Uraling the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail: Day 1

My wife and I set off very early in the Ural today. We met up with the other riders from TC-dualsport in Prescott,WI. There were 10 of us in the group with eight bikes and my sidecar.

There was excitement when Paul (ride organizer) couldn't get hit bike started after getting gas. He broke his battery terminal in Mexico earlier this year and never put in a permanent repair. Today was the day it decided to finish breaking. We tried to wire up a fix, but ended up just push starting his KLR instead.

Allon had a great scenic and twisty route planned for us. It was 300 miles long. After the first hundred or so it became painfully obvious the Ural was slowing the grou down.t takes a lot of physsical work for both rider and monkey to make a sidecar try and keep up with dualsport bikes on twisty pavement. With 190 miles to go, I decided to save my energy and tires and we broke away from the group and made our own way to the hotel in Dubuque,IA.

Before we left the lunch stop, one of the other riders, PK, told me my pusher tire looked funny in the corners. We popped the Ural up on the center stand and found the rear tire slightly flexible. Either loose spokes or a shot wheel bearing. 20 sweaty minutes later, I had it off the bike and the spare in its place.

We headed south along the great river road. We havd done part of this ride before, but missed a large chunk due to road construction. We were able to ride the entire way today, and it was amazing. The road was twisty and beautiful. Up and down the river bluffs we went past forests, towns, and corn fields. There were some impressive views on top of the bluffs.

The ride this time was more fun and scenic than I remember it from last year. The ural forced me to go slow which gave us both more time to enjoy the scenery and smell the wild flowers growing in the ditches.

We checked into the hotel after putting in 311 miles. This is a new record for as my new longest Ural ride in one day. My wife and I had a blast today, but are completely exhausted.

We got some bad news in our email an hour ago. The group hasn't made it to the hotel yet. Paul, our ride organizer, was hit by a car. He is ok, but they think he broke his leg and he went to the hospital in an ambulance. Our thoughts are with him. I hope he will be ok. I am not sure what this means for the ride tomorrow as we actually start the TWT. It will not be the same without him.

PS: I wrote this on my phone please see flickr direcly for the photos. As long as ATT cooperates, I will keep uploading photos there with my phone as we go. When we get back proper photos will be posted to flickr instead of just phone pics.
Flickr link is on. The right or on the contact page.