Gophers and Cheese

More pictures from the 2010 Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show ... The day was full of live music on an outdoor stage behind the 331 Club .  I couldn't stay for it all but the bands I heard sounded great. Here's the schedule.  Never mind the dude creepin' behind the sign... These guys were goin' all Emmet Otter Jugband... while these guys were goin' all Riverbottom Nightmare Band. If you don't understand the two references above, you need to watch more Christmas movies involving Muppets. While the Bearded Lady may be a freak show on the surface, it is a bike show at its heart.  The prizes were highly unusual (and awesome) - tattooed piglets in jars. Bikes and scooters were everywhere. Here are a few of the rats... Yee-haw!  Seriously though, a fur-covered scooter with a saddle for a seat - it's pretty fantastic.  However, I'm nervous enough about hitting a deer as it is without worrying that one might want to run into the road just to mate wit...

As promised, more pics from the 2010 Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show / Freakshow... I have lots of pictures of bikes to post but I'll get to them soon.  Let's start with the crowd.  If you click on the picture and look closely you will see a few Minnesota Rollergirls and that guy on stilts again. While the majority of the crowd was relatively normal, what made the crowd cool and interesting were those in costume. Of course there were a few bearded ladies (guys with beards in drag): This guy was bearded but he was rockin' a chef's outfit instead of a dress: There were ladies dressed in Victorian-looking outfits selling merchandise and munchin' on cupcakes: There was this guy on stilts with a burlap mask and megaphone: Let's not forget the cigarette girls: The last group I noticed were the girls in what I would describe as "day of the dead" makeup, which looked awesome. More pics to come...

Today was the 5th ever Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show (aka the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freakshow) at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis.  The weather was perfect - 80s and sunny.  This was my first time attending this event and it was easily the best bike show I have ever been to - both the bikes entered and those in the parking lot.  Most bikes at the show were definitely in the style I enjoy most.  I took a ton of pictures and plan to post at least 50 of them over a series of posts so check back. 331 Club, home of the Bearded Lady: I came away with some swag from Heavy Clothing and Speed Club Inc. , among others. Speaking of Heavy, Zac Doom was there selling stuff and I did make a purchase. Here's his bike: My favorite bike of the show was this Shovelhead tucked away in the parking lot: Many more pics from the show to come... including more pics of this guy on stilts with a mask and megaphone... it was a freakshow after all...

I took Friday off and it was absolutely beautiful - low 80s and sunny.  I headed out for a short trip to Stillwater, MN.  Lumberjack Days are this weekend if you enjoy watching people climb and/or chop down trees, among other activities.  I was there in the early afternoon so I think I was a bit too early for the festivities. The floating stage was getting set up for live music and quite a few boats were anchored nearby. There were tons of vendor stands set up with food and stuff to buy including these guys selling Utilikilts .  I found the "hang loose" shirt pretty funny. The real gem among all the vendor tents was this...  Ms. Pac-Man caught my eye and behind the little tent where a few arcade games were set up was a big air-conditioned trailer where you could enter and play over a dozen vintage arcade games, all set to free play.  Entry to the trailer cost $3 for 15 minutes, $5 for 30 minutes, or $30 for all day.  I went for the $5 option bu...

I love opening my mailbox and getting a small, heavy manila envelope. DicE issue 33 arrived today.

Took the Road King for a ride to Neumann's in North St. Paul, the oldest bar in Minnesota (open since 1887).

It was "Third Thursday" (aka "Jacked Up Bike Night") again at Mad Jack's in Brooklyn Park, MN.  There was nice weather and a good turnout.  I rode my Sportster. Here's a somewhat obstructed view of Donnie Smith arriving: I'm not sure if this bike has a Sportster or Buell engine in it but it's awesome from the standpoint of how radically custom a Sporty (or Buell) can be: The downside of posting all my pics in black and white is that you would never know that this bike's engine is powdercoated bright orange: Sporty with a big tank adapted to fit, built for touring: I like this bike from Sucker Punch Sally but I personally think the seat should be sprung: A very clean raked out chopper: High quality airbrushed eagles: