Monthly Archives: August 2014
Ride Minnesota on the Radio
Recently, I had the joy of talking about Ride Minnesota with radio talk show host Kevin Hunter. It was a fun interview. Take a listen! I hope you enjoy it. The Business Forum Show highlights small businesses throughout the state. Thank you, Kevin!
Road Trip Comparisons
I just got back from a cross-country drive to California — via RV. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law had driven to Minnesota and needed a relief driver for the trip back to the San Diego area. Ralph had to work, so I got to go. It was a fun time, but I couldn’t help comparing the modes of travel.
On a motorcycle trip, you get up early, drive for an hour and find a little restaurant that offers home-style breakfasts.
On an RV trip, you get up early, start driving, and your sister-in-law hands you a fresh, hot egg burrito that she just made on the little stove in the back.
On a motorcycle trip, you stop frequently for gas. The motorcyle gets 40-plus miles per gallon, but it has a small tank.
On an RV trip, you stop frequently for gas. The RV gets maybe 8 miles per gallon, and it holds a lot of gas.
On a motorcycle trip, you make stops for nature calls.
On an RV trip, you just get up and walk to the back of the bus to the bathroom.
On a motorcycle trip, you become part of the landscape.
On an RV trip, you get to see a lot of landscape.
On a motorcycle trip, you stop every one-and-a-half hours to stretch your legs and look at stuff.
On an RV trip, you walk to the back to stretch your legs.
On a motorcycle trip, you stop and put on your rain suit when raindrops begin to fall and hope it doesn’t get too windy.
On an RV trip, you turn on the windshield wipers when it starts to rain and hope it doesn’t get too windy.
On a motorcycle trip, you try to get off the highway and into a hotel room by 5 p.m. so you can beat the families with kids to the hot tub.
On an RV trip, you try to get off the highway and into an RV park so you can connect your water, sewer and electric lines and maybe take the kids to the pool, if there is one, before dark.
Both are fun ways to travel, but I still prefer the bike, where the wind provides the air conditioning and Mother Nature has charge of climate control.
There are still a lot of great riding days ahead in Minnesota. If you’re looking for a great ride, check out Ride Minnesota, available at most Minnesota Harley dealers, and at Amazon.com.
On the Road Again
Ralph and I took our first long ride of the season on Wednesday. We followed MN 47 north to the family cabin near Aitkin. It was a beautiful, picture-perfect Minnesota day, the kind we live for all winter. The sun shone down benevolently from a deep blue sky. The temperature was a motorcycle-friendly 65 degrees when we left Minneapolis in the morning and in the mid-70s when we returned that evening.
One of the things I like about riding a motorcycle is that you become part of the landscape. The corn, which has started to tassel out, seems much closer than it does when you’re riding in a car. You can see lakes and small ponds that aren’t visible from the cab of a truck. As the day heats up, you can smell the water, new-mown hay, the spicy-woody scent of birch trees and the heady aroma of pine.
You see more wildlife, too. As we neared Isle, I spied a deer happily chowing down on some woman’s flowers. I bet she was thrilled. On the way home I counted one deer, three Canadian geese and two herons.
I describe Minnesota Hwy. 47 in full in my book, Ride Minnesota. We have at least three months of good riding weather ahead of us yet. Get a copy and explore!
Ride Minnesota 