Midwest Gathering 1999

Back, Left to right: Doug Loy, Jason Leikam, Kevin O'Donnell, Greg Hanna, Dave Kneeling: Paul Smith, Ben Jerry

It was great fun putting a face with the e-mail address, and we even had a few guys there who aren't online. Three of our group actually raced, so a special shout-out goes to Jason Leikam, Doug Loy and Kevin O'Donnell. I am happy to report that all three did us proud by making their mains. It was pretty sad to see KO'D pimp that 11 year old over the berm in cruiser open though (NO…I'M KIDDING!! Though Kev may have wanted to do it.)

We had a good-sized area roped off to display our bikes and parts. It was well received by the racing public. The kids asked a lot of questions like "What's a Kuwahara?" and "Oakley used to make grips??"

For me, the highlight of the bikes was Doug Loy's JMC Darrel Young. This was Doug's personal ride back in the late 80's and he has restored it with new stickers and everything so that it is just mint. This bike is just so shiny and beautiful, with chrome Profile cranks, Hutch Pedals, Bullseye hubs, it was just eye candy to me. I'm afraid the photo doesn't do the bike justice.

Below are some of the bikes that were displayed at the Gathering...

Ben's Quadangle

Ben's Race Inc.

Ben's Stroker

Dave's Proline

Dave's Race Inc.

Jason's (now Gregs) Skyway T/A

That's it for the ROOST Report. A big thanks to Jason for getting this going. I certainly enjoyed meeting everyone and had a great time. Hope to see you at the next one. Dates/directions will be posted as soon as a plan is put together.

The Cool ROOST logo is by Bill Sympson. Ask him nicely and drop money at his feet and maybe he would do a logo for you. Mail him at wds@bitstream.net