Welcome to the official web page for the 1st Annual Windy Indy Road Trip.  

Being the first to arrive at the tourist information center in Indiana, I got to see all our bikes arrive. First up was Black Chrome and Mustang Sally, leading the pack then came., Early Bird, Tag Fran, Lori, John, Brianna, Rick, Stretch, Kim, Rev, Slick, and, Pat, AKA The Huntress (more later), Brian and Becky, Huge, Russ, Deadhead and Kelley, Skydiver and Cori and I should have brought a pen and paper to write all the names down. So I will apologize right now if I leave your name out, I'm sorry.

We left the visitors center at 10:30 on the head, 17 bikes, making our way down US 41. We had a nice ride with a Harley joining us for part of the way. It was pretty uneventful except for the mini van that wanted to ride in the same spot I was in. We arrived at Turkey Run State Park for lunch. As we pulled in we were blinded by the sun reflecting off something very clean and shinny, Jeff's bike, our beacon that lead us to Don Diehls (D2) and Jeff "Tusk" Saunders. (sorry Jeff, couldn't resist)

WARNING IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 PLEASE LEAVE NOW

We went to a titty bar!!! If you want to know what happen, next time you'll have to come with.

The next morning we awoke to sun and contemplated what to do. Deadhead and Kelley Belly, Early Bird and myself decided to fly North We headed up 37 to I 65 stopping in Frankfurt for fuel and Merrillville for lunch. We said goodbye to Richard as he took 94 to 294 and we continued on 90 to 41 and up lakeshore drive.

We saw a lot of Harleys heading south on our trip home. I realized they had the gay pride parade in Chicago on Sunday that must of been where they came from. (couldn't resist)

A great time was had by all!! We will do it again next year, and I urge everyone to attend.

New Nicnames:  Pat, Slicks wife, formerly Devilmaid is now the Huntress, this came about when she came out of the Hotel wearing a green camoflouge rain suit.  Kelley, Deadhead's SO wanted a nickname, She always wears belly shirts so she is Kelley Belly or just plain Belly.

Dan "Danimal" Harper
1998 1500 classic black 
VROC #3126

Follow-up posts by Windy Indy participants

Windy Indy - the Evil Version by Pat "Evil" Shea
BC, et al. What can I say!!! It was definitely my pleasure!!!!! You guys are great! First of all, I can't imagine a ride without BC. He is definitely "The Master of Ceremonies"! As far as working to hard at the BBQ, the only regret I have, actually two, is that I wasn't able to get the pictures and video that I wanted and, I wasn't able to spend more time talking to all of you. And, the weather didn't cooperate. I had planned a camp fire for us to sit around. I had a bunch of marshmallows w/sticks to burn them with, along with some fireworks. Oh well, next time. I've already started planning the next (2nd Annual) Windy/Indy ride. BTW, I don't know what I would've done without my son Chris to help me in doing this. I also want to thank Margot for coming up a day early to help prepare the BBQ. Isn't she great?! Slick added a lot. His enthusiasm is beyond compare! He put together a great route for this ride. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart. He's become a real good friend to me and I hope to ride a bunch more with he and his lovely wife Pat. Great people, all of you! And, then there's Cap'n Kirk, the "Rocket Man"! I didn't know that Kawasaki made a Vulcan 800 crotch rocket. <g> Thanks for helping with the shuttle Saturday night, and the chauffeuring to the local titty bar that followed. (Hope your wife doesn't read this.) (;-) Tony "Dragon's Blood" Wolfe, I want to thank you for all the blocking you did during our rides. Just a suggestion Rainman, invest in some goggles, rainsuit, helmet, jacket etc.!<g> Don't wanna see you like I did at the Big Foot north of Bloomington again! You looked like a drowned rat ready to catch pneumonia. (:-) Debbie (Mrs. Brillo), I hope that you're not discouraged from having your fall. We have all been there, done that and even have the T-shirt to prove it. It's all about becoming a biker. Don't sweat it, it'll get better with time. Hope that you're doing OK. As far as the rest of you is concerned, you are all #1 in my book. I want all of you to be back for the 2nd Annual Windy/Indy Ride!!!! We'll have to get some T-shirts made up for the next one. Hopefully, we'll have even more members at that ride. I will plan accordingly. I already know where we'll have our dinner. it will be at a place called Pic-A-Chic, which is on the southside of Bloomington. Also, the BBQ at my house will be catered!<g> Pic-A-Chic is a huge farm field with a huge shelter that accommodate two hundred people if needed. So we don't have to worry about the weather and it is reasonable in price. I had my daughter's wedding reception there last month, so I know this one. As a side note, my wife Bobbie (Mrs. Evil), had a nursing convention all weekend, including today and tomorrow. She was a speaker there and had to give a presentation, so she had to be there and while she was home, she had to prepare for her presentation. That's why you all didn't see much of her. Next time I hope she won't have any commitments to get in her way of having fun with us. The "Ride" turned out great in spite of the weather. Lake Monroe and Brown County were beautiful. State Road 446 was my favorite! I am very fortunate to live down here and am able to ride down here. We just barely touched upon the great roads and twisties. I think that next year should have two groups riding. One lead by Cap'n Kirk for all of you who want to do the "crotch rocket" ride and the other one to be lead by yours truly for the more relaxing ride. That's if you were pleased by my pace. let me know about this. In winding up, I want to thank each and every one of you for making this so successful! We couldn't have done it without any of you being there. it was a great group of great people. I am lucky to be associated with a group such as all of you. I hope that we have an even larger group for next year and maybe we can tack on an extra day, too! Thanks again! All of you have a safe riding season!
Sincerely, Pat

