I love to ride my motorcycle. The first time I got on a bike was when I was in High school and a guy asked if I wanted a ride home. So, without a helmet, and knowing that my parents would be furious if they found out, I hopped on. I knew the instant we took off that I would end up owning a bike. It is almost like you are flying. When I made this list I had nobody to ride with. I wanted to make sure that I would get out on my bike the next summer. My 5 rides started on Memorial Day Weekend with some friends from BE. We drove around the Clearwater, Elk River area. I'm not even sure where we went. We ended up at my house because the guys didn't want me to have to drive an hour home by myself (very sweet of them). I made supper for them as a thank you.
The second ride was a BE organized ride. BE has a silent auction every spring to raise money. For a few years now, some of the guys with bikes have sold their back seats with lunch for the fund raiser. We went around Rockville and ended up in Hutchinson for lunch. The third ride was to my friend Trina's cabin by Brainerd. I had a route all planned out, unfortunately I got turned around in St. Cloud and lost my trail. I then picked it up around Rice. But Stearns County sucked me in and I spent a couple of hours going in circles. The joke now is that Stearns county will always get me lost. I tried to stop and ask for directions, but the corn field just didn't want to tell me anything.
The fourth ride was to see my grandparents graves in Onamia. We then picked up Jeff's Mom and drove around Mille Lacs Lake. It was a really good time with ice cream stops along the way, which was a good thing since it was such a hot day. Trina took this picture from the back of Jeff's bike. We were all over, Onamia, Rush Point, Zimmerman were some of the stops. I got home at midnight after driving through thick fog that kept me from seeing through my face shield. I tried to wipe it off, but then I just smeared the bug guts all over. The last 20 miles wasn't very fun.
The 5th ride was to Lake Itasca (where the Mississippi starts). We had 6 riders and 4 bikes. Have I mentioned that I love riding with this group? The guys give my bike the once over before we take off and let me know if anything looks suspicious. They have been telling me all summer that I am going to need a new front tire soon. Jeff actually fixed my right front blinker for me before we went on the last ride. It was a cold day and we dressed in many layers. I drove to Alexandria on friday night (met Jeff on the way, not a planned thing) and Ken, Glen and Sarah met us on saturday morning. Things went really well. We saw a lot of Sand Hill Cranes in the fields. Itasca is beautiful.
We stopped in Dorset for supper. Dorset is a small town with 7 restaurants where even a cat can be the mayor. All you have to do is pay a dollar and put your name in the jar to be drawn for the mayor in July. By the time we got to Long Prairie it was dark. I had a little heart stopper in Eagle Bend when a little dog ran out in front of me. I have no idea how I didn't hit him. I'm glad I didn't, Glen said that a little boy was watching it all happen from the sidewalk with a look of horror on his face. In Long Prairie we stopped for gas, the guys checked out my tire like they had been doing all day and discovered that there were cords showing. Not a good thing. After some debate and me being a stubborn german, I agreed to let them trailer my bike from St. Cloud home. So off to St. Cloud we went being very careful about left turns. In St. Cloud the guys loaded my bike on Jeff's truck and Glen offered to drive me home and bring Jeff's truck back for him. Jeff went to Alexandria to drop off Trina. I am very grateful to all of my friends for their concern and help. I guess for the rest of the year I am going to have to be a passenger. That will be fun too.
I hope to ride again next year with this group (after a new tire is put on). They are great and we have fun adventures.
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