOW LONG HE’LL BE DOWN!!!! If anyone EVER asks me again why Young Ted del Solar is my hero I am going to wheelie over them!!!!!
Ted received an arm sling from the hospital and we WALKED arm in arm out the door – great riding buddys do that ya know!! :yeehaw:
We stopped at Meijers for some pain meds and I had one of their employees snap the attached photo of “the injured IWAACer and the injured IWAACed” together!!
I guess Randy and Andy had a GREAT ride the remainder of the day. Andy was at Dans when Ted and I picked up my car around 10:30 pm and he was just BEAMING from the trail fun Randy had shown him!! I gotta say though, with Sally sitting there with her 2 broken arms, Young Ted standing there with a broken collar bone and broken rib and me standing there in my back brace it was kinda difficult to say I was looking forward to next years reunion ride :think:
I am SURE that Young Ted will REALLY appreciate some well wishing and that Sally really needs your prayers/concerns too!
Dreamin and Steamin
Woodsy
That being said, lets get started with this report….
Some of you will recall that last year, while riding with Randy, Larry and Young Ted, I “invited” another rider who I had met on the trail to continue our Monday ride with us as he was all alone (I am ALWAYS picking up stragglers). I had stopped on Kadie, introduced myself as Scott Barnhard from Ravenna and Dan introduced himself as Dan Smith from Chicago. After accepting my invitation to ride with us Dan and I rode and caught up with the others. Now, keep in mind that the others guys in my group had NO idea that I had stopped and talked to this new rider and at the first stop after he had ridden with us a ways I took FULL advantage to “pull the wool” over Teds eyes BIG TIME! I introduced Dan to him as “my good friend from Chicago”. Of course, Ted was TOTALLY confused – we left with 4, now have 5 and I am telling him that this new guy is a good friend from Chicago – I still laugh when thinking about the look on Ted’s face… Now to present day……
After that ride, Dan was SO impressed with most of us that he decided he would like to have us ALL get together at his summer cottage on Labor Day (yesterday) for a reunion ride. His wife, Sally, was going to cook breakfast for us and then, those that could were going to ride.
Being the honorable type that I am, I decided that I HAD to make this ride – besides, I LOVE food :moon:
Young Ted drove up from Chicago and met Larry, Randy and I at the Fremont exit off US-31. The 3 of them spent a few minutes making sure that I felt a warm “IWAACer” welcome and we proceeded to Dans cottage about 15 minutes north. We pulled in and another rider, who introduced himself to us as “Andy”, came out of Dans garage. Of course , Young Ted who happens to know EVERYONE said – “ANDY, what the heck are you doing here!!!”. Apparently Andy and Ted are fellow members of a group of riders out of Chicago – SMALL WORLD!!
We proceed down to the cottage where breakfast is already cooking (my internal compass may be broken but my sniffer works GREAT!!!). After intro’s we all sat down for a hearty breakfast.
While we were eating, Sally accidentally stumbled and fell. ALL of us jumped up to see if she was OK. She was unable to put pressure on her arms to roll over. After talking to her for a few minutes, we decided that it would be best to call the EMT’s in. The ambulance arrived shortly there after and we all SADLY watched as Sally was transported to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon :(
Of course, Dan went with her (even though she was INSISTANT that he stay and ride – WAY TO GO DAN!!). This left Larry, Randy, Andy and Ted as the days riders.
I agreed to haul a cooler of Gatorade up to Horseshoe for the riders. I stopped at Wesco in Fremont for some “trail food treats” for my buddies and continued over to the “Shoe”.
The new parking area at Horseshoe was empty when I pulled in. A few minutes later I heard Randy’s WR426 coming up the road, Andy came in behind followed by Ted and then Larry. The trails were pretty dusty but, by all the smiling faces I could tell that these guys didn’t care – they were having a RIOT! We sat in the parking lot, shared a few minutes of “trail tales”, drank Gatorade and ate the goodies.
The 4 of them headed up to Bitely for lunch. After I left the gang I decided to stop back over at Dans and see if Sally’s sister had heard anything. Of course there was no one there because Sallys sister had probably gone to the hospital to be with her sister – dahhh. I left Randy’s cooler on the trailer and headed home for drugs and sleep.
I awoke about 4:30 and the first thought that came into my mind was “I wonder how Sally is..”. I got up and my wife asked where I was headed. I told her I was going to go up and check on Sally and asked if she wanted to come along. Cheryl was not feeling well so she decided to stay home but completely understood my concern….
I was back at Dans around 5ish and noticed that Dans car was back.. I also noticed right away that Randy’s rig was gone but Young Teds van and Larrys rig was still there – hmmmmm. I walked down to the house, knocked on the door and a ladies voice said come on in..
There was Sally sitting on the couch with what appeared to be a straight jacket affect on her arms. I asked how she came out and she said she had broken BOTH arms right below the shoulders!! OH MY GOSH!!! She said that she was going to have to stay in a 24 hour health care home for a while – UNBELIEVEABLE!!! We chatted for a few minutes before she asked me if I knew that Ted had FALLEN!! I said – WHAT, I knew nothing about that!! We chatted just briefly about it – she didn’t know a lot about what had happened but they had gotten a call from the guys and Dan had taken Randy’s rig up to get Inca and Ted…
About that time I heard a noise out front and saw Randy’s Jeep pulling in. I went out to find Larry unloading the bikes, asked how Ted was and Larry said he was beat up pretty bad. I walked around Teds van and with one look KNEW he needed medical attention. Of course, Young Ted, not wanting to be a bother, was trying to convince me that he could just drive home!!!! I BEGGED him to let me take him in, I talked FIRM (like us riding buddies that REALLY care for each other can do when we have to) to him about ALL the times he had been there for me and how he had preached to me about needing to stay healthy.. FINALLY he agreed to let me run him in to Hackley Hospital..
The examining Doctor immediately found a broken collar bone and at least one broken rib WITHOUT an x-ray! The x-rays agreed with her diagnosis. Of course, Timers first question to me was “how long do you think I will be down from this – I sure hope I don’t hafta miss the Rendevous”. :worship:
Now here is a guy that is 76 years young, been up since 4 am, riding all day, in the hospital with 2 confirmed broken bones and HE WANTS TO KNOW HOW LONG HE’LL BE DOWN!!!! If anyone EVER asks me again why Young Ted del Solar is my hero I am going to wheelie over them!!!!!
Ted received an arm sling from the hospital and we WALKED arm in arm out the door – great riding buddys do that ya know!! :yeehaw:
We stopped at Meijers for some pain meds and I had one of their employees snap the attached photo of “the injured IWAACer and the injured IWAACed” together!!
I guess Randy and Andy had a GREAT ride the remainder of the day. Andy was at Dans when Ted and I picked up my car around 10:30 pm and he was just BEAMING from the trail fun Randy had shown him!! I gotta say though, with Sally sitting there with her 2 broken arms, Young Ted standing there with a broken collar bone and broken rib and me standing there in my back brace it was kinda difficult to say I was looking forward to next years reunion ride :think:
I am SURE that Young Ted will REALLY appreciate some well wishing and that Sally really needs your prayers/concerns too!
Dreamin and Steamin
Woodsy
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