Episode 031 - Top 5 Motorcycle Roads of Wisconsin - Best Motorcycle Roads - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B94G0yeTwM

Transcript:

(00:00) in Wisconsin Todd do you know how to tell if you're in a small town no it only has one bar oh that's [Music] small hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I'm Tom and I'm Todd we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience and 30 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we're here to share with you everything we've learned over those years our at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we'll dive into technology planning packing and all the tips and

(00:38) everything in between from essential prep to Unforgettable Roots we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it's our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit today we're going to talk about multi-tools and first aid kits in the

(01:10) tool kit Todd you know we've talked I think about first aid kits before but not too much about multi-tools yeah you know and I think everyone's pretty well versed on them but they are handy to have in a tank bag or nearby it just seems like something always needs to be loosened tightened cut opened put back together cut off yeah um and man they're pretty handy these days like even some now you know have all the bits you can have bits and ends and wrenches there's some that even have like a um you know

(01:42) an adjustable wrench so it's really good to at least have a toolkit and have it in a place where you can kind of grab it close you don't want to have to unpack everything to get it out so a lot of the bags um if you don't have a tank bag a lot of the bags have little pockets on the sides and those are great places is to to put something like that um with that I always carry a little bit of paracord too because it seems like those two can go hand in hand and then go ahead uh so I used to have a multi- tool

(02:13) um I lost it at some point um what do you have any recommendations on brands or King of the Road of course is Leatherman you know I mean they're kind of the one the wave is probably one of the really nice ones um but you can get a cheaper one too I mean you can get a pretty cheap multi-tool for $25 you know even at a like a box store for like uh you know Home Improvement or of course online um but yeah I mean I don't think you have to spend a lot most of the time you know the knife will be sharp enough the

(02:45) first time use it is when you need it um and the Pliers are usually are good enough so but yeah a little bit of wire sometimes is nice too you can kind of fabricate a little cinching you know piece and zip tie a zip tie yeah you can pull a zip tie tight cut off the The Edge yeah but yeah I mean if you want to spend the Box you know Leatherman has some really really nice ones but there's a lot of other one Gerber kind of mid-range to just kind of generic so I should avoid uh the what's that the Harbor Freight Tools I'm a huge fan of

(03:15) Harbor Freight what are you talking about no no I mean I think the difference really is probably how long the Blade's going to last you know if you're just using it for this and your emergency tool I don't think it's a problem okay yeah and then first aid kits I think we've talked about these a while but boy is nice it seems like once in a while you'll just it's getting a cut or a scrape or a scratch get it cleaned up at least kind of till you can get back to the hotel or wherever you're

(03:40) staying that night uh you just never know um it's it's not it isn't it's pretty cheap to have a decent uh first aid kit and yeah man does it make a big difference if something happens yeah I I know I've got one in my bike all the time ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips so today for planning and safety tips um I just wanted to focus on since we're talking about Wisconsin um just a couple of the kind of hidden gems maybe uh one of those would be like the w d RI Valley River

(04:10) Roads it's in the Northwestern corner of Wisconsin in Buffalo County uh it's it's really like twists along river banks and uh steep uh Bluffs and um what what's really cool is there there's only one stoplight in the entire County so you can just really enjoy a nice peaceful ride and this is kind of up where Wisconsin Michigan and and Minnesota meet right that's what you're talking about yep very nice up there and if anybody's into like wildlife and birds uh the Horan Marsh okay um that's it

(04:45) like East Central Wisconsin all right just tons of birds that they've got you know boardwalks that go through this big marshy area uh but the roads there you've got a mix of like Scenic back roads country highways it's it's perfect for a nice relaxed ride um I I would just and if you if you're into that you can stop at the U they've got an education center there at the horin marsh so uh just an unique uh ecosystem that you can find birds and wildlife there that you can't find any place else