Indiana, Monsoons & Evil by Toad:
I'm back in Texas after a 16-hour ride back from Bloomington, IN. I went up last Sunday to make sure Evil (PJ Shea) was really okay after his little coronary episode. He said he was fine but all gringos lie and I wanted to make sure.
First of all, rain sucks. And heavy rain sucks hard. Kudos to Nelson-Rigg for their rain gear. I rode from St. Louis to Terre Haute in heavy stuff and stayed dry. It may not look like much but they do the job.
So I go to exit at Terre Haute to head toward Evil's in Bloomington. As I go to exit, I see a surly looking Harley type sitting on the shoulder at the exit. I slow down to ask if he needs help and he just motions me to keep on riding. Okay, fine. (Bear in mind that I had not ever met or seen a picture of Evil to this point).
I was supposed to call Evil when I exit there so he can meet me in between somewhere. Now I've been riding about 9 hours so I'm a little tired. I realize that I turned in a direction where there are no phones in site. As I pull over to turn around, the seedy-looking biker from the interstate pulls up behind me. (still didn't register). I tell him I'm going to Bloomington. He says follow me. (still didn't register). I say, I gotta find a phone. He asks, "Does your friend in Bloomington ride a piece of shit like you're on." Only then do I look at his bike and see that..."Damn, it's another A Model." Much more chrome and fringe than my humble BUBF, but still recognizable as an 88. (CLICK!!!) I do plan to get 'STOOPID'" tattooed on my forehead at the first opportunity. So, angina-boy, having had springs installed in his ticker four days prior, rides 50 miles to meet me. He has a great heart...No brains, but a great big heart. We ride to Bloomington here he introduces yet another scuzzy, road-dirt covered derelict to his wonderful wife, Bobbie. Bobbie is ACES. I just went up for a couple of days (I thought). I ended up staying longer and was made to feel warm and welcome the whole time. Evil's son Chris is a great kid and just as cool as his folks. Over the next few days, I got to see a few of the twisties in Indiana. Beautiful country. They have trees and rain, and lakes, and rain, and ground hogs, and rain, and Steak N' Shake. And, oh yeah, lots of rain. I thought I was doing a brotherly thing going up and entertaining Evil through his recovery. Recovery, my ass. He doesn't sit for more than 5 minutes at a time unless it's on his bike going somewhere. It turns out I'm the one who got the healing benefits from the trip. I was feeling a little down when I went up there (I am now a jobless Toad). But you can't be around Evil and feel bad for to long. I'm doing good and feeling better for having met my brother and done some good miles together. Thanks Evil. For those who don't know, he is just as crazy in person as he is online. He's a good dude and all, but he just ain't right.
Humbly, Toad V601 VN1500-A10 "1700 miles wiser, bad clutch and all."

