Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa January 2023

ellccome e to th the annxixiou o sl sly y minng g a at ouuslsly y I ha have v ed d ust s as o ou u t nt n ry longgeer r Wit i h

Welcome to January! Welcome to the new year of 2023. I am anxiously awaiting what may be coming at us this year, but am cautiously excited for a good year. I have no real reason to be excited about the new year, it is just another year, I guess. Maybe just thinking it is about time that we start having some things look up and the dark cloud that has been looming over this country for the past few years or longer may eventually go away. With a new year, maybe it is entirely some new hope for a better future. With all of that said, all of us here at Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa would like to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year, and hope for all of your happiness, success, and good will.

I suppose one reason for some excitement for the new year will be the opportunities to get together with our beloved biker folks at some upcoming events this winter. Swap Meets, Bike Shows, Winter Sucks parties, and just going out and about and visiting shops and dealerships to rub elbows with other likeminded freedom loving people sort of lifts the spirits. One of the worst parts about Iowa is not being able to ride much if any at all in the coldest and crappiest of months. Along with that downside of no riding, is far less interaction and shared comradery with other bikers and the like. That is dearly missed around here in the winter months, and I am sure across the state and the country. Bikers don’t hibernate; they just look for other things to do to try to keep from going stir

O n t h e C o v e r On the Cover

Brittany was kind enough to stand in front of the lens of Mark Fountain of Fountain Photography to get some photos of Bruce Johnson’s motorcycles. On a rustic brick backdrop, the purple Shovelhead just pops and makes that old original bike more stellar than stellar can be! During the day Brittany can be found slinging flour at her cake and dessert bakery, The Cake Rendezvous. Check it out if you want some great sweets!

crazy for a few months. Anyway, with the start of the new year comes the new show and swaps and winter events to keep us going until nicer weather. Get the bike ready for the show, gather up the parts and pieces you want to get rid of to make room for more stuff, and get your spots booked at the shows. Time is running out to get in, so reach out to the promoters now! Help keep these events going by attending AND participating!

In November the mid-term elections were held, and that as predicted was a shit show. Maybe not as much of a shit show as elections of the past, but all the same, a mess. Many were hoping for a resounding voice of people wanting to take our country back, but instead met with candidates across the country that should not even be on city councils let alone the Senate. Instead, we have now prisoner trades that are a joke, Iowa lawmakers in DC supporting and voting for laws that take away our individual rights as well as the states’ rights, and more pandering by each side of the political aisle. No one can be trusted on either side it seems, and we need to stand up and focus on our rights and needs. Federally, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation does just that, and is working on multiple levels to keep our ability to keep riding our internal combustion engine two and three wheeled vehicles on the road. They also fight to make sure we are allowed to live the lifestyle that we have come to love. I encourage each and every one of you to join if not already a member. More information can be found at mrf.org or you can get a hold of me to chat further on the matter. Take a look and at least consider being a motorcycle freedom fighter with the MRF.

Thanks for reading, thanks for looking at the pictures, and thanks for being a part of Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa.

Vernon Schwarte Editor/Owner

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa

Quote of the Month: You know how I always dread the whole year? Well, this time I’m only going to dread one day at a time. Charlie Brown

As we turn the corner and are putting 2022 to bed, I hope all our faithful readers, their families and friends, have enjoyed the holidays and were blessed with one another’s company. Other than various meetings and an opportunity to ride with ABATE and Heartland Harley in the holiday parade, we have just been battening down the hatches, pretending that the weather will get better for a few more days of riding. It’s officially time to begin to look forward to what the new year has in store for us and while I detest any references to new year’s resolutions, I do acknowledge that it’s good to at least think about some general direction. A lot has changed in recent years and has greatly affected the ability of many of us to go and do for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, our country seems to be on a ride led by a befuddled dementia patient road captain who can’t keep his hooligan buddies under control. The asylum doors were left open, the guards done away with and the inmates are now sitting in congressional seats. Too often we go along the path of least resistance even though we know that things are not quite right until we finally realize that the proverbial rattlesnake has crawled into the sleeping bag and we can’t move. Much to our detriment, society has shown they are willing to ignore or push the uncomfortable down the road for hopefully the next person or generation to deal with. Well, here we are at the beginning of another year, only now we are mired in the mud in the ditch next to road that leads to a place we didn’t want to go.

Our Founding Fathers warned us 250 years ago about the pitfalls of neglect, laziness, cowardice and, above all, removing the foundation of God from our society. It doesn’t fix itself or end well. Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd President and signer of the Declaration of Independence, wrote,” God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever.” John Hancock, our 1st signer of the Declaration, stated that “Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual . . . Continue steadfast with a proper sense of your dependence on God. Nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”

These guys had it figured out. They saw the pitfalls in the road ahead of our new country and knew the only way to stay the course was with God’s guidance and our dependence on Him. Just like the corporate ride, we all are responsible for our personal ride also. The good news is that God has made the way and shown it to us. In the end, it all comes down to Jesus. Scripture tells us in Matthew to “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” This tells me of the importance of making our identity secure in Christ, that surrender and obedience to Jesus sets us apart and makes us progressively like Christ in the midst of a warped world. God never changes his character; His word

is always true and it won’t compromise to accommodate someone’s lifestyle.

