It has been two weeks since I have been on the bike, except to work, due to the seemingly never-ending stretch of heat with extremely high dew points. However, after a bunch of storms yesterday, today was supposed to be much cooler with lower dew points. So, I told Kevin I could and would ride today and I planned a route for us to take to Mt. Morris and back.
I left Grove around 9ish to meet Kevin at his place in Fondy and we left there around 10. He already told me last night the ride over was just under two hours, so I told him to go ahead and add to it if he wanted.
We took 23 west out of Fondy, to 26 north out of Rosendale, then Olden Road into Ripon, and Cty F out of Ripon, to McConnelly Road west, then Hwy 49 north into Berlin, and E/F west to Cty D south, and onto DD, then BB north back to E/F, and then N north to Mt. Morris. Where we stopped at the Trading Post Bar & Grill for lunch since it looked to have a very nice deck. I forgot to take a photo of the establishment, but it was a really cool log cabin, and the deck was a very nice setting for sitting outside to eat, which we did.
From there we went to Mt. Morris Park to enjoy the overlook. And from there we headed north on Cty G, and then a whole bunch of back roads north and east, Through Pine River and south of Poy Sippi and south of Borth, eventually ending up in Omro where we planned to stop for cream at the Cheese Shop. I could have sworn they had Chocolate Shoppe cream last time I was there, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see they served Cedar Crest. Although they did not have either of my faves, Pirates Bounty or Mint Chocolate Chip, but the Cherry Cheesecake sufficed nicely!
From there we took 116 south through Waukau, and south of there Cty M which was under construction but resurfaced on one side, and luckily it was the southbound lane. From M we ventured onto Triangle Road, Zoar and Hickory roads where we crossed 26 and ended up on Cty C south to Cty N east, then Cty I south to Hwy 23 east back into Fondy.
We both stopped at the BP along Cty D and Rolling Meadows for fuel and then we split up on Pioneer at Park Ave where I continued to Hwy 45 south, then Cty K north. And since it was getting a bit late I took Hwy 23 east off of K all the way to Cty S north into Glen and then A north to JP east into Elkhart and then A east to Cty M south, and then Garton Road east into Grove.
At one point after tooling around 80 mph on Hwy 23 I noticed my display said I was in 1st gear. I pulled the clutch in and attempted to upshift, but it just kind of bucked at me because I for sure was in 6th gear. However, it was really freaking me out because it kept displaying back and forth from 6 to 1. So, getting off at Cty S was good, as I was considering taking 23 all the way to 32. It never did it again though, but I never got remotely close to 80 mph again either.
There were times today it actually felt a bit chilly with the clouds, pretty strong northern winds, and the airflow jacket, but oh so refreshing from the stifling heat and thick air we have been enduring most of this summer. It also was good to get some pretty good miles in with the bike before my big trip to the driftless region, IA and MN next weekend too.
Mostly seen a bunch of turkeys today, some cranes, chipees and squirrels. And, although Kevin’s map indicates 173 miles, with my ride to and from Fondy (each ~40 miles), I put in 250 today. And, I actually don’t feel too sore. I got a bit sore a couple of times while riding, but not much since I’ve been home. Awesome day and awesome roads!
