An Old Friend

In Minneapolis lives a dear friend from high school days, Steve Clarke and his wife Shirlee. This was the first time I’d seen Steve on his home territory and the first time I’d met Shirlee. Steve is a renowned musician (sax, clarinet, flute) and since we arrived in the city too late to meet him at home, we relaxed a bit in the motel and then biked the 40 miles to the riverfront rock bar where he was playing that night. The crowd was an interesting mix of bikers who occupied most of the front “paddock” and boaters who commanded the back deck. Steve and the band he was playing with rocked the middle ground inside. The band was loud and very powerful but the sound was clean and every part could be heard distinctly. Of course, we preferred those songs that featured Steve’s contributions and showmanship.

On the way into the bar Sebastian spotted a bike just like his own and we suspected that it might have belonged to one of our correspondents on the motorcycle website. We staked it out and kept an eye on it for several hours before its owner showed up. We were right, and made a chance contact and had a nice chat with Joel (aka WisconsinF).

On the following day Steve and Shirlee escorted us to a jazz brunch at a club where a friend of his was singing. We then had a unique driving tour of the city featuring many of the clubs and restaurants that Steve has played. Thank you, my friend.

Sunday was also laundry day and I took advantage of dryer time to do some corrective maintenance. My bike had developed performance problems coming back from the bar (a nervous-making 2 am ride through some very lonely countryside). That turned out to be an ignition problem which I fixed at the laundromat in shorts and sandals.

-Peter