Life is often hard; God knows very specifically what issues we are experiencing and we have to have faith that adversity is sometimes a way to God’s greater plan for us. The good news is that there is no confusion of direction or ultimate destination for those who trust in Jesus for salvation. Jesus alone is the truth and the narrow road not something else or even Jesus plus something else. On our own, we deserve punishment but because of Christ’s obedience and His work on the cross we can be saved. None of us will ever be perfect or perfectly obedient but it’s about following him in his direction and keeping on trying. It all boils down to not if we will go on this eternal road trip, but where we will end up.

As Bob Dylan so eloquently put in song, “You have to serve somebody; it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”.

Blessings for the New Year, Mark

Mark and Karla Cornick are with the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Find out more about CMA and God’s plan for you at www.cmausa.org

Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook

The Biker Friendly Business Directory is a list of establishments throughout Iowa that sponsor the magazine. You can pick up your copy here every month. Let them know that you saw them in TRMI. If your business would like to advertise in Thunder Roads Iowa Biker Friendly Business Listing and become a part of the network, please email vernon@thunderroadsiowa.com

Biker Accessories

Crispy’s Biker Apparel Cedar Rapids, Iowa Find Us On Facebook

Dirty Biker Design 122 S. John Wayne Drive Winterset, Iowa 50273 www.DirtyBikerDesign.com 515-444-9050

Dealers

Baxter Cycle 311 4th Street Marne, Iowa 51552 712-781-2351 www.baxtercycle.com

Big Barn Harley-Davidson 81 NW 49th Place Des Moines, Iowa 50313 515-265-4444 www.bigbarnhd.net

Carroll Cycle Center 1327 Plaza Dr Carroll, Iowa 712-792-1610 www.carrollcycle.com

Edwards Motorsports and RV’s 1010 34th Avenue

Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501 712-366-8400 fullthrottleia.com or edwardsrvs.com

Heartland Harley-Davidson 117 S Roosevelt Ave Burlington, IA 52601 319-754-1100 www.heartlandhd.com

Indian Motorcycle of Mason City Mason City Powersports 12499 265th Street Mason City 641-423-3181 Masoncitypowersportsinc.com

Metro Harley-Davidson 2415 Westdale Drive SW Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404 319-362-9496 www.metro-motorsports.com

Route 65 Harley-Davidson 1300 S Jefferson Way Indianola, Iowa 50125 515.962.2160 www.route65hd.net

Storm Lake Honda 3040 Expansion Blvd Storm Lake, Iowa 50588 StormLakeHonda.com 712-732-2460

Entertainment

Book Em Dano’s 33 S Main Street Denison, Iowa 51442 712-263-9818 Mon-Sat 4-2 Dancers Nightly 5-1:30

Okoboji Classic Cars Museum and Restoration Shop 810 Jeppeson Road West Okoboji, Iowa 51351 712-332-8029

Food and Drink (Popular Poker & Fun Run Locations)

American Legion Post 111 1101 W 4th Street S Newton 641-792-3353

Open to the Public 7 Days a Week Newtonamericanlegion111.org

Bea’s Place 108 N Main St Baxter 641-227-2080 Check Us Out on Facebook Food, Live Music, Bike Nights

Bloodline Irish Pub 214 Public Square Greenfield, Iowa 50849 Bloodline Irish Pub on Facebook

Catfish Charlie’s On the Mississippi River 1630 E. 16th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 (563)582-8600 www.CatfishCharliesDubuque.com

Chili Dawg’s Foods of Fire 1940 Blair Ridge Road Blair, NE 68008 www.chilidawgs.com Retail/Online Spice and Seasoning Store Desperados 105 E 5th Street Atlantic 712-243-7087

Home of Cold Beer, Good Times, Pizza & Wings Firehouse Bar 1211 5th Street Downtown Sioux City, IA 712-224-1020

Open Daily at 12:00

Flaming Office 201 W High Street Toledo 641-484-2255

Outdoor Patio, Happy Hour 5-7 Flaming Office on Facebook & Google

Goozman’s Westside Bar & Grill 1019 7th St Harlan, Iowa 712-755-2259 Goozman’s Westside on Facebook

Haverhill Social Club 202 1st Street  Haverhill, Iowa 50120 641-475-3321

Tues-Sat 10-2, Sun 12-12

Iowa Legendary Rye 707 N Main Street Carroll, Iowa 51401 Iowalegendaryrye.com

Jake’s Station 107 West HWY 59 Hancock, Iowa 51536 712-741-BEER

Like Our Page Jakes Station on Facebook

J.R. Willie’s Gateway to the Beautiful Hill Country Colesburg, IA 563-856-5095

Open Daily Mon-Sun 11AM Home of the Willie Whopper

Just 1 More 515-570-4206 641-757-0159 309 Railway Jamaica, Iowa 50128

Mi Casa Family Restaurant 512 Market Street Harlan, Iowa 51537 712-755-2258

Enjoy Drinks at the Full Bar!

