OVER THE NEW BRIDGE

 If you haven't been over the new Lansing Bridge yet with your ride, Bob is going to take his trike across on Sunday.  He plans on leaving from Casey's at noon after the 4H breakfast fundraiser at the fairgrounds (something everyone should attend).  After crossing at Lansing, he plans to take a short ride in Wisconsin, and return across the bridge back into Lansing.  He will be back before dark. It looks to be a sunny day. If you want to go along, see you tomorrow at noon at Casey's.

BILL'S REPORT ON THE RIDE SATURDAY

 THREE GUYS!

On a great November 1st weather day for a ride, Dave, Mike and Bill set out from Casey's at 10:30 AM with a Potosi Brewery destination in mind.

With a good bit of sunshine before lunch and mostly clouds in the afternnon, light and variable winds all day, we had a goal of maximizing roads that had no stripes. 

We generally took the following route;

Highway 76, 18, & 35 through Marquette, PDC, Bridgeport, Patch Grove, and Bloomington. County road U through Beetown and across the Grant river to a short stretch on CR N and on to a beauty named Dutch Hollow Road and back to U south towards Potosi. Just short of Potosi we turned westerly on a blufftop manicured scenic gem named Dogtail Road. Down the hill to 133 and along the Grant and Mississippi rivers to Potosi Brewery for eats.

After lunch we decided to extend southerly a bit and do a loop Bill was familiar with from having camped at the Grant River ACOE Rec Area several years. From the brewery we took Brewery Hollow Road to Slazing Road to River Lane Road to Dean Lane to Ruff Lane to W Banfield Road across the Little Platte River when the road becomes Indian Creek Road up to Highway 61 North just outside of Dickeyville. 61 to the hamlet of Tennyson where we turn onto 133 thru Potosi, past the brewery again and northerly to a left-hand turn onto CR N for a short stint to Irish Ridge Road but not before missing it and having to execute the only u turn of the day. Once on Irish Ridge we popped out on 133 again and took it just through Cassville and onto CR VV past Nelson Dewey State Park and Stonefield. VV to CR A and into Bagley and onto CR X through Wyalusing to CR C to Highway 18 and back to PDC for some "go juice" ($4.29/gallon) at the first Kwik Trip.

Mike and Bill said goodbye to Dave knowing it was discussed to head for home up 35 towards the Lansing Ferry and Dave would peel off back towards Marquette.

A good safe ride with good weather and good company. My bike showed 70 degrees as we boarded the Ferry and showed 202 miles traveled door to door.

FINAL TRIP ACROSS ON THE FERRY

Sounds like a great trip!  Thanks to Bill for organizing and leading on some new roads.  Wish I could have gone along.  

Hopefully it will warm up enough and quit raining so we could make a trip across the new Lansing Bridge.  Apparently, it looks like Friday may be the opening.  I'll bet they're starting to line up already! 

A FOLLOW UP

 I wanted to catlch up on a couple of items before we left town this weekend.

1.  Lois, the "Ray of Sunshine" in the Wednesday Night Rider gang, is recovering well from her recent shoulder surgery.  Her riding for this season may be over, but we expect her smiling face back soon.

2.  I hope a number of our riders take advantage of the ride Bill is planning on Sunday.  Hopefully that won't be the last ride for our group (I would like to cross the new Lansing Bridge on the trike yet this fall), but you never know.

3.  The mystery motorcyclist from the previous blog was Fats Domino, a very popular and very underrated singer from the 50's and 60's.  His "I Found My Thill on Blueberry Hill" still has me humming along.

4. Finally, on Halloween Day, here's some more photos from some of the displays in Waukon.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, AND BE SAFE OUT THERE!!

ANOTHER SUNDAY RIDE!!

 As noted on the previous blog, Bob is going to be out of town this weekend, and Sunday looks to be a nice day for a ride.  I indicated that if anyone wanted to possibly lead a ride on Sunday, I would put it on the blog.  Fortunately, Bill stepped up and offered the following invitation.

"I'm going to get one more nice ride in before I start thinking about migrating south. Plan to leave Waukon Casey's at 10:30 AM Sunday headed for the Potosi Brewery for eats.  ALL WELCOME."

As a group, we have made a couple of trips to the Potosi Brewery.  The ride is fun and the food is good, so this is a good chance to get in another great fall ride. I'd love to be able to go along! Special thanks to Bill for the offer!

As in previous years, I always have fun cruising around Waukon looking at all the Halloween decorations that some of the residents put on display.  Here's a few highlights.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAVE A GREAT TRIP TO POTOSI!!

7 UP FOR LAST RIDE

 Seven Wednesday Night Riders showed up for what is most likely the last Wednesday night ride for the season. Darkness will be setting in very early once daylight savings time draws to a close on Nov 1st.

Our riders arriving at Casey's at 4 PM (time change noted on the blog) were Dee and Bill on bikes, and Mark, Wayne, Terry, ChucK, and Bob on trikes. 

DEE MAKES A POINT TO BILL AND ChucK

THREE TRIKERS GET READY

The weather temps were well into the 60's when we took off, but there was a stong southerly wind that kept us on our toes.  The plan was to leave early and make the last ride a good one, so we started out heading north on HWY 76.  The sky looked a little dark, but we continued on to Dorchester Drive (CR A16).  The first part of this road has been newly repaved into town, but for some reason the hill leading up A16 was not redone.  When we reached the top of the hill, we were able to ride on all new asphalt on the Iowa part.  The Minnesota part called Division Avenue has been in good shape for some time, so we had a smooth, scenic ride into Spring Grove.  We must have just missed the rain, because the road was still wet with a few puddles at times.

