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(09-03-2025, 08:47 AM)MagnaRider Wrote: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tfyGzDEiyUufRBpN6
This is a route in my neighborhood that we take often. You follow the St. Croix River on the Minnesota or Wisconsin side. Gorgeous views, a couple of areas go through deep twisty roads between canyons/forest. This route can go all the way down the Mississippi and gets more interesting the further south you go towards the driftless region.
The Ferret, Offroad, my wife, and I rode this exact route on our way to North Dakota a couple of years ago. Beautiful. And my wife and I have ridden both sides of the Mississippi from Minnesota/Wisconsin to Iowa/Illinois. You are correct that it's a beautiful ride.
I will post a couple of links of routes, or portions of routes, that are easily accessible from New Glarus to see if that piques any interest. I'll just need to get through the 200 emails I had waiting for me upon my return from Kingsport.
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09-03-2025, 11:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-03-2025, 11:16 AM by the Ferret.)
It doesn't matter what I ride, how far or how fast, only that I ride .... every day
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For me, New Glarus is 15+ hrs and Eureka Springs is 19+ hrs. In either case, I think I would have to rent a uhaul motorcycle trailer and budget two-days to drive each way. Not sure how many days that would leave me to attend the rally.
Pikeville is 8+ hrs which is probably close to my limit, but I think I could start early and ride there and back in one day each. Part of the attraction of Kingsport for me was that I could get there and back on the bike in one day each (7+ hrs). The trip was part of the adventure, unfortunately my adventure didn't last very long this year.
Overall, I would say I have a much higher likelihood of making Pikeville than the other locations.
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This is how i think it would go for most people, except maybe the canadians. Its 15 hours for me as well, except im sure i could do that drive in one day without issue.
If youre thinking about how much time it would leave you for the rally, remember we always hold them Monday-Friday so that most people would have saturday and sunday for travel on each end.
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09-03-2025, 12:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-03-2025, 01:00 PM by emptysea.)
Here's a route that I just tossed together. About 150 miles. Note that I would take us down WI-131 and not WI-27, but Google wouldn't let me lay a way point down there. If you're so inclined, you can do a street view of any of the county roads in the center of the route loop to see what most of the roads in the area look like.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QyCpAjd18bpc6HNM8
Note that this is not an actual route I have planned for a trip, although 171 and County Trunk C (bottom left of the route) are roads that you should ride if you're there.
Note 3 - you will see that this route starts/ends in Spring Green. This is my second choice for Rally HQ. I'm concerned about the lodging costs in New Glarus, but I have not heard back from a couple of places with their group rates. I do have other towns that could serve us well that might be ever so slightly closer to people, but I figure that if you're in with a 15 hour drive, then a 15.5 hour drive is not going to be a bridge too far.
At the end of the day, I realize that Pikeville or someplace like it is far more geographically desirable than WI. I will put forth my best case for why it's worth the longer commute.
Question -- is a swimming pool a must-have for folks?
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I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.
It doesn't matter what I ride, how far or how fast, only that I ride .... every day
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(09-03-2025, 02:43 PM)the Ferret Wrote: I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.
I feel like it took you a few tries to word that appropriately. LOL
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The route looks like its a half mile long on my end. Did you create waypoints by dragging the route or by placing hard lettered waypoints?
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I dragged the route. It was kind of a slapdash attempt to get folks an idea. I'll put something better together for you.
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(09-03-2025, 02:43 PM)the Ferret Wrote: I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.
I had a brief vision of the Ferret in a pinstriped number and a flashy tie.
Wrong suit.
Sometimes the road not travelled is best left that way. (Jane Goodall)