Midway Tavern 206 1st Street Soldier, Iowa 712-884-2230 www.midwaytavernsoldier.com

Montgomery Street Pub 207 East Montgomery Street Creston, Iowa 50801 641-782-2165

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

Papa Joe’s 117 South 6th Street

Missouri Valley, Iowa 51555 712-642-9015

Pearl Street Social Club 110 Pearl Street SW Shellsburg, Iowa 52332 319-436-7100

Find Us On Facebook!

Riverside Tavern 450 E Main St Lehigh, Iowa 50557 515-359-9998 Email:riversidetap@gmail.com

Sandbar 103 North Noyes Street Mondamin, Iowa 51557 712-646-2300

Facebook Sandbar Mondamin

Sidetracked 206 West Union Street Creston, Iowa 50801 641-782-8534

Stumpy’s Bar & Grill 423 Main Street Duncombe, Iowa 50532 515-543-4222

Stumpy’s Bar & Grill on Facebook

Sugar’s Diner & Lounge 2725 E Kanesville Blvd Council Bluffs, Iowa 712-322-3600

Check us out on Facebook

The Exchange 171 S Elm Street Avoca, Iowa 51521 712-343-2609

Lang’s Pizza, Cold Beer, Sports

The Full Nelson

205 West 2nd Street Halbur, Iowa 51444 712-658-2425 The Full Nelson on Facebook

The Yankee Clipper 312 SW Maple St Ankeny, Ia 50023 515-964-9484 yankeeclipperbar.com

VFW Post 9662 Bar and Grill 1309 NE 66th Ave Des Moines 515 - 289 - 9914 and Facebook

Vic’s Main Tap 304 Broadway Audubon, Iowa 50025 712-563-2122

Opens M-F 2-Close, Sat 9-Close, Sun 2-Close

Wilson’s Tap and Recreation 1008 Story Street Boone, Iowa 50036/ 515-433-1395

Guns and Ammo

JLM Shooters Supply 6931 Douglas Avenue Urbandale, Iowa 50322 jlmshooterssupply@gmail.com 515-331-1577

Insurance & Financial

O’Malley Wealth Mgmt. 5623 NW 86th Street Suite 400 Johnston, Iowa 50131 515-490-0930

State Farm Clark Ahrenholtz, Agent 2114 12th Street Harlan, Iowa 712-755-5724 Clark.ahrenholtz.jb69@statefarm.com

Legal

Hupy and Abraham sc, pc Lawyers for Bikers 800.800.5678 Hupy.com

Inserra | Kelley | Sewell Injury Attorneys 6790 Grover St, Ste 200 Omaha, NE 68106 www.inserra.com (402) 391-4000

TheBikerLawyers.com The Biker Lawyers, P.C. Riding & Defending Your Rights for Over 30 Years 877-209-9452

Photo and Art

Shops & Fabricators

BS & Bikes

300 E 17th St S Suite 700 Newton, IA 50208 641-521-8448

Find us on Facebook

Butterfield’s M.C. Parts 8025 Blondo Street Omaha, NE 68134 402-391-3768

Chuck’s Cycle Service and Repair S&S and Drag Specialties Dealer 307 E 5th StreetWashington, Iowa52353 319-461-5278

Cycle Clinic 2209 ML King Pkwy Des Moines, Iowa 50314 cycleclinicdm.com 515-288-6954

F & J Racing 701 N 3rd Ave Marshalltown, Iowa 50158 641-752-8651 www.fandjracing.com

Mean Machine Cycles

Elkhart, Iowa 50072 Custom & Full-Service HD Repair Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat by appt only 515-367-7336

Motorcycle Medic

Hobbies & Collectibles

Treasure Island Diecast/Facebook Hot Wheels, M2, Matchbox, Jada Ertl, Lightning, Harley, Maisto Buy-Sell-Trade 641-521-8036 rayaustinhd@gmail.com www.treasureislanddiecast.com

Ullrich Photography

PO Box 1842 Clinton, Iowa 52733 563-243-8715 www.natanic.com

www.thunderroadsiowa.com

3176 Highway 30 Woodbine, Iowa 51579 712-647-2818

Open Tues-Sat Noon-6PM

Nelson Machine & Forge General Machining, Ornamental Iron, Weld/Fab 70 Washington Street Marne, Iowa 51552 712-781-2220

Tires

Road Rage BikeWorks

401 High Street

Avoca, Iowa 51521 712-307-6111

Road Rage BikeWorks on Facebook

Steffens Cycle and Detailing

1311 E 7th Street Atlantic, Iowa 50022 712-250-8493 steffenscycle@gmail.com

Thunder Road Cycles

4106 Rockingham Rd Davenport, Iowa 52802 563-323-3172

Thunder Road Cycles on Facebook

Sandbothe Firestone

1106 Main Street Griswold, Iowa 51535 712-778-2223

Sandbothe Firestone on Facebook

Trailers

Lacaeyse Trailer Sales 4192 HWY 146 Grinnell Trailers & Truck Accessories 641-990-2674 www.lacaeysetrailers.com

To buy ad space for your business or service in our directory, give us call at 712-249-5630 or email vernon@thunderroadsiowa.com

“The Motorcycle Industry’s Vision for Decarbonization”

December 9, 2022

From

the Motorcycle Riders Foundation

Tuesday morning, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation attended a panel by the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers. The discussion centered on “The Motorcycle Industry’s Vision for Decarbonization.” As in the United States, there is a growing movement to shift away from carbon-based fuel and toward decarbonization and elimination of emissions.

