Goodrich to Parker, Rocky Sun Farms & Power Chords🤘

🚴‍♂️ The Goodrich Parker Square Loop: 22 Miles of Small-Town Stories and a Giant Rooster

My go-to ride is the Goodrich Parker Square — a solid 20-mile loop that takes me through familiar roads, small-town sights, and plenty of fresh air. Today, I added a little side trip—an extra two miles out and back to ROCKY Suns Farm, which added some fresh scenery and a heap of stories.

I struggled a bit on this ride—it felt like the wind was in my face the entire time, pushing back hard. But you know what? Sometimes that’s just how it goes. It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done. And that’s what counts

Rolling through Parker, I stopped to snap pictures of some classic spots: the recycle metal place with its sturdy storage buildings and piles of stuff that tell their own story, the lumber store — the folks there are handy as they come, friendly as can be, and great to have around — and the OneStop convenience store, where you can’t ask for better service, great meals, and friendly smiles.

Now, you gotta hear about this: they’ve got this 10-foot rooster out front. It’s a local landmark, and every time I ride through with cyclists from WarmShowers.org, I make sure we get a picture with that big bird.

Today’s twist? That rooster was standing tall, staring dead north like he was avoiding the sign just a few feet west of him advertising—wait for it—chicken fried steak. I swear, the poor guy looked like he was pretending it wasn’t there. Life lesson, right? Sometimes you just gotta look ahead and ignore what’s behind you

You know, in life, sometimes there are things we just don’t wanna face. We look away, pretend it’s not there, hoping it’ll just disappear. That’s exactly the vibe I got from that giant rooster—standing tall, staring dead north, giving zero glance to the sign just a few feet west of him advertising… chicken fried steak.

Classic denial. And honestly, I respect that. Sometimes, you just gotta keep looking ahead. 

As I leave Parker headed west this is a normal route. I ride quite a bit, but I always like to see if I can see the smokestack that’s almost in Missouri. It’s like 2 miles from the border, but I just kinda consider that Missouri. Lacygne power plant

After Parker, I headed out to ROCKY Suns Farm, a family-run place that’s been growing since 2017. I picked up a couple of pepper plants (I’m still fuzzy on the exact type — “planbrones?”) and the folks there gave me full permission to share their story and photos. Even better, they’re gearing up for their big annual bash tomorrow as part of the Linn County Spring Farm Tour — hayrides, kid games, and all that good farm fun. If you’re around, I highly recommend checking it out.

Just past the farm, I met an 82-year-old gentleman outside a historic house that used to be Goodrich’s hospital and doctor’s office. We had a great 15-minute chat about the history of the house and the area. He gave me the go-ahead to share pictures and stories, so you’re getting a little slice of Goodrich history straight from the source. 

This picture is what got me initially stopped to chat with this guy seeing this bicycle lawnmower and I asked him if I could get a picture of this. I thought it was kind of neat. He said a nephew or somebody had bought this bike and was going to write it to lose weight and end up, breaking the pedals off of it so aborted the weight loss program

🎸 End song

End Song—The Last In Line

Band — Dio

Album — The Last In Line

Year — 1984

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