Well, its been awhile.....

Been a rough year so far.....if youre from Wisconsin, you know much of the state has been flooded all spring. Some of it still is flooded. My home didnt escape the flooding. I didnt get it as bad as some did, but over most of the spring and early summer, my home flooded 6 times. Makes finding riding time a bit tough.

We left Friday afternoon and ran the super-slab straight north to beat the weekend traffic. I39 drops to a two lane hwy (US51) north of Wausau. We had a short layover in Minoqua, and tried to get a hotel, but all were booked. So were are sitting there, watching the dark clouds of bad weather swirl around us, when the tornado siren start wailing. Fortunatly it missed us, but it was a bit scary for a moment:

Afterall, with no place to stay and no real shelter for you or your bike, what are your options? Fortunatly we ducked answering that.
WE ended up styaing in Hurley, which is the last town in WI on US 51. In the morning we set out for the UP.

Michigan is a helmet state, so that became a bit of a problem after awhile, but we managed. Our first stop was the Porcupine State Park for some waterfall viewing:

The pathways down to the "Spirit" falls are very nice, and the scenery was beautiful.

We had planned to see the "Lake of the Clouds", but decided that looking at a lake and a big rock wasnt worth the trip. Things were getting late in the day and since we didnt have any hotels reserved, we thought it best to move on up the penninsula.
Our next main stop was the Hancock/Houghton area. The upper section of the "UP" is actually an island, but doesnt really look like an island as its so close to the main land. Hancock and Houghton are separated by a shipping waterway, with a large bridge spanning the water. The bridge is pretty unique:
Called the "Lift Bridge" the center literally lifts up for ship to pass underneath.
Very picturesque town:
This is on the island side:
Evidence of its Copper mining heritage:

Mainland side:
Stopped in at the Keweena Brewing Company, and had a brew. I Recommend the "Lift Bridge Brown"
So after a bite to eat we decided to stop our nothward progress there. I had planned to run all the way to Copper Harbor, but we were a long ways from home, and needed to be back by Sunday afternoon. We headed south to Watersmeet, Mi and stayed at the Lac Vieux Casino and Hotel. So get this.....the room was $89.00, and for staying they gave us, $10 EACH in Casino Money and $10.00 each in Hotel money. We took the Casino money and WON about $50.00 and used the Hotel money for dinner. Saved some green.

Think you had it bad in highschool? Try going here:
We were so happy to see this, those helmets were killing our necks, and they came right off and went into the saddle bags, sorry.

Eagle River was our last stop for some pictures. A bit touristy, but a cute little town.

I would HIGHLY recommend riding in the UP to anyone looking for a nice ride. Most of it is through state and national forests, so there really isnt alot to see except forests. Take the time to make the trip to Copper Harbor. I missed out, but the views of Gitche Gume (Lake Superior) would be spectacular. Roads are decent, curvy, (not tight but big sweepers) and well marked.
Be forewarned, there is literally NOTHING in the UP for many miles. FEW gas stations, NO service shops, or cell phone service. Wi-Fi? Yeah right.
Its worth the trip guys......
Doc.

Finally, it was warm enough..

Yep, its late March and only 44 degrees, but it was sunny and that made it more than tolerable to make it out for a ride today. Came across this flock of Turkeys sunning themselves and foraging. The Tom didnt like me taking a pic, and after fanning himself, led the hens away. I was a bit slow on the draw with the camera, so I missed ht epic of him fanned out. These birds are really big, inspite of how small they look in the pic. I would hate to hit one on the bike.

RUSTIC ROADS

Ever want to have some purpose to your ride? Sure there are plenty of benefit rides, but not everyone like a group ride. I know alot of people like to leave the phones and watches at home, take no maps and just ride. I do that alot, pick a direction and head out.


Sometimes my practical side takes over and I say, " What am I doing here? I am in the middle of nothing for no reason" So for a bit of a change, I have been hitting some of Wisconsins Rustic Roads this past fall.

Ever see a sign on the road like the one pictured to the above?

Even wonder what it was for??


Check here: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/scenic/rusticroads.htm

Wisconsin has a program for motorcyclists who travel these roads. Simply photograph your bike or group in front of the numbered signs (each road has its own number) and email them via the link on the website. For 10 roads, you can earn a patch, for 25 roads, a certificate. Check the maps, there are probably some near your home. I enjoy finding these roads, and the routes taken to get to them are interestings as well. Most of the photos from this blog are from those rides.

Snow Riding

Well the temps soared to a balmy 37 degrees today. Finished up some minor mods to my bike this morning and took it out for a short ride. Only about 35 miles. Still cold enough out to make one stay near home. The roads are terrible, lots of sand and road debris. Had the front end wash out twice at stops. Kept the bike up, but its a bit unnerving. Snapped this pic in fromt of a wetland restoration area near my home. I have always said fo rthe past few years that this area would be a great nature/wetland preserve, and low and behold, today I saw a sign stating just that! (sign on the tree in background) Oddly enough, just down the road from this area, the local municipality allowed someone to first, build a dirt bike track on a wetland, then when the track didnt work out, they allowed someone to build up the land ALOT and put a self storage unit on it. Nevermind the landfill build next door either.

Tenessee

I realize this blog is about Wisconsin, but I spent some time with my inlaws in Tennessee recently and was able to get a few short rides in. Since it wasnt Wisconsin, I didnt bother with any pics. There seems to be alot of rideable roads in the Nashville area. Lots of rustic areas, rural roads and lots of curves. I didnt have mybike there, I rode my father in laws Yamaha Vstar 650. Nice bike but a bit on the small side. Lots of plastic, but a good comfortable ride, if your on the smaller side. At 6'4" and 250 lbs, I was a bit big on the bike. For a 650, it gets out of it own way. My inlaws are planning a Deals Gap/Pigeon Forge ride in the fall of this year. Think I may have to get off my duff and get my trailer built!

The Dark Side

Not much riding to do this time of year. At the end of Nov. I did mange to change out the tires on my bike. I decided to try an alternative tire on the rear. If you look at the pic you may be a bit confused at the rear tire on the right. The front tire is a stock Bridgestone, the rear tire on the right is a car tire. If you want to know more about putting a car tire on your bike, search for "DarkSide tire" and you will get all you need to know. Not all bikes have a tire size that works in a car application. I did get to put about 100 miles on these tires and while I am not sold on the car tire deal, it does offer some distinct advantages. You are probably asking, "How can a car tire work on a motorcycle?" This seems to be a recent trend, but I dont think so. I did this years ago when I had no money and needed a tire. I worked at a tire shop, and put one on an old Triumph I got form a co worker. Maybe you are saying, "It cant hande properly". Well, I can lean my pig of a cruiser over far enough with this tire to drag the floor board hard enough to lift my left foot up into the shifter forcing a gear change at a high rate of speed. dont take my word for it, researchit and find out if its right for you.

A little farther north, in the town of Friendship....this is a pic of the lbuff on the north edge of town. These bluffs are scattered throughout this region, not apparant rhyme or reason. This whoel area of the state is called the Unglaciated area. For some reason the glaciers from the last ice age, didnt come through here and level the place. Likely cause for this was the area was a large body of water.