Gophers and Cheese

This past Sunday, I partook in Speckled Egg Sunday Funday... at least for most of the day.  Scott (aka @choppinflour) organized the run and it sounds like it's the 2nd year he's done it.  The rendezvous point was Wyatt's Twisted Americana in Hastings, MN.  I thought I was at the wrong place when I was the first to arrive.  Thankfully, they served both hot and cold beverages so I didn't have a problem waiting. Scott was next to arrive and we ended up with a small group of 10 people on 8 bikes as we headed out.  We hit a bunch of fun, curvy roads first including a few I've never been down before.  We also hit some favorites of mine too including the road between Welch and Vasa.  I didn't take any riding photos this time but @ettelmn8 posted this one on Instagram of about half the group at a stop light.  If you can stop laughing at Reinhart and look closely, that's me in my mirror bubble shield in the back-left. Our first stop was the Harbor...

Once I reached Fountain City, I felt like I was back on the Flood Run .  After only a brief ride on WI-35N, I took another excursion.  I like County Road O near Red Wing so much that I decided to check out County Road O (a totally different road) near Cochrane, WI.  It's yet another fun curvy road.  These shots were taken where it meets WI-88. View Larger Map I rejoined WI-35N and followed it all the way back to Prescott.  The ride back was really nice now that the sun was out and the sky was clear. Once in Prescott, the No Name Saloon was packed. I think this is Donnie Smith's bike. I tend to prefer more classic paint but these skulls were well done. These appeared to be homemade saddlebags. I crossed back into Minnesota at Prescott and rode through the cities to get home.  Here's Minneapolis as the sun was getting close to setting. Like I said, start-to-finish was 435 miles over about 11 hours.  I didn't stop...

I continued south from Maiden Rock and went as far as Nelson, WI, which is across the river from Wabasha, MN. This liquor store sign might have been a bit premature. I saw this car at various spots along the run. This Sportster was really cool.  It had a very unusual method for hardtailing the frame while retaining the swingarm. I headed back north and spotted this sign while fueling up. The ride along the river is always nice. No Flood Run would be complete without stopping in Hager City at the Border Lounge.  No cover with wristband means no excuse for not stopping.  Even the SCVR party bus showed up.  I'll never quite understand why so many people hang out outside when the entertainment is inside.  Oh well. I continued north and stopped briefly again at the Nauti Hawg .  I saw this really cool old FLH. After passing Prescott, I snapped these last few images in Point Douglas Park .  You can still see qui...

All last week I was mentally preparing myself for the fact the weather forecast was cold and snowy and the likelihood of me being able to attend the 48th Annual Spring Flood Run was very small.  I was following the Flood Run's Facebook page where they stressed over and over that the run would NEVER be moved or cancelled and encouraged people to attend by car or party bus if they couldn't ride. Where I live, we got around 6 inches of fresh snow Thursday into Friday morning but Friday was warm(ish) and melted a lot of it.  Saturday morning (the day of the run) had a record low in the upper teens and a high was wasn't supposed to break 40.  Even that morning, I didn't expect I would attend but the sky was clear and the sun was warm.  Nervous about ice on the roads, I waited until closer to noon before bundling up and leaving.  It was my first ride of the year on the Road King (I had previously been out on the Sporty). I took a direct route to Prescott via U...

I finally got the Road King out and went for a nice long ride.  The temperature broke 40 degrees and the roads were dry and in great shape.  The sky was sunny and clear.  I was layered up to stay warm. I rode down to Red Wing.  I needed a new belt so picked one up at Red Wing Shoes .  Their belts are really well made and last.  Only reason I needed a replacement is because I've dropped a few pounds recently. Here's a pair of shots near Prescott, WI.  You can see there is still a thin sheet of ice and snow on the river. I warmed up with a tall glass (yes, a glass) of coffee at Bob's . I was out for close to 4 hours and saw maybe a dozen other bikes in motion (two of them 2-up!) with another dozen parked at various places.  Seems like I wasn't the only one taking advantage of the unusually pleasant February weather.