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ICOA
2001 Ohio Regional Rally
August 9 thru 12, 2001 |
Hosted by: Paul & Sonya
Jaslovsky
Written by: Dennis McCartney
Assisted by: Jeff Bennetts
For the first time the ICOA
visited the beautiful city
of Marietta, Ohio. Situated
at the very southeastern
corner of the state, Marietta
is an old river town bordered
on the south by the mighty
Ohio River and on the west
by the Muskingum River.
Marietta was settled in
1788 and is named in honor
of Queen Marie Antoinette
of France to acknowledge
her support of the American
Revolution.
Sixteen members and their
families stayed at the Econo
Lodge on the edge of town
where the owner kindly allowed
us to park under the entrance
roof and provided us with
clean up towels each day
to spruce up the bikes. We
needed them because the weather
was less than cooperative.
Susan and I drove in Thursday
night thru a whopper of a
thunder and lightning storm.
We still managed to arrive
in time for a great parking
lot b.s. session held underneath
the entrance canopy that
lasted till 1 AM.
After a good nights sleep
we joined a group that went
for a late breakfast at the
historic Lafayette Hotel
downtown. After that a group
went across the river to
take a tour of the Fenton
Glass Factory where they
still make glass the same
way they did 100 years ago.
Its neat to watch the workers
literally take sand and silica
and cook it and then shape
it. You get a great close
up tour and even though the
temperature was well over
100 in the plant it was still
a good tour. Speaking of
temperatures a group ride
for Friday had been planned
but with temps in the low
90’s and the humidity
over 100% the consensus was
that we adjourn to the pool
for the day. Friday we were
scheduled to go to dinner
downtown then head over to
the Lafayette for an evening
of Zydeco Swamp Stomp Music & Dancing.
Zydeco music is a combination
of blue grass and jazz and
the dance part of it is a
variation of the old two
step. Once again the weather
did not cooperate because
right at the time we were
getting ready to head back
downtown another lightning
storm occurred. Those of
us without four wheel transportation
were forced to go next door
to Damons for a rib dinner.
The storm was so bad it knocked
out power briefly and after
the hour or two we had spend
at Damons waiting for the
storm to pass most of us
missed the Stomp. Those that
did make it down there said
it was great fun. The evening
was capped off by some entertainment
from one of our own, Chuck
Ewing. It seems Chuck is
a pretty talented singer
and performs wherever Karaoke
is available. A group of
us wound up at a Karaoke
bar just outside of town
and by the end of the evening
the bar was resonating to
the sound of cheering “Chuck!
Chuck! Chuck!“ by all
the locals. What a great
time!
On Saturday morning the
weather finally became tolerable
and we were off for our group
ride thru the twisty mountain
roads of southeastern Ohio.
Dave McMunn brought his son
Kyle for his first CBX rally
ride and Susan and I took
Jeff Bennetts’ son
Tyler in our sidecar. First
timers also included Dexter
Jernigan from Washington
D.C. Lunch was so far out
in the country you’d
have needed a search party
to find us. Paul and Sonya
took us to French restaurant
called the Big Chimney about
15 miles outside of Athens,
Ohio. The place is in an
old coal mining area and
the restaurant was actually
the wash house/payroll office
and locker room for the miners
with the mine entrance being
about a 100 yards away. A
nice young couple have taken
over the building and serve
wonderful French pastries
and other specialties. Lots
of us approached the idea
of having lunch at a French
pastry restaurant with some
real hesitation but think
about it: You can get a burger
and fries anywhere in the
country. How many opportunities
do you get to go to a French
restaurant? We had a great
meal sitting outside at umbrella
tables. The owner is a rider
(BMW1100GS) and spent some
time checking out the CBX’s
and chatting with us. What
a great pick for a lunch
spot!
The ride continued from
there and now the heat and
humidity started to really
crank up again so there were
lots of “water breaks” on
our return to Marietta.
All in all a great ride. Dinner that night was at neat restaurant
downtown called Oliver’s followed by evening b.s. session
at the motel pool.
A grand total of 17 CBX
owners attended with their
familes for a group total
of about 25.
Long Distance Award: William
Wells from Chicago. IL
2nd Place: Rick
Pope from Indiana
Honorable Mention: The
Gutshalls and ourselves.
(425 miles in the rain!)
Injury Report: None
although there were some
close calls in the parking
lot when Paul Jaslovsky got
out his recumbent style bicycle
built for two and various
members took turns trying
it out. Yikes! Best style
points for a close call go
to Mike Brown. Saved it from
hitting a pole but it was
close!
Incident Report: None.
Smooth sailing this time!
Treasurers Report: Paul
and Jeff collected enough
to cover refreshments and
the insurance premium.
Riders Comments: Marietta
is a great place to visit!
What a neat town. Why is
it so hot? How can those
guys at the Fenton Glass
Factory work in this heat?
“Never thought you’d catch me eating French food!” Does anybody
have a spare rain suit?
Dennis
Remember: Four wheels move
the body, two wheels move
the soul......
Member ICOA-International
CBX Owners Association
Member HSTA-Honda Sport Touring Association
Member Turbo Motorcycle Owners Club
Member Honda Riders Club of America
Member IXXRA-International XX Riders Association
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