While motorcycle emissions account for less than 1% of all emissions in Europe, the motorcycle industry is taking a proactive approach to the future of fueling their transportation system. Regulators in Europe have already set 2035 as the deadline for the ban on the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines. So far, motorcycles have escaped such a ban, but there is little doubt they will come under the microscope of regulators soon.

European motorcycle manufacturers see the writing on the wall and are navigating a potentially complex set of rules and regulations. Two camps have formed within Europe on

the banning of combustion engines and picking winners and losers for which technologies will replace what is on the road today. The second camp is focused on marketbased solutions, allowing all technologies to compete, that in theory will lead to the most efficient and cost-effective technologies winning out. Some of the new technology being discussed includes electric bikes, swappable batteries, synthetic fuels, hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid powertrains.

There is also a fear in Europe that other regions of the world have already taken the lead in this technology and Europe is playing catch up. Specifically, the electric car industry and the success of brands like Tesla in the United States has Europeans concerned. European motorcycle firms want to be the leaders in the future of motorcycle technology. European advances in fueling and swappable battery projects could help solve the problem of range and lack of charging infrastructure that is the Achilles heel of electric transportation.

Why does this matter to bikers in America? Europe has over 40 manufacturing facilities and 35 research and development sites across the continent. They are taking a forward leaning approach and have stated their goal to be industry leaders. If Europe chooses a market-based approach and allows the development of a wide variety of technologies American manufactures may end of playing catch up.

While Europe and the United States have different views on many topics, it was great to hear the closing message from the panel in Europe. “Motorcycles are not part of the problem; they are part of the solution.” We at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation couldn’t agree more.

the topic, one camp focused on strict regulations including

not so USELESS RAMBLINGS not so USELESS RAMBLINGS

DNC SBF FTX

UKR WTF?

Last month’s piece was about how Ukraine is corrupt and how multiple countries use Ukraine as a money laundering hub. The allegations continue in this piece, but now there is more to it.

Has the DNC been in cahoots with SBF of FTX and shuffling $$$ through the UKR? Seriously, WTF?

Let’s begin by unpacking all that crap and give some definitions to the acronyms. I think we all understand WTF, right? UKR is Ukraine. DNC is Democratic National Committee. SBF is Samuel Bankman-Fried. FTX Exchange was a leading centralized cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products… not that all of that really makes a lot of sense to me, but that’s the definition I found online.

FTX was founded in 2018 by Sam Bankman-Fried, a MIT graduate and former trader of Jane Street Capital, in the Bahamas. FTX offered a range of trading products and provided spot markets in more than 300 cryptocurrencies. On November 11, 2022 FTX filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S., and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, stepped down. It is alleged that Sam had stealthily mishandled customer funds through some sort of backdoor in the system that allowed him to transfer funds with zero accountability.

Sam also created Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm. Alameda Research relied heavily on FTX’s native FTT token, same thing and a Bitcoin but it is FTX’s own “coin”, and made up the majority of its assets on their balance sheets. This raised concerns with the two businesses being intertwined and the potential to manipulate, to artificially

inflate, the value of FTT. When this came to light, the CEO of Binance (another crypto exchange) announced his plans to sell all Binance’s FTT holdings which caused a panic in the investors prompting them to withdraw their funds from FTX. The result left FTX with non-sufficient liquidity to process customer withdrawals.

A few short years gave rise to a $32 billion net worth for FTX and a few too many bad decisions plunged FTX into chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Evidence suggests that Sam donated some $38 million to democrats during 2020, making him the second biggest donor to democratic candidates behind Michael Bloomberg. It’s also worth noting that Sam had a line item in the balance sheets for FTX labeled “Trump Lose”. What does that mean? Was he bankrolling efforts to sabotage Donald Trump?

After the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, FTX partnered with Ukraine to receive donations in crypto to fund the war. FTX set up a donation portal on their website which allowed businesses and citizens to donate any amount of cryptocurrency. Ukraine promised to convert all cryptocurrencies to their local currency to purchase war equipment. Estimates say that $200 million was raised but only $22 million was officially used.

Where is the other $178 million? Many believe that it was laundered back to the United States. It is alleged that Bankman-Fried used his connections in Ukraine to funnel crypto donations back to himself and then used those funds to support the Democratic Party in the US. As of yet, there isn’t any evidence to support this claim.

Sam is the son of Stanford law professor Barbara Freidman, the founder of a shadowing Super PAC called Mind the Gap which quietly channeled millions to Democratic Party candidates, primarily from nameless Silicon Valley investors. These Super PACs often leave their beneficiaries with no idea exactly who is donating to their campaigns.

