Today marks an end of an era for the IronWorks Motorbike Club; our pre-ride gathering breakfast/coffee haunt, Smokey Row Cafe, closed today. We ritualistically gathered here generally before every weekend ride to get fueled up on high octane coffee (Smokey Row Blend could give you a good case of the shakes after three cups on an empty stomach) and the world's best breakfast burrito. Today, I had my last of both. And though Smokey Row will re-open in some new guise on Aug. 27, we're sad to see the present incarnation go. It's meant a lot to us to sit there and talk shop, politics, the latest and greatest bike or riding gadget for countless hours in an environment that was laid-back, and open to all walks of life; especially the motley group from the IronWorks Motorbike Club. General Manager Ruth did an admiral job of running Red Wing's best place to go for breakfast and lunch. We will especially miss her baked goods (killer Norwegian health bread. And Christian couldn't keep his hands off the oatmeal bars....) But, as true with everything in life, things change. By the sound of it Ruth wants to move ahead in a new direction taking a much deserved break from the restaurant biz that saw countless early mornings that were followed by long days. It takes a special person who can do this day-in, day-out. And we'd like to give credit to all that worked there as well. On behalf of the Red Wing Ironworks Motorbike Club, we give Ruth and the crew a nod for making Smokey Row a great place to be. We'll see you in two weeks, and we look forward to a new relationship.