Windy Indy with a sad ending by BlackChrome
First let me thank the organizers of the Windy Indy Run for a great weekend. I hope everyone arrived home safe. Sorry that Deb spilled her bike but hope she mends quick. "Slick".....you did a great job starting it off with a good meeting place, lunch at Turkey Run and route to Bloomington. A big thanks goes to you.
"Evil".... what can I say.... from opening your house with a great bar-b-que that you worked way to hard for....... to putting on a run through some great roads...even getting the weather to cooperate .... to ending up at a fun dinner with a good band and even running a shuttle service . The food was great, even though things took awhile. Remember, some things are out of your control, a group of our size is getting used to how hard it is to make all the pieces work. Evil ..... you did good. Big thanks to his son for stepping in to help with the cooking chores.
Also, thanks go out again to Cap'n Kirk for leading the evening "entertainment" run and helping out shuttling people. All in all it was a great run that I'm sure we'll all want to do again.
Riding back, the weather also glanced kindly at us with a beautiful day, but on our return home, we unfortunately found "Mustang Sally's 'first love" her 19 year old Blue Russian cat, "Stanley D" had passed away while we were gone. I'm sure Sally, Slspfleming@aol.com, would appreciate any words of support from animal lovers. She and I will miss the grand old man, "Stanley D."
~~~~Ride Safe~~~~ Don (BlckChrome) Soland, VROC #60,

Windy Indy by Brillo
I just want to say that Windy Indy was a great way for Deb and I to end our vacation. I had not committed to going until Thursday afternoon and called Evil who took it upon himself to go and reserve a room for us at the last minute. Thanks Evil! I think we were the only ones that had a whirlpool in our room. ;-) Also thanks to you, Bobbie and Chris for the Bar-b-que and all the other work you put forth. Slick I wish we could have rode down with you guys and went over the covered bridges, it sounded like you scared the shit out of some of the riders. hehehe They had a good time though! Cap'n thanks for your work and the cage ride to the Legion, you drive that cage the same way you ride your bike! Geeez two titty bar runs in 2 weeks! Does your wife know about this? ;-) I was glad to be able to meet some more of the WC group, but my mind doesn't let me remember most of the names. It was also good to see the guys and gals that I have already had the pleasure to meet. If it weren't for the VROCers that show for the rides they wouldn't be what they are, which is awesome! Riding in Brown County is some of the best riding I've seen and I'm sure I'll be back next year to ride some more roads we missed. As for the shopping in Nashville, it's a packrats heaven! ;-) On Saturday the weather pretty much went our way and we all got to ride. Deb dropped her bike in a 15 mph corner in the park and wedged it under the guardrail but with Ron, Ray, myself and a passing cager got it back out. I still can't believe it never got a scratch at all on it! Mine faired worse when I tried to park it without the stand on Friday. ;-P Just so everyone knows Deb rode like a true biker all the way home and is only a little sore and scratched from the experience. Thanks to all of you that showed you were truly concerned with a fellow VROCers well being, it shows me there still are real people out there. I almost forgot to tell BC thanks for the patchwork as well as your antics and like Evil said it would be hard to imagine an event without you there to party with! Hey Jeff when I got back and saw my email I see what you meant when you said my packing job would hold up on the way home. hehehe If I forgot anyone thanks to you also! Until the next event everyone ride safe!
Brillo & Deb...

Windy Indy by Huge
Glad the weather decided to cooperate for the rest of the weekend. Wish I could have stayed to enjoy it. What I did get to experience, I enjoyed. Thanks to Evil for the great hospitality on Friday night, and to Slick for the nice ride down. Sounds like I missed some nice riding, and some even nicer sights, from what I'm getting from the first few posts.
My ride home was an experience. Trying to beat the rain, I rode from fillup to fillup. I found out that when I keep the speed to between 70 and 75, the bike purrs like a kitten at better than 40 mpg, but when I kick it up to 80-85 to try to miss the storms to the east, the mileage goes all to hell (about 33 mpg), even with a tail wind. I made it to just north of Merriville in about 3 1/2 hours, but made a bad decision on where to pull off for gas. Couldn't get back on the highway there, and the detour to get back on took me through some of the finer neighborhoods of beautiful Gary, Indiana. Ran into a real fine mist at the state line, and finally pulled over under a bridge just as entered Chicago to put on the rain gear. By the time I got to the Dan Ryan, the rain started coming down steadily, and only got worse. Of course, that was nothing compared to the bumper to bumper traffic that crawled along at a blazing 15-20 mph pretty much until I got to the Highland House. The first 220 miles took me less than 4 hours to ride, but the last 60 or so took me over 2 1/2 hours to complete. You'd have thought there was a foot of snow on the ground the way everyone was driving. Finally walked in my door at 6:15, wet, sore, and beat to hell. I think I'm definitely going to have to get some kind of gel pad or similar device if I'm going to make it to Colorado and back for V2K.
Huge

The Real Version of Windy Indy by Skydiver JJ
Alright my Brethren, Here's the real skinny on Windy Indy: 1) Indiana has some incredibly beautiful roads to ride. I'll never knock that state again.....at least not until the Bulls can kick the shit outta the Pacers again. The town of Nashville was perfect. A pretty ride to the town, tussy-fussy shopping for my wife, a bike that cannot carry anything big.....thus preventing her from doing any real shopping damage, a leather store for real purchases, and a pretty ride out the other side of town!!!! What else could a married couple ask for?