One might consider this a coincidence, or one might see that 1 + 1 = 2, but Bankman-Fried established FTX in April 2019… the same month that Joe Biden announced his 2020 Presidential run. Once large sums started flowing through the FTX exchange, Sam started channeling profits into Biden’s campaign coffers. Up until this point, Sam had had no prior history of political financial activity, but during the 2020 campaign he gifted over $5 million to Biden and groups supporting him.

In 2022 alone, Sam dropped almost $40 million on Democrat candidates, campaigns, and PACs, making him the second largest donor behind George Soros. More recently he pledged to donate a staggering $1 billion between this year and 2024 to ensure a Democratic victory in the next presidential election, but later recanted that statement saying that it wasn’t a good financial decision.

Just days after the announcement that FTX was in trouble, the Ukrainian government switched the FTX donations page with a dedicated website and then scrubbed the original entirely from the internet. (However, the Internet Archives maintains captures of the originals still.) If FTX was in fact laundering funds for the proxy war in Ukraine, the slightest indication that regulators were investigating in its operations would have triggered alarms throughout Washington and Kiev, so it’s not really surprising the webpage was replaced.

The United States government has stolen somewhere between $60 billion and $120 billion in US taxpayer funds and funneled it into Ukraine in supposed aid packages. (Yes, I said stolen. I don’t remember anyone asking me if I agreed

to my tax dollars being sent over there for this bullshit war, do you?) It’s proven that Ukraine was deeply involved with the FTX crypto exchange. And it’s proven that FTX, its founder and CEO, was dumping large sums of money into the Democratic Party.

So I raise the question again, was the Biden administration funneling US taxpayer dollars into the Ukraine to be laundered through the FTX exchange and returned to Democrat politicians just to enrich themselves even further?

Considering the state of the country, and the apparent lack of intestinal fortitude in any of the Republicans, I doubt that we’ll ever get to the bottom of this. I doubt that there will ever be any real investigations into these allegations. I doubt that there will be any investigations into the 150+ SARs (suspicious activity reports) generated by Biden family banking transactions, which is a story for another time. I doubt there will be any investigations into anything related to voter fraud. I doubt there will be any investigations, unless it is more of the same bullshit investigations into anyone that doesn’t fall in line with the Biden administration.

For the record, I must point out that the massively corrupt Ukrainian government denies any allegations of wrong doing with US aid funds or with the FTX exchange funds.

David McCoy

- david@thunderroadsiowa.com

- Facebook.com/TRMIDave @TRMIDave

B

HOURS: Sunday-Thursday 11 am-9 pm

Friday-Saturday 11 am-10 pm

One Saturday after closing the gun shop, Vernon and I decided to ask our friends Brad and Stacey to go grab a bite to eat with us. We have been hearing about Level B in Manning for quite some time, and we figured that now was a great time to head on over. When I looked up the hours and information I found the following: “In rural areas across the country, friends gather at their favorite spot on Level B roads. They often share food, drink and memories, but they always share a great time. We are a familyfriendly casual dining experience in Manning, IA. Stop in for a cold one and enjoy a great meal! Menu items include sandwiches, wraps, steak, broasted chicken, seafood, full salad bar and more!” Well, that sounded like a great way to spend part of Saturday, so we climbed in the truck and headed for Manning.

When we arrived the dining room was busy and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Our waitress, Amanda, met us at our table with drink and food menus. She gave us

a couple minutes to weigh our options, and then we placed our drink orders as well as two appetizers…the onion rings and the cheese curds. Amanda returned shortly with our drinks and while she was delivering them, our appetizers were delivered, piping hot, to the table. The onion rings were thinly sliced and perfectly coated in crisp, peppery batter. They were perfectly fried and not greasy at all. The cheese curds were white, melty, stringy goodness coated in just the right amount of the same peppery batter as the onion rings. While we enjoyed our appetizers, Amanda took our food orders and I must say, we were looking forward to their arrival, considering how delicious our warm ups had been.

It wasn’t long and our meals were brought out as well. Stacey ordered the Farm Hand Burger, it’s a 7 ounce hand pattied, and flame grilled burger topped with pepper jack cheese, onion rings, crispy battered and fried jalapenos, and barbeque sauce. Stacey ordered fries as her side, and they were piping hot, golden and crispy potato goodness. Brad ordered the Pork Tenderloin. It is hand cut and tenderized, and can be ordered fried or grilled. Brad chose the fried variety, and it came nearly covering the plate, and barely leaving room for the potato twists he chose as a side. The tenderloin had all the fixins’, but honestly with an extra bun or two you could feed a few people! The meat was tender and juicy, and the breading was crisp and light. The potato twists were seasoned potato goodness that was crisp outside and fluffy and light on the inside. Vernon also got the Pork Tenderloin, but he chose to add pepper jack cheese and barbeque sauce to the sandwich. Vernon had a side of those crispy French fries like Stacey as well, and they were a perfect partner for the tenderloin. I ordered the Honey Garlic Chicken Sandwich. It was juicy chunks of crispy fried chicken topped with bacon and melted cheese on a toasted hoagie bun, all drizzled with a sticky sweet honey garlic sauce. I ordered potato twists to go with my sandwich, and the slightly spicy seasoning on them was a perfect complement to the sweet garlic sauce on my sandwich.

