Riding Season Wrapup

I tried to extend the 2018 riding season as long as possible, but it came to an end around Thanksgiving weekend. The weather had turned cold in late September and never really warmed up again. What with northeast Wisconsin receiving 24 inches of snow in late April it made for a pretty short riding window. But the season did have its highlights.

The Slimey Crud Run west of Madison, Wisconsin, has been a ride I have been anxious to experience. Family commitments have prevented me from taking part, but this year I was able to participate. It is held the first Sunday in May and this year the weather was perfect. I rode over to visit some of my old haunts at Fort McCoy before going south to Madison on Saturday. After spending the night on the west side of Madison I arrived in Pine Bluff in plenty of time to check out the multitude of bikes that showed up. A friend I met there seemed to know every twisty road from there to the destination in Leland, so we had a great ride. The ride home featured more curves and it was an excellent motorcycling weekend.

Post Headquarters at Fort McCoy

This S1000RR had all the goodies on it

My brother and  I rode up to Duluth, Minnesota in June for our aunt's funeral. We stopped at his friend's farm in central Wisconsin on the way. It was a great reminder of just how labor intensive it is to operate a family farm. It made me think that many people who rail against Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), or corporate farms, may have never experienced life on one of the family farms they rhapsodize over.

July brought a trip to Iowa for the BMW International Rally. It was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, a beautiful rally site. The weather was brutally hot, but we enjoyed the ride and the rally.

This was a good stop on the way to Des Moines

While these were all rides on my 2011 BMW R1200 GSA, I did get out on my Harley Davidson over the summer. It is not equipped for long trips and overnights like the Beemer, so they were all day rides.

One that I particularly enjoyed caused me to write a couple of letters to my state representatives. On a rare warm day in May, my route took me west on Highway 21, north on Highway 45, and south through the Menominee Indian Reservation. I must have passed a half dozen waysides that were closed along with an unoccupied ranger station on the Wolf River. My state senator's office wrote back saying that some of the sitesw were closed for budgetary reasons and others would open after Memorial Day. A recheck in the summer showed that some of them did open up.

I also took the Harley down to Bike Night in Menasha  a couple of times. All in all it was a good summer on the big Dyna.

One of the closed waysides

The last big ride of the season was in September. I took the BMW into southeast Wisconsin in search of some Rustic Roads. Over the course of two days I rode seventeen of them and put on about 550 miles. I spent the night in Waterford. Most of them were paved, but there was enough dirt and gravel to make it interesting for me.

Rustic Road Five on a misty morning

The bikes are under cover and hooked up to the battery tenders for the winter. While I sometimes think it would be nice to be able to ride year round, the winter break provides an opportunity to look back on the rides past and begin to dream of the rides to come. Yesterday I created the 2019 Vacation folder in my email account, so plans are already being made.

The Winds of Change Blowing at Harley Davidson

It was the spring of 1998 when I was walking through the East Town Mall in Madison. I was in town for a National Guard drill weekend and was looking for a St. Patrick's Day gift for my wife. One of the shop windows had a new Suzuki Marauder in the window. I do not remember what the store was selling or what the motorcycle had to do with it, but it re-ignited my interest in getting a motorcycle.

My life had been motorcycle free for 25 years and I had not been in a bike shop for nearly as long. Several people I knew had recently bought bikes and they were Harley Davidsons. They seemed to be the brand of choice for middle aged men like me.

This was the heyday of Harley Davidson sales, and new bikes were not in showrooms. If you wanted a new one you had to order it and then wait months for it to come in. I was not in a waiting mood and bought a used one that turned out to be a great bike.

2004 Lowrider ordered in October 2003

Those days are long gone for The Motor Company. The middle aged crowd that fueled those sales in the late nineties and early aughts are aging out of the riding life. The prices of the bikes have increased steadily while the motorcycle buying demographic has less disposable income. Competition for big American-made v-twin motorcycles arrived in the form of Harley's oldest rival, Indian. For all of these reasons Harley is developing and marketing the types of motorcycles they used to leave to other manufacturers.

A couple of months ago Harley Davidson released pictures of an adventure bike, a streetfighter, and an electric bike that they will bring to market as 2020 models. The details on the bikes are still murky, but they are a departure from anything they have built in their first 115 years.

Air cleaner  on my 110 CI 2016 FXDL S

Last month the new FXDR was introduced as a 2019 model. The Harley website shows the bike being ridden on a racetrack as a way of proclaiming that this is not your father's (or grandfather's) Harley. It has the big 114 cubic inch motor and an improved suspension over the other bikes built on the Softail platform. The clip-on bars and solo seat are indications that this bike is aimed at the track day rider rather than the bar hopping, fingerless glove rider.

