Bluff Country Ride

[Jeremiah]

On Saturday, November 7, I went for a 5 hour trip through Southeastern Minnesota. About noon, I left Rochester on US-52. I had intended on going all the way to Preston on 52 until this sign caught me eye just south of Chatfield.

There were a lot of Harleys going by in both directions as I was taking pictures. I got a wave or nod from just about every one of them. A pair of Goldwings pulled up to the stop sign behind me, got off, and then both immediately lit up cigarettes. I wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not but I got geared up and headed towards some twisties!

Those first two miles of CR 40 were great. The road did lots of winding around the landscape and property of several farm houses. What made it difficult were the blind corners because of the rolling hills the road was dug into. Overall it had nothing too technical, a few easy switchbacks.

At the end of CR 40, I got onto MN-30. This road was full of long sweeps. I felt like every left turn was accompanied by an equally long right turn. I saw a good spot to pull over and took some pictures of a right-left-right.

[Jeremiah]

From MN-30, I got onto MN-250 and headed south towards Lanesboro. Naturally, I got stuck in a no passing zone behind an old man in a Ford Ranger that didn’t want to go faster than 45. At one point I got a cloud of dust thrown up at me. As I moved to the inside of the lane to dodge the cloud the road turned into dirt. A tractor had caked the whole lane in two inches of dried mud for half a mile until it dissipated. Just as I went to pass in a long straight, he threw on his left blinker. And it stayed on. And he kept it on as he let the truck coast to 25 before finally making a left turn down a gravel road.

The scenery suddenly changed from fields on either side to trees rushing at me and a sign popped up indicating a 15mph right turn. I doubted the need to even drop down to 30 because it looked pretty easy until I noticed the decreasing radius. A few more easy curves later I was facing a 15mph left turn onto a bridge.

Driving through Lanesboro, I saw a lot of V-twins, several Wings and trikes parked along the main drag. I pulled into a park and took in the scenery of a beautiful waterfall.

[Jeremiah]

Aside from a few people walking by on the distant sidewalk, this place was empty.

Before I got onto MN-16, I waited on a side street until I couldn’t see a single car ahead going in the direction I soon would be. I was in heaven and the sun was behind me the whole time. The scenery put a new meaning to God’s country. I felt comfortable doing 10 over the posted pretty much the entire time. I had a rider come up behind me and hang in my left mirror. I dealt with it for a little while but waved him by in a straight. He shook his head at me as he passed and I shook mine at him when I caught a glimpse of his ugly Victory leather jacket.

From the last time I rode 16, I remember seeing this "Wayside Rest Area" and had to stop to get a picture of the amazing view.

Impressive concrete work, wouldn’t you say?

I got back onto 16 and didn’t see a single car until I got to the Peterson intersection where one car pulled out a little later than I would have liked. Then a second car pulled out behind the first. I had to slow from 65 to 40 pretty quickly. Turns out the second car was trying to get out of the intersection before an oncoming pack of *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$s came blop-blop-roaring by.

[Jeremiah]

I got gas in Rushford and then headed east on CR 26 and immediately regretted it. This road was narrow and poorly maintained. I don’t mean it wasn’t regularly maintained, I mean it was just terrible work. I think the county must take the new asphalt guys here to practice patching until they get the hang of it. On top of that, I passed some hunters standing around a pickup. If they weren’t drunk, I wasn’t riding a motorcycle.


I was just coming out of some really slow curves when there was a posted sign reading 35. I couldn’t have even been going more than 30 after coming out of the last corner. I went into a lean on the outside of the turn and saw a patch of gravel that I don’t think could have been avoided. With the choice of likely being laid down or driving into the ditch I stood it up immediately and hit the brakes. When the front tire went off the road, my rear tire locked and you can see where I let the rear go in this picture:




I went down the ditch, came to a stop in some low corn and then tipped over. I shut it off and I was laughing on the ground when the farmer from the house in the picture came flying over on an ATV. He helped me pick the bike up and told me to ride through the corn and back up to the road. Neither of us wanted to push it up the ditch. Here’s where I came out of the field about 100 feet from where I went in.




I think we bent the handlebar picking it up because I don’t think I tipped with enough force to cause damage.


Just after my "accident" I went down the craziest road I think I have ever seen. It was steep, winding and dangerous. There was no railing saving me from falling to my death down the side of the cliff. I can’t dream of going anywhere near it in the winter. I’ll have to take some pictures of it at some point. At the bottom of this hill was Money Creek. It might have been a town but it was tiny for sure.


I headed north from Money Creek, crossed I-90 and made my way into Winona on MN-43. As busy as this road is it was very calm. It was very wide and I felt totally safe with a big cushion between me and the cagers.

