Okay, I want to get this out there nice and early, so if anyone wants to join and needs to save up vacation days (2) or ask for it now, they can. I tried to do this last year, but it didn't work out. I'm definitely going this year though as it's my Uncle's 50th and I really want to make the trip up there. Western WI is beautiful, especially right along the Mississippi River.
My Aunt and Uncle have spent the last few years building their retirement home on 200+ acres in South West Wisconsin on the outskirts of the town of Seneca. This is about 30 minutes north of Prairie Du Chien. Their house is only about 5 minutes from over looking the mighty Mississippi River where it separates Wisconsin and Iowa. Just a little bit farther north is Minnesota.
Long story short, they hold a big party each labor day weekend at their land. This year should be extra exciting since it's my Uncle's 50th. He's the 2nd youngest. My mom's side of the family (8 brothers & sisters) have a strong Irish heritage, so they know how to party and have a good time!
I've been to their house a few times already including once last year, but I've wanted to go up there for the past couple years to hang out during this time when they have their big Labor Day bash, but never have. This is an open invitation for anyone that would want to go and would like to do a bike trip to the Midwest. You'll be able to fill in a bunch more states on your maps in your sigs. :thumbup:
Itinerary - Here is just the general route. I would of course modify it to fit our needs -
Google MapMy rough plans as of right now would be to leave out Thursday, Aug 28th after work (~6pm) and slab it to somewhere in TN, maybe just past Nashville. We would set up a meeting spot at a hotel ahead of time so people could basically leave when they want Thursday depending on their schedules and just meet up at the hotel that evening. Those that want could split hotel rooms to keep the cost down. The next day, Friday Aug 29th, we would leave out as one group mostly trying to stay on secondary roads where feasible. Depending on where we put Thursday's meeting spot, we would probably have about ~600 miles to cover on Friday. We would get to my relatives on Friday evening. We would hang out there that night.
Saturday & Sunday (Aug 30-31) would be do whatever days, do your own thing. Some may just want to sit and relax if you aren't used to a ride like that. Others may want to go on a ride up the Mississippi river (great scenery) and cut over to hit Minnesota & Iowa so you can add it to your states. We could also do a day trip up to Lake Superior which is awesome. Whatever you decide, it would be totally up to you. We would spend Saturday & Sunday night there again. (If you can't get Tuesday off, you could leave a day early to get back to work by Tuesday, but you are on your own unless you team up with someone else).
Monday morning (Sep 1st), we would leave heading back towards GA. On the way back, we would head a bit farther West and come down the west side of the Mississippi river so we would be riding through Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, & GA. We would split the ride home into probably two 500 mile days again staying on secondary roads for the most part. We should arrive home Tuesday evening in time for everyone to go back to work Wednesday.
LodgingWith my plans above, that's only 2 days off of work for most of us. If you camp or crash at my relatives place, it will also just be 2 days of hotels. (There are rather cheap hotels in town if you don't want to crash at my relatives place). So for budgeting, you just pay for your food and gas for your bike and 2 nights of hotels hopefully split with someone. They have plenty of room to camp and my Aunt said that most of the people that go up there bring campers, so that actually leaves lots of room in their house and garage apartment for others to stay. I know they have a ton of cots and places to crash in their house, and apartment too. I would probably suggest bringing tents just in case, but if I think for the most part most of us should be able to crash in the house or apt. They also have a sauna they built that I'm sure they'll have fired up for those cool Wisconsin nights.
FoodFood on the road, we'll try to avoid the chain restaurants, especially on the back roads so we can stop at mom & pop places. Plan on getting up in the morning and hitting the road for about an hour before stopping for breakfast. Lunch and Dinner will be where ever.
Food while we are at my relatives will probably be mostly grilling out and for each person to take care of their own needs. I'm sure we can borrow a vehicle and run into town to grab food for each night we are there and grill out burgers, brats, steaks, or whatever suits you. Oh yeah, no dry counties up in WI like here in GA, so beer and hard liquor is plentiful if that is your desire.
Riding - Some of you may want to do this as your first ever long trip. You are invited along, but please make sure you are comfortable to cover this kind of mileage. If you can do a 300-400 mile day on a sport bike in the mountains, you will probably be fine for this. If you have trouble riding your bike for 200 miles in a day, you might want to wait a bit longer until you build up your endurance.
BikesAll bikes are welcome. I imagine we are going to get bikes that don't have the gas range that some of the sport tours have, but that won't be an issue. I'm planning to make stops approximately every 100 miles for fuel and breaks, especially if we have newer long distance riders with us. You will be expected to ride in a safe and prudent manner at all times and not endanger any other riders. We won't be leaving anyone behind, but we do expect you to hold your own. I've completed several long trips like this and I can give plenty of tips to help you out. We will be keeping our speed in a safer limit and personally, for me that involves no more then 10mph over. Overall, I want this to be a safe trip for everyone involved. Riding in large groups longer distances is actually easier then by yourself as the excitement of the trip tends to rub off on everyone.
Other plansIf you can't leave till Friday or perhaps you can't take off Tuesday too. You are still welcome to come, but you would be on your own as far as riding and planning your route. You would still be more then welcome to crash at my relatives. Just throwing that out there.
Login
Register
