Sheboygan. It would be our codeword for our trip to the Great Lakes. We looked at a map and traced the route we thought we would take; through Yellowstone, Cody, Deadwood, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Thunder Bay and then back home through Canada. Along the way, we came across Sheboygan, WI. We didn’t know anything about Sheyboygan..we just liked saying it. Try it….Sheboygan… fun eh?
On a Tuesday morning in Sept, my buddy, Glenn and I left our Bellingham, WA homes and headed through the North Cascades. When you ride Highway 20 from Bellingham towards the east side of the state, it is mandatory to stop and have lunch at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery where you’ll enjoy great beer and delicious hamburgers. Some of the best riding through massive mountains on familiar long sweeping curves over smooth, well-maintained roads. We crossed into Idaho and saw truck after truck coming through to fight the numerous fires that plagued the area this year.
Glenn and I rode through Yellowstone Park on what started out as a fine day but 45” from the eastern gate, the heavens opened and it poured cold rain on us. The roads are perfect for riding even in the rain and the scenery is spectacular. The next day, west of Burgess Junction, WY, we passed through the Big Horn Mountains and reached 9,430’. It is normally closed during the winter which makes damn good sense since in the middle of September we were riding though snow and cold that we luckily didn’t see again. Through the towns of Gillette, WY (The Gillette Brewing Company), Rapid City, SD (The Firehouse) and Fort Dodge, IA (Shiny Top Brewing), we visited breweries – 22 in all; including unique ones that were built from a bank, a post office, a garage and a firehouse. My daughter suggested the Surly Brewing Company in Minneapolis which was the hands-down favorite of the trip. We drank the best IPA on our route at Bolo Beer Company in Valentine, Nebraska – yes Valentine, Nebraska. Where else can you walk out the brewery and hear cows mooing at you from an auction house across the street? Breweries are a crafty reward for the long day of riding. Once you get to your destination, fire up Googles Maps and look for “breweries near me” to get started. Unless those breweries are close, we Uber or taxi so we don’t have to ride after a couple of beers.
Wisconsin is deceptively inviting. An awesome state filled with great scenery with roads that will keep you guessing; sometimes smooth as glass and sometimes filled with wet asphalt snakes that you slide across; enough to make your heart skip a few beats. But you will thank yourself when you get to the Harley Davidson Museum and lunch alongside the Milwaukee River on a sunny day. In a brewery in Madison, we saw the coolest poster for the 3 Sheeps Brewing in Sheboygan – Riding into Sheboygan and stopping for your first glimpse of the massive Lake Michigan will leave you wanting more. And you won’t be disappointed. Ride into Green Bay and stop at Lambeau Field even if you’re not a fan. The next day you’ll be treated to one of the best short rides of your life; through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and over the Mackinac Bridge – five miles of non-stop smiles onto Mackinaw Island; a touristy little town but certainly worth the drive. The Yupper is even better once you get farther north and over to Marquette, MI on Lake Superior. Our plan was to ride around Lake Superior and over to Thunder Bay then start making our way west. The weather, however, told us to go south and we were glad we did. The scenery from Marquette though Rhinelander, WI was green with small towns every so often and the non-stop caravan of trucks hauling 4-wheelers. We stopped in Rhinelander, WI and saw firsthand the Packer fever at a downtown pub. As you walk in, you pass a large tray of Packer bling, noisemakers and party favors and these all get used extensively during the game. What a blast.
From Minneapolis, we began our ride south and, quite by accident, found ourselves on one of the greatest roads I’ve ever had the pleasure to ride; the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. The road is a dream; smooth, winding and welcoming – you will see more than a few signs welcoming bikers. The only problem is trying not to stop every few miles to take in the beauty of one of America’s most beautiful rivers. My advice – don’t try – the GRR provides many places to safely stop for you to drink it up. We left the river and rode a narrow winding road uphill to a roadside overlook with a great view of the Mississippi River and, since the road went on, we did too. The sketchy road was shadowy with trees on either side and took us to a spectacular park with an overlook of the Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge in Lansing, IA where we met a beautiful older woman who told me the large mounds of dirt on the river’s islands are from dredging. I did not know that.
The road is ever changing and inviting. Over the course of 6,200 miles, some days are tough; riding at an angle fighting winds through South Dakota and Wyoming, riding through the pouring rain or losing a kidney bouncing on poor roads in Wisconsin. But most days will keep you smiling the whole day; waving at the other bikers who are likely feeling the same way. From the day you start thinking of the next road trip to having that last brew after your last kickstand down in your hometown, your bike will take you to some great places; the Black Hills and the Badlands, the 7th Street Entry (of Prince fame in Minneapolis), Yellowstone National Park, the beautiful (and never-ending) rolling hills of Nebraska, towns with populations of 15 and it will take you to meet the Brit in a Cody, WY bar, the happy folks at the Mexican/Costa Rican restaurant in Gillette (The Coop – go there), your dear friend of 26 years in Madison, the house painter who took the time to walk down the street and suggest we visit the Harriett Hosman City Park in Lansing, IA. and, if you were born under a lucky star, you get to meet Dolly Dyer of Bend, Oregon’s Silver Moon Brewing while she’s working. She’ll be the really cute woman driving an awesome van with beer taps on the side and, if you’re tired and wet and you yell like a crazy man, she may even stop and give you a 6-pack of IPA 97 and a standing invitation to Silver Moon. Maybe. But then, we don’t need much of a reason to fire up the bikes, now do we?
The road is ever changing and inviting. Over the course of 6,200 miles, some days are tough; riding at an angle fighting winds through South Dakota and Wyoming, riding through the pouring rain or losing a kidney bouncing on poor roads in Wisconsin. But most days will keep you smiling the whole day; waving at the other bikers who are likely feeling the same way. From the day you start thinking of the next road trip to having that last brew after your last kickstand down in your hometown, your bike will take you to some great places; the Black Hills and the Badlands, the 7th Street Entry (of Prince fame in Minneapolis), Yellowstone National Park, the beautiful (and never-ending) rolling hills of Nebraska, towns with populations of 15 and it will take you to meet the Brit in a Cody, WY bar, the happy folks at the Mexican/Costa Rican restaurant in Gillette (The Coop – go there), your dear friend of 26 years in Madison, the house painter who took the time to walk down the street and suggest we visit the Harriett Hosman City Park in Lansing, IA. and, if you were born under a lucky star, you get to meet Dolly Dyer of Bend, Oregon’s Silver Moon Brewing while she’s working. She’ll be the really cute woman driving an awesome van with beer taps on the side and, if you’re tired and wet and you yell like a crazy man, she may even stop and give you a 6-pack of IPA 97 and a standing invitation to Silver Moon. Maybe. But then, we don’t need much of a reason to fire up the bikes, now do we?
