Our starting point for the ride began at the European Motorcycles of Western Oregon BMW dealership. The friendly staff had coffee and pastries available.  The riders participating were Tim Cruse - a new member, Butch Farrand, Clarence Story and myself. The route consisted of Oak Patch Road, W 18th Ave., Bailey Hill Road, Gimpl Hill road and winding around through Erickson, Doane, Briggs, Spencer Creek, Fox Hollow and eventually going down to Creswell and Cottage Grove via Hwy 99. But it gets better as you can see from the map above.

Along the ride we saw wild turkeys, deer, cattle, horses and even a cat who tried to use up one of its nine lives. Then there were the turkeys who thought they could take over the Cottage Grove-Lorraine Highway by creating a road block with 8 of their bravest. Here is an interesting factoid: A group of wild turkeys is called a flock, whereas a group of domesticated turkeys is known as a rafter or gang. For most of the year, these flocks are comprise at least 30 turkeys. So it would seem to me that the remainder of the flock was on the sideline wondering what was going to happen next. Were the 8 brave turkeys going to be mowed down or were they going to cause these motorcycle riders to wish they had chosen a different road.  As it turned out, through the quick reflexes of the 1st and 2nd riders, there were no casualties. The turkeys scrambled to the side of the road to await their next chance and the riders continued on safely.