The new FXDR features clip on handlebars

What surprised me about the bike was the amount of plastic on it compared to my 2016 Lowrider S. The new bike's radical air cleaner is all plastic instead of powder coated steel like the one on mine. Other pieces are made of cheaper looking materials than I am used to seeing. The styling does not seem to flow like the now discontinued Dynas did and it does not look much like the Softails that were so popular for decades. The new bike is priced north of $21,000, so it will take a committed rider to buy one of these.

In the past Harley did not seem concerned about how their products stacked up against other manufacturers. Indian was not the competition that they are today. The metric bike builders tried to imitate Harley with their cruiser offerings, but could make no inroads on the Motor Company's share of this market. But Indian has continuously improved their bikes and built out their dealership network. As the biker demographic has aged, big rangy adventure bikes like the BMW R 1200 GS and Ducati Multistrada have become hot commodities.

Plastic air cleaner on the big 114 CI engine

The younger riders are not attracted to the big, heavy bikes that Harley built its brand upon and prefer sport bikes or cafe racers. So now the trend seems to have shifted. It's Harley that is trying to build bikes like the German, Italian, and to an extent, like the Japanese are producing.

It is apparent that Harley is concerned that it is losing market share with its legacy model lineup. These new bikes, while still having a big v-twin as the center of attraction, are a distinct departure from the old way. It remains to be seen whether or not this will attract the coveted millennial demographic and allow Harley to maintain or increase its market share.

The Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial

It is easy take for granted the beauty and richness that is in our own backyard. As a Green Bay resident and game day employee of the Green Bay Packers, I am reminded of this every time a fan walks into Lambeau Field with childlike wonder in their eyes. After 60 years of having the Frozen Tundra as a neighbor, I don't have the same reaction when I enter the stadium.

It was with this in mind that I decided to finally make the turn north off Highway 57 in Door County and visit the Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial. The sign for the memorial, about a mile past the point where Highways 42 and 57 divide north of Sturgeon Bay, indicates it is less than two miles off the highway. It has always seemed that there was not time to stop and whatever was north or south was more important. So one Sunday this summer I resolved to make a trip to visit the spot.

It was a warm day and there was a good deal of traffic around Door County. This is prime vacation time and people were in a hurry to relax. I past Sturgeon Bay on the bypass and was soon on the county road heading to the memorial site.

I had seen a few motorcycles on the road, so I was surprised that I was the only person there. Parking my BMW R1200 GSA in front of the gate, I lowered the kickstand and prepared to take a look around. According to the website, http://www.wimotorcyclememorial.org/, the Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial Park was established on this one acre site in 2004. Its goal is to be "a place to recognize and honor the memory of loved ones".

Grab a seat!

A piece designed by "Doc" Hopkins.

The first thing I noticed was how well-kept the grounds were. The grass was freshly mowed and the flowers well tended. There were picnic tables spread around and motorcycle art was in abundance. A good sized open shelter with tables indicated that the site hosts some well attended events. Two sheds and a beverage machine said that there is someone who regularly tends to the memorial.

A great site for any type of event.

A Swedish rider honored.

Passing through the gate, a visitor is walking on memorial stones. Many of them are memorializing riders from local clubs, but not all. Some of them had been visited recently by friends and family and they had left remembrances of their loved one. A quick check of the memorial's website revealed that a stone can be purchased and engraved for $150.00.

The peacefulness of the place is in sharp contrast to the machines that many of the visitors ride and the bikes of the honored. The sound and the fury of a motorcycle is what draws many of us to the riding life, but this afternoon it was quiet enough to contemplate the joy and the feeling of freedom that come with the ride. The silent stones represented the everlasting peace that we all will find one day and the importance of living in the moment.

I took one last walk around before mounting up and turning the bike south. As I rode, I took in all of the sights and sounds around me, appreciating the beauty and richness of life in northeast Wisconsin.

The 2018 Riding Season is in Full Swing

I am at about the midpoint of the riding season here in northeast Wisconsin and so far it has been an interesting one. It began before the biggest snowstorm the area has seen in almost a century and continues through weather hot enough to almost convince climate change deniers that something is afoot.

The first ride on my BMW R1200 GSA was on March 14th and I got out a few more times later that month. One cold day I rode down to Madison. Easter was in early April and April 13-14 the area received 24 inches of heavy, wet snow. The weather warmed a bit after that and it began to melt, but it was a slow process.

Lots of snow for late April!

