March of Dimes Ride Iowa

I don't know if I can think of a better way of spending an 83 degree Saturday afternoon, then on a motorcycle. Which is exactly what I did, when I participated in the 1st Annual March of Dimes Ride Iowa this weekend. A $20 donation got you into the infield of the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa where they had live bands, vendors, beer, food and about 1200 bikes (participants).

My friend Wendell and I spent about 3 hours there, and then got lined up for the ride to Prairie Meadows Casino. We rode through the town of Newton, where the cops had intersections blocked off, so we could ride through stop signs, and stop lights the entire way. The people of Newton lined the streets, and waved to us as we rode by. It was a very cool moment to see the people of Newton smile, after the hard times they've been enduring lately.

The ride to the Casino was amazing. We went through the rolling hills of Iowa farm country and through small towns where people stood on their front porches and waved to us. My favorite part of the ride was when I would come to the top of a hill and see bikes for miles ahead of me, and miles behind me in my mirrors.

We arrived at Prairie Meadows, and took some time to look at more vendor merchandise, took a stroll through the bike show, and talked to a lot of very nice people who participated in the ride as well. We drew for door prizes, and I'll be darned if I didn't win a $25 gas card to Kum-n-Go. My lucky streak continues on making Charity Motorcycle Rides profitable.

I didn't want my luck to end there, so I went upstairs to kick back a few brews at the Blackjack table. I was getting up to about $140 in profit, and wanted to make an exit, but I had a feeling the cards were going to get even better. 3 losses in a row proved me wrong, and I picked up $110 in profit, cashed out, and headed for home at 6:00.

It was a great afternoon, and my only regret is that I didn't have my digital camera with me to take pictures of all the cool bikes and people that I met.