June 9

It had to happen. Deep down inside, we knew we were due. Time was not on our side. We tried to keep it out of all of our conversations. But… we woke up to a rainy day. Tears came to our eyes. Well ok, not really. But after the storm that blew over last night, I honestly thought that we were in the clear. Oh well, welcome to Missouri guys! The good news is that we were only a couple of minutes from our next stop at Larry’s Motorsports here in Jefferson City. The time spent in the saddle yesterday paid off.

We met with the store Owner Larry Neil and he introduced us to his staff and then proceeded to show us around his facility. His store is quite large and has a very good service reputation.

Even though it was raining outside we still had folks come in and say hi and talk to us about the ride, Honda history and the Honda Riders Club of America.

We met with Steve Ridenhour who started up the HRCA chapter at Larry’s and was the founding President. Also stopping by was Kathy Carew who has worked in the chapter as the secretary. Kathy is relatively new to riding motorcycles but her passion in riding is quite apparent when you talk to her!

Tom McNeil was also at the store along with others that we chatted with about our ride, Honda motorcycles and the history of Honda motorcycles in the United States.

A group of us went to lunch and after words, Larry joined us on his ST1300 and gave a quick tour of Jefferson City, which is the capital city of Missouri. We stopped by the capital building and Larry explained that the original building burned down in 1917. The new building was modeled after the Nations Capital building in Washington DC.

Larry also joined us for about twenty miles in the rain as we headed east on Rt. 94. It was nice to have Larry take some time out his busy schedule to join up with us! This road leaving Jefferson City was the most pleasurable since we left New Mexico (“And that ain’t no $#%^” according to Mike!). The road follows the Lewis and Clark Trail and was a wonderful ride through a mixture of rolling hills, sweeping turns and tight curves. Hard not to smile even when the skies are gray and roads are wet!

We stopped by the actual trail that Lewis and Clark traveled and explored a bit but we gave up pretty fast! Mike (OK, me too!) ran out of steam and tried figure out a faster way back to our bikes.

After a few more miles on the bikes, we the headed Southeast on Rt. 100, which was another nice piece of pavement as well. We crossed a bridge over the Missouri river in the small town of Herman that was about ¼ of a mile long.

Our First Gear rain suits kept us plenty dry in the weather but I started to feel all of my old race wounds start to raise their hands in the form of joint pain. Some of the roads we had been over in Kansas were pretty rough and when we got to Interstate 44 for a few miles Mike said that the biggest thing he missed from his modern bikes was the improved suspension. The SuperHawk is a little weak in that area and when we ride on a rough road, it goes right through us! We rode right into St. Louis where we will meet tomorrow (Thursday June 10^th) with Dave Larson and the folks at Dave Mungenast Honda.

Oh, one final thing for this evening.

We were checking our emails (they keep pouring in!) and one came to us that truly made our day. We mentioned Meeting Mike Evans while we were at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute at the beginning of our ride. Mike rode a CA77 Dream 305 about 60 miles to meet us at MMI. We did not mention that Mr. Evans lost his wallet while at school during the festivities and it was a true bummer. We all felt that the wallet was surely gone forever but just when you think that there is no good left in the world you get Whacked up side the head with goodness! Here is some of the text from Mr. Evans’ email to us:

Howdy Mike & Ed from "Dreamy" Arizona. I know you guys are super busy, but I had to tell you about this. If you'll remember, I lost my wallet at MMI. I noticed it after the fun festivities. Having to drive away from there without my wallet, which included (a lot of) cash and all the other stuff you hate to loose. Long story short, I received a notice from my bank Monday, my credit card was reported found at MMI. When I called MMI, I was told the wallet, credit cards and cash was turned in by a student in Eric Bartosky’s (Hontech Chief Instructor) class. Two hours later, I was shaking hands with Chad Ronaldson, an honest man. It is rare to hear happy
endings in these stories, but more important my faith has been restored in today's society all because of an honest man named Chad Ronaldson. The folks at MMI worked very hard to find me. This is all part of your "ride to remember" that I will never forget!

I have enjoyed following you guys on your trip across the U.S.A. and will stay tuned. (Some of it is pretty funny stuff) I've met the nicest people on a Honda, and I know some honest people at MMI.

Mr. Evans, this is a part of our Ride to Remember that we will not forget either!

It is wonderful to know that MMI has such great students attending the school!

Till next time…