Loopers through the Youper......1 year ago today

[Fonzie]

Trip writeup from the ride we did last year around Lake Michigan. Did about 1200 miles in 2 1/2 days. Had about a dozen bikes along at one point, when some of the Chicago/WI guys joined up with us enroute.

Ended up coming down the Lake Huron side of Michigan instead, as there was one BIG storm cloud all the way down the west coast on Sunday. Huron side was VERY nice, but we missed out on riding M119, the "Tunnel of Trees". Gonna make a West Coast trip maybe later this summer with some friends to catch what we missed last year

Some of the pix are missing from the first night at the hotel, cause one of the guys has since moved/deleted them online, but still quite a few good ones there, and I think you still get the general idea of what they were! Broke the report into several pieces as it's so large. For your reading pleasure.......ENJOY

Day 1

Summary of this trip.......Wet

Extended summary........FOOKIN' wet!!!

2 days late.......but here we go........

Sam got to my place around 1:30 Friday, and we jetted here shortly after 2:15. I was running way late thanx to the eye dr. appt. from HELL that morning, plus Joel called right before I walked out the door saying he was going to be able to meet us after all. Got to Toledo a little past 3:00.......as Brian the boy scout was so eager to remind me as soon as he saw us come around the corner. :icon_rolleyes:

Anyways.....after checking out everyone's new rides, we gased up & headed for the turnpike. Not meeting up with Mike & John anymore, as there'd been a miscommunication about who was leaving when, so they were already well on their way.

1st stop was Elkhart, IN. Talked with some other sportbikers there who were heading for R/A & offered for us to ride with them. They had some huge trailer with like 13 bikes loaded on it, plus a few of them were riding. We thankfully declined, and surprisingly, even with our brisk pace of +5 over, never even caught up with their trailer??? Talked with Wario while here, and he informed me they were standing on Navy Pier. Found out later, they claim a security guard let them ride their bikes on the Pier, and that supposedly Mike wheelied his a couple times. I found the story highly suspect from a couple of pathological liars, especially since their pictures from the pier area don't show any wheelies......

Hit Chicago toward the end of rush hour. The guys indulged me & we took Lakeshore Dr., since this was my first time to Chytown. Got some sweet pix down at Navy Pier (even though Joel was freakin' out 'cause I stopped in a "no parking" zone. We looked like some Russian circus act jumping around each other & hurrying to move the bikes to get the pix we wanted.

Chicago Skyline

Navy Pier

John Hancock Building

Gased up in north Chicago, right before we got back on the expressway. Sky was getting VERY dark. Those of us who brought raingear (Brian the Boy Scout) put it on, and to Kenosha we headed. The rain started about as soon as we hit the street, and continued all the way to the hotel, complete with overhead lightning. SOAKED!!!

Pulled in & found where Mike & John had parked. Pulled up to the lobby, and they came out, along with Anna & Dan, Eddy (who'd brought 2 good looking coolers full of top shelf beer), and Jeff (Byrdman) & Troy (XXsivspd)were on the phone asking what we wanted from across the street. Let the party begin!! :icon_dance:

All kinds of schoolboy shennanigans ensued. Mike brought a bottle of bourbon or scotch or somethin' that he & Brian killed. Feed Brian some scotch & watch "BoyScouts Gone Wild"!! :icon_twisted: He made several new "friends" with Troy & Brooksy.....they seemed very "close"! Mike also was feeling no pain.......what a boozehound! :icon_biggrin: At some point the bikes got TP'd, Princess "bike" bells & tassles added, my flip flop out the window, Troy doing his SpiderMan imitation by climbing into the 2nd floor room from outside, Brian doing his Cornholio impersonation & letting Brooksy kiss the top of his head, Troy coming up with a "new & improved" version of the shocker, sneaking on Eddy's computer & leaving the obligatory homo comments under his screename, etc...etc....etc :icon_evilgrin:

SpiderMan Troy

Brian bearing his belly for some God unknown reason (He said something about wanting to show us his scout troops "secret handshake"?!? :icon_razz:

Here's Eddy.....completely unaware that Troy's just outed him online for "liking the cock & balls"!! :icon_evilgrin:

Troy showing everybody how big my penis was when he "accidentally" walked in on me changing....

Mike the boozehound telling his "wheelie on Navy Pier" BS, while seeing how high he can hike his shorty shorts, trying to entice us into outing his "inner homo"

Troy doing his new variation of "the shocker". Looks like his fingers are already wet from giving it the "trial run"!! That's gotta be one big "poo" to take that :icon_eek:

Brian doing his very best Cornholio

Notice the near empty bottle of Scotch. John kept tying to get me to finish it, but I didn't want all their sloppy drunk backwash.......plus I was sure he'd slipped some rufies into it so he could take advantage of my innocent starfish

Brooks givin' Brian some "head"

Not really sure what Brian's gettin' ready to try on Troy here....though with his tongue sticking out like that....I think I've got a pretty good idear???

Brooks down with the bikes.....doing a little "interior decorating" with bells, tassles & TP

To be continued...........