(05:14) in the state so um that that's just something to to consider if you're into uh and things the next segment is what we call the mile marker it's our story segment so as we continue through mile marker it's our top five Road motorcycle roads in Wisconsin today we're in our three of six series of Midwest top five roads uh per state so uh I don't know if this is controversial for us I don't think it is but I think Wisconsin might have the best roads in the US pound-for-pound cross the way if I had

(05:47) to pick one state and one state only ever did ride in with motorcycles in I think I might pick Wisconsin you know it might not be the total top fives of the you know but boy the mix is quite impressive so yeah we'll talk through some of that now um at number five we kind of have a ride that goes from eclair to lacr and then back um through while you're doing that um is the Black River fallos and that's it's nothing too special but it's just um it's one of these places that really just the

(06:20) highways which are the main roads and some of these County alphabet roads are really good just Central Wisconsin Forest rivers and one of the best things about Wisconsin is small towns um the best part of this is probably the back Black River State Forest ride kind of to the Mississippi which is at lacrosse kind of hitting highways 12 53 95 and then any of the alphabets that you want to write around um which we're going to chat about later actually but um some some fun places to stop the norski Nook in a s for a piece of pie uh Sand Creek

(06:56) brewing company is there in Black River Falls so that's a local brew and then Lacrosse on the river has some really great options and one of them that's really cool is called the Waterfront Restaurant and Tavern so just a great uh you know lacrosse may be just that like iconic Wisconsin town it's got a little bit of everything really the beer the river yeah a bunch of dudes no that' be what yeah uh number four is the chaan nicholet national forest rid so that's near where you were talking

(07:30) talking about that would be just a little bit South in between South and western North part of Wisconsin so lots of dense forest like you were talking about and even Rolling Hills and then once you get kind of that Central Area we're talking about the bird sanctuary it's just it's a collection of small lakes up there um we're talking about um like the towns of like it's north of Tomahawk Lake Tomahawk is kind of the big one on the south side and then Eagle River Boulder Junction all the way up to

(07:59) iron W kind of in that same area um what a beautiful ride not a lot of roads but the roads you're riding on are just interesting um so that would be like copper fall State Park um there there are some waterfalls actually in that area um The Pines the Pines restaurant in Mercer is a great place to eat as well as the Pine Tree Supper Club in Tomahawk so those areas are just really nice um you can avoid some of the major highways and you're just kind of tooling through the these old towns and I don't

(08:31) know I've always enjoyed that yeah yeah um number three for us is ride in the alphabet and that's kind of ambiguous but uh it's one of my favorite things to talk about is just exploring the lettered County roads all the all the roads all the county roads in Wisconsin are all letters so we always call it right in the alphabet and that's mostly in the southern West corner I would say um when you get North more there's just not quite as many um roads that you can kind of explore on I would say

(09:00) but uh you get all of the like I guess the iconic dairy land is what I think of when I think of this part of the of Wisconsin rolling Farmland I mean you'll see the wildest you'll just come down through in a valley and one side will be person's uh house and on the other side you can see it's a dairy barn and I mean they're probably 40 feet apart and you're driving through the middle of it yeah um just just quaint little towns lesser known Scenic ruds um some options here is we've done this for is loop from

(09:32) A to Z so you can literally ride on a then to Z but and everything in between that's around Monroe again those those Farm views um bog Meyers cheese store uh is also in Monroe and they famous for this lindburger sandwich so just kind of an old school Wisconsin thing and then spotted cows if you're looking for those you can find those in a small town on the naris of course which is NIS Brewing Company if you're not from around there just note like new glaris like only sells beer in Wisconsin I think still so

(10:07) like you can only buy some of these beers in Wisconsin so you'll see a lot of people going across the border to to go to bars to get those beers but it's a it's a cool little Brewing Company it's kind of cool that they've kind of kept it in state not worried about kind of going crazy so yeah and I think they might be 100% employee owned as well oh really I think oh interesting yeah yeah um you can't forget the Wisconsin Great River Road that's our number two um you know right along the western edge of

