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| Loaded on trailer due to weather |
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I'm a lil late posting this. I'd put it on the back burner for a few weeks. It's finally time; time for the PG version
It's year number 6 ......................
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| Rolled in late and beat |
Back in ’12 I started heading up that way. Year after year, in mid-August. But this year would be different. I wasn’t attending the previous event, but headed up to ride with the IIRA North Winds tribe. I had an open invite to stay with the Dittels’s and I was taking them up on it. Last year, Pedro and Brook stayed with them, but I rode back to the LivIn Inn every night. We had a week of rides planned and I was looking forward to it. A couple of years ago I “Iron butted” it to/from Sturgis, but this year, I planned to make it official; receipts, GPS mapped, etc I had the bike prepped. I had the route planned (with extra miles to get me into 4 digits). I was ready. But, Mother Nature wasn’t. I could have gone for it. I could have slipped my schedule to work around the weather. Instead, I begrudgingly rolled the bike onto an extra open trailer I have and pulled it, the 950 miles to the Twin Cities, MN ….. and thank goodness I did, because the first three hours were brutal. At times, I could barely see through the windshield/rain. I was driving through lakes that had just popped up. The temps had dropped. I went from upset I was trailering, to smiling in this friggn’ mess. Fourteen hours later, I ran into more rain for upwards of an hour as I closed in on the Twin Cities. Did I mention how comfortable that F350 can be with heated or cooled seats, jamming to Rock n Roll, making calls all day via Bluetooth? Yep, this was a good choice! Approximately fifteen hours after leaving Texas I rolled into my home for the week, jokingly renamed the R&R Clubhouse for the duration. Beers were flowing, whiskey was abundant, stogies were lit. Night one was in the books . And what a week it would be ..…….
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| Mies Outland |
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| Bison Thunder Motorcycle |
Day 2 / Monday. Rode out to the other two dealers in the area of the cities. Up early after a few beers, it’s Monday morning and we’re headed to breakfast! After a killer meal a small group of us head out. Mustache Mike has a shitty rear tire that needs to be swapped out and IMTC wasn’t an option. Bison can’t get him in this day. But Mies Outland can get him in this morning. So, we head out West of the Cities in search of fresh rubber! Everyone is bundled up, except for .. .me! I’m used to HOT weather down in TX and this 67 degree morning feels good! Except one problem. In most places in the world, they temps go UP as the day goes on but this morning, they are dropping. After about an hour and a half, I'm beginning to question my own sanity/decisions! But, we soon rolled into Mies Outland, and Mustache Mike is getting the tire change. I find myself mesmerized by the interior of this dealership. It's beautiful, and LARGE! They still are selling Victory's (PII shut down Victory production earlier this year) and they had more than their share here. It brings me back to when Polaris pulled the plug on Vic and I was scheming on finding a cheap Cross Country, only to get the idea nixed by Lucy ( she HATES them ). Over in the one corner is a Magnum. Across from it, a Vision of which I've never been a fan of, but they are supposed to be superior rides. When I walked in, there was a brand new Crossroads in the front area which I'd come close to buying a few years back ( to park down in Galveston ). And the prices were excellent / tempting! But, I stayed strong and a lil more than an hour later, with a new dealer shirt in my bag, we're headed back out on the road! The temps are now around 70, I'm 100% comfortable and we continue around the 'loop, headed back. We eventually pull into Bison which is tucked sort of off the Interstate, but the sign is visible. Once we walk in, I'm once again mesmerized. But now,
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| Bison Thunder Motorcycle |
we've got TWO floors to feast your eyes on. I’ve
been in a lot of HD dealerships that were two floors and it definitely
adds to a more impressive feel. The upstairs here has generic
products. What I mean by that is ‘non-Indian’ Leather products
(jackets, vests, etc) and Shirts and patches and … someone to sew them
on! Linda ( Linda Linda!) is inside; I haven't seen her since last year and the ride today was worth seeing her alone. Candice is there as well! I finally get to meet Stefanie, and she's as nice a gal as I envisioned from our discussions prior, via FB. Icing on the cake of the day is I got the opportunity to meet Doug, the owner. We had plans to come back later in the week for demo rides, so after an hour or so and the mandatory dealer shirt, we were off! Back to the 'clubhouse' for dinner and an evening for socializing and adult beverages ( seeing a trend here?).