[Fonzie]

Day 2

Did I mention it was WET?!? Day began OK....'til we got to Green Bay that is. Started out around 9:00. Bill P from Conq's board joined up with us (we told him he needs to check out the "org" & I see he's since registered here as well). Rode up to Layton Ave. where we met up with Mike's buddy Geoff, & Eddy. Supposed to meet Byrdman & Troy here as well, but Jeff was runnin' late.......and I hear Troy was too big a pussy to get his ass out of bed & do some ridin' with us, after all the drinkin' he did last night. What a lightweight :icon_rolleyes: :icon_drunks: (Note to Troy......if 'ya can't hang with the big dogs....stay on the porch!!) :icon_wink:

Anyways.......Eddy takes us on a VERY nice tour of Milwaukee. I always think of Milwaukee as a blue collar town...kinda like in Laverne & Shirley, but he musta taken us on the uppity side, cause all we saw was mansion after mansion along the lake. VERY scenic!! Seemed like a really cool town to live in. After that, stopped at a place called Bublitz's Foster St. Pub for breakfast. Jeff caught up with us here after an exercise in him screaming into his cell phone on his tank bag, me never hearing him, me screaming into my phone to make sure he can hear me, and him pushin' buttons to tone me everytime I say something so I know he's hearing me. I think he told me "I got it FUCKO" in morse code :icon_razz:

Here's Eddy petting my nipple during breakfast. Bill P is the 2nd one in on the right (behind Joel)

Bikes at Bublitz's..........Notice Joel & Geoff have their own little love nest away from the rest of us

Geoff in his pretty chartreuse suit....

Joel & Geoff being antisocial

Jeff & Eddy decide they're gonna ride with us for aways yet, before peeling off to R/A. Bill P decides to join us for a bit yet too, before turning back around for Chicago. Pretty cool.......had 10 bikes in the procession there for a bit. Heading to Green Bay to meet up with Hobicus. As we start pullin' into GB, the monsoon began anew, and little did we know.........We had our own personal rain cloud that was gonna follow us ALL DAY through the rest of Wisconsin & most of the UP, until we were about an hour from Mackinaw.

Once again, Geoff showing off why he's the fashion queen in his cute little space suit, complete with matching booties & mittens.......

Got to a Shell station in Gladstone, just east of Escanaba, & decided to pull over. Joel was about hypothermic & I could hardly quit shakin' either. After some strategerizing with a phone call to Mike's wife for a radar update, and to Charlies place for the local weather report, as well as mileage left to the bridge, we decide to press on, rather than pull up short as some were suggesting. No pix from this portion of the trip as I didn't want to get the camera wet, nor did anyone else I suspect.

Finally run out of the rain about an hour from Mackinaw.....though Mother Nature saw fit to give us one last drenching right before we ran out of it. Stopped at some podunk gas station in Brevort & had a leisurely, warm, sunny stop for a change. Place had all kinds of jerky, cheeses, and smoked lake trout, so everyone was chowing, spirits were lifting, & Joel had changed from a deep shade of purple, to a light shade of blue!

Brian showing off his white go go boots he bought off ebay from Nancy Sinatra.....

Along the lake on the way to Mackinaw (Rich performed a stunt show for us by riding backward in the saddle to get these "live action' shots :icon_biggrin:

Loopers at Mackinaw (UP side)

Note the pretty pink tassles on Brian's bike

Yessss...my pants are wet...Noooo....I didn't piss myself :icon_naughty:

Some more of Rich's "live action" shots......

Met up Will on the other side of the bridge. Was starting to get dark at this point, so it was decided just to go straight to Charlies rather than hittin' any twisties.

That's Will in the back, next to Brian. Just in the quick trip to Charlie's place.....it was EVIDENT the kid can ride!!

Charlie, Nanc & Suzi were outside waiting for us when we pulled in, so of course we all had to "pipe" 'em a hello as we pulled in the garage. Got 8 bikes in the garage, plus Charlie's 2, with room to spare. He had a table set up in the middle for us to "de-gear", plus a "dryer hamper" to throw our wet clothes, brand new microfiber cloths set out for us to wipe the bikes down, chain lube on the table.....you get the idea....he thought of everything, and he and the fam rolled out the red carpet for us!! The kicker is he kept thanking US for coming up there, and telling us how much he enjoyed having us :icon_rolleyes: (No gravity vortex either :icon_biggrin: )?!? Thanx once again Charlie....you guys are the best!! :icon_hail:

I think Charlie's toasting how much he loves all of us in this one :icon_iloveyou:

Charlie & Nance grilled some brats & burgers for us, had some kick ass salsa & good beer, along with other assorted munchies, & Suzi baked us these paper thin chocolate chip cookies. Everything was delicious after a long, wet day of riding!! :icon_thumbsup:

Will was even kind enough to have some of his girl friends drop by, which Brian & Brooksy warmed up to right away :icon_evilgrin: :icon_twisted:

I think Brooks is askin' her how old she is & if she's ever considered being a "model" :icon_whistle:

The 3 Amigos

Not sure what Suzi just told Mike in this one to shock him so.....

