Gophers and Cheese

If you can shake off your New Year's Eve hangover, you can check out the 67th Annual I-Cycle Derby in Minneapolis at Roy's Repair on January 1st (rider meeting at 10am and first rider leaves at 10:31).  I've never attended (and I'm not nearly crazy enough to participate), but for an annual motorcycle ride in Minnesota on New Years Day, the people and bikes that show up should be pretty interesting.  Here's a link to a little background on the ride. Chris from Everyday Riding posted his riding video from the 63rd Annual event.  It gives you a really good idea what this event is really like.  It's definitely not a quick or simple round-the-block ride.

Time is flying by.  I still have so many events from 2014 to edit & post and 2015 is right around the corner!  I wasn't going to do any projects on the Sportster this winter but I have a few small things (and maybe one big thing) I'll tackle.  I can't wait to get back out on the road and maybe plan a moto-journey or two.  Part of me wants to get back out to Sturgis for the 75th but part of me would much rather find an empty road or two I've never been down before.  I'd like to get out to Mama Tried this year but we'll see.  Too many great options to choose from is a good problem to have. I hope you have a Merry Christmas.  As always, thanks for visiting!

Prices in the store go back up after Christmas so you'd better stock up now.  At this point, you won't get the stuff in time to give as gifts but we all know you're buying these things for yourself anyway.  Stickers are on sale for $1 and T-shirts are on sale for $10, both 33% off (details below). Extra-large shirt pictured: High quality screen printing (the printing is crisp, the blur is from my fancy camera): HOT PRICES (no promotional code needed)!!! T-Shirts are $10.00 each + S&H (regularly $15.00) [Lowest price ever!!!] Stickers are $1.00 each + S&H (regularly $1.50) Gophers and Cheese logo stickers are $0.50 each + S&H (regularly $1.00) Domestic Shipping: $1.00 for the first sticker and free for all additional stickers $5.00 for the first T-shirt and $2.50 for all additional T-shirts International Shipping: $2.00 for the first sticker and free for all additional stickers Sorry, I do not ship T-shirts internationally No...

While the weather hasn't exactly been nice lately, it has been unusually warm (relatively speaking).  Nearly all the snow and ice has melted and it broke 50F yesterday so I figured I would do something I've never done before... ride my motorcycle in Minnesota in December. I headed out as the sun was setting.  The roads were wet so I tied a bandana around the front forks to soak up most of the spray. With some snow still visible along the edges, combined with the fact it wasn't raining, the wet, reflective roads trick your mind into thinking it's ice.  Thankfully it wasn't, and I remained happily upright. When I got back, the bike was filthy.  Knowing I was likely riding around in a mix of snow-melting salt and chemicals, I actually washed my bike today (something I rarely do). A December ride in Minnesota is quite rare.  Now the only month I haven't ridden here is January but I have a feeling that one will continue to elude me.

Back in March, I drove out to Milwaukee to check out the Harley Davidson Museum for the first time.  Perhaps the most famous bike in the museum is "Serial Number One". In spite of the fact it's not actually the first bike Harley ever built, it's considered to be the oldest Harley in the world.  It's actually a mix of parts including an early motor and a 1905 frame.  Regardless, it's a beautiful bike and I love the way Harley displays it.  All that was missing was a choir of angels singing in the background. If you think I take a lot of photos at local motorcycle shows and events, I went nuts in Milwaukee taking over 500 photos at the museum.  I won't be posting all of them but I'll probably share some here and there instead of flooding the blog with too many museum posts in row.  I still have a ton of other 2014 events and trips to share photos from too. Seriously, if you have not been to the museum, GO!!!  It's fantastic and t...