The food, the drinks, and the staff were great at Level B. Our waitress, Amanda, was wonderful. She was attentive, always kept our glasses full, and was perfectly comfortable participating in our ridiculous conversations. We will definitely be going back to Level B. Next time we would like to try out the dinner menu, maybe a nice steak or pork chop.

Make the trip over to Manning and get yourself some Level B love. You won’t be disappointed…and make sure to tell them that Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa sent you!

If you have a WRTE location for us to visit, please let me know at Melanie@thunderroadsiowa.com

What’s a lesbian’s love language? Speaking in tongues.

Why’d the Mexican army only bring 5000 soldiers to the Alamo? They only had two vans.

Recently a routine police patrol was parked outside a bar in the Outback. After last call, the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so apparently intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity, in which he tried his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed to find his car and fall into it. He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally, he started the car, switched the wipers on and off; it was a fine, dry summer night, flicked the blinkers on and off a couple of times, honked the horn and then switched on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a little, and then remained still for a few more minutes as some more of the oath-er patrons’ vehicles left. At last, when his was the only car left in the parking lot, he pulled out and drove slowly down the road. The police officer, having waited patiently all this time, now started up his patrol car, put on the flashing lights, and promptly pulled the man over and administered a breathalyzer test. To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence that the man had consumed any alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said, “I’ll have to ask you to accompany me to the police station. This breathalyzer equipment must be broken.” “I doubt it,” said the truly proud Redneck. “Tonight, I’m the designated decoy.”

A store that sells husbands has just opened where a woman may go to choose a husband from among many men. The store is composed of 6 floors, and the men increase in positive attributes as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch. As you open the door to any floor you may choose a man from that floor, but if you go up a floor, you cannot go back down except to exit the building. So, a woman goes to the shopping center to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1These men have jobs. The woman reads the sign and says to herself, “Well, that’s better than my last boyfriend, but I wonder what’s further up?” So up she goes. The secondfloor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love kids. The woman remarks to herself, “That’s great, but I wonder what’s further up?” And up she goes again. The third-floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love kids and are extremely good looking. “Hmmm, better” she says. “But I wonder what’s upstairs?” The fourth-floor sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good looking and help with the housework. “Wow!” exclaims the woman, “very tempting. BUT there must be further up!” And again, she heads up another flight. The fifth-floor sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good looking, help with the housework and have a strong romantic streak. “Oh, mercy me! But just think... what must be awaiting me further on?” So up to the sixth floor she goes. The sixth-floor sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 6,875,953,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

A forest ranger catches a man sitting by a makeshift campfire in a state park. To the ranger’s horror, the man has just cooked an innocent bald eagle and is having it for dinner. Consequently, the man is put in jail for his crime. On the day of his trail, the conversation in the courtroom went something like this... The judge asked of the man, “Do you know that eating a bald eagle is a federal offense?” “Yes, I do, your honor. But, if you’ll allow me to argue my case, I can explain what happened.” “Proceed.” “Well, to be honest, I got lost in the woods and I hadn’t had anything to eat for two weeks. I was desperately hungry. Anyway, I saw a Bald Eagle swooping down at the lake for some fish and I figured, if I followed the eagle, I might be able to steal the fish. After some time, I happened upon the eagle sitting on a tree stump with the fish. I threw a stone in the eagle’s direction, hoping he would drop the fish and fly away. Unfortunately, in my weakened condition, my aim was off... The rock hit the eagle squarely on his poor little head. Anyway, since I accidentally killed the eagle, I figured it was a blessing in disguise. And so, your honor, I ate the bird to save my own life.” “Very well,” replied the judge. “The court will take a fifteen-minute recess and return with a verdict.” Some fifteen minutes later... “In the court’s opinion, due to your extreme circumstances and the fact that you had no poor intentions, the court will dismiss all charges.” The Judge then leans over the bench and whispers to the man, “If you don’t mind my asking, what does a bald eagle taste like?” “Well, your honor,” the man replied, “It’s hard to explain... but, I suppose it is tastes something like a California Condor or a Spotted Owl.”

Bob was dying. On his deathbed, he looked up and said, “Is my wife here?” Helen replied, “Yes, Bob, I’m here, next to you.” So, Bob asks, “Are my children here?” “Yes, Daddy we’re all here,” says the children. “Are my other relatives also here?” and they say, “Yes we are all here,” Bob says, “Then why is the light on in the kitchen?”

What’s the difference between “incomplete” and “finished”? A man without a wife feels incomplete. Once married, he’s finished.

Wife: “Can I spend $20,000 on breast implants?” Husband: “Why don’t you just rub toilet paper all over your chest?”