Joel with his blanky & winter hat.....still trying to warm up from that morning near Escanaba

I think everyone crashed around 1:00. Rich was still playin' Suzi's favorite galpal, and from what I heard........some of them fell asleep to the gentle strains of Suzi still talking :icon_razz: "Did you know that teachers in Harbor are the highest paid in the state?!?"

To be continued.....

[kawi kid]

some of you pics arent working it might just be me though

[Benyen Soljax]

when are you doing it this year? im a big fan of long rides.

[Fonzie]

when are you doing it this year? im a big fan of long rides.

Funny you should ask that Ben Keep your eyes peeled in the daily ride section later tonight

[Fonzie]

some of you pics arent working it might just be me though

Some of the pix are missing from the first night at the hotel, cause one of the guys has since moved/deleted them online.......

Sorry Kid......I didn't realize until I posted Day 2, that some of his pix were included there as well

[wolfman]

when are you doing it this year? im a big fan of long rides.

+1 I had already planned on a ride up to northern Michigan this summer. My grandparents live about 30 miles south of the Mackinac bridge.

[Fonzie]

when are you doing it this year? im a big fan of long rides.

+1 I had already planned on a ride up to northern Michigan this summer. My grandparents live about 30 miles south of the Mackinac bridge.

Correction to what I said above guys.......I just posted this years ride up in the "Toledo" area

[kawi kid]

Sorry Kid......I didn't realize until I posted Day 2, that some of his pix were included there as well

i didnt know if you knew or not i must have skipped you saying that

[NinjaNick]

I HATE bridges! Is that the big 20mile bridge or so that connects the upper pennisula?

I normally go 100+ across bridges because I want that shit OVER WITH!

[Fonzie]

I HATE bridges! Is that the big 20mile bridge or so that connects the upper pennisula?

I think 20's stretchin' it a bit

Yeah.....It's the Mackinac Bridge connecting the UP & lower MI. Little over 5 miles long IIRC.

You must not've read the writeup, ehhh.....Just looked at the pix

[NinjaNick]

Ummmm.....I don't know what you're talking about....ummmm...

[Fonzie]

Ummmm.....I don't know what you're talking about....ummmm...

LOL....I KNEW it!!!

[Fonzie]

Day 3

Charlie was playin' chef for us again.......sent us off with a hot meal of eggs & sausage on the grill!! :icon_thumbsup:

Joel decided to jet on his own, as his wife's still in need of TLC after her accident.

Not sure if this is from when we first got to Charlies, or when we were getting ready to leave, but either way.....it HAD to be included!!

Mike, Geoff & John were going to head straight for Grand Rapids, as there was a sliver of a storm cell heading up all along the Lake Michigan coast.......killing our plans to hit all the good twisties up there. Rich decided to head back up over the top, rather than riding through all that rain down below......but I guess he got drenched anyway going back over the top. At least it was a shorter ride.

Brian, Sam & I decided to go back across the top of the mitten, and if we couldn't ride the Lake Michigan side, at least the Lake Huron side looked clear. Nancy took some group shots of everyone before we split up our separate ways.......

Brian showing us his Cornholio Flying Monkey kick.....or something :icon_duh:

And noooo.......he hadn't been drinking any scotch this morning :icon_lol:

Sam, Bry & me finally ran out of the rain just after we went over I-75. Got pretty nice for a few hours. Some nice sweepers up on N-23. We blew by some Harley guy without even breaking stride. Pix from Alpena.........

Alpena "Yacht Club"

Lake Huron

Stopped in Oscoda for fuel & food, & we all agreed it was lookin'/feelin' like rain again, so we geared up (MAJOR thanx to Charlie for lending me his suit, as it made a huge difference.....rained the ENTIRE rest of the trip that day!! :icon_eek: ) Brian peeled off around Ann Arbor, and Sam & I started pushing for home. He had looked at the weather radar on his phone at the last stop, and now the entire state of Michigan was one BIG storm cell!! :icon_doh: We got down to Dundee, and I could almost smell home, but it started lightening really bad, dead ahead of us. Pulled off that exit, an d looked back for Sam. Somehow he was WAY behind me. Ducked under a gas station awning, and he pulls his helmet off, & tells me...."Dude.....I'm done. Callin' wifey and havin' her bring the trailer to come get me". I'm thinkin' he's pussin' out 'cause of the lightning & rain, and just about to start blowin' him some shit about "mannin' up", when he tells me he barely got stopped for that last exit....his front brakes are shot! OK.....that's a little different story I guess....don't want him gettin' hurt!! So we hang out for a couple hours while his wife gets to us.

I was debatin' on finishing my ride or not depending on the weather.....plus it's like 10:30 at this point, by the time she gets there & we get the 'Busa strapped down.

Sam seems to be tellin' me somethin' here....."What's that 'ol boy???"

Rain seems to have pretty much stopped, so I decide to forego the trailer, & completed the ride. Man that Ohio state line looked good!! Was home about an hour later. Sam followed me the whole way.

Total trip was about 1,250 miles. Still gotta figure up my gas receipts. Will add that later. GREAT trip despite the weather, and thanx again to everyone involved!!! :icon_thumbsup:

Finally.......el finito :icon_wink: