Sunday, April 26, 2015

No Plan

Today was predicted to be the nicest and warmest of the weekend so once the thermometer read in the high 40's (9AM) I was headed down the driveway on the Guzzi.  I stopped at the breakfast place and was curious who the 2 BMW riders might be as I went inside.  Doug and Jack were already seated and after a few hellos and "where to today's" I left them inside and stepped outside onto the patio.  We'll be seeing each other in a few weeks at the Great River Road Rally and do more catching up then.

Our rural world is yet to be very green but the rains this past week are changing things in a hurry.


 Church Hill Road.....



Coddie Klink Road.....


Where a Burn was in progress......





This area has one vista after the next.....makes for very fine riding.  There are valley roads but these up high are favorites.



This building refuses to give up.


A stop on School Road......



Field work, small grain being sown.....


Without contacting each other ahead of time, Dave and I texted each other late morning while out, establishing a planned rendezvous place and time for dinner.  Almost 3 hours before the prearranged meeting, I took the back way into Plum City and there, lo and behold sat Dave's sidecar rig, he and Justin watching the trout in the pond, soaking up some sun and enjoying the sound of the water fountain splashes.

I joined them.

We altered only slightly our dinner plans but were in each others company, a fine ending to the day's ride.  I was surprised when I checked the accumulated GPS mileage for today.....199.9 miles




Saturday, April 25, 2015

Two Things

Two things I almost never do, even more rare done together, were carried out today and it was a blast.  Urban riding is something I do very little of, primarily due to our living rural.  The other thing very seldom done is my joining a group ride.  These guys justify exceptional.

Our local VJMC (Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club) group gathered after coffee this morning for a Grand Rounds Ride.  Long ago an idea which was then followed through and executed by the founders of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the goal was to set aside and protect for future generations a ring around the city of boulevards and parks.  We did our best today to cover as much of the system as possible.

Leaving home by 5:30 this morning, our windy 42 degrees felt as if we were a good 20 degrees short of great riding weather.  Even so, the Helix fired right up and I was in north Mpls. by 7AM.  I'd venture to say that the majority of riders that arrived for hot morning beverages joined us on our ride....there were 15 bikes, including 1 sidecar rig.  Two of the bikes had passengers.

The early arrivers........





The 10AM ride began......


 North on Central and then here our first Parkway riding.....


 Downtown Mpls Tall Buildings on the horizon......


Typical of the Victory Memorial Section....



 Theodore Wirth Golf Course......






 Walking and biking paths everywhere, both busy today especially so by the lake sections of the ride.



 Approaching Lake Street and Lake Calhoun......






 We stopped for a short break at the Lake Harriet Band Shell parking lot.



The 'Rounds go past lots of water.....the Chain of Lakes as well as Minnehaha Creek.


 Many sections are one-way......







 Things were crowded and busy around the Minnehaha Falls Park, between the busy events and road construction, detours and adjustments needed to be made.



 We stopped for another break, this one across the river on East River Road.









 J.P. imagining the luxury and elevated social status that Helix ownership provides.

 

My ride with the group ended here since I had to get back home for another event in the afternoon.  I left the group here, the ride continued without me on to Chip's place for food and refreshments.  Many thanks to Mike for leading us around the loop, to Chip for hosting and to all that participated in making this a very fun group ride.

What it looks like, at least the part that I participated in, a counter clockwise voyage.