Wife: “I don’t get it.” Husband: “Worked on your ass, didn’t it?”

t y, , is is s the g like e he e man, n g a bald d “YYes, I ll allow hing to erateely d E agle or r some m d h

A bride tells her husband, “Honey, you know I’m a virgin and I don’t know anything about sex. Can you explain it to me first?” “Okay, sweetheart. Putting it simply, we will call your private place ‘the prison’ and call my private thing ‘the prisoner’. So what we do is put the prisoner in the prison.” And they made love for the first time and the husband was smiling with satisfaction. Nudging him, his bride giggles, “Honey the prisoner seems to have escaped.” Turning on his side, he smiles and says, “Then we will have to re-imprison him.” After the second time, the bride says, “Honey, the prisoner is out again!” The husband rises to the occasion and they made love again. The bride again says, “Honey, the prisoner escaped again,” to which the husband yelled, “Hey, it’s not a life sentence!!!”

A guy decides to do something nice for his girlfriend before they leave on vacation so he gets her name tattooed on his penis. He comes home and shows it to her. She looks at it and says, “That’s great, sweetie, but what is ‘Wy’?” He tells her to rub it and as she does, she sees it actually reads “Wendy.” When they arrive at Montego Bay, the couple are walking along a nude beach and the boyfriend notices a black guy with “Wy” on his penis. He asks the man if he also has a girlfriend named Wendy. The black guy laughs and says, “Nah, mon, mine says ‘Welcome to Jamaica have a nice day.’”

There was an old couple lying in bed. The man turns and tells the woman, “If you want to have sex, pull on my dick once. If you don’t want to have sex, pull on my dick one hundred times.”

Dylan was practicing his golf swing in his front yard when he swung a little too hard and sent the ball through his neighbors’ window. Dylan ran over and rang the doorbell three times. After no one answered for a few minutes, he opened the door to see broken glass everywhere, a lamp lying on the ground, and a huge fat Arabian man wearing a turban sitting on the couch. Dylan asked, “Who are you?” The fat man replied, “I am a genie you have freed from that lamp.” Dylan questioned, “Oh man, do I get three wishes?” The genie replied, “Since you freed me by accident you only get two and I get one.” Dylan thought about it and realized what he wanted, “I want to be the best golfer ever.” The surprised genie said, “You sure? Most people wish for money, but okay. Now your wife gets one wish.” Dylan brought over his wife who wished right away, “I want a million dollars every week of my life.” The genie said, “Granted. And now for my wish, I have been cramped up in that lamp for many years so it’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman. I want one day of wild, crazy sex with your wife, Dylan.” Dylan said, “No way!” The genie replied, “Not even for a million dollars a week?” Dylan turned to his wife, who said, “I guess for all that, I should. Well, not until Dylan leaves.” Dylan said, “Okay, have fun, I guess,”

and left. Dylan’s wife then proceeded to have wild sex for the rest of the day with the genie. When they were finished, the genie asked how old her husband was. She said, “Fortyfive.” The Genie laughed and said, “Isn’t he a little old to be believing in genies?”

A guy and girl had sex poem competition. Guy: “Two times two is four, four plus five is nine. I can put mine in yours, but you can’t put yours in mine.” Girl: “Two times two is four, four plus five is nine. I know the length of yours, but you won’t know the depth of mine.”

There is a fellow who is talking to his buddy and says, “I don’t know what to get my wife for her birthday. She has everything, and besides, she can afford to buy anything she wants. I’m stumped.” His buddy says, “I have an idea. Why don’t you make up a certificate that says she can have two hours of great sex, any way she wants it. She’ll probably be thrilled!” The first fellow does just that. The next day, his buddy asks, “Well, did you take my suggestion? How did it turn out?” “She loved it. She jumped up, thanked me, kissed me on the mouth, and ran out the door yelling, ‘I’ll see you in two hours!’”

Three people get arrested and are taken into holding for questioning. The officer talks to the first girl, asking, “What’s your name?” She says, “Yo.” The officer asks, “What are you in for?” She responds with, “Blowing bubbles.” The officer takes her picture and lets her go. He asks the second girl, “What’s your name?” She responds with, “Yo Yo.” The officer asks, “What are you in for?” She responds with, “Blowing bubbles.” The officer takes her picture and lets her go. He talks to the guy and says, “Let me guess, your name is Yo Yo Yo.” The guy replies with, “No, it’s Bubbles.”

A nun and a priest were crossing the Sahara desert on a camel. On the third day out the camel suddenly dropped dead without warning. After dusting themselves off, the nun and the priest surveyed their situation. After a long period of silence, the priest spoke. “Well sister, this looks pretty grim.” “I know, father.” “In fact, I don’t think it likely that we can survive more than a day or two.” “I agree.” “Sister, since we are unlikely to make it out of here alive, would you do something for me?” “Anything father.” “I have never seen a woman’s breasts and I was wondering if I might see yours.” “Well, under the circumstances I don’t see that it would do any harm.” The nun opened her habit and the priest enjoyed the sight of her shapely breasts, commenting frequently on their beauty. “Sister would you mind if I touched them?” She consented and he fondled them for several minutes. “Father, could I ask something of you?” “Yes sister?” “I have never seen a man’s penis. Could I see yours?” “I supposed that would be OK,” the priest replied lifting his robe. “Oh father, may I touch it?” This time the priest consented and after a few minutes of fondling he was sporting a huge erection. “Sister, you know that if I insert my penis in the right place, it can give life.” “Is that true father?” “Yes, it is, sister.” “Then why don’t you stick it up that camel’s ass and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Happy New Year from all of us at TRMI!

