Ducati Omaha Customer Appreciation Ride
Sunday August 13, 2006

It was supposed to be a nice ride through the Loess Hills.........  and then.......

Ducati Omaha owners Clayton, Shun, Jarel & Shari, along with 15 customers met at the shop between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. and consumed some donuts, bagels and coffee, watching the radar closely on the computer.  A line of storms moved through about 8:00 a.m. and it "appeared" from the radar that this would be the tail end of a line of thunderstorms moving through the area.  We decided to head out behind the storm, hoping for nice clear weather for the ride.  We got a few sprinkles on our way to the first waypoint in Crescent, IA, where we stopped for fuel.  We then headed out east into the hills.  A few more sprinkles, and then as we headed north the sun was visible and we actually got some dry roads.  But ominously hanging on the western horizon were the dark clouds.........  By the time we were at our farthest point out from Omaha that our route would take us, the skies opened up and unleashed buckets of driving rain.  This made visibility very poor and soaked everyone without rain gear on (pretty much everyone).  By the time we stopped in Pisgah, IA to regroup, we were beyond soaked, but spirits remained high in spite of the weather.  As we headed south to Missouri Valley, IA, the driving rain continued relentlessly.  In Missouri Valley, it was raining so hard that the streets were flooding and we had to ride through a 2-foot deep "lake" to get onto Hwy 30!  We stopped for fuel once more on the outskirts of Mo Valley, and the other customers at the truck stop must have thought we were an escaped group of mental patients!  We decided to stick to our original planned route home to avoid riding on I-29 in the heavy rain.  The group split up into 3 sub-groups at that point, with a couple stragglers who decided at the last minute to get fuel before continuing.  The rain was relentless for the last 30 miles home, and by the time we all made it to our planned lunch venue at Fox & Hound Pub in Omaha around noon, we were very wet and very tired, but somehow still smiling.  The staff at Fox & Hound wasn't quite prepared for a group of 19 people all wanting coffee on a Sunday afternoon!  We had a nice lunch and lots of laughs about our weather misfortune and all vowed to do it again, hopefully in the dry next time.  The route we took showed lots of promise as a great ride, with nice twisty roads and pretty rural scenery.  We'll get the next ride on the calendar soon!  THANK YOU to everyone who braved the storms to make a memorable day, we won't soon forget it!