I took the Harley Davidson out from under wraps on April 23rd and rode it to Vandervest HD to have a swingarm bag attached. I bought a new jacket from them in January and had a chance to try it out this spring. It was called a three in one, with an outer shell, a rain liner and a warmth liner. It must have become popular, because it is in their latest apparel catalog and named the "Killian". I tried out its cool weather features on a nice ride into central Wisconsin. It has been a great jacket, especially in this warmer weather. 

Langlade Ranger Station in northern Wisconsin

In May I went to the Madison area to ride the Slimey Crud Run. The ride occurs the first Sunday in both May and October each year and draws all types of bikes and riders. Riders meet up informally on Sunday morning in Pine Bluff and then ride a route of their choosing up to Leland. Food and beverages are available at both locations. It was a beautiful day and I am glad I finally made it down there for the event.

Getting ready to leave Pine Bluff

In June, after a week of fishing in Canada, I got the opportunity to try out my new Shoei Hornet X2. I have always thought about getting an adventure helmet and finally made the buy. My aunt passed away in Duluth, MN, so I took the opportunity to ride the BMW up to the funeral. The helmet was pretty tight and after two 350 mile days I was a little concerned about it. But it broke in after a few more rides and now I am glad I have it.

Nice fish!

On July 12th my brother and I rode down to Des Moines, IA, for the BMW International Rally. It was 95 degrees in Iowa. We stopped at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, IA, on the way down. It has a wonderful selection of motorcycles and information about the history of several manufacturers. The eclectic nature of the collection makes it a good stop for all motorcyclists.

The rally itself was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, an excellent venue. It was nice to talk with some of the people who run the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America organization and the editors of the BMW Owners News. Many of the vendors who advertise in the BMW ON were there and it was a great opportunity to examine their wares firsthand.

The midway at the fairgrounds

Some vendors were out in the heat

The ride home was a little cooler and we stopped in Mount Horeb for a nice lunch. Trolls seem to be their thing, and the names of a lot the businesses work in the word "troll". After a quick look inside the Duluth Trading Company, we were on our way back to Green Bay.

I have a few more riding plans for the summer and look forward to many more miles on two wheels in 2018.

A Short Visit to Detroit City

In 2016 David Maraniss authored a wonderful book about the city of Detroit titled "Once in a Great City". He said that the word "in" was important to the title because it conveyed the idea that his book focused on a portion of the history of a city that continues to be great. The years he wrote about were the early to mid-1960's, a turbulent time in many parts of the country. The three pillars of the book are race, the automobile industry, and Motown music.

I read the book last year and it created desire in me to go to Detroit and explore what the city is like now. Last week I arrived in the Detroit area on a rainy Tuesday evening. In planning the trip, my first thought was to stay in downtown Detroit. But some study of the area revealed that the cost of a room was not justified by the activity available within walking distance of the hotel. The area I chose was near the charming little town of Wyandotte, which hugs the Detroit River just south of the city. Wyandotte's restaurants were excellent and the first night I sampled Gregorio's for some outstanding Italian food.

The Ford GT 40: Built to defeat Ferrari

I arrived at The Henry Ford complex in Dearborn early the next morning. The Henry Ford includes an opportunity to tour the factory where Ford assembles F 150 trucks. The Ford F 150 is the best selling vehicle in America, and the workers produce 600 trucks during each eight hour shift. The tour was self-guided, but knowledgeable staff members were available to answer any questions. Like many factory tours, it was enlightening to see how robots have transformed the manufacturing process.

Within the confines of The Henry Ford is the Museum of American Innovation and I took the Insider's Tour of the artifacts assembled there. Highlights for me were the Le Mans-winning Ford GT 40 from the 1960's and several Presidential limousines. Next, I had just enough time to take a quick tour of Greenfield Village.

Thomas Edison's workshop

The most interesting buildings for me were the ones that Henry Ford had brought from Menlo Park, New Jersey. They were the offices and workshops of Thomas Edison, a good friend of Ford.

I was back in Wyandotte that evening, this time for some excellent barbecue at Alvi's. After dinner I mapped out my visit to city of Detroit the next day.

The traffic was light as I entered the city at about 9:00 am. I parked near the Renaissance Center, now the site of the world headquarters of General Motors. The center is mostly offices, but there is a nice display of the newest GM vehicles. It opens on to the river walk and I took the opportunity to walk south toward Cobo Arena. There was an international robotics competition for kids going on at the arena, so there was a lot of excitement in the air. As I walked around the downtown I was struck by the fact that there was little traffic and very few people walking on the sidewalks. There were some food trucks set up near Cadillac Square, so maybe there would have been more people a little later in the day.

