A ride after the October chapter meeting to the Denmark cheese factory and Antique store. It happened to be Mary Mrotek’s birthday that same day. We continued on to Suster’s for lunch. Jill Olsowy made a birthday cake. It was a great day for a ride. We didn’t leave Ken Ivey behind when his bike wouldn’t start. We made sure his bike got started before anyone left for home.

Read about Pete’s 2012 ride to Yellowknife

Yellowknife.2012

Manitowoc County HOG Anniversary Mississippi River Ride

By Pete Kracaw

Speaking of fun I just wanted to thank all the members that went with us for the 20th Anniversary Ride. It was the first larger group ride that Josie and I have been on. We had an absolute blast with the ride and the company.

We started off from Stock’s with everyone asking who is going to lead. I told them there is no way you would want the Head Road Captain leading the ride. It is a well known fact that I can get lost crossing the road. Everyone reminded me it would not be a H.O.G. ride if we didn’t make at least one U turn. Well Greg Reindl finally agreed to lead the beginning of the ride with me right behind him. Needless to say we made our first U turn about one block from Stock’s so I knew we were in for a great ride. You could not have asked for a better ride leader than Greg he lead the entire weekend and I set the the speed limit. I figured as long as I could keep Greg in my sights we were ok. Well we rode as far as Prairie du Chien the first day and had perfect weather for the whole ride. Most of the group went to the casino that night for dinner and for a little gambling. Thanks to Dave and Linda Clark for the suggestion.

The second day we started off with Greg leading the group to Nelson, WI where we were going to stay for the night. I had found a cabin large enough to hold our entire group and was a little leery if everyone was going to be ok with all of us staying in one cabin. We got checked into the cabin and lightened our loads from the bikes. We went back to Wabasha and went to the Eagle Sanctuary. Thanks so much for Barb Prahl for setting up this stop. It was amazing seeing the eagles that are kept at the sanctuary and to learn about the eagles in the area. Of course the highlight was Greg getting up in front of the class and spreading his wings. It was decided that we all go back to our cabin and relax for the rest of the night. On the way back to the cabin we found a great place for BBQ and proceeded to enjoy the rest of the night with good food, drink, and company.

Well we started the final day with Greg leading of course and myself setting the speed again. We had a great ride all the way back to Brillion. We decided to stop for dinner at Cobblestone Creek for their Sunday night chicken special. Thanks to Randy and Pat Field for the suggestion. We got in a little early and Dave and Linda Clark were going to take off. Unfortunately they got to the end of the parking lot and broke their throttle cable. Can you imagine seven men standing around a bike and figuring out how we can get this bike going so Dave and Linda could make the rest of the ride home. Well after many attempts and a couple of hours Dave, David, Greg, Paul, and Randy finally rigged the throttle with a pair of vice grips and hose clamp talk about ingenuity.

Once again thanks everyone that went along and made a great experience.