Mike Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 We did it once and it was great fun, riding the last great undiscovered motorcycle roads in the country. It’s a simple concept: a three-day gathering, centered around the legendary motorcycling destination of the Driftless Zone, a region of tall bluffs, deep valleys, and thousands of miles of twisting roads. Jot down the dates.Great riding, swapping tales, free camping, and an overall great time are among the plans. Free camping will be available at DART HQ, our modest compound in SW Wisconsin. Bathroom facilities and a place to charge your phone or ‘puter will be at your disposal. Coffee every morning, along with whatever unhealthy breakfast goodies we can dig up. Brilliant riding on routes put together by the master of routing, Mitch (Joe Frickin’ Friday). A Friday night feast catered by the legendary Ma’s Bakery. No charge for any of this, with just a voluntary coffee can contribution should you so desire. If you prefer not to camp, you can check on the multitude of hotels and motels in Prairie du Chien, WI and the surrounding area. Or just roll out a bedroll in our barn, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of sleeping alongside other scruffy riders. We’ll have an informal gathering around the campfire or at a local restaurant each evening. Lies will be told. Memories will be made. Location: 13040 Borah Ridge Rd., Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 GPS: Latitude: 42.991264 | Longitude: -91.047234 Dates: June 23-26, 2022 More to follow! 4 1 Link to comment
Dave_in_TX Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Too early for a definite commitment, but I'm probably on. 2 Link to comment
Brodiepunker18 Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 I’m tentatively in! 2 Link to comment
Mike Posted August 21, 2021 Author Share Posted August 21, 2021 Looks like we may need a bigger barn. 2 Link to comment
BrianM Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Nothing planned for next year, so can probably make the 3 hr ride. 1 1 Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 Penciling this in for next year. Shawn 3 Link to comment
Jake Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 On 9/7/2021 at 11:08 AM, Lone_RT_rider said: Penciling this in for next year. Shawn Pencil my ass. 2 1 Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 I am a tentative 'yes' as well. I'm afraid to use the word pencil now... Solo. 2 Link to comment
steveknapp Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 On 9/23/2021 at 7:49 PM, Jake said: Pencil my ass. LMGTFY: https://www.google.com/search?q=pencil+my+ass&oq=pencil+my+ass 1 Link to comment
Bernie Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I added DART2022 to my calendar, especially if @Jake is going. 2 Link to comment
Dennis Andress Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 Sounds like fun. 2 Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 If youz people are going to go to Wisconsin, you're going to have to learn how to make a proper old fashioned. 2 Link to comment
BrianM Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/15/2021 at 9:53 AM, Lone_RT_rider said: If