Bike Trips

[brian6715]

So where are your favorite spots to ride? Either day trips or multi day trips. I am relativly new to this so I haven't really gone to far, but I always seem to end up around the lakes of the Waterville/Faribault area. I think a good trip would be going around the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi by pool 4 but I haven't had the chance to do it yet!

[The_King48]

I like to ride around Stillwater, Hudson, Prescott area.... Be gentle on the throttle though, the cops seemed to get upset about the noise.....

[LoonASea]

Back when I lived the cities I used to ride co rd O in Wi ,,,it went from Diamond Bluff to Trimbelle (Gas Light Bar),,,Now I ride Hwy 1 east of Ely when ever I can,,, but you have to go slow cuz of all the wildlife that jumps out on the road ,,,,Wisc 13 (south shore of lake superior) is a nice ride in the fall also

[ChemE]

The river road (35)south from Prescott is nice but the real fun begins when you head out onto the Alphabet roads east from the river. Lots of fun terrain and scenery but beware of the gravel or dust drifting across the roads and the cagers driving/hugging the center line.

[Eric Wettschreck]

The bluff country around Lanesboro, Preston area is awesome for riding. Also, 61 from Hastings, through Lake City, down to 90 is an awesome ride in the fall.

[BoxMN]

 Originally Posted By: ChemE

The river road (35)south from Prescott is nice but the real fun begins when you head out onto the Alphabet roads east from the river. Lots of fun terrain and scenery but beware of the gravel or dust drifting across the roads and the cagers driving/hugging the center line.

Yeah, ditto! Gotta stop in at Stockholm and see the Amish furniture store and have some ice cream

I liked going down to Winona on MN side, then come back up the WI side. The farther down you go, the less busy it is. Also, you have more sun in the afternoon on the WI side in the fall.

[Bjjams]

If you're interested in a longer trip up and around the Beartooth Pass in Montana and Wyoming is one of my all time favorites, best part of that one is when you're finished you end up in Yellowstone. I really like the Black Hills around Custer, fun roads and beautiful scenery. If I'm staying close to home you can't beat a run on the Great River Road.

[hondarider550]

A beautiful ride is through the Itasca State park in northern Minnesota. There is nothing better than the openness with the trees overhead and the fresh air. The roads are just beautiful...

We have taken a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. That was a nice ride also unfortunately I crashed the bike on the way there. The good news was the bike turned out better than I did and I actually drove the bike home with a broken finger and a lot of road rash...

One more nice ride is the ride to Sturgis... ALOT OF FUN...

[Jex]

I enjoy the river road south from Hastings(both MN and Wis sides) and Hwy 60 west of Wabasha can be a fun ride also. On the SW side of the cities try 40 south of Chaska along the west side of the Minnesota River.

[Hafnutz]

Highway 23 from Sandstone to Duluth is mighty nice. Pretty fresh blacktop, hills and curves, scenery and light traffic. Let er roll!

[Walterwontfalter]

Hwy 23 from Duluth to Sioux Falls is great all the way. Took that way to Sturgis in 06. Great, beautiful ride. The ride around Mille Lacs Lake is a nice ride. Hwy 210 to Tamrack MN and then north to Horseshoe Lake Inn for authentic German food and they have a cement "Motorcycles only" parking area. Every time we've ridden in on our bikes the owner has given us a wooden nickle for a free beverage of our choice.

[Tinkhamtown]

2006 The first year I retired, I took a twenty-day ride and went to two motorcycle rallies one in Branson Missouri and the weeklong ROT Republic Of Texas in Austin. ROT rally is a very close second to Sturgis rally, the Texasicans sure know how to throw a good party. Rode 200 miles through Texas Hill County across the Sour Grapes River to Luckenback Texas population of three and had my picture taken in front of the post office.

Rode from Hugo, Minnesota to Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas the ride from Eureka Spring Arkansas south is an average of 25 mph for a 125 miles but it is totally awesome, Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico and had to take my Harley on a barge across an inland water way, the awesome damage from hurricane Rita was really something to see, seen the Alamo in San Anton Texas, ate breakfast in Waco, rode to and thru Hugo, Oklahoma then back home. At ROT rally I rode with 40,000 other motorcycles through downtown Austin in motorcycle parade to make the World book of records for the largest number of cycles in a parade. Put over 4000 miles on the Harley.

