Gophers and Cheese

Opened the mailbox today and got two pleasant surprises... I really like DicE magazine and their blog and I finally decided to get a subscription so the first issue arrived today.  What's amazing to me is how fast I got it - I just subscribed through their website on Sunday! On the same day I subscribed to DicE, I e-mailed FTWCO for some free stickers and they arrived today too!  If you want your own, click on their "Gratis Stickers" icon and follow the instructions. By the way, if you've never checked out Church of Choppers , go!

The weather was very rainy this weekend.  I picked the Road King up from its 15K service yesterday.  I really need to start doing more maintenance on it myself but it still had a few weeks left under warranty and they found an issue with the clutch cable and replaced it so that was good. Today, I took the Sporty out after it stopped raining.  I stopped at Bob's Java Hut for some coffee.  There was only one other bike when I arrived but close to 10 when I left.  By the way, you can buy that sticker ("Driving, Ride A Motorcycle") from Aerostich but you didn't hear that from me. After Bob's, I made a brief stop at the Joint before heading home.  There were a few bikes at the Joint but not many.  The side parking lot (as you can see) was empty except for me.

After stopping in Wabasha, I headed north along US-61.  I stopped for a few pics by the river: I stopped in Red Wing at Staghead Restaurant for an early dinner consisting of a sandwich and some soup. Crossing back into Wisconsin meant a stop in Hager City: Continuing north, I stopped for a second time at the Nauti Hawg: I crossed back into Minnesota from Prescott and took this picture in Point Douglas Park: I stopped at Borderline Bar and Grill but unfortunately got there before the live music started. Not wanting to wait for the music, I decided to take off and stopped at the Joint before finally heading home.  Over the course of the day, I covered about 260 miles.  I'll be looking forward to the Fall Flood Run in September.

After my detour on the rustic road, I kept heading south.  Here's a nice shady spot along the river: I stopped briefly in Nelson, WI. This 100th anniversary Dyna was modified to carry a wheelchair: Here's a horny Sporty: At this point, I chose not to head all the way down to Winona (which would have taken another 45 minutes or so) and headed across the river to Wabasha, MN instead.  I stopped at Slippery's, famous for where they filmed Grumpy Old Men.

Just south of Maiden Rock, I went in search of Rustic Road 51.  This one is 4 miles long and is gravel.  I may have to check this one out once the leaves fill in the trees as I'd bet it is even more beautiful. I couldn't ride it all the way through because the road was washed out.  The water looked a lot deeper in person and was not something I was willing to try to cross. Since I only rode a small portion of the road, I headed back and made my way to the other side where it was much more open and hilly. It was a nice diversion and one I doubt many (if any) of the thousands of bikes on the run chose to do that day.

Maiden Rock is a great town to stop at during the run.  They always have a lot going on. There was a huge line of bikes heading into town: Once there, you'll find plenty of places to eat, drink, and buy stuff. Unfortunately, my favorite place to eat was closed for remodeling.  They have excellent pie. Here's the tell-tale smoke cloud from a burnout: Sporty trike... ...and a really cool chopper:

After Prescott, I headed south to Diamond Bluff and stopped at the Nauti Hawg. A view from Diamond Bluff looking at WI-35: I enjoyed a free Finnegan's beer and checked out a few Sportys:

I left the Beach Club just before 10:30 to beat the traffic and headed down to Prescott, WI.  Even though I left early, there was still a huge line of bikes to get into town. I parked off the main road by the railroad bridge: The crowd in front of the No Name Saloon:

The 2010 Spring Flood Run was a great time.  The weather this weekend was about as perfect as you could ask for in Minnesota and Wisconsin in April (sunny and upper 60s).  This was my fourth Flood Run (3 Spring, 1 Fall) and the weather for this run was by far the best. A large crowd formed at the Beach Club just prior to the official start at 10:30. I was on the Road King (without windshield or passenger backrest).  The cop was directing traffic.

Mad Jack's in Brooklyn Park, MN  hosts "Jacked Up Bike Night" the third Thursday of each month at 6pm.  I think this was the first one of the year.  They block off a section of the parking lot for motorcycles. Here's the patio and the outdoor fireplace they had going.  They had live music too. The crowd didn't stay too long.  It was more a reflection of the weather than anything else.  It turned into a nice day today but it got cold quick after the sun went down.  My Sporty was the last bike there and it was just after 8:15 when I left.

The 45th Spring Flood Run is only 5 days away and I'm excited.  This will be my fourth time participating in the run.  The border between Minnesota and Wisconsin along the St. Croix River is my favorite place to ride around the Twin Cities and this run travels that route on both sides of the river.  It's nice because the ride is beautiful and there are tons of great stops along the way.  Depending on how far you want to travel you could easily do 150-250 miles round-trip from Minneapolis.  One thing I also like is that it is not as formal as some runs.  You don't have to start at point A, then go to point B with the group, then go to point C, etc.  Bikes are roaring up and down the St. Croix in both directions all day - it doesn't matter where you start or how far you go.  That said, buy a wristband and some merchandise as it goes to a good cause. My first Flood Run was the Spring 2008 run.  This is a shot of just some of the bikes gathere...