Minnesota Riders? Do any exist?

[Chupacabra]

That looks great! I'm down.

Where should we meet?

Starbucks in Eagan again?

 

[Grainbelt]

perhaps my post was too subtle, I was suggesting we meet for breakfast at Key's, either their White Bear Lake or Woodbury location.

 

[Chupacabra]

Aha! Keys in Woodbury, definitely.

Should I text Jamey?

 

[MystFerr]

What time? I'm on the opposite side of the cities so it will take about an hour to get there. Between 8-9 would be best for me.

 

[Grainbelt]

Aha! Keys in Woodbury, definitely.

Should I text Jamey?

More the merrier!

Temps look moderate. 8:30 am for breakfast? If we wait too long, the pirates will own hwy 95.

 

[TSRBrad]

More the merrier!

Temps look moderate. 8:30 am for breakfast? If we wait too long, the pirates will own hwy 95.

I'm about 5 minutes away from Key's. Breakfast doesn't work for me but if you can nail down an actual departure time, I'm in.

 

[Grainbelt]

Assuming everyone is on time for breakfast we should easily be done eating and have our sidestands up at 9:30.

Ok to shoot for that?

 

[Chupacabra]

Sounds good! I will be joining for bfast.

And I will invite Jamey

 

[Grainbelt]

The IN list:

Grainbelt
Chupacabra
Clay350
TSRBrad
MystFerr
?? Jam-Bro ??

Gonna be a good crowd!

 

[birdman2389]

I may make it, was planning on going out saturday night so we will see how i'm feeling sunday morning. Would it be fine to just show up or do you guys need to know for sure if I am coming or not

 

[Grainbelt]

I may make it, was planning on going out saturday night so we will see how i'm feeling sunday morning. Would it be fine to just show up or do you guys need to know for sure if I am coming or not

Just show up if you can! 8:30 for breakfast or 9:30 to depart.

Since I never posted it, here's the address for Key's:

Key's Cafe
1750 Weir Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125

Basically the SW corner of 494 and County Rd 16 (Valley Creek Road)

 

[Chupacabra]

Jam Bro is out...he sold his v-strom last week and is bikeless

He is holding out for a Street Triple R

 

[Grainbelt]

Gonna be a good crowd!

Or, it'll just be Grainbelt, Chupa, and TSRBrad.

Key's makes damn good breakfast. I had an Italian sausage hash with poached eggs and rye toast that had to be upwards of 1600 calories. Chupa's french toast and side of bacon wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Decent service although the server for the patio isn't booked in until 9 so we had to sit inside.

TSRBrad showed up a little before 9:30, I discovered I still had a frisbee in my sidecase from last week and we killed some time scaring the bluehairs by playing catch in the boulevard. I guess birdman partied too hard, so we sent a courtesy text to MystFerr and hit the road.

The plan was simply to ride the St. Croix Valley from Point Douglas to St. Croix Falls, so we did! Stagecoach Trail (county road 21) is pretty nice from US 10 north to Afton. The speed limit is a bit, err, limiting, so I sorta ignored it. Good times. Apparently Chupacabra saw a deer. I dunno.

Things slowed down considerably by the time we hit MN 95 so we peeled off to the scenic overlook to hydrate and BS a bit.

Chupa's dark blue bike, Chupa on the left, Brad on the right, Brad's black bike mostly hidden, my blue one in the back.

From there we followed a parade of slow moving traffic up 95 to Taylor's Falls, then thru 'downtown' and up to the overlook north of town. It was sorta painful, but that is what happens when you hit the road after nine. At least we weren't the poor sods heading south behind a hay truck. I've been craving sweet corn for weeks, ever since I saw the first stand. I kept spotting the signs too late, and figured an attempt to brake hard and jump the ditch would startle the two behind me, so I carried on.

The St. Croix Valley looks like this:

We relaxed in the shade and enjoyed the sound of countless lives being saved by the pirates passing by, and then chupa got a little silly.

We wandered a bit on County Road 20, which was quite nice other than one (well marked) hazard mid corner where a pipe had been replaced and there was gravel across the road. No worries.

I got sorta hungry again (not sure how, after that breakfast) and we wandered south into Forest Lake to get some grub.

Chupa harassed a chick in a parked car into telling us where to have lunch, and we walked over to the Lakeside. That place has to be seen to be understood, but it is your typical suburban trainwreck biker bar. Wow. A group of women's softball players with voices deeper than mine arrived after us and occupied the adjacent table, playing pull tabs and drinking bud light. Awesome.

Walked back to the bikes, and a little kit car had taken up residence.

Chupa insists on keeping it real.


From there we split up to head home, and I finally got the sweet corn I wanted from a stand in White Bear Lake. :cheer:

We barely put on 150 miles, ate twice and sat around a lot, but on a perfect summer day it was just the ticket.

Probably do it again in September, but invade WI for some alphabet road strafing. Will keep you posted. :thumbup:

 

[birdman2389]

Does anyone know a shop or just guy that knows what they are doing who will put some tires on for a decent price? All the dealers i've been to want like 70 a tire....

 

[4BangenRange]

When are yall thinking of alphabet road strafing in WI?

 

[Chupacabra]

Alphabet road strafing for me might not exist the rest of this season...my front tire needs replacement and I can't justify the cost right now

 

[Humperdinkel]

Great to see you guys getting out for a group ride , hope you can do it all again soon :thumbup:

 

[Grainbelt]

duplicate post, is there no delete?

 

[Grainbelt]

Does anyone know a shop or just guy that knows what they are doing who will put some tires on for a decent price? All the dealers i've been to want like 70 a tire....

Midwest Cycle will do it for 29 dollars if you bring the wheel in, 50 if you bring in the whole bike. They are an independent parts / service place at Nicollet and 42nd St, easily accessed from 35W.

Midwest Cycle Supply: Service Center

If you need a hand pulling the wheel, I'd be glad to help, shoot me a PM. It isn't all that hard with the right tools. Ten minutes of time to save twenty bucks. :thumb

 

[Grainbelt]

When are yall thinking of alphabet road strafing in WI?

Anytime. I ran a bunch on Labor Day.

I have Saturday morning open this weekend. Any interest?