Biker Cake and Whipped Cream

I’ve started seeing a number of magazine articles and references to Sturgis which made me reminisce about my great trip last year.

At the Broken Spoke Saloon in Sturgis, SD there’s an area off to the left of the musical stage that has some creamy fun-do entertainment for bikers.  It’s also a great way to meet the hard working ‘staff’ while indulging a sweet tooth.

The Reddi-wip® story is how real whipped cream was created in 1948 by Aaron “Bunny” Lapin, an inventor from St. Louis, who gained national distribution for his invention in 1954. Originally delivered door-to-door by milkmen and was an instant hit with consumers because of its quality ingredients, convenience and fun.

Amazingly, those same fun principals hold true in 2008 just as they did in 1948! 

As you can clearly see in the photo (left), a member of our posse in Sturgis fully enjoyed the technical marvels of the aerosol propellant (nitrous oxide) turning cream with 30% or more fat into real whipped cream in every squirt. 

The staff at the Broken Spoke Saloon are ONLY there to observe and help control the amount of calories per serving…wouldn’t want to over indulge the taste-buds with this low-calorie treat and balloon the waistline so she is doing her part to help bikers!  The laughing resulted in sharing a strawberry shortcake snack idea…

Do you need to improve your aim and get some real cream squirt practice before Sturgis 2008?  Then squirt the clown and win the mouth full game!

Reddi-wip photo courtesy of ConAgra Foods

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Motorcycle Safety – Oregon Incidents

I got a report back from some of the guys who did a ride out on the coast last Saturday and were on Hwy 26 just East of Elsie. As it was relayed to me…

…a large group of bikes were heading out (appeared together) when traffic came to a sudden stop.  The lead bikes stopped, those in the middle did not… starting a chain reaction crash.  Bikes were hitting the ditch, crashing into one another and bodies flying.  We were close enough to see bodies rolling past our riding group who were East bound, but fortunately none came into the East bound lane creating an accident for us.  We stopped and slowed the on-coming traffic to avoid more wrecks.  Most of the bikers got up, walked away, and picked up their bikes.  A couple (guy/gal) needed medical attention and waited for an ambulance…Eastwood quote. 

It’s discouraging when summer weather brings out all the motorcycles and then we learn about increasing accidents…especially accidents that are preventable like this one.  I wasn’t there and don’t know all the circumstances, but there can’t be many reasons for bikers following close and having inadequate time to react/stop.

With just a little investigation I found a lot of motorcycle accidents in Oregon during the past 3 months. Visit the Oregon State Police (OSP) site and you’ll see what I mean.  No, I don’t work in a personal injury law-firm that handles motorcycle accidents, but if you go to the site and read through some of the accident information you’ll obviously note that any rider is just asking for trouble when you ride a motorcycle – on the freeway at 164 mph or a city street – at speeds anywhere near 100 mph.

It’s somewhat morbid, but in the interest to make people STOP and THINK the below list is information that I was able to scrub off the OSP data base for the last 3 months:

1. 06/28/2008 – Truck Loses Load of Hay Resulting in Critical Injury of Motorcyclist
2. 06/25/2008 – Motorcyclist Injured Avoiding Deer on H-97 / Safety Reminders about Wildlife on Highways (1992 HD)
3. 06/20/2008 – Portland man arrested following high speed Motorcycle pursuit in Eugene area
4. 06/19/2008 – Serious Injury Motorcycle / Dump Trailer Crash – O’Neil Highway east of Redmond
5. 06/15/2008 – Fatal Traffic (Motorcycle) Crash – H-101 near Winchester Bay (2007 HD)
6. 06/14/2008 – Double Fatal Motorcycle Crash – Highway 97 south of Biggs Junction (2003 HD)
7. 05/27/2008 – Fatal Traffic Crash – Highway 229 north of Siletz (1999 Honda)
8. 05/18/2008 – Woman Dies in Motorcycle Crash North of Florence
9. 04/18/2008 – Service Station Attendant’s Call Helps OSP Find and Arrest Eluding Motorcyclist (1992 Suzuki)
10. 04/17/2008 – Eugene Man Arrested for Reckless Driving; Camera Shows Speeds up to 164 MPH (2007 Honda CBR)
11. 04/12/2008 – Fatal Traffic Crash – SW Culver Highway in Madras (1981 Honda)
12. 04/12/2008 – Fatal Traffic Crash – Highway 101 north of Florence (2007 Baron 150cc)
13. 04/11/2008 – Fatal Motorcycle Crash – Parkway Road near Jasper in Lane County (1997 Honda)

As motorcycle riders we are all aware of the inherent dangers and risks that we take when we head out to enjoy a good ride. These dangers and risks become all too apparent when we are faced with situations like some of my fellow riders did this past weekend who came upon the accident in Elsie. 

If you’re feeling a little unsure, a great way to start out the riding season is to take an MSF course which is an intensive two or three day classroom and riding course supervised by expert riders. Or if you’re a veteran be a life-long learner and take a refresher course.

Ride safe and be careful out there!

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