It was near lunch time, so I hopped on the People Mover and headed for Greektown. Here I found the Pegasus Taverna and enjoyed a meal of olives and roast lamb. It was delicious, but more than I normally eat for lunch.

Fighting off the urge to take a nap, I got back in the car and headed west on the famous Woodward Avenue. Known as the street for cruising back in the sixties, Woodward has recently been reconstructed and is easily navigated. My destination was the Detroit Institute of Arts about a mile west and I could not help noticing the empty areas on each side of Woodward. Whole blocks of what at one time were residential areas are now prairie, with perhaps a house or two left standing.

Woodward Avenue entrance to the Detroit Institute of Art

At the DIA I wanted to see the huge Diego Rivera murals painted on the inside walls of one of the galleries inside the institute. Commissioned in the 1930's by Edsel Ford, Henry's only son, they were quite controversial when unveiled. They contain what some consider communist symbols and the murals depict the workers in local manufacturing industries as being just cogs in an overbearing capitalist engine. There were some who demanded they be removed, but when Edsel was asked what he thought, he said, "I like them".

Maraniss spent a good portion of his book on the Berry Gordy family and the development of the Motown brand. The story is fascinating, so a stop at the Motown Museum was a must. It is just south and west of the DIA, and is located in the house Gordy grew up in.

The house from which Motown shook the music world

The family eventually bought several houses on the block to run their expanding music business. The tour takes visitors into the famous Studio A, where the Supremes, the Four Tops, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded their biggest hit records. The incredible part of this story for me is how many of these artists grew up in the neighborhoods right near the museum, now referred to as Hitsville, USA. The museum is planning a large expansion which will give them the opportunity to display many of the artifacts that are now in storage.

Standing next to Jack White's rig wearing a Third
Man Records logo Stormy Kromer cap

By chance, I learned that Jack White has opened up a Third Man Records store in his hometown of Detroit. He is trying to help the city refresh an area known as the Cass Corridor. While much of the area is desolate, his store is fixed between an upper end clothing store and an upscale brewpub. There is much work to do to revitalize areas like this, but it is heartwarming to know that natives like White are willing to come back and help the city where they can.

After the huge lunch at Pegasus, I chose pub grub for dinner on my last night. R.P. McMurphy's in Wyandotte serves up an excellent choice of brews, sandwiches and salads. Despite its name, it advertises itself as a German restaurant as that is was in the building originally.

"The Fist" in downtown Detroit

Reflecting on my brief visit to Detroit, I am hopeful that the city will return to its days of glory. Just within the past few days the city was released from state financial oversight and Mayor Mike Duggan stated that "Detroit is once again a city of full self-governance." Much work needs to be done, but it seems that the Motor City is on the right track.

Late Winter Fat Biking

Northeast Wisconsin received a good snowfall in mid February and I got in a last ride on the trails at the Reforestation Camp. I went out there in early March after some more snow, but the the trails were closed due to the ice under the snow. Since then I have been exploring the bike trails around Allouez.

I started riding a fat bike in December thinking it would be a great way to get outside during the winter. It proved to do just that, but now that spring has arrived I am anxious to put the fat bike away and get out my road bike. The weather has not cooperated however, so I am staying on the fat bike. The local trails are free of ice and snow, but they are still coated with salt and sand from the winter. I am reluctant to subject my Trek Alpha 2.3 to riding through that, so I am waiting for the county to use the blower on the trail.

The Fox River Trail and East River Trail, the two closest trails, do not connect on either the north or south ends. But if I ride south it is a short ride through De Pere to get from the Fox River Trail to the East River Trail. There is traffic to deal with as well as a few roundabouts, but it is not difficult. Once on the East River Trail, a rider can stay on it all the way north to the old Green Bay Packers City Stadium in east Green Bay. Then it is back on a few city streets to connect with the Fox River Trail.

Yesterday was the first day of spring, but it was not very spring-like here. So I put on my winter riding gear and headed south on the Fox River Trail. The temperature was in the mid-20's, but a brisk wind came out of the north. That made the first half of my ride pretty comfortable and I cruised easily a few miles south of De Pere.

After my usual turnaround the wind made itself felt. My Trek Farley weighs a relatively light 30 pounds, but those big tires provide some noticeable resistance when riding into the wind. But I enjoyed being out and stopped to take a few pictures on the way home.

Late last year the county received some donations and was able to install a few bicycle maintenance stations along the trail. The stations provide a bike stand, air, and a few tools. I have taken advantage of the stands already this winter and they are a nice amenity for riders.

By the time I reached home the wind seemed to have increased a bit and a warm lunch was in order. For now I am keeping the fat bike in the garage, grateful that I have a bike I can ride in this weather.

