Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 47 minutes, average speed: 12.7
Dennis and I spent some time greeting riders as they registered and prepared to ride the Friday route created by Bill Hauda, rally organizer. After visiting a bit, we set off on the route with new friends Tom and Annette Esser. Dennis and Ingrid also joined our happy little group. As we neared the town of Cross Plains, the Essers informed us that their relatives had a small brewery in town and asked if we'd like to stop in for a visit--"of course we would" was the reply from all. Tom's cousin, Larry, spent some time telling us the history of Esser's Best Brewery and all was quite interesting. Larry is the 6th generation of Essers in the beer business which was started by his great...grandfather George Esser in 1863 on the same property it is on now. Larry was a very gracious host and provided this thirsty group with beer to sample. We said goodbye to Larry and found our way back onto the mapped route.
Dennis and I spent some time greeting riders as they registered and prepared to ride the Friday route created by Bill Hauda, rally organizer. After visiting a bit, we set off on the route with new friends Tom and Annette Esser. Dennis and Ingrid also joined our happy little group. As we neared the town of Cross Plains, the Essers informed us that their relatives had a small brewery in town and asked if we'd like to stop in for a visit--"of course we would" was the reply from all. Tom's cousin, Larry, spent some time telling us the history of Esser's Best Brewery and all was quite interesting. Larry is the 6th generation of Essers in the beer business which was started by his great...grandfather George Esser in 1863 on the same property it is on now. Larry was a very gracious host and provided this thirsty group with beer to sample. We said goodbye to Larry and found our way back onto the mapped route.
We reached Middleton in time to meet up with the rest of the herd enjoying the Capital Brewery. Our jersey choice for today's ride, Leinenkugel's, caused many to mark us as traitors but we never thought we'd find ourselves at 2 competing breweries when we made this choice. While visiting with other riders, the topic of food came up. The Essers suggested the Quaker Steak and Lube and since they are local to the area, we accepted their advice and called ahead to hold seating for 8 couples arriving around 8:00 p.m. I planned that right down to the number as 16 of us walked into the restaurant at 8:00 sharp. The business was themed to represent an old lube station with memorabilia throughout--a real treat for all. Couples in attendance were the Johnsons, Essers, Whites, Hughes, Browns, Petersons, Millers and the Veerkamps. We had a wonderful time and made it back to the hotel and into bed by 10:00 p.m. to rest up for a long day of riding ahead. Today's ride almost did not take place as the skies at one time were threatening rain. It was cloudy throughout the ride but no rain came making it a very enjoyable 20+ miles.
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