A few weeks ago I traveled with some friends to Lewistown, PA to participate in the Cruise for a Cure ride hosted by the Touring Friends Motorcycle Club.  The event was aimed to raise funds for the local Relay For Life Team that supports cancer research.  For anyone who does not know, the Touring Friends M.C. are a group of people from the Lewistown area who love to ride and are very into supporting local charities. Their leader, Skip, knows how to have a good time and help the community while doing so.  Be sure to watch for their events here on Ride Wide Open, along with pictures, and help them out when you can. You can also get more info on Touring Friends M.C. by looking them up in the RWO Club Directory.  Now onto to the ride......

            The weather for this ride could not have been better.  Nice sunny skies,  temperatures that were far from too hot or too cold, but just right, and perfect for a day of riding.  The ride began at the Brooklyn Fire Company, in Lewistown, PA.  Scattered throughout the parking lot were about 50 bikes and many folks that were ready to ride.  Shortly after arriving,  the bikes and riders were gathered and together the group started out for what was thought to be a calm and pleasant 90 mile ride.  Little did we know at this point that calm wouldn't be the case.

            The last leg of the ride brought us back into Centre County over the "Seven Mountains" and headed east on Rt.45 in Centre Hall.  So far so good.  My girlfriend and I are situated in the middle of the group when just before Woodward Camp,  I abruptly noticed there was a blank look in my rearview mirror as the rest of the group had disappeared.  You can just imagine the thoughts running through my head... Who went down?  Please don’t be hurt real bad.  How can I help?  All of these thoughts and more ran through my mind as I quickly pulled over and headed back to see what happened.

            About two miles back, I come upon my friends along the road all huddled together.  I’m thinking the worst at this time.  Now here is how the "calm"  part of the ride dissipated.  Shortly after looking into the situation,  I find out that a couple of my buddies decided to play Horseshoes along the way. Yeah, Horseshoes.
            You see, one of the bikes in the group had ran over a loose horseshoe on the road. The horseshoe then flew back and hit another rider in the ankle, proceeded to strike his primary cover, and lastly flew high in the air and right past another buddies head. The rider who was hit in the ankle, we will just call "Lucky" for the sake of this story.

            Lucky, so to speak, managed to get his bike off to the side of the road without dumping it, then quickly jumped off and fell down in the field screaming in pain. When he was told what hit him he said that he just had to have that horseshoe.  A few of the guys gladly agreed to go back and get it, and just as they found it, an Amish buggy had picked it up off the road and continued on with it.  Well, the guys managed to chase the buggy down and explained they needed to have this horseshoe. With no objection, they handed over the horseshoe and rode back to the site and presented the horseshoe to Lucky.  I know I’m making light of this, but that’s just because Lucky really ended up not being hurt bad.  He was able to continue on the ride although he was in quite a bit of pain. However, I must add some insult to injury here as our friend Lucky had another minor incident.  As Lucky tried to point out some road kill on the road to the riders following him, he didn't manage to pick his foot up in time and actually kicked it... yes I said KICKED IT, which caused him even more pain!

            What should you take away from this story?  First of all, always be aware of the road your riding on and anything, and I mean anything, that might be on it. This could have turned out very bad, but luckily for our friend, he was lucky. All in all, it was a great day, with a good meal at the Brooklyn Fire Co. waiting for us when we got back.  I would like to thank Skip and his crew, the Touring Friends M.C., for a good time.  Lastly, it was also decided that no Horseshoe games are permitted on future rides.

Be Safe,  Scooter

For more photos of this ride, check out the RWO Cruise for A Cure Photo Gallery!

By Scott Weaver

Scott, aka Scooter, primarily provides articles of any nature.  Scooter is also a member of the America's Guardians PA2A Chapter and enjoys riding his purple Honda Goldwing.