Episode 014 – The Driftless Area and a Summer Sausage w/Cheese Sammy | Best Motorcycle Roads Podcast

Transcript:

(00:00) why would you drive two hours for a cheese sandwich from a Ziploc bag hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I’m Tom I’m Todd and together we have 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 goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we’ll dive into technology planning packing the roots other tips and everything in between from essential

(00:41) prep to Unforgettable Unforgettable Roots we’ve got you covered before we kick start 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 in the toolkit today we’re going to talk about hydration systems um I’m not sure

(01:13) why I called it hydration systems that sounds like a really technical engineering term I’m drinking out of my hydration system what is your hydration system of choice um you know for me since today still today mine is uh plastic bottle of water that’s in the trunk that heats up to about 400 degrees Yeah for me it’s a I think it’s karakan uh cup holder mounted on my handlebars and I’ve got like a um a Yeti yeah yeah a yeti on there so that’s kind of there’s like three different kind of

(01:48) basically three different things yeah the cup holder version um hydration packs which is kind of like the Camel Back style um that you literally put in there sometimes they have them on their back sometimes people put them in a tank bag oh and then the third one is one I’ve been researching and we can talk more about is this bike mounted water bottle so but yeah so the cup holder one we can knock off easy I mean everybody’s seen them I think it’s just generally speaking a ram mounted ball mount yes

(02:15) clamp on usually the handlebars um passengers they’ll usually throw another ball mount back on the grip somewhere so that they can have one and it’s just a you know it’s a big gulp hold right yeah yeah um you know and I think you know people use the yeti the super insulated cups just to keep the water cool I also use this one here it’s a Contigo but it’s what I like is there’s a straw in here when you flip it then you don’t have to tip your head back to try and drink and just suck out

(02:42) of that’s a great Point actually cuz like number one not everyone has the full modular helmet number two modular helmet here my favorite part is when you reach back and do this and the wind grabs the modular helmet and I’m pretty soon I’m like about ready to get yanked off the back of the motorcycle yeah so a straw is a good idea is a good idea I know my wife when she rides on the back she’s got it’s like a Yeti cup but it’s got the straw in it maybe it’s a Stanley Cup now I don’t know everybody’s using

(03:07) those you have to have that yeah you have to but yeah I think the the straw idea or something you can just draw good yeah cuz then um yeah then you don’t that’s I haven’t even thought about that yeah so and then this third third kind of is probably the most complicated of them all it’s com combination of of both and what people are buying is the super insulated like gallon jug m M and then they’re kind of um using a hydration pack style like bite valve and they’re running a like up from like say the

(03:39) passenger floorboard and then they’ll run a tube up because then you don’t have to refill it and so you can pretty much get a days worth the writing in and the ice won’t melt um and then actually we I was showed you I think I sent you that video of that Mega gold wi build yeah they actually had the hydration back all the way in the back they ran the tube all the way up front and what they were saying was that they were getting hot water hot water I was gonna say and what they the solution was that

(04:04) was not use the bite valve and they actually pushed the water back all the way back yeah and then started it over every time it’s good for the lungs you know it’ll be good for working the system the breath system so but that’s kind of the the thing a lot of there’s um that one that wouldn’t if it was down here I mean that’s run it that’s pretty this was built on a bike that was more into the Iron Butt long term so they had they really need hydration um so yeah so I mean you really do need to stay hydrated

(04:35) um you know from from a safety it’s just we’ve talked about this many times you get out of you get dried up you know and it’s not the wind the wind blowing on you really just evaporates all the moisture off your body and well yeah and for me too like I notice I get tired and I think sometimes I think I’m just getting tired and I think it’s starting of dehydration you know too so ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips so for the ridewise section we’re going to talk about some road

(05:03) hazards um you know what do you need to be careful of well um in the in the midwest uh you know there’s of course um you know snow plows and and they do salting and they do sanding of roads and the water does freezing and then it does expansion freezing and expansion you know we have gravel shoulders so there’s really all kinds of stuff to watch CR there’s Critters there’s deer the previous vehicle that was in front of you yeah yeah so uh especially when you’re in in Corners I I’ve seen where

(05:38) excuse me where a snow plow maybe had had gone through that area and pulled a little gravel from the inside of the corner and you know kind of drug it out into the road and uh you come into a a corner and there’s gravel there sand you know left over and well and in the rain you know so you’re in a corner sometimes the rain will push that water up I know we’re going to talk about the drift list here in a little bit Wisconsin has the greatest second roads in all the states I’ve been in but they also there’s so