(10:34) Wisconsin just again I mean I keep talking about these towns but you ride through these towns and I we've rode through these a lot like over the holidays at different times Memorial Day Fourth of July uh Labor Day and these places are just kind of buzzing you know it's just Americana um so kind of Lacrosse Alma um the Great River Bluff State Park is is something along there um there is a Mississippi River Museum in Lacrosse um there's the Harbor View cafe in pepen and that's got you can eat on a

(11:07) like a deck over overlooking overlooking the river and then buav Vista Park in Alma Wisconsin has just some of the most amazing views just can't can't get away from those if you're looking for like photography and things like that and then number one I guess is less a road and mor in area again and I I just can't I just love the driftless area um it's just a unique place on Earth you know the basically what happened or what the story is is the glaciers never touch this area so it's actually Wisconsin

(11:42) little bit of Minnesota Iowa and Illinois if you can kind of Imagine a kind of a oval but uh the Topography of these areas especially in Wisconsin just known for steep hills and deep valleys and I think when we started talking about pound-for-pound best state to ride motorcycles in some of this is because of that I mean it looks like it's not a full Mountain I mean I get it but it's it's similar it feels like it um Wildcat uh Mountain State Park is there I don't know if you've ever heard of kapoo river

(12:12) but and then also the towns of aroqua and gaze Mills are two really great places and we can kind of highlight one of like if we were looking at highlighting the driftless area what I would recommend is starting lacrosse go to gaze Mills Wisconsin um there's Wildcat Mountain State Park you can go that on Highway 33 and then Wildcat state Mountain to veroa veroa is kind of middle of the southern Wisconsin that's Highway 131 yeah and then veroa to gay Mills gay Mills is just Bluff Bluffs Bluffs and then the best time to ride is

(12:43) always in the fall because it's also when Wisconsin apples are out so you get to gay Mills it's kind of the Apple capital of that area so just I don't know I mean when you go up there in that season you can stop and get Cider you can stop and get apples there'll be people selling um you know like apple pie mini apple pies alongside the road it's just it's fun fantastic and and Wisconsin is just a bunch of fun people so yeah I I've seen signs for kapoo uh yeah uh driven through a lot of that

(13:13) area but maybe haven't stopped at the river um but yeah this I I couldn't agree more that anywhere you go to Wisconsin fantastic roads yeah scenery Wildlife just amazing views over lakes and rivers man and and you're going to see all these roads we talk about are really on the westish side now there's things to see on the other side I mean there's Green Bay and there's Milwaukee so there's clearly things to do in those areas but for me unless I was driving up to Michigan it's just not quite as good

(13:47) of yous I mean I think we're going to talk about one here coming up that might be the exception but I would say for motorcycle riding in general stay to the west west and North you know if you just Crescent around just stay away from for me Madison Green Bay and Milwaukee is just it's cool area but it's not from I didn't enjoy riding motorcycles yeah I mean it's no wonder that Harley-Davidson is is you know in Wisconsin there's so many great places to run I don't know if it's the cold or the beer or the what

(14:16) but Wisconsin is the most unique inventors around because also you start to look at like history of tractors there's tons of trctor history of tractors also there too so the podcast can be found on best motorcycl roads.com SL podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on

(14:48) your mind today's roadside Q&A comes from Manny and I picked this question because he was asking about Wisconsin yeah yeah and he said for two uprisers to prefer more relaxed and Scenic experience what are some of the Hidden gems in Wisconsin you know breathtaking views interesting stops and and that sort of things so uh honestly for for two up writers you got to talk about D County right 100% I know that it's probably not where we would go but no but for um yeah two up uh I would definitely say make your way along uh

