Passes & Canyons Blog

At a park on the Minnesota side of a river that divides that state from Wisconsin.

Three days of riding across the prairie and I reached Minneapolis. Picked Judy up at the airport and the next day we headed into Wisconsin. Suddenly it was no longer flat, and we were totally struck by the beauty of the landscape. Judy has never been to Wisconsin before and though I lived there for several years, it has been so long I had forgotten.

After a night in Gordon, NE, with some Motorcycle Travel Network people, I had stayed with a high school friend in Sioux Falls, SD. Then I rode on to the Minneapolis area and Judy and I stayed with another Motorcycle Travel Network person. Then it was on into Wisconsin where we are staying a couple days with friends from college. Tomorrow it is on to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where we have a B&B set up.

The roads here are good, well paved, and on a grid, so if you don’t want to stay on a busy highway you just take any turnoff and get on the lesser roads. The amazing thing was how many bicyclists we encountered on some of these lesser roads. Is Wisconsin really a bicyclist’s paradise?

The weather has been hot but dry, though we really notice the humidity. As long as we keep moving the breeze through our mesh jackets keeps us comfortable, but stop for a few minutes or slog through city traffic and it gets hot very quickly. I’ve hardly seen anyone else in jackets–it’s all T-shirts.

Our UCLEAR communicators are working wonderfully. Being able to talk is terrific, and when it comes to following directions, having a navigator who can say “Turn right here” is very helpful. I’ve even found that the communicators work fine if I’m wearing ear plugs so that’s even better.

This is all new ground for us. We’ve never been up here before so it’s adventure time. We like that.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Boredom totally lacking in ride across the prairie

Biker Quote for Today

“I rode a lot of dirt bikes when I was younger, so I trust the chain and sprockets more than that newfangled voodoo shaft stuff!” –DolphinJohn

Imagine if you had a large network of contacts all around the country, so you could travel on your motorcycle and have a place to stay the night pretty much everywhere you went.

Well, you can. I don’t know why I only just learned about this but that’s exactly what the Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) is all about.Through a membership in the MTN you have the ability to locate people where you’re headed and arrange to stay at their homes, rather than getting a motel. You also can provide accommodations for other motorcycle travelers and receive a small compensation for putting them up at your own home.

Of course, the best part of this has to be that you get to meet and make friends with other people who share your interests. I’m very interested in learning more about this, and when I do I’ll pass along what I’ve learned.

The way it works is that you pay $30 a year to join for one year, or $45 for two years, or $90 for five years. Then when you stay at someone’s home you pay them a gratuity of $15 for one person per day, or $20 for two people per day.

Here’s a bit of what the MTN has to say on its site.

The goal of MTN is for motorcycle enthusiasts to share their knowledge, experiences and stories with each other in a warm friendly and comfortable environment, namely, in a member’s home. We want to help insure that as you travel you will be staying with people that share your enthusiasm for motorcycles and travel. When you stay with MTN hosts you will be staying with local experts on where to ride, where to eat, sites to see or where to get mechanical service. Likewise you will be staying with someone who is interested in hearing about your riding adventures, and sharing their own.

They seem to have this thing pretty well worked out; check the site for a lot of info on how it all works. And if you have any experience with this network I’d love to have your comments. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth. — Steve McQueen