Safety Report

by Gary Klinker

Trips

It is probably not giving away any inside publishing secret, but these articles are written two to three weeks before you get your Newsletter. With that in mind, it is pretty hard to come up with any good information for the May issue when this week I was plowing eight inches of new snow and we are supposed to get more tonight. Two weeks from today we will be finishing our first BRC of the year. (I hope!) I can’t even give you the promised review of the new seat. I’m lucky if I have ten miles on it yet.

I think I’ll just go through a list of rides we hope to take this year. Maybe you will get some ideas that you want to add to your list. Feedback is always good so if you have any interesting rides planned let us know about them.

For longer trips we’re riding to Aladdin Wyoming in June and to Sturgis for the Hall of Fame Breakfast and probably the Whitewood ABATE Social. For day rides the Spam Museum in Austin Minnesota is on the list. If you have never seen it you will be very surprised. It is a great museum with a lot of history. Displays cover the early days of meat packing and the involvement of Spam and their employees in WWII. If you can remember the Monty Python Spam, Spam, Spam routine, it is even part of the museum. The walk through the gift shop will amaze you with the number of Spam logo items there have been over the years. You can even buy a model of the Spam sponsored NASCAR racer. I’ve been there a few times, but plan to go again. From La Crosse take Minnesota Highway 16 that follows the scenic Root River.

Another ride I have wanted to make will finally get done this year. The Potosi brewery is a very historic building, and now includes the National Brewery Museum. This small Wisconsin town beat Milwaukee and St Louis for the location of the museum. The restaurant at the brewery is also supposed to be worth the trip for a lunch stop. The southwest Wisconsin roads to get to Potosi provide some of the best riding in the country.

Speaking of good roads, the ride through Trempealeau and Buffalo County are a great way to get to Elmer’s Museum in Fountain City. They have everything from cars and tractors to toys. It has long been on my list.

Another very interesting stop we made on a ride last fall was Fred Smith’s Concrete Park, just on the south side of Phillips, right on Highway 13. The old guy did some amazing work with concrete and empty beer bottles. On that same ride, after going through the Upper Peninsula, we stopped at Doc’s H-D and toured his museum and shop. He has an incredible collection that is well worth the ride.

Another place that really sounded great was the Motorama Auto Museum near Aniwa. I read about it in article in the BMWMOA magazine this winter. They have cars, motorcycles and military vehicles.

A great resource to plan day rides in Wisconsin, or anywhere, is the roadsideamerica.com site. Just click on the Wisconsin state search button. They have an extensive list of oddball or historic sites to see. There is way too much to even start listing, but it will keep you busy.

In the busy times and amidst all the important work we do in ABATE it is easy to forget that the real reason we are all here is to ride motorcycle. It is what has drawn us together and keeps us pumped up. Riding is a challenge and involves skill that only a small percentage of the population can perform. Riding involves skills that can deteriorate with non-use. The moral of my story is get out there and ride! Do it often and have a good time. I hope some of these suggestions have given you ideas for places to ride and practice those skills.

I have to insert a crass commercial announcement about the Region 7D Firecracker Run. It will be held July 7 starting from Black River Falls. It involves riding to various places like I have mentioned here. An event to give you places to ride and enjoy the simple act of rolling down the road along with a chance for some prizes. Watch your Newsletter for details.

Ride Safe…