Kettle Moraine Drive Group Ride

This blog entry was written 2 days after the ride.

October 07, 2007

Today I'm riding up to Kettle Moraine Drive with two people that I graduated with, from our Motorcycle Safety Course. It's a record high today in Wisconsin for October! It's like 86 degrees outside. According to a weather site its a record that was previously held in 1877!! It's warm but out on the road its perfect so I'm not complaining. I met up with Jason and Lynn at the DMV in Cudahy, WI. It was great to see them. We took off along the lake heading north. After about an hour we stopped at a park that has a view that I enjoy very much. The park is called Vermond Park and its off of Lake Shore Drive just north of Mequon. It's not much of a park but it has this cliff that must be about 200 ft. high looking out on Lake Michigan. You'd have to see it to feel it but it's amazing. After a short break to enjoy the sites we headed out again. This time we followed the lake up to Grafton and from there we got on highway 43 and took that north to highway 57. Also this was Lynn's first group ride so we took it easy, to make her feel more comfortable. Taking highway 57 northbound for some 30-35 miles we get to County road PP. Taking that west you'll soon hit highway 67. We took that south until you cross the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive. We took it North and there it is....the most amazing "motorcycle" road I have yet experienced. I say "motorcycle" road because it is in fact just a road that anyone can drive on. But if you spent 1 minute on this road with your two wheels you'd realize that someone out there made this one for a motorcyclist! It twists and turns like nobody's business, all in some of the greatest forest Wisconsin has to offer. Take that image you have in your head right now and multiply it times 10! The Fall, oh the fall. I cannot even describe to you how incredible this road is in the fall.

We road on this 5 mile piece of road maybe 4-5 times having a blast the whole time. On the last run Jason and I decided to really take the turns hard and see if we could do it quickly. Piece of cake and we just laughed and smiled about it when we were done, Lynn looking at us curiously as to what was so funny. (we gave her a 5 minute head start). After we had our fun it was time to head home. The Sun was setting soon and we needed to get home before it got too dark. Lynn wasn't familiar with riding at night and even though I am, i do not prefer being on back roads at night. Being blinded by oncoming traffic on unfamiliar roads isn't something I consider fun.

In the end we ended up riding home at night. I was worried about Lynn but honestly it didn't look like she had too much trouble. We took the freeway all the way home, stopping once for gas and to say our goodbyes. (we would just break off at our respective exits). I had alot of fun with these guys. This was my first serious ride with a group. And I guess what I learned is. If you go with people who are nice and just want to have a good time, it makes all the difference in the world. Taking short breaks and watching as everyone takes off their helmets and seeing their big smiles. I dunno, you cant put a price on that. Ride of the year for me. Bring it on Winter!