It is All Worth It?

This is the article that for years I have been cranking out content for this award-winning biker magazine that I encouraged and push the importance to look at your past year, look toward your next year and vow to make changes. Not the New Year’s Resolution bullshit, sure they can work, but historically they have a massive level of failure associated with them. We all want to quit smoking, lose weight, getting handles in alley, be better fathers, mothers, friends or whatever. New Year, new me, we have all heard it and of course all tried it. But is it worth it?

I have gone down that path over the years myself, but I do encourage you to goal plan. It’s not a secret and I have said before, every single successful group, business, organization, or team goal plans and why it may seem the lamest of all things to do, you have to find a plan and execute a plan…a road map of where you want to go if you are ever going to get where you want to go. Again, over the years, I have placed those words on these pages, preached them to my children, used various formulas in multiple lines of business, but that is not where we are dialing up this time.

It is all worth it?

Now, what I am about to dive into isn’t a big greasy middle finger to whatever pisses you off at the current time, I mean, it sure as hell could be, just say “it ain’t worth it” and move on, but I am not, I repeat NOT going down a negative path-

way at all. After all, this is a place of like-minded people that congregate eyeballs on these pages as a means of escape, a means of laughter, and a means recreation. A connection to those that love to swing a leg over and ride or at least a gather of those that love the biker lifestyle, whatever that may be.

Biker lifestyle, what does that even mean to me? I guess its a lot different to me as of late than it was a decade or so back that is for sure. Of course, we all have an idea, an image if you will, of what that is and how we fit into that mental projection.

I was told a long, LONG time ago, running with some dudes in another state over the course of some time that I wasn’t a true biker because I never slept under a bridge. Of course, I asked wtf that had to do with anything and was told that a “real biker” rides until he is too tired to ride anymore and finds a bridge to sleep under.

You mean like a troll? Well, what if one rides until tired and then gets a damn hotel room? Lol. Okay, you do you and if that is your image, I am happy to say it’s not mine, or most people that I ride with. I got to the point where hanging out with those guys any longer, to me, it just wasn’t worth it.

I went on a deep dive on how guys deal with stuff recently, the different levels of shit they can deal with before they say this just isn’t worth it. The doctor (a female in case you are wondering) said that men deal with stuff on a way different level than women do and guys don’t get, well for lack of a better term, the credit they deserve for what they have to put up with. She called it “The Worth It Meter” and in a sense she said that each man (of course) is different but no matter what life throws at them, they get to a point where they just don’t see the worth in doing it any longer. It could be a home project that is testing their resolve, a boss, a job, a wife, kids, the list is

truly endless. Guys will bury what they feel, internalizing how they feel and it either gets better and they move on, forgetting the pain or they reach their “worth it” limit and take action. Sometimes extreme or others may be just walking away. She went on to say it is not always an extreme life situation, like a marriage, job, businesses plan, or the like but it could be something as simple as a hobby. Something that they use to love to do, it gave them great pleasure, great joy, the thing that stirred their soul and got them out of bed. They crave something, desired something and it was just an extension of who there are to their very soul. Yes, slowly over time certain things kept them away from doing what it is they loved and cared about, maybe at times that “thing” even aggravated them. They loved it to its core, but something lit a small flame of doubt that started to trickle in. Still, no cause for drastic measures, but what he cared about wasn’t to the level of what it was before.

Then something else happens. Then something else and the pattern repeats until a man gets to the point where he just doesn’t seem to find whatever it was to be worth it anymore.

When it comes to our passion it might seem like the thing you once loved could never go away from being that important to you, but again, it might be not worth it anymore, no matter what that is that changed your care factor.

Her discourse was fascinating to me and I looked at things in my life that I am not near as passionate about and why that was…and when I look at it, I see that I too have reached the level of questioning is it worth it?

With time, the pain fades and we start to wonder why we walked away or why we no longer do whatever it is. And we wonder if it would be worth it again.

A very small example took place with a person that use to be my friend, I say that because we hadn’t spoken for a very long time, a period of years, even after I had reached out to no avail. Not what you could call friends anymore and I hadn’t given the individual much or any thought because it. Well, it wasn’t worth it.

By happenstance we were at the same event and had a chance to catch up over a beer and I asked what he’d been doing, if he still rides, hunts. Many things that he and I actually did together before drifting apart. He was almost sad in the look he gave me when he said he did none of the things he used to do. I didn’t press him as to why, but I could see and feel the regret, for whatever reason, bikes and guns just weren’t worth it to him anymore.

I looked back on the level of dedication I had to my pursuits, some more than others over the past year, some great plans in the year ahead, even some I need to goal plan in order to achieve.

I decided to hit reset on my “Worth it” clock and find reasons to do what I love rather than deal with the alternative.

To me, it’s worth it.

Todd “Crash” Davis