A Fairly Cruddy Slimey Crud Café Racer Run
You know people really love an event when they turn out for it even knowing the weather may be pretty, well, cruddy.
That was the case with the fall running of the Slimey Crud Café Racer Run that slogged through some wet weather on Sunday, October 7 here in Southern Wisconsin.
With the forecast calling for chilly, wet weather for the day with temps only in the mid-fifties and rain to be falling off-and-on all day over the entire region, you’d anticipate attendance might fall and fall it did.
That said, having a couple hundred riders turn out in Pine Bluff seemed to show a certain devotion to the event.
Going back to the early days of the Slimey Crud Motorcycle Gang itself, the event was hatched as an informal, non-commercialized gather of riders in Pine Bluff, Wis., with a non-scheduled, non-scripted and non-prescribed route, non-group ride from there to Leland, Wis., in Sauk county. It has remained true to that rider-oriented format to this day.
To be honest, over the many years I’ve done the Crud Run, the weather has been kind to the riders on an amazingly high percentage of the first Sunday and first Sunday in October gatherings.
Looking back on it, I can only recall one October gathering where precipitation—in the form of snow—really was a bit of an issue. But even on that day, the snow didn’t go on long and if I recall correctly, by the time the day was winding down, the sun even came out. It was still pretty cold, but the sun was shining.
On this fall day, I rode with my long-time riding buddy, Dean Massoglia who came down from his place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to ride his Honda VTX1300 from my place in Lone Rock about 40 miles to Pine Bluff in a light rain when we left that quit after a few miles and resumed when we got to Pine Bluff. Much to my surprise, there were quite a few hardy souls already there.
After finding another of our long-time riding pals, Tony Fransen, there with his Honda V65 Sabre, we circulated among the faithful, checked out some bikes, and retired to the Red Mouse for a burger, beverage and to get in out of the light rain, now up a notch from sprinkling.
As the Packers vs. Lions football game came on the air on the lounge TVs, the rain ramped up to a steady drenching. We watched the first half of the game and finally decided we would be riding in the rain, no matter where we went. So, off we went, meandering the back roads—on the way home.
October 2018 Slimey Crud Rally: Photo Gallery
