Sunday evening tv. One of the recurring series on the local PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is Granchester. About a local detective called Geordie, played by Robson Green, and a young handsome Vicar played by Tom Brittney, as they take on local murders and rural criminal shenanigans. Based in the early sixties with youthful vigor the reverend hares around the Cambridgeshire countryside on a BSA Rocket Goldstar. Perfect machine for the task at hand!
The Old Vicarage by poet Rupert Brook is pure epitome of Englishness and a lost Arcadia of the world before the Great War. The Orchard is a wonderful place for tea and scones.
No horse collar to frame my grin. Just my new tires (tyres) for the Tiger. Easiest way to tote them to the garage at work. These are Shinko’s with a 90/10 tread (road/trail).
Picking up a bottle of pop I saw this chap wearing a Lucky Brand top. Emblazoned with the Lucky Vintage Motorcycle Works. I might try and pick one up to add to the wardrobe.
An early morning scoot down DuSable Lake Shore Drive before 4th of July crowds started to make their way to the beaches and parks. Stopped for my favorite view of the skyline. Warm day but a cool breeze wafted from a still Michigan.
Triumph have released news of their upcoming small bikes. Street and Scrambler varieties of a 400cc single. Aimed at the beginner, city rider or those looking for a whole load of fun. They should have called them The Cub. But smashing looking machines. Expected to roll into dealerships early next year. I think I predicted this a few years back.
Iván Cervantes, 5x Enduro World Champion and Triumph Global Ambassador, has officially claimed the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for ‘The greatest distance on a motorcycle in 24 hours (individual)’.
Riding a Tiger 1200 GT Explorer on the High-Speed Ring at the Nardò Technical Center in Italy, Iván travelled more than 2493mi in a 24-hour period, beating the previous record by a huge margin of more than 372.82mi.
This years biker gathering in the old meat packing district saw upper 80’s temperatures but a good crowd of folk out to listen to some rockabilly, look at some cool motorcycles and cars, drink some locally brewed ale, and chow of burgers. A good way to spend a summer Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
With quieter roads on this Juneteenth holiday the Tiger became my wheels into the City. Nice spin along the lakefront on LSD and riverside on Wacker. Pleasant light through the buildings too.
More road-trip sightings are the buildings and structures that are ridden past and stopped by. From the ecumenical to the agricultural, the retail to the residential. The bridge in the Duluth Harbor is one highlight for sure. A celebration of the mining and logging industry that created the Upper Midwest.
One of the great things when traveling around on the miles and miles of county routes, backroads, tracks, and byways is to see things along the way. I could stop every mile but then wouldn’t get anywhere! So many things are a fleeting vision as you speed past at between 30 and 60 mikes per hour. Neon restaurant lights in Galena; barns in Door County; a Red-spotted Blue in Duluth; breakfast cafe in Black River Falls; Muffler Man in Spooner; vintage Weiner cooker on Washington Island; goats (also W.I.); Dickeyville Grotto; Fresnel Lens, Split Rock. So many things to accessorize the adventure.
We took the small car ferry over to Washington Island at the top end of the peninsula beyond Green Bay. 25 square miles of woodland, farming, vineyards, cabins. A harbor to the farther Rock Island, itself a nature reserve.
A farm museum
Interesting real variety of farm buildings, tools and cabin of the day. Bleating goats gave noise to the location.
Leafy Roads
No need to go fast. Perfectly paced for the go-slow feel of the place. Relax.
We had a full day riding from Duluth MN to Green Bay WI. Lake Superior to Lake Michigan. Along Highway 70, the old logging road that cuts across the top of Wisconsin. Lakes open up occasionally and the mixed woodland provides a verdant backdrop to the perfect roads.
Two Harbors – where the iron ore gets loaded onto the behemoth carriers. Also there, is this extraordinarily large locomotive. Used to haul the ore from the ranges inland to these ports. It could pull a mile of ore laden trucks with its 6,000 HP coal fed steam driven engines.
Got to the campsite right on the waters edge. Splendid sunset and campfire as the stars lit up. Super riding through the National Forests that speckle the area.
Of Pine & Aspen
There were signs warning road users of Elk crossing, beautiful trout streams cross-crossing the way and the occasional bald Eagle soaring overhead.
geordiebiker.com 