Lucas- Welcome Spring Ride
By Ronald Hampe RHampe@compuserve.com
What a break in the weather..Thursday Wichita had 11" of snow..Friday we
had 41 degrees and 20-35 mile an hour winds..Saturday
the weather forecast was for temperatures in the mid 40's with warmer
temperatures for Sunday..That is all the encouragement we needed..Phil
Schreck had hauled his SRX from Tulsa on Friday and unloaded it into the
garage anticipating the better weather..
We left my house arond 11:00 A.M. and headed to Hutchinson, Ks. to hook up
with Jack Robinson who is still a member of the working class..Jack closed
the shop at 1:00 P.M. and we headed for Lucas..Jack was breaking in his new
XR-600L, I was breaking in my new F-650 and Phil politely held the SRX down
so we could ride at break-in speeds. The weather was getting better by the
minute..Lucas is 172 miles from Wichita so the distance would have been
do-able if the weather would have stayed in the low 40's.
When we arrived in Lucas ther were already 16 riders giving us a bad time
for being late..Total riders at the event were twenty-one and everyone was
on a "Thumper"..We stayed at The Lucas Country Inn, and old 12 room hotel
with a great lobby area and tons of rual charm...The owner was not on the
premises when we all arrived..There was a note on the front dest with our
names, room numbers and informing us that the keys were in the doors..They
had gone out for the day and would see us that evening..The Rally Master had
never met the owners and all arrangements wer handled over the phone..Not
even a question asked even knowing that we were a group of
motorcyclists...Somewhat pleasant after some of the negative motel/hotel
stories we hear about the dificulty finding rooms when on a motorcycle..By
now the weather was in the high 40's and just fantastic for standing
outside the hotel and renewing old friendships and seeing who was riding
what ..We had a so-so dinner about 10 miles from the hotel and then back to
the main lobby for a story telling and joke session..We had a total riding
group of 21 plus about 6 people who four-wheeled in..No comments to those
who four wheeled in, we were just glad they were there..Sunday morning
broke with temperatures heading for the 50's...We had a brief meeting, the
traveling trophy was given to the rider who rode the furthest, 297
miles..Each year the trophy criteria is different , so no one will know
how it will be given away..The idea is to have fun..One year the trophy was
given to a regular participant that did not show up..Somewhat of a reminder
for the year on what he missed..( I still feel sheepish that my name is on
the trophy and I was not there, you can bet I will not miss another Spring
ride)..We rode down the rode and had a fantastic breakfast..Did some last
minute visiting, and planning for other FSSNOC rides we would have this
year and promises by everyone to be there regardless of the weather..Life
does not get much better than starting the riding season off with a
get-together of old friends.
Ride Safe....
Ron Hampe FSSNOC #1214 RHampe@compuserve.com
03/28/98