Once in Winona, I stopped at Hardees. The Hardees in Rochester closed several years ago to supposedly make room for the US-52 expansion project. They tore down the building but the parking lot still remains vacant. A McDonalds was built across the street. Some replacement. Within the last 2 years, they closed the next closest Hardees in Cannon Falls and it was converted to a sandwich shop that recently closed while the McDonalds across the street lives strong. What’s happening!?




2/3 pound monster bacon burger with curly fries? Yes please!

[Jeremiah]

Traffic was thick in Winona. Lots of college students out and about on one of the last warm days of the year. There was a football game at the stadium and plenty of purple shirts all over, also.

From Winona, I got on the slab and rode along the Mississippi on US-61. I was stuck in a pack of cages until the speed limit went from 55 to 65 and I was gone. On the 15 miles or so from Winona to Weaver, I counted 12 cars on the side of the road. This area seems to be a great place for deer. I stopped at the boat launch in Weaver to take in the sights.

From Weaver, I had planned on taking MN-74 south through Whitewater State Park to St Charles and then cruising US-14 back to Rochester. Unfortunately, this road is gravel. I didn’t expect that from a state highway. I didn’t trust my skill or my rear tire so I took the fork to the right and headed up CR 26.

I was really disappointed I couldn’t ride through Whitewater. I had some photo-ops planned through there and I wanted to revisit some areas I hadn’t been to in a while. I was even more disappointed that 26 took me right into the sun when 74 was pretty much southbound under the shade of trees and bluffs.

[Jeremiah]

The first mile or so was all up hill and was awesome. The cliff to the left gave a great view of the twisty gravel road I had intended on following. I then traversed some very uninteresting roads between the top of that hill and Plainview. Between Plainview and Elgin on MN 42, there was a tractor headed towards Elgin and had traffic backed up quite a ways. Everyone made it around him though and I got far enough ahead to catch him pulling into the Co-Op. I barely missed the opportunity to catch a picture of three tractors and a truck dance around each other in front of the entrance.





I headed out of Elgin towards Rochester on CR 24 and stopped at the Haverhill Town Hall just before pulling onto Viola Road. I was a little surprised they weren’t flying a flag today.

[Jeremiah]

Viola Road is one of my favorites to fly on in the pickup so I though for sure it would be fun on the bike. It was actually a little boring. If I had cranked it up to 75mph, that might have been a different story.

I made it home just after 5. Time for a bath and an oil change and we’re ready for winter!

[Larry D]

Excellent !!!

Nice write-up !!

Thanks for sharing.

[DanTheMan]

Nice ride, good story and picts too!!! I've done the Whitewater ride last summer (I've gone from New Ulm all along the Minnesota River Road), it's a fun ride, but you do have to have the tires for it. Good save on that corner too, at least the ground wasn't so soft that it caused damage by the front wheel digging in. You're putting it away for the winter? I've been riding more now than in October the weather is so nice. When it either drops below 20 on a regular basis or it gets too slick on the road outside my driveway I'll put her away for a nap.

[Jeremiah]

Lately, I've been working 7am to 6pm. The sun is barely up when I leave home and is gone by the time I leave work. I don't have a windshield or very good cold riding gear, yet. But, Dan, you're right. I can't put it away yet. I had planned on addressing my valves and electrical late this fall but I might as well ride while I can and get an early start on maintenance in the spring.

[Redman]

Jer,

Good that that your story includes more riding after your off road excersion. A little bit more of a ditch and the story would be a lot different.

Thanks for posting the photos and the story. I like the pictures that showed the bike and the road. Pictures showing bike and scenery are nice also.

.

[IOWA450T]

Thanks for the write-up and pics. I never seem to take many pics when I'm riding but I'm going to try to do a better job next year. Nice bike by the way. Are you going to paint your side covers this winter? Would be super sharp then. Maybe that MN rally that got talked about last year will come about next year and I can see it in person. Vikings/Lions is about to start; gotta go! Skol.

[bonanzadave]

How do you make and post these maps ?

[trumpetguy]

Go to maps.google.com, then click "my maps" and watch the instructional video. Pretty cool.

I use MS Streets and Trips to plan my bike rides, but this may be a litle slicker -- certainly easier to mark the desired route!

[bonanzadave]

Go to maps.google.com, then click "my maps" and watch the instructional video. Pretty cool.

Ill give that a try......

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114777494558634726196.00047883d5af0e993d4f3&ll=44.010596,-91.661854&spn=0.085435,0.222988&z=13

Close but not what I wanted. I cant save my map to photobucket

Anyway........ If you can see my map in the link........next time youre heading into Winona on Hiway 43 take the road to the scenic over look. You can see for miles. Pictures dont show the panorama.