From Willow Valley, the riders shot back to Shoals for lunch at a Main St. cafe. After
lunch, East River Road was taken from Shoals in order to follow the White River. To continue
along the river, it was necessary to go up through Martin State Park and travel on a gravel road the
rest of the way to Williams Covered bridge. The ride continued south on SR 450 to Trinity Springs
where it was possible to ride along the west side of the river on McBride's Bluff Road. This road
offers a great view of the river and the huge rock cliffs.
By then, it was time for some ice cream at Shoals. Rick then navigated the ride down SR 150 to
West Baden and then around the back side of French Lick. Finding some more twisty roads in Dubois
County, Rick managed to worm his way to Sugar Ridge and then on to SR 68 towards Lynnville. What
happened next will be forever remembered in the annals of local motorcycle lore. Somewhere on SR
68 a guinea hen flew across the road just in front of Rick's GS. Then, in a flash, another guinea
hen tried the same trick. What can only be described as an explosion of feathers, the second hen
T-boned the side of Rick's bike and met her demise. As Rick began to look down at his motorcycle to
determine what had just happened, the dead bird fell off the bike and rolled down the road like a Tootsie
Roll; its little head connected to its body by a featherless neck the size of a soda straw. At
Lynnville, an examination of the bike revealed blood splattered on the telelever, feathers stuck to the
crash bars, and the remains of scorched feathers etched into the exhaust pipe. It was determined
that due to the current economic conditions and the shortage of chicken feed, the guinea hen had indeed
committed suicide. It was an unfortunate way to end an otherwise great day of riding the back roads
of Martin County. |