2) All the group rides, and little off shoot rides were great. No pressure, no hassles. Everybody rode like responsible and considerate. Makes my little weekend rides with friends look like a clusterfuck. Cori (my wife....without a nickname yet) got a real blast outta riding in formation. She felt like she was in a parade. When our blockers stopped traffic she asked me,"Is that legal?" I almost fell over laughing.
3) Slick, Evil and Cap'n Kirk.......great job. I thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart. Even if it is black and rotten to the core. You guys and your family members really went out of your way to make the event special. I only hope I can return the favor. I've gone to backyard picnics that were not as well organized or as well thought out. You guys truly deserve all the compliments you get.
4) All the WCVROCers that attended were great. Ya'll are a great bunch of people. My wife (Cori), was pretty hesitant to attend this function. She did not know what to expect, nor did she know if she could deal with sitting on the back of a scooter all day. Well, the nude public fire dancing impressed her alot. She enjoyed talking to everyone.....even BC. She even thinks next year about attending the "DANCE CLUB" would be a good "CULTURAL EXPERIENCE" for us to see. You know, to get a feel for the local Indiana customs and such. AND....THE BIG SHOCKER OF YEAR 2000.......She thinks she might want to learn to ride!!!!!!!!!! No shit. After seeing Deb, Kawigal and Margot.....she got to thinking maybe she would like to have something exciting between her legs for change. (I guess I bore her) The whole ride back to Hanover Park, she is asking me about every bike we pass......"What is that one?" How many CC's is it?" What does it weigh?" So it looks like I may have to see about getting her on a 450 or so to see if she really wants to pursue it.
5) The weather was fine......except for that little torrential downpour I got stuck in. Me and God had a few words about that. He won........I got wet.
6) Lastly, I would like to thank Brian and Becky. They allowed us to ride homeward with them on Sunday and showed us a real good time. We took route 39????? And it was absolutely beautiful.
So all of you.....I truly enjoyed the weekend and I hope to do it again soon.
SkydiverJJ VROC # 3553

Home Safe by TAG...
Hey all,
The far northern suburb VROCers (Tom, Fran, Stretch, Kim, John, Brianna, and Rick) all got home safe yesterday. The trip was pretty smooth until we got to the Chicago area where traffic was a challange to say the least. Lots of cagers trying to get us. A couple of stops and a diversion to Lori's parents house made for a long day. Fran and I got home about 8:30 last night.
What a great time!!! The whole weekend was a blast. Special thanks to Evil, Captain Kirk, Slick, and all the others who helped put the weekend together. Sorry we missed Evan and any other WCVROCers who couldn't make it. The rides and events were well planned and all went without a hitch. Hell, even when we hit construction traffic coming home on I 65, Slick comes outta nowhere and shows us that he reserved a special lane for VROCers (LOL). Talk about hospitality!!!!
It was great to meet all of you. So many great people (with nice bikes to boot), felt like heaven on earth. I myself was very impressed with the rides. To keep 19 bikes together through over 100 miles of touring is tricky a best, but Slick, with the help of Animal, Black Chrome, and others, made it look easy. (Great job guys)
More special thanks, to Pat and the whole Shea clan for welcoming us to thier beautiful home. Thanks also (Pat and Cap'n Kirk) for the shuttle service to and from the American Legion hall.
You couldn't ask for a better time. Came home with many new friends and great memories. Now I gotta tend to my burns. Not so much sunburn, as Fran packed a tube of sunblock. I'm talking about the 3rd degree ones inside my mouth from only three drops of the stuff Black Chrome keeps in that holster. Fran had about twelve drops and is just starting to get her voice back. Just curious, has anyone ever died from that stuff? Give it to me straight, I can handle it.
Can't wait to hook up with you all again soon. GREAT JOB WCVROC !!!!!
Tom (TAG)

Windy Indy by Deadhead
Hi all--
I've been reading all of the posts about the Windy Indy trip and trying to figure out what I can say about it that hasn't already been said, and I can't quite come up with anything new...sorry.
It was the best group ride Kelly and I have been on yet. The roads were beautiful, Mother Nature pretty much cooperated, and the people we've met through WCVROC have been the nicest, most genuine individuals we could ever want to share time with.
Thanks to Slick, Evil & family, Cap'n Kirk, and our fearless blockers for putting together a five star event. We can't wait until the next Windy Indy (phone your legion dinner orders in now)... and until the next time we all get together. Any pictures worth posting will be posted soon.
Steve "Deadhead" Mincica & Kelly "Belly" Brown

Shit by Evil
To all, You're not going to believe this. I guess that I had a heart attack this weekend. I knew that something felt different, but didn't think it was a heart attack. I've been here before. I had by-pass surgery six years ago. Anyhow, I have to check into the Bloomington Hospital this afternoon for some tests and an angiogram (spelling). Then I'll know how they plan to treat this, medically or another by-pass. Either way, I'll be just fine. Thanks for the PICS Tag. They came through just fine this time. I probably won't be on line for about a week. So, you'll have to update me when I get out. You guys were great. I mean this when I say it was my pleasure having you all down here for the Windy/Indy ride. Can't wait to do it again! and, We will! You can bet the farm on that! See you later. 
Ride safe. Pat