Riding With Todd - First great weekend to ride
I have a opening riding season rule: the first 500 (or so) miles of the season are done with no passengers. This allows me 500 miles of riding to get my head into the game, reacquaint myself with riding and the functions of the bike. After riding last Sunday, Monday, Thursday and then Saturday; I was at ~440 miles and felt that was close enough. Sunday was time for my wife's first ride.
It was a great 193 mile ride. The day started out a little cool at 55 deg F. We saw a high of 68 on the road. The wind presented me with a bit of a struggle.
From Hastings we kept going south to the town of Welch. The road into and out of Welch is one of the best riding roads in MN! Welch is also known for its Canon river tubing. From Welch we headed into the town of Vasa and then turned East to Redwing. At Redwing we stopped for lunch at The Smokin Oak Tavern for some BBQ.
We crossed over the Mississippi into Wisconsin at Redwing. From there we headed north through Prescott, and then Hudson and made a rest stop in Somerset. Somerset is another great tubing town, but on the Apple river.
Coming into Somerset we had a very short stretch of divided highway. Heading up the exit ramp I was leaning heavily into the wind. But as I was coming to a stop at the top of the exit ramp the wind went away FAST. Since I was leaning right into the wind, the bike kept going that way. I remember shouting out, "Hold On", as I planted my foot and fought to upright the bike. Fortunately, I won this battle. But it left LoriAnn and I wondering what happened.
Leaving Somerset we headed North to Osceola, and made the river crossing back into Minnesota and home.
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| Todd at The Smokin Oak |
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