(06:04) many corners down at the bottom of these Hills sometimes so you’ll get some of that runoff yeah and you’ll get that gravel in there and it you know 99% of the time you should be just fine but that 1% of the time just enough to kind of scooch you a little it’ll scooch you and so yeah you definitely uh want to be careful of that yeah and then you know in the midwest we have deer yeah we have raccoons we have possums especially at you know dusk or you know nighttime um you know good lighting because they’re

(06:34) out there and they they they’re dumb they cross whenever they want they’ll even run into the side of you they you know um and and you have experience with that yeah you don’t want to do that I mean also just the way that they construct the roads you know they lay one side down and then they lay the other side down and what you see too is in you know two years before they replace that road there’s a gutter down the middle you know like which then makes everything worse cuz it freezes and fans again so but yeah road hazards

(07:02) and you’d mentioned this I think in the last podcast but you know like that’s is sometimes when I find myself using foot signals if you see something on the right side of your bike stick that right foot out if you see something on the left put your left foot out and if someone’s pointing sometimes people to look that way but if you put that foot out it’s kind of like hey there’s danger down below and sometimes before I can even say it I got my foot out and I think it sometimes can be a better

(07:28) Visual and then it’s help for the people that don’t have the communicators that’s kind common it’s great that’s something that you know our group has done from the beginning especially when we didn’t have the communicators is stick a foot out yeah you know on the left side or the right side if there’s something in the road U yeah that’s fantastic potholes Buckles in the pavement from the heat you know and just anything you know like just random stuff that people dropped out of their their vehicle yeah

(07:53) we’ve we’ve seen all kinds of stuff laying on the road the next segment is what we call the mile marker it’s our story segment for the mile marker today I thought we’d talk about the driftless area now when I say the word driftless 80% of the time people have no idea what I’m talking about I had only heard about driftless for the first time maybe like within this last year i’ never even heard that it’s been around a little longer than that well I know but I had never heard this term before yeah so the

(08:19) driftless is an area that covers Wisconsin not all but parts of Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa Illinois um Illinois there no both of them both the Illinois but sorry in those States kind of in that area where they meet um it’s because of the Great Lakes when the ice age came in the last time it actually was never touched by Ice okay and I believe there’s one of two places in the world that this has ever happened in that last ice age so the ground that you see in that area has not it’s not been overrun by the the

(08:59) ground like that brought all the silt and soil because the kind of if you think of the Great Lakes blocked it it was coming from that way and it blocked it and so it wrapped around but left that kind of pocket pocket there so if you go out to the driftless if you do some research it’s wild man but there’s caves um kind of funky sink holes cold streams because there’s these Ice Caves that that live down below them that were not filled in with with stuff um but yeah it’s it’s so cool for just

(09:32) ecosystems some plants and animals that live there don’t exist anywhere else really I know my niece um she studied at Luther College and they have they call them these ice cave flues and then there’s these plants that live right where the Limestone holes where this this cold cold air come out and these plants can only live like in the Arctic but because the temperatur a constant like 30° that are coming out of the ground and so these certain crazy plant you know it’s just the neatest thing once you like see it you can’t

(10:06) unsee this whole thing and it you go down to this rabbit hole but what it also did was made some amazing Motorcycle Roads because of all the uh the turns and kind of different variations in ground so not a lot of people living there it’s really cool it’s a great place to ride motorcycles but yeah yeah I had never heard that term driftless yeah I don’t remember it being talked about in school you know I mean like did I go to school like why did they definitely didn’t talk about it ever um but yeah they’ve got a great

(10:34) little documentary out too um but when I think of the drift list I also think of writing the alphabet in Southwestern Wisconsin all the county roads are are are letters instead of numbers so anyone says if you ever want to find a good road just ride one that has a ladder on it which is all of them yeah um just amazing um raising there in Iowa one of the best roads part of the Great River Road is called c9y that’s like just north of debuk at ball toown kind of up up into the like gaze Mills laning Lancing area great roads uh

(11:08) overlooks um I see like the letter c the number n y and then Y is the letter back to the letter Y gotcha okay um the I think you took the cville ferry there’s a ferry that crosses over from Iowa to Wisconsin the coolest I don’t know it doesn’t take long but like you ride up to this thing you hit a button that says call call for the ferry call for the fery and pretty soon she’s coming back across you park the bike on and you Cruise across and yeah that’s pretty cool too yeah it’s not a real big

