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Spring Outing to Dover Ohio and the Dandelion Wine Fest
On Friday May 5th Mosquito Beemer Riders congregated at Ernie and Susan
Conover’s house for the first ride of the year, a ride to Dover Ohio for the
Dandelion Wine Fest planed by Dick and Donna Beyerle In addition to Ernie
and Susan there was Tom Fear and Rose Morris, Cliff, Bret Betz, and his
friend Mark Kellermeyer. Mark is now our newest member. After coffee, gear adjustment
and bike ogling we set off down Rout 88 to Ravenna where we picked up 44
South. Route 44 is lightly traveled and fast through rolling terrain as far
as Louisville. After East Canton it becomes twisty in addition to rolling,
just the perfect road for motorcycles. At Waynesburg the group picked up
Routes 183 to 800 to 212 stopping for lunch at historic Zoar.
After a leisurely lunch and good camaraderie we took a back road to Dover. A
local repair shop directed us to Mathias BMW Cycle Sales & Service. This is
a very well stocked dealer with an excellent service reputation. They
instantly diagnosed a clunking noise in the rear wheel of Tom Fear’s LT. Not
only was it benign but very fixable. We all ogled the new GT, the HP2 and
the 1200GS Adventure. The highlight of the trip was a used /5 with a Jawa
side car. It had 20,000 original miles on it and grabbed Mark’s attention.
We met up with Dick and Donna Beyerle as well as John Weston at the Comfort
Inn. We all proceeded to dinner after which part of the group returned home.
The remainder held court until sleep precluded further discussion. In the
morning the group gathered at the Warther Carving Museum at 10:00 AM. The
museum is dedicated to the life work of the famous carver
“Mooney” Warther.
Ernie Conover is friends with the Warther family due to work he did for them
in 1992. The tour was conducted by Mooney’s grandson Mark Warther. The
Beemers got an inside tour and were able to see and touch things most groups
do not even get close to.
From there we cycled to the Breitenbach Winery which is four miles west of
the Comfort Inn. We enjoyed bratwursts, perogies and other tasty food to
live music. We all purchased wine to drink at the Motel that evening. Just
east of the Winery is Sugar Creek, dubbed “Little Switzerland” Ohio. The
area around Sugar Creek and Dover very much reminds one of the area around
Appenzell, Switzerland. And anyone knows the roads of Switzerland are
perfect for motorcycling. We were treated to circuitous, undulating terrain
that was just a blast to ride. Once back at the Motel John Weston and Ernie
Conover declared that now that they had learned the route it should be
ridden again. They proceeded to do so in reverse direction, banging it off
in about 25 minutes.
That evening a party of Pizza and the wine from the fest provided the
perfect backdrop for discussing all the events of the past two days. After a
good night’s rest the remaining riders motored back up Route 44 to home.
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