Gophers and Cheese

Here's another big batch of photos from the 2025 Donnie Smith Show . 

The Donnie Smith Bike Show was this past weekend at the RiverCentre in St. Paul.  I've been going to show longer than I've been blogging about it and I have A LOT of blogposts covering the show over the years.  The bikes rarely repeat so there's always so much new to see and the giant swap meet is a bonus, though I didn't find anything I just had to have this year.  I got there right as they opened on Saturday and took a bunch of photos before it got super-busy, strolled through the swap meet, and then took a few more photos before heading out.  It's always nice running into some people I haven't seen in a while - it feels like emerging from winter hibernation.

The blog turns 15 years old today!!!  1,370 blogposts featuring over 25,000 photos, and over 3,500 Instagram posts  (usually re-posted on my Facebook page too) make Gophers and Cheese the world's premiere rodent & dairy themed motorcycle & van blog focusing on events right here in Minnesota & Wisconsin.  As always, thanks for stopping by.

Here are bunch more photos from Mama Tried Show 2025.

This past weekend, I headed out to Milwaukee for  Mama Tried .  Like previous years, it's an incredible collection of custom motorcycles in a very cool venue that helps get us all through the end of Winter as we look forward to Spring.  Unlike previous years, I was there with my family, which is great because they were interested in seeing it, but it meant we were just there for the show itself and skipped Flat Out Friday and other events (this time).  On the bright side, it meant a lot fewer photos to sift through and edit so here we go...

The last bike night that I attended in 2024 was October 1st.  It was held at Forgotten Star Brewing and hosted by The Litas Twin Cities .  It was particularly fun because my son and I both brought bikes.  I had the Evil Monkey (my '76 Honda Z50) and he had his Razor MX350.  Obviously we didn't ride them there, but we did ride around the parking lot and it was a blast.  The Razor was originally my daughter's bike and when she outgrew it, my son rode it a bunch.  Over the past few months, I built him his own custom bike and I'll get to posting about that eventually.

Here's the last batch of photos from Pokey Tire Ice Racing 2025...

More photos from Pokey Tire Ice Racing 2025!!

Pokey Tire Ice Racing was held on Duck Lake in Madison Lake, MN on February 1, 2025.  It's been going on for a few years, but this was the first time I attended.  It was a cold, cloudy, and windy day out on the lake but it was a lot of fun!  The ice was solid, smooth, and very slippery as there was no snow cover.  I brought the Snowmonkey, which is the winter version of the Evil Monkey, my 1976 Honda Z50.  It has a studded tire in the back and banana ski up front.  It's been about 7 years since I've had it out on a frozen lake and it's as sketchy as it looks.  When I wasn't taking pictures, I did a bunch of laps and I even drag raced a newer 125cc Monkey... twice!!

Here are a bunch of fisheye photos from the Show & Shine at Ivan & Jane's Vantasy Island .

Saturday morning at Ivan & Jane's Vantasy Island , I woke up early, left the farm, and headed into nearby Maple Lake for the Gear-Head Get Together .  It's another annual event that I've heard only good things about but had never been to.  Cars, bikes, and assorted vehicles lined the streets and I followed the big sign to the swap meet area.

I went to Ivan and Jane's truck-in in Howard Lake, MN for the first time in August.  It was hosted by Northwestern Vanners & Naughty but Nice Vanners .  They change the theme every year and 2024 was "Vantasy Island".  I heard so many good things about this particular truck-in that I wanted to check it out.  Kenny's farm is like a field of dreams for vanners, from the idyllic setting to the oversized van-themed games.  I brought my son along, stayed Friday and Saturday night and took a ton of photos.  Here's Kenny:

In September 2024, Zac assembled a truly remarkable amount of his Heavy Clothing items that he has made and sold over the past 10+ years and hosted the Cult of Heavy Art Show at Neverest Studio in St Paul.  It lasted 2 days, September 6th & 7th.  I attended the night of the 6th.

While not an official Twin City Vans event, Tommy organized a Fall Cruise on September 28th for both vans and not-vans.  It was beautiful sunny day.

With the last bike night of the year just around the corner, I figured I should get photos from this month's bike night at Forgotten Star , hosted by The Litas Twin Cities , on the blog.  The weather cooperated again and there was a good turnout at the brewery.

Saturday morning, I packed up the tent in Elk Mountain Campground and headed north, spotting some buffalo along the way.

The weather was still quite nice in mid-September and I decided, rather last-minute, to take a couple of days off and ride to the Black Hills.  I left on Friday the 13th.  I opted to avoid I-90 and take a slightly northern route through Pierre, SD.  This is Apol's Harley-Davidson in Raymond, which is along the way.  My Road King was loaded with supplies and camping gear to make the trip comfortable as I knew I'd be in for a lot of miles in a short amount of time.  I even dusted off the ol' windshield and threw it on to reduce fatigue and act as a bug shield.

Wrapping up coverage from this year's Chariots of the Gods van and vintage camper show .

Coverage from Chariots of the Gods continues!  I've been bringing my fisheye lens to van events this year and I think it's a fun way to capture interiors.  The first photo is my '78 Dodge.

Chariots of the Gods was in its 11th year and was held, as usual, in the "triangle of tranquility" in Northeast Minneapolis on August 10th, 2024.  This is the event that really got me into custom vans.  It's not a traditional vans-only truck-in as it's open to the public.  There's no big event schedule, no judging/awards... it's just a very laid back event with a couple of vendors and some live music too.  For many years, I attended by riding my motorcycle there.  It's only in the last few years that I've brought my own van and stayed the night.  Here is one of the license plates you could buy commemorating the event.  It pretty much tells you all you need to know.