2007 Ride included the states of North and South Dakota, Big Sky country Montana, Wyoming,and Idaho, highlights including the Big Horn Mountains and Bear Tooth Pass, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, Devils Towers, Spearfish Canon. Rode in 104 degrees for over 100 miles where my hands felt like they were cooking and I was counting every mile, ¼ mile of snow and sleet on the top of the Big Horn Mountains, and in warm rain in the badlands of South Dakota. Put over 3300 miles in a week on the Harley.

Planning on going to Buffalo Chip Sturgis week and than 2000 mile ride around Lake Superior August 2008.

[Johnny_Namakan]

Man, it must be nice to be retired! Something to look forward to. I'm already counting the days to my retirement....only 8,060 more to go. Well 8,059.50 since it is lunch now.

Sound slike a lot of fun. Up here on the iron range i ussually head east of Virginia over towards Giants Ridge and then take some of those back roads up to Ely then 169 back to Virginia. This summer I plan on going up 169 to Ely then take HWY 1 down to Silver Bay then over to Duluth and back up to Virginia. Might be a little long for one day, but if i leave early I'm hoping to get home before dark.

[analyzer]

I went on a 6600 mile road trip in 1988. We went for 23 days. It was a drought year, so it only rained 15 minutes the entire trip. We were young and stupid and missed alot of good scenery along the way. We went from St.Paul to the Blackhills - Rocky Mtn National Park - The grand Canyon (well, within 60 miles of it, I'll get to that later) - vegas - sandiego - La - SF - up to spokane- through Coeur D' Alene Idaho (in the dark )... through Glacier, and back home.

Observations:

Should have spent 3-5 days in the Black Hills not 1. There are some beautiful rides in the area.

Estes Park, near Rocky Mountain National Park, was the most beautiful part of the trip. The ride from Loveland on the west side (near colorado st university) to estes park, was fun too.

The canyons we visted in Utah (Bryce, and Zion) were gorgeous. However, do NOT get within 60 miles of the GRAND CANYON, and decide the 120 miles round trip is too far out of the way, especially when you're going 6600 miles for the trip...ARGGGGGH!!! I can't believe we skipped the grand canyon.

If you're going from Vegas to San Diego, it would be a good idea to stop and see the Sequoia's... we missed that too.

If you're driving up the coast in California, when you get to SF, don't drive inland to the free way, and skip route 1 north from there. I've heard, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH, or route 1) is the most beautiful drive in the country, and we skipped it to make better time... arggggh.

If you do take the PCH, you'd probably also see the redwoods in northern california/oregon border, that we missed as well. Did I mention we were young and stupid.

Don't miss crater lake. WE did.

Don't drive through Coeur D'Alene in the dark. It's stunning (from what I hear, we drove through in the dark). In fact we drove from northern california, staight though to the western side of glacier...1100 miles and 27 hours straight.

Don't drive 27 hours straight. and if you do, document it so you can be part of the 1000 mile club. WE didn't.

Don't spend a week in cutbank montana. There's nothing there. Of course, we did.

Seriously though. Glacier and Rocky Mountain National park are both worth the drive. I'd go in July or August, it can be chilly at those altitudes.

oh, one other thing. When you drive from ST. Paul to the black hills on a sunny cloudless day. Wear more than just a pair of shorts. We looked like tomatos when we got there, and had to spend the next couple of days, driving through wyoming in 105 degree temps, in long sleeves, and long pants. Loved the hein gericke jackets with the zip out liners though. We'd stick em in the sink, get em all wet, put em back in and open all the vents... nice little airconditioner when you're driving in the arizona heat. Now I know why those guys are always wearing trench coats in the westerns, the sun is brutal.

Around here, I gotta vote for the wisconsin side of the river, and I 2nd the bluffs area around lanesboro. Watch out for deer though. Locally, the drive through afton on stagecoach/95 is nice, or the drive from stillwater up through taylors falls is pretty too.

[Tinkhamtown]

That was one [PoorWordUsage] of a ride!!

The Grand Canon, the May Myrtle Beach rally, and The Ride to the Wall from California to east coast Arlington and the wall are still on my list of rides.