Weather perfect? Check! Dapper dressed folk? Check! Many splendid bikes? Check! A lovely gathering in the City for a good cause. Nigh on 300 people on nearly as many Triumph’s, Ducatis, BMW’s, Guzzi’s, and many other marques took to a route through Chicago’s Loop and along Lake Shire Drive.
Fulton Street and the Cobra Lounge
Getting a good send off from Johnny & Larry before stands up and the cacophony of motorcycles head down Ashland and through the intersection lights en masse.
Through The Loop
Eastbound on Jackson (Route 66) took us to the Lake and southbound LSD. Horns honked, engines revved and onlookers smiled.
Museum of Science and Industry
Big gathering and group photo on the steps before heading back north. Grand outing had by all!
Marvelous weather and a splendid ride north along the Lake. Dean and Nikolai made up the trio of our pack as we swung by Illinois State Beach Park. The Tiger was fresh from its important 12,000 mile service at Motoworks and ran like new. superb!
Perfect weather for a ride today. Through Lake County along the back roads to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. Pear blossom highlighting the hedges, countless bikers on the roads. Smashing!
Ride to Three Oaks MI and brunch at Violas. 5 hungry bikers sippin’ coffee and enjoying eggs, pancakes, bacon and sausage. Last few leaves of autumn hang on as we speed through the tree’d corridor within this National Park.
Beautiful weather today and a great 200 miler over into the Kettle Moraine area south west of Milwaukee. Smooth rolling triads through elephant eye high corn. Stopped for a fine late breakfast at Whitewater, a pleasant wee town with historical downtown. Key Lime cheesecake was a fine accompaniment to the meat-lovers skillet! Good mates to ride with!
todays jaunt saw us hoofing it into Wisconsin to find some good sweeping country roads. Through the quiet town of Burlington where we stopped to have coffee to the lakefront harbor at Racine.
todays jaunt saw us hoofing it into Wisconsin to find some good sweeping country roads. Through the quiet town of Burlington where we stopped to have coffee to the lakefront harbor at Racine.
Sunday evening tv. One of the recurring series on the local PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is Granchester. About a local detective called Geordie, played by Robson Green, and a young handsome Vicar played by Tom Brittney, as they take on local murders and rural criminal shenanigans. Based in the early sixties with youthful vigor the reverend hares around the Cambridgeshire countryside on a BSA Rocket Goldstar. Perfect machine for the task at hand!
The Old Vicarage by poet Rupert Brook is pure epitome of Englishness and a lost Arcadia of the world before the Great War. The Orchard is a wonderful place for tea and scones.
More road-trip sightings are the buildings and structures that are ridden past and stopped by. From the ecumenical to the agricultural, the retail to the residential. The bridge in the Duluth Harbor is one highlight for sure. A celebration of the mining and logging industry that created the Upper Midwest.
We took the small car ferry over to Washington Island at the top end of the peninsula beyond Green Bay. 25 square miles of woodland, farming, vineyards, cabins. A harbor to the farther Rock Island, itself a nature reserve.
A farm museum
Interesting real variety of farm buildings, tools and cabin of the day. Bleating goats gave noise to the location.
Leafy Roads
No need to go fast. Perfectly paced for the go-slow feel of the place. Relax.
We had a full day riding from Duluth MN to Green Bay WI. Lake Superior to Lake Michigan. Along Highway 70, the old logging road that cuts across the top of Wisconsin. Lakes open up occasionally and the mixed woodland provides a verdant backdrop to the perfect roads.
Got to the campsite right on the waters edge. Splendid sunset and campfire as the stars lit up. Super riding through the National Forests that speckle the area.
Of Pine & Aspen
There were signs warning road users of Elk crossing, beautiful trout streams cross-crossing the way and the occasional bald Eagle soaring overhead.
An early morning sprint to the far South Side with a good friend. Destination was a loop of Lake Calumet, an older material port amidst a lost industrial area. Mostly marshes now attracting many birds and habitat for fish, amphibians and insects. Perfect weather too! David was riding his Aprilia Dorsoduro, the perfect urban tool.
geordiebiker.com 