Day3 / Tuesday. Awesome day riding the alphabet roads of Wisconsin. I’m a firm believer Wisconsin roads are a hidden gem. This was our goal for the day; hundreds of miles of two lanes. But first we headed out to breakfast (of course!). Quick zip down the Interstate and we are soon sipping coffee and slamming down an
awesome meal. Our surprise was Gary Blomberg joined us. He'd reached out to me, I gave him a quick text where we were headed but didn't actually expect him to make it; kudos! Once we all got our energy stores up, we were headed west! We soon found ourselves out in the countryside in the twisties and beautiful farmland. I could do this every day of the week. Once in a great while, you see some lil’ town down in a valley, or a vineyard over yonder, and they call your name to pull up, take a break and enjoy the countryside; my god it is some beautiful country. But for the most part we were putting on miles; quality miles. And when the smoke cleared, we had 369 of them miles. Gary B. told me during the day it was some of the best riding he'd ever had. Why? Because there was about a 1/2 doz of us, and we were scooting along at a perfect speed w/o anyone slowing us down. No big groups with novices in the mix. No chaos with folks that can't keep up. It was, well..... awesome! From there we were scooting back to Minneapolis to meet up with the IIRA North winds Chapter! We pulled in right on time, I met many of the members for the first time, we lined up and GG took us for a tour of the North
MPLS where I'd never been before. There's some beautiful parks/lakes up in that area that I had no idea even existed. I'd lived in MN from '76 - '79 but the only thing I ever did in MPLS was shop downtown at Christmas time, and I've been to the stadium to watch football. That's it! Well, we did a 1/2 hr putt through the area taking in all the sights and sounds, ending up at the Tailgate Sports Cafe for some great burgers and cold beers! Also gave us time to truly converse with everyone; great folks! After that, 1/2 split off and the rest of followed Gary into downtown where we spent some time soaking in the visuals the MPLS nighttime skyline. Begrudgingly, we headed out and made a quick pit stop in a lil rougher part of town for one last sip. Then we were off , back to the clubhouse! Another night of refreshments and stogies; I can't get enough of this!
Day 4 /Wed . Rode with the NW chapter. We brought in some new blood for the ride! Connected up with GG, Mrs GG, and TT (anyone else use TT or did I just make that up?!). We took off in a SW direction, out of the cities and into the green countryside. We found ourselves stopping about every fifty miles simply to spend some time actually talking, taking pics, socializing. It was nice to have others admitting they had a smaller bladder as well, so I wasn't the only guy begging for a pee break! On the way out we went through a small town with a hole in the wall bar
where we stopped
for a single adult refreshment and found a piece of
gold. Well, not gold but a rot gut bottle of rum with our 'mascot' on
it. When we saw the wolf, we had to get it! And what the hell, that
'high quality' stuff was only $15! Few of us had a couple of sips but
.. it was pretty bad. So, we found other uses for it later during the
week (sshhh). But still.... Score! From there, we continued on ending
up in New Ulm, MN where they have Turner Hall that claims to be the
oldest bar in the state of MN. The highlight of this was a gentleman
that used to be their Tourist Manager saw my Sturgis shirt i was
wearing, and it brought up the subject of motorcycles, what he used to
ride and ..... he began to tell us the history of the building we were
in. I can honestly say most of us didn't want to leave after hearing
the fascinating history of it all. But, we still had some miles to do so we broke away and worked our way back to Victoria, MN where we pulled into Floyd's. Our timing was perfect since the sun was starting to go down, the crowds weren't too bad and the band was on their last set, so we got our fair share of music. The food was good, beer was cold and the day was winding down. With 50 miles to go, we pulled out and headed back for another evening in the local area. We made it back in time to head out to Lindeys for some killer steaks. But, are these massive chunks of beef, actually steak or a roast? All I know is mine was a huge think piece of medium rare heaven! After a great night there, we headed back to ... you guessed it, the 'clubhouse!'
Day 5 . Well, ever day can't always be perfect. This was the day we were to do an overnight with
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| Lindeys |
the chapter, up near Duluth. We all had reservations, all were psyched. Except ... rain! Now, riding through it is no big deal but the problem is we'd be riding WITH it, in the same direction. After the better part of an hour looking at the days weather.. the following days weather, the decision was made to cancel. All this was made the day prior to ensure no one lost $ on the rooms, but with the rain causing chaos, we were well.. stuck. So we headed to breakfast for some killer grub and Bloody Marys of course! This day would be a relaxing one; catching up on good times and making a few ones. Even found a new restaurant. We're back . I'm beat. Scotch will have to wait until tomorrow.....
Day 6 / Friday / We're planning for a Breakfast run to meet up with a few, but as we're headed out,
we running late and the rain is coming in. Our guys down SE of us are in the restaurant, but we can't get there w/o getting soaked so we make a last second decision to grab some grub closer to where we are to stay dry. This stretched into hours and plenty of Bloody Marys, killer breakfast and most importantly, a great time chatting with the folks I was with. After several hours we were able to escape dry and headed back to the clubhouse. I snuck off for a few moments, which actually became probably more, and snuck in a nap. I was out! Eventually I came to and noticed we had some new folks that hold rolled in. I then met Dan and Jess for I believe the first time. They were up here for the event last year, but I don't remember ever chatting with them. We quickly caught up and I found myself mesmerized with their story; theirs is better than mine!
They've already paid for the event this year, but have chosen not to participate in most of it. Instead they decided to ride to Key West, then up to MN to visit friends that were also participating. The twist here, is on Saturday (the next day) they plan to attend the event. They don't want to see it fail, and they be tied to the cause of it. They have their hearts in the right place, yet at the same time have lost a lil' faith in it all. But as I said, they'd paid and were moving forward. I get it. Hell, if I'd paid already and was still 'welcome' I'd probably do the same thing. Now the twist. A few of us are wearing some Tee Shirts that were created in fun and they are wondering if there are extras available. Turns out there are and in their size. They tell us they are going to wear them the following day. I'm thinking... "no way!". I honestly didn't believe they would (guess what; they did!). Well, after 'waking up' and the weather is still in
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| Ready for the Circus! |
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| Groustras' |
disarray, we decide to jump in a couple of cages and head over to Bison. They've got a Demo trunk running Friday/Saturday and I haven't seen the '18 models yet. We're on the back-end of the day and cutting it close, but we are able to sneak in on one of the last demo rides of the day. My first ride was on a Scout Bobber; lets just say this bike wasn't made for me? This is the third time I've ridden one, but the first time I'm able to finally open one up. Once we head out and I get some room between the bike in front of me, I'm able to take it to redline in the first three gears; this bike moves! I soooo badly wanted to find redline in 4th, but that would have put me in triple digits and this wasn't the place or time. Next ride, I get on my first Springfield; this one is a DH model with 16" apes. I've never ridden any bike with more than 14" bars so it's a new feeling; I'm sorta' liking it! Maybe one day I'll change up my Gray Horse; never know! Well, after that we head out over to a local bar grill with some of the Bison folks , throw back some cold ones, get our grub on then back to the clubhouse; our ongoing daily theme!
Day 7 / Saturday / The ultimate weather . Beautiful day to ride, with the best weather we've had all
week. Headed to breakfast. Excellent . Awesome ride up to Lake Mill Lacs. Dan and Jess are headed up there to meet us when we get to our destination. They've worn their shirts to the event, laughed a lil about it and are headed our way (The crazy part of it all was it was later portrayed that somehow
thugs were sent in. As the purpose was to cause chaos. Problems. No, it
was just a pair of shirts! LOL). Lunch up around the lake is great, the folks even better. And it's finally ... warm! The way I like it.. almost, Texas style! On the way back we connected up with another couple who'd bailed earlier from the event and grew our group a notch larger. We're headed back to the clubhouse for a night of steaks, beverages, campfire and great stories. Actually a better word would be : Epic. The pics and tales will be shared another day, another time. That night alone, was worth the trip. New Friends. New Stories. New Memories. I could write an entire chapter about that evening.....
Day 8 / Sunday . Gotta' tell you, I'm not ready to leave. I'm moving slow, but not hungover. Mama has given me the thumbs up to stay an extra day for recovery purposes, but I'm stubborn and want to press on. But I pull out late morning and I'm behind the power curve. Good news is I'm on my game. Before I hit the Iowa border, I'm in the left lane rolling down I-35, doing about 75 when some older female idiot decides to, hit the brakes right in front of me and attempt to do an illegal U turn in the middle of the Interstate. At the last second she changes her mind and accelerates on. In the meantime, I'm braking my F350 dually for all it's worth with a motorcycle on the trailer behind me, thinking the car behind me is going to not do as well. Someway, somehow , everyone that I can see gets out of this mess with no mangled bumpers. Whew! Of course as I roll by the idiot that caused it, they won't look up or over. SMH. Well, I continued on and made it to Oklahoma before I hit the wall; or maybe it was Missouri. But a 25 minute power nap was all I need. I was back in the game. Finally, pulled it on Monday at 0330 hours. Ouch. But, I was home!
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awesome meal. Our surprise was Gary Blomberg joined us. He'd reached out to me, I gave him a quick text where we were headed but didn't actually expect him to make it; kudos! Once we all got our energy stores up, we were headed west! We soon found ourselves out in the countryside in the twisties and beautiful farmland. I could do this every day of the week. Once in a great while, you see some lil’ town down in a valley, or a vineyard over yonder, and they call your name to pull up, take a break and enjoy the countryside; my god it is some beautiful country. But for the most part we were putting on miles; quality miles. And when the smoke cleared, we had 369 of them miles. Gary B. told me during the day it was some of the best riding he'd ever had. Why? Because there was about a 1/2 doz of us, and we were scooting along at a perfect speed w/o anyone slowing us down. No big groups with novices in the mix. No chaos with folks that can't keep up. It was, well..... awesome! From there we were scooting back to Minneapolis to meet up with the IIRA North winds Chapter! We pulled in right on time, I met many of the members for the first time, we lined up and GG took us for a tour of the North 
Day 4 /Wed . Rode with the NW chapter. We brought in some new blood for the ride! Connected up with GG, Mrs GG, and TT (anyone else use TT or did I just make that up?!). We took off in a SW direction, out of the cities and into the green countryside. We found ourselves stopping about every fifty miles simply to spend some time actually talking, taking pics, socializing. It was nice to have others admitting they had a smaller bladder as well, so I wasn't the only guy begging for a pee break! On the way out we went through a small town with a hole in the wall bar
where we stopped
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