(11:38) fairy no no no couple I don’t know probably six cars maybe total Maybe not maybe that many yeah the KTM that Turk all let me borrow broke down and almost threw a tire in the driftless so I think of that when I think of the driftless true but we’ve also rode together up to the manduro cut right yes yeah so there’s a near in Wisconsin called manduro mhm and uh and that’s hand cut it’s like one of two hand cut passes through a through a bluff or through a b right yeah Rock pass or whatever you

(12:12) want to call it yeah it’s amazing I can’t remember how wide it is but it’s not super wide 30t probably no uhuh it’s two lanes but um yeah it’s just impressive it was hand cut y there’s a nice U you know sign placard describing human and horsep powerered only yeah yeah it’s neat I mean and it kind of just comes up on you and and I think it it’s a bluff that just I don’t know what that’s from it’s kind of just like a snake of rock uhhuh and uh they cut through it it’s cool there’s a little

(12:42) bar there that also serves like 300 different kinds of hamburgers in mondor I always thought it was the greatest business idea ever right they had a hamburger they’ve had like 12 things yeah and then you can put one of them you know it’s like oh it’s the cowboy Burger it has an onion ring and barbecue sauce not to be confused with the Southwest burger that has uh onion ring and ranch dressing ranch dressing okay no it’s it’s a cool place too um a little place there but and then one of my favorite of all time I guess things

(13:14) um is is something called the slimy crud run you’re making this up right I wish I were there’s a website um so there’s a place in Pine Bluff Wisconsin to Leland Wisconsin and two times a year the very first uh Sunday of May and the very first Sunday of of October kind of like a an image to opening the motorcycle season and closing the motorcycle season um and I’ve never been in a place where I’ve seen the variety of bikes that the slimy crud run has um you will not you’ll see one of everything and I mean that like every

(13:56) possible sport bye Cruiser old bikes new bikes somebody made a bike you know like rat rat bikes rat ride oh gosh there’s cool ones um and I think part of that is is like I don’t know I’m from Iowa and I don’t like to say too many good things about Wisconsin but like the innovation in Wisconsin is the craziest thing ever I mean Harley-Davidson started in Wisconsin uh I think Indians started in Wisconsin all these tractor companies started in Wisconsin and I my working theory on it is it’s gets so damn cold

(14:26) there in the winter all they have to do is drink beer and sit in the shed make stuff but like the people up there just it’s a mo Wisconsin is a huge motorcycle area and they are into weird stuff so you’ll see Vespas you’ll see just the most odd things up there yeah so it’s kind of a ride from Pine Bluff to Leland and then usually you’re supposed to come back I’ve never come back from Leland I just went home it’s a one one day thing it’s on the yep that one Sunday I don’t

(14:54) ever I don’t have to look up the times but if you Google slimy crud run there’s a website and you’ll see the cheese sandwi what was the cheese sandwich well that’s the beauty you go to the bar theer bar in Leland and you get a summer sausage and cheese sandwich and it’s you know of course there’s I mean there’ll be 700 motorcycles probably over and it’s just there’s no rules there’s no nothing people just park come in and I mean there’s just we’ll have to go there

(15:27) so many people it’s unbelievable um but yeah you get a summer sausage and cheese sandwich on bread in a ziplock bag it’s not a grilled cheese sandwich no no this that’d be way too much work like I’m not sure like they probably will sell 2,000 sandwiches or more like yeah it’s kind of like if moonshine were in a town you know Moonshine Illinois we’re in a town but yeah summer sauce and we’re going to have to go for sure all right yeah this is good stuff but it’s beautiful um and the ride is

(15:59) wonderful and everything about it so first Sunday in May first Sunday May first Sunday in October all right so I think that’s May 5th this year which is in about a month I’m not available that day of course you’re not that’s what you do this year um I didn’t talk about another place um Rocky Supper Club in Stoddard Wisconsin it’s right across from the Thirsty Turtle oh all right I’ve seen the Thirsty Turtle I know where that’s at the Thirsty turtle’s a bar in Stoddard but across the street I think we ate there