March Motorcycling

The calendar says this is the first day of spring, but Mother Nature never cared much for calendars. It is overcast, windy, and about 25 degrees in northeast Wisconsin. There have been a few avid and eager motorcyclists out recently, but most are waiting for the salt and sand to be washed off the roads by a hard spring rain.

Early last week the forecast indicated a temperature in the high 40's by midweek, so I made preparations to get out for a ride. On Monday I took the cover off of my 2011 BMW R 1200 GSA. Over the winter I had removed the aluminum panniers and gave them a good cleaning with Nevrdull. The left one installed easily, but I had some trouble with the latch on the right side. It required quite a bit of pressure to get the lock turned and the key out, but finally it locked. After checking that the Battery Tender was still connected, I closed up the garage and waited for the weather to warm up.

On Wednesday the temperature crept up into the 40's, so I took the bike out for the first ride of 2018. Bayshore Park is about a 20 mile ride up into Door County and that is always my first stop. On the way up I used the Tire Pressure Monitoring System to check the tires and listened for any odd engine noises. All seemed well as I turned off the highway into the parking lot.

Green bay was still ice covered and there were a few vehicles belonging to ice fishermen in the parking lot. There is a steep hill down to the shore and it is blocked to vehicular traffic in the winter. So the fisherman load up sleds and haul everything down to the ice. Often I will see people enjoying some winter camping, but there were none to be seen on this day.

I parked the bike and pulled a banana out of my pannier. The sun was shining brightly and it took some of the chill out of the air. I was surprised that I noticed a cold wind more when I was stopped than when I was on the bike. Before starting back toward Green Bay I checked the signal lights and brake light, something I had neglected prior to leaving home. They were all working properly and as I rode south I realized I had benefited from a pretty good tailwind on the way up.

After making two more stops to conduct some business and a brisk ride down I 41 to Wrightstown I was ready to go home. The weather forecast was not too great for the following days so I was happy that I had gotten out for my first ride and that both my BMW and I had survived another Wisconsin winter.

Fat Biking at the Brown County Reforestation Camp

The rear tire began to slip just a bit as I stood up to climb the snow covered rise in the trail. This was the first time I had ridden the trail so every turn and elevation change was a surprise. A different gear may have helped but it was too late for that now. Once I reached the top the route made a sharp right turn and then a quick, narrow descent between two Jack Pines. As I cruised onto a rare flat, straight portion of the trail I realized that this was why I bought this fat bike. The sun was beginning to set on the Brown County Reforestation Camp as I loaded the bike into the back of my Toyota Tacoma and drained the last water from my now ice-filled bottle.

The camp, located in northeast Wisconsin, was established in 1950 after the forest in the area was destroyed by fire. A prison camp was set up and a quarter of a million saplings, including White Pine, Norway Pine, Cedar, and Jack Pine, were planted by the inmates. The camp eventually became a part of the Brown County Park System. The facility now includes a zoo, fishing ponds, picnic shelters, mountain bike trails, and a zip line.

The county has groomed about six miles of fat bike trails within the confines of the camp. There is some double track near the trail head, but the rest of it is single track. In December the area received enough snow to open the trails and I found it an excellent place to ride. The county charges a $5.00 fee for a daily pass and $30.00 for a season pass. The passes are also good for cross country skiing on trails in a different part of the camp.

There is a parking lot right next to the fat bike trail head. Restroom facilities are available, but nothing else. If you wish to pick up a drink or snacks, they are available across the road in the park headquarters. You may purchase daily or seasonal passes right at the trail head.

There does not appear to be a lot of traffic on the fat bike trails and I have only seen a few people out there so far this winter. The trails are a bit challenging, but I am new to fat biking and have not had any real problems in riding all of them. I have had a few get offs, but not any real falls. Color coded ribbons on the trees mark each of the trails and there are directional markers to keep a rider on track and avoid going off into the wild as a few of the Dakar Rally riders have done in South America this month. Numerical markers are spaced out along the routes so a GPS is not necessary for a rider to determine his or her location.

The setting is beautiful. The camp is surrounded by farmland and residential areas, but it is big enough that there is a feeling of solitude. I did not see many animal tracks and I thought it may be because the area farm fields provide more food sources. The trail rises, falls, and turns gently, so while you have to pay attention to your riding you can still enjoy the feeling of being outside in the winter.

That was the whole point of getting the Trek Farley 5 and so far it has been a ray of winter sunshine for me. The fact that Mother Nature has provided some timely snowfalls cannot be overlooked and I am hopeful that it will continue.