After passing through Spring Grove, we pointed our rides onto Sylling Road (CR 27) and wound our way back to HWY 76 just north of Eitzen.  We headed north on 76 and on into Caledonia, saluting the Ruptured Rooster as we passed by.  We then found CR 5 and headed southerly out of town.  The roads still seemed to be wet in places, and the wind was still trying to jolt us at times.  We continued on CR 5 until we reached CR 14, and cruised down hill to HWY 26 north of New Albin.

Following 26 through New Albin we continued our journey along the river into Lansing, where we discovered that the stop light was no longer needed, since both sides of the road are now completed.  Looks like the time for the bridge opening (Nov 6th) is going to happen.  We connected with HWY 9 in Lansing, and continued our last Wednesday night ride by sailing into Waukon.  Wayne and Bob were joined by Richard for eats at Uptown.  Bob had 95 miles on the trike for our final Wednesday night ride for the season.  It might have been our last one for 2016, but we really did have some good ones this year!

Sunday sounds like a nice day.  I'm going to be out of town, but if someone else wants to lead a ride that day, let me know and I'll put the details on the blog before I leave.

No one guessed the mystery motorcyclist on the last blog.  I'm really dating myself, but it was Rita Hayworth, a great actress from times past.

GIVE THIS ONE A TRY.

LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!

Due to the dreaded daylight savings time change, it looks like this Wednesday will be our last to ride.  So, in order to make it a decent ride, let's plan to leave Casey's at 4 instead of 5.

SEE YOU AT 4 ON WEDNESDAY!! 

SIX PACK TO LOOKOUT

 Five other Wednesday night riders joined Bob on his leaf looking/lunch ride on Saturday.  Meeting at Casey's were Mike and Bill on bikes.  They were joined by Dave, Roger, and Bob on trikes, while Richard arrived with his slingshot.

STILL TIME FOR COFFEE

ROGER JOINS US AGAIN

WE'RE JUST ABOUT READY TO ROLL

FULL TANK & EMPTY BLADDER FIRST

LET'S GO!

The plan was to leaf look all the way up to the Lookout Bar & Grill near Arcadia and have lunch there.  On the way back the plan was to tackle some of the backroads starting with Alligator Slide.

The six of us left Waukon under sunny skies, with the outlook of a beautiful fall day ahead.  We took HWY 76 north to Caledonia, jumped on CR 10, back to 76, and on into Houston.  Along the bluffs with the sun shining on them, the gold color in the leaves was spectacular.

Just outside of Houston we ventured onto CR 9, followed it through Looney Valley and on up to CR 11.  We traversed along CR 11 up to Ridgeway (MN) where we met up with CR 12.  We raced along parallel to I 90 under repair until we got to Witoka, and then took CR 17 down the mountain and onto HWY 43 just outside of Winona.  After several round-a-bouts (training in Prarie du Chien paid off), we arrived on HWY 61.  After a couple of miles, we turned onto Huff St. and made a stop for a break at the Winona Visitor Center.

MIKE & RICHARD GET PARKED

DAVE EYES LAKE WINONA

A VIEW OF LAKE WINONA

ANOTHER VIEW--NOTICE THE TREES

BILL PARKS UNDER THE FALLING LEAVES

Before we were eaten alive by the Japanese beetles, we departed the visitor center and made our way through Winona passing by the university campus.  We crossed over the bridge on HWY 43/54 into Wisconsin and onto HWY 35 north.  We soon arrived at our first backroad across the Mississippi and took CR YY up the hill to CR M.  We followed M up to HWY 95.  Both of these county roads offered some great views, but nothing compared to the spectacular scenery we were to see on 95 all the way up to the Lookout.

Once we arrived at the Lookout, we were amazed at the small number of motorcycles and other vehicles in the parking lot.  Years before, it was always a chore finding a spot to park.  But not today, and we soon found out why.  When we thought we were going to have some lunch, we found out that the Lookout did not have a cook that day, so no food!  Quite a disappointment!  After visiting with some other bikers there, we learned that they got no food when they were there earlier in the summer.  It would seem to me that for this place to survive, they had better find a cook.

The Lookout was not a total loss.  We ordered some soft drinks and sat on the deck enjoying the view that this place is known for.

Once we were done with the drinks and the view, it was time to start our journey back.  This started with negotiating the most famous backroad in the area, Alligator Slide.  We were able to "slide" down the Slide without any problems.  The views from this road are amazing, but you'd better watch your way, or could slide right down a steep enbankment.

After our adventure down Alligator Slide, we arrived at River Road and wound our way over to CR J.  Again we rewarded with some great color as we made our way to Dodge (no Boot Hill) and onto CR P.  This last stretch of backroads took us on a colorful route down to HWY 35 and we headed south.  Everybody in this part of Wisconsin and Minnesota must have had the same idea we had.  Every tourist stop, including the fruit and berry places, were jammed with parked vehicles.

But still hungry from no lunch yet, we rolled into the Jailhouse Saloon, a place where some of us had stopped before in previous excursions.  It had been good food then, and it was now, except the place was very busy, and it took us a long time to get fed.  Wanting to make sure we got everybody back home before dark, we sped on HWY 35 through Centerville and Trempealeau to HWY 53 and took that four laner over to I 90.  We followed I 90 over to HWY 14 and stopped at LaCrescent Kwik Trip to refuel.  We then made our way to HWY 26 and headed south where eventually Mike and Roger departed for home.  Following 26 to HWY 9 in Lansing and then back to Waukon ended a great ride with some amazing scenery including color on the leaves.  Bob had 206 miles on his trike when he arrived home.