9/99 WI Dual Sport Ride

On a Tuesday I received an email from Joe Miller letting me know about a dual sport ride in SW WI that he heard about via John Coons. The rarest of all events, a midwestern dual sport ride, it was rumored to be run on private trails in Southwestern WI. This is a land of great beauty, filled with unglaciated hills and wandering river valleys. The prospect of riding trails through this charming landscape was too much to miss.

A couple of phone calls and I was speaking with the president of the local ATV club that was putting on the event. He indicated that they had somewhere between 80 and 100 miles of trails. I was stunned. I couldn't figure out how they could ever get that much riding in an area that was 100% farm country.

Once we arrived the mystery was solved. Most of the land we were riding on was owned by ATV members, their families or close friends and neighbors. The club had managed to secure permission to build trails and ride from most of the landowners in the surrounding 4 or 5 valleys. The trails were through the hilltops that were heavily wooded and unfarmable. We rode down the township roads to get between trails, which made for an interesting site as groups of 15-35 ATVs went roaring down the asphalt roads.

We proceeded to spend the next two days riding some great trails that snaked through some of the most beautiful country between the Blue Ridge and Rocky mountains. All in all the club estimated they had about 105 machines of various types on Saturday. There were 3 or 4 three wheelers and about 7 or 8 bikes, the rest quads. The ATV'ers put up with us two-wheelers, and we did our best to adjust to their pace and timing (they had the most amazing ability to stop halfway up a steep, soft loam trail and start right up again with no problems).

We were blessed with great weather, ate fresh farm cooking for lunches and dinners, and enjoyed new friends and new trails, an unbeatable combination. I even discovered a real Foosball table and managed to bang a few balls in. A great time, and an incredible hidden jewel in this part of the upper midwest.

Joe Miller d1-15.jpg 126873 501x945	d1-16.jpg 172777 1007x580	d1-17.jpg 213322 891x521	d1-18.jpg 235653 944x591
d1-19.jpg 166584 947x546	Doug and John Coons at lunch. d1-20.jpg 150756 574x793	d1-21.jpg 144831 846x433	d1-22.jpg 127608 1018x501
d1-23.jpg 180426 1007x572	Drag races and the radar gun. The course ended in a draw filled with rubarb. The test was to see how fast you could go before you decided you had to brake. I managed about 55-56 on the DR. The RM's were pulling 57-58. d1-24.jpg 207457 891x589	d1-25.jpg 111182 574x869	d1-26.jpg 144385 905x510
d1-27.jpg 49289 328x492	The jumping of the body. There was talk that a guy was jumping his Explorer, but I missed it. d1-28.jpg 58928 371x588	d1-29.jpg 94006 551x612	d1-30.jpg 97374 580x645
d1-31.jpg 104005 829x527	d1-32.jpg 126238 930x589	Beth Miller rode her BMW over for Saturday night, then set out Sunday morning to wander the excellent back roads of the area. d2-33.jpg 137980 854x549	d2-34.jpg 161241 718x552
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John just missed getting a shot of Joe doing a perfect stoppie into the creek. His front tire lodged into the creek, he stood the bike up vertically for what seemed like 40 seconds, then plopped over into the boot deep mud. Beautifully executed. John and I took the relatively dry and easy route around the right side. What it lacked in dramatics, it made up for in dry warmth. DCP00073.jpg 67771 480x360	DCP00074.jpg 78366 480x360	DCP00075.jpg 39306 480x360	DCP00076.jpg 39062 480x360
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