Gophers and Cheese

I took a few photos of my 883 while the snow was flying on Tuesday.

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.

Yep, it's almost the first Thursday of the month again so that means bike night at Dulono's Pizza .  The forecast looks wet but maybe we'll luck out.  Last month it snowed but I'd rather not think about that. To coincide with the First Thursday festivities, this month is scheduled to be the first ever Moto Mania at the VFW near Dulono's.  More details on this post .

After the Donnie Smith Show (yes, I'll post photos eventually), I took a ride and I stopped at one of my favorite places to take photos, the Intermedia Arts building in Uptown.  There was still some snow on the ground and the chrome bubble shield on my Biltwell Gringo made for some fun shots.

I was able to get two rides in during March.  The first was on March 20th and it was a short ride after work.  Not only was I treated to a beautiful sunset, but I got a chance to try out my brand new Biltwell Gringo helmet and bubble shield! My second ride was on the Sunday of the Donnie Smith Show (3/30) but I'll be posting those pics later. Just to see how it compares, here are the dates that I took my first ride of the season over the prior 5 years: 2014: March 20 2013: March 29 2012: March 10 2011: March 19 2010: March 6 2009: February 8 I still have never ridden in Minnesota in December or January.

Last week it was snowing and sleeting with the temperature barely above freezing.  In spite of the nasty weather, I saw this woman on a scooter heading into downtown.  Badass or crazy?... you decide. For the record, I was warm and dry in my car and my wife took the photo.

I left Prescott and headed south towards Diamond Bluff, WI.  The curvy stretch of road between those towns is my personal favorite around the Twin Cities.  So fun. I approached Diamond Bluff and could see a decent sized gathering at the Nauti Hawg .  I would estimate closer to 100 bikes were there, twice what I saw in Prescott. The bike that really stood out to me was this blue 2009 Nightster.  The owner said it was freshly painted and it was the first ride since the new paint.  The blue popped and I really liked the use of the emblem on the tank. Even though the roads were clear, it was still very cold and you can see snow piled up in the background.  I rode quite a bit with these snowmobile-style gloves before switching over to my leather gloves & liners. This guy had some sort of animal skin muffs / gloves that looked really warm. There was a wide variety of bikes parked in front of the Nauti Hawg including these Indians....

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...