(16:34) it’s a supper club well I mean in Wisconsin shocker Supper Club supper clubs everywhere that was great I mean it’s a great place to go um so I’ve been there I think so okay yeah I’m pretty sure possible I I get confused go I get confused a little bit but yeah if you ever get a chance to explore the driftless uh I just can’t say enough good things about it I would love to find a place up there just like it’d be a good place to live um and you like fishing like the fishing is insane up

(17:05) there too like and it’s these creek beds in these areas that’s like yeah it’s just wild definitely check out the driftless um documentary the podcast can be found on best motorcycl roads.com 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 your mind so today’s roadside Q&A comes

(17:40) from Kevin uh thanks Kevin for asking the question and he wants to know um what is Our advice for Riders who are new to group riding and are considering joining a long-distance ride for the first time that’s a great question um but really I have to say that Kevin make sure you show up ready to go and when I say ready to go make sure your tank is full of fuel don’t show up with a half tank right or you know thinking you’re going to stop right away and fill up uh you know fuel tank is full your water

(18:15) bottles are full you know hydration yep uh make sure you’ve already eaten don’t don’t show up hungry because you might start out with a two or three or 4our ride um you know have some snacks um you know close by either in your coat Pockets or in you know uh easy to reach places in your bike U make sure you’ve done your safety checks check your tire pressures uh your lights your tire tread yeah um check your brakes your oil level your clutch and brake fluid really kind of go through your bike and then um you

(18:49) don’t that way you don’t have to show up like you are a beginner you can kind of show up a little prepared and and ready to roll what do you think Tom yeah no I mean I think that’s good and especially especially the SA check super much when you’re like do multi-day rides you know um but you know there’s a lot of local groups that do day rides and you know I think it’s important to get there early um I went on a group ride last year and you know I’ve been on group rides with us a number of times but I

(19:14) had never went with that group and everybody’s group’s a little different you know their communication they like using CBS well I couldn’t hear them then there was I didn’t have a way to do that yeah um you know they did a little safety check and then you know like we’ve talked about before they have one of their people in the front one of their people in the back cuz that’s what they’re comfortable with and you know so you just kind of have to like I think you were mentioning it but like have a

(19:36) little meeting beforehand most kind of people that are going to do this know that it’s a good idea to have that little meeting um and I think you that it can’t be understated if you’re doing one just tell people how you like to ride you know and it’s and it’s okay and so yeah that’s one of the things and they were like I was getting a little shamed for not having a CB so and they might talk about you know we’re going to ride 120 mil and then look for fuel you know it might you know might they might

(20:04) discuss that ahead the expectation is is you fill up with fuel before you go for sure and you know and the group that I was riding in was almost all the same bikes so then you were running the same mileage so if you do have a bike that has a little bit short you know I’d say less than 120 miles cuz generally speaking people are going to ride they’re not going to want to get off and so if you can’t go 120 make sure you tell people hey I’m going to need fuel at this point or I need to stop because

(20:28) yeah you know whatever so I think maybe just adding on to what you were saying just communicate you know and think and listen and yeah yeah be be aware it’s time for The Last Mile it’s kind of how we close out each episode with our reflections of what we talked about today so Todd what what’s your reflection well the driftless area for me um I need to just now that I know what it is and where it is I just really pay attention and look for all the signs because and I don’t mean here here’s a

(20:58) sign I mean you know what you know what that area looks like because of that dless area and and the lack of um I guess the the uh it’s just kind of hidden didn’t go through uh you know and flatten things out but um yeah just kind of making myself aware of that now because I do like to ride in Wisconsin oh go those roads up there are fantastic absolutely uh for me I would highly recommend one time getting to the slimy cred run it’s wild I mean and it’s just classic Wisconsin like I say nobody’s

(21:33) worried if you’re driving a Harley a Honda or a huffy um nobody cares you know they really don’t um and it’s just everyone’s looking at everybody else’s bikes and it’s just a it’s a cool thing what’s what’s the distance of that ride it’s like 17 miles oh oh okay okay yeah no it’s nothing it’s so it’s more just sitting around looking at bikes and enjoying each other I absolutely now some bikes will bring there you wouldn’t want to ride more than 1 or so Miles um

(22:00) so just so you know like there’s going to be some vasas H mopeds bikes with hard tail Soft Tails you know 1910s and a brand new you know um one guy brings this thing called an rc7 it’s an old Yamaha that was never like it was never really a production bike so you’ll see bikes that people are they might even have license plates on some of them so yeah yeah it’s pretty 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 about the thrill of the ride

(22:31) and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care