Motorcycling
Today I went out motorcycling with a coworker. I was supposed to go out with two coworkers, but one of them had to cancel at the last minute. The weather today was beautiful, mid 60's and clear skies.
We met at work, and then headed south along the banks of the St. Croix river, first in Minnesota and then in Wisconsin. We followed the St. Croix and then the Mississippi for about an hour and a half through nicely winding two lane roads. There were plenty of other motorcycles to wave to, and the scenery is more like art than real life. The trees are in full color with an explosion of reds, yellows, and browns. I wish I could have taken some pictures, it was fantastic scenery.
The roads are curvy enough to keep them interesting, but they're nothing like a California mountain road. There are some good corners, but not the wave after wave after wave of interesting corners like I'm used to. It looks like getting off the main two lane roads and driving by the farms gives a more interesting experience, but most farms have gravel driveways, which means there's a lot of gravel on those back roads. I'll have to try a few more back roads to see if I can find some that have the right combination of wide open straight-a-ways and interesting curvy bits -- minus the gravel, of course.
The weather man is saying that things are likely to be warm for another week or so. Maybe we'll be able to go for ride again next weekend. With warmer gloves and something to keep the wind off my neck, I'll probably be able to ride well into November and maybe December, assuming it doesn't snow.
I can see why most people have Harleys out here (and boy, were they all out today) since most of the roads lend themselves to easy driving. Things don't get interesting on a bike until you're well into triple digit speeds on most of the roads out here. I think my Strom is a perfect Midwest bike. I can get hard bags for those long interstate cruises, it's sporty enough to be plenty of fun on the back roads, and it can easily deal with the occasional dirt roads for when you really want to get off the beaten path.
Things just keep getting better. I'm loving it out here.
We met at work, and then headed south along the banks of the St. Croix river, first in Minnesota and then in Wisconsin. We followed the St. Croix and then the Mississippi for about an hour and a half through nicely winding two lane roads. There were plenty of other motorcycles to wave to, and the scenery is more like art than real life. The trees are in full color with an explosion of reds, yellows, and browns. I wish I could have taken some pictures, it was fantastic scenery.
The roads are curvy enough to keep them interesting, but they're nothing like a California mountain road. There are some good corners, but not the wave after wave after wave of interesting corners like I'm used to. It looks like getting off the main two lane roads and driving by the farms gives a more interesting experience, but most farms have gravel driveways, which means there's a lot of gravel on those back roads. I'll have to try a few more back roads to see if I can find some that have the right combination of wide open straight-a-ways and interesting curvy bits -- minus the gravel, of course.
The weather man is saying that things are likely to be warm for another week or so. Maybe we'll be able to go for ride again next weekend. With warmer gloves and something to keep the wind off my neck, I'll probably be able to ride well into November and maybe December, assuming it doesn't snow.
I can see why most people have Harleys out here (and boy, were they all out today) since most of the roads lend themselves to easy driving. Things don't get interesting on a bike until you're well into triple digit speeds on most of the roads out here. I think my Strom is a perfect Midwest bike. I can get hard bags for those long interstate cruises, it's sporty enough to be plenty of fun on the back roads, and it can easily deal with the occasional dirt roads for when you really want to get off the beaten path.
Things just keep getting better. I'm loving it out here.
posted by Mark at 5:43 PM
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