(15:23) the Eastern kind of and that's the thumb of the MTH right yes yeah the Eastern Shore door County it's the that Coastal byway uh Jets out into Lake Michigan and there's just really just stunning views along the way and little little towns and Villages um efham Fish Creek yeah there's lots of ligh houses along the way that is cool I mean yeah I don't know if i' they call them beaches I don't know it's not what it's a rocky Beach it's a rocky Beach yeah I agree and and state parks there's lots of

(15:54) state parks up there um and then of course you know all the restaurants and and the things you have in dor County and they're famous for their cherry products so um definitely go I mean and it's fun there right but it's also just a lot of Milwaukee Madison Green Bay folks rolling up there for the weekend so I think I would if you have the time and the time off I would recommend a lot of these maybe like during the week if you can would you say yeah there's definitely more traffic on the weekends

(16:22) but I mean it's wide open spaces it and it's it's pretty vast but it does get crowded you know on the weekends uh you know the roads would um and then another um not not exactly hidden gym but I would say Devil's Lake State Park uh there's a there's a like a 500 foot um Bluff that overlooks um the lake their Devil's Lake and that's called uh qu quartzite I think it's quartzite Bluff yeah uh or you can go to Peninsula State Park it's got a uh a kind of a coastline along uh along the Eagle Bluff

(16:58) Lighthouse MH MH um so yeah I would take a look at those and um you know you get everything with these roads you get scenery you get interesting stops you get um you know places for for couples to go it's it's pretty nice yeah and I mean say it's easy writing too like there's not um it's not technical which is kind of nice sometimes when you're too up yeah um you know and lots of places to stop that's a great Point shop you know so bring the trailer right now it's time for The Last Mile this is

(17:32) the way we close out the episode with our Reflections and kind of things that we thought of so what do you thinking Todd well I I just have to say that much like Missouri uh Wisconsin is just a state you can't go wrong for riding motorcycles uh get yourself lost if you want you don't necessarily have to follow a route um just amazing scenery they've got Lakes they've got state parks winding roads overlooks uh the driftless area it's it's a fantastic place for riding motorcycles for food

(18:04) for small towns for breweries for cheese for cool people cheese curds yeah both yeah uh they have both kinds of cheese you're right I I just cannot recommend it enough and if I if I wasn't living in Iowa I may live in Wisconsin just for that reason I would agree yeah yeah I would also say you know like you know this is all about motorcycle roads but if you get a chance check out drif lless just Google driftless a little bit it is so interesting there's a documentary they were in the in the they were working on

(18:37) making a second documentary and the guy actually that was kind of leading it past so I'm not sure where the status of that is but it's fantastic to learn and it's just some of the most unique on Earth actually I mean I know one of them and I maybe have talked about it before but there's some um they call them ice flu it's like underground Ice Caves that shoot air up and it comes out of these Limestone flu at like 33° and one um just variety of flower grows there because it's like almost like an Arctic

(19:10) flower that grows there it's wild man just so wild but you know we've talked about the um you know the Great River Road in Wisconsin we've rode it so many times but it's just it's awesome like every time I ride it I'm like this is just awesome you know and and I close my eyes and I think about it it's always the bluff and the Road and the railroad tracks and the river you know like and it's just Unforgettable but yet at the same time you can't get enough of it right and I think for me and that's

(19:37) probably why we leaned heavy to the west side but the west side is amazing I mean you can see all the stuff on the east side with a car or bike almost doesn't matter but boy the West Side enjoying that on a motorcycle every so often just kicking off on one of these alphabet roads it's so amazing it just kind of feels like you're in two different places yeah agreed and it's so crazy that I've you know I've lived here for 35 years I I didn't even learn about the driftless area so just a few years ago

(20:04) it's a big secret like it's a it's the best kept secret that no one's trying to keep secret yeah you know I I don't remember learning about that in school you went to college in the driftless right right and never heard of the drif lless until just a few years ago and and when you know about it you see things and it's yeah it's it's amazing it's so cool if this episode revved up your day don't keep it to yourself like subscribe and share it with your crew we're all

(20:30) about the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music] [Music]