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FALL 2016 ISSUE 02 / VOL. 01
THE RIDE TO RED WING
MEANDERING THROUGH THE MIDWEST
Put a penny on the track. Roadside attractions in Bay City, Wisconsin, include a SOO line( now the MOO line) caboose converted to an ice cream stand.
The planning session for the ride had been laughable. We were three old farts, cardcarrying AARP members, edging into retirement. Gary had suggested a three-day trip to Red Wing, Minnesota. Dick fiddled with a recently acquired GPS. I unrolled a map.“ What’ s to figure out?” I’ d asked.“ We head west from Lake Michigan. When we hit the Mississippi, we turn right.”
The point of the trip was to get back in the saddle. A year earlier, Gary had been riding his Harley Road King near Duluth when he encountered freakish weather.“ I saw a wall of water headed straight for me. There were no overpasses to hide under. So I stopped and braced myself.” A derecho, the 100- mph microburst that can precede a Midwest storm, flung the bike like a
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JAMES R. PETERSEN