Paul from TC_DualSport organized a dual sport ride from Hastings, MN to Red Wing, MN on almost all gravel roads. We met up at 10am at the Hasting Walgreens. I arrived early, so I could ride around Hastings and take some photos. 15 people showed up for the ride on all different kinds of dual sports from 250cc to 1000cc. We road for about an hour and then stopped for a break near the Cannon Falls bike trail.
During the ride, I took a couple corners a bit hot and had the pleasure of riding through the ditch! :) On my last ditch adventure, I decided to test out my riding gear. It worked great! I picked up the bike and we continued on the ride to lunch. Around 1pm we arrived at Hay Creek for lunch. I was almost out of gas even though I filled up in Hastings.
After lunch, we road a few more gravel roads and arrived in Red Wing about 2:30pm. We found a gas station, and I put 1.73 gallons in a 2.0 gallon tank after riding 89 miles, not too bad considering I was thoroughly enjoying the throttle. I was a bit tense about running out of gas near the end, but still had a lot of fun.
Paul led the way back to the cities on HWY 61. He took a couple of us on a few more gravel roads along the way back home. We each went our separate ways after getting on I94. I pulled into the garage after putting 176 miles on the WR250R. It was a short day, but a lot of fun. I enjoyed the roads and the fun people on the ride. It’s not often that we get a 65F day in November in Minnesota.
Unfortunately, I made a mistake with the GPS on my phone, and I didn’t get a track file created. Hopefully, someone else from the ride has one I can use to make a map of the route.
UPDATE: Nov 9, 2009: I received a track file and made a map of the route.
Downtown Hastings:
The HWY 61 bridge over the Mississippi:
Obligatory posed bike shot of the WR250R:
Sign along the river:
The Mississippi River:
Another shot the bridge and river:
Hastings City Hall:
Getting ready to leave the parking lot at Walgreens:
Near the Mississippi on a great minimum maintenance road:
Another gravel road:
The bikes at our first break of the morning:
More gravel:
Random farm:
More gravel:
Paul waiting for all of us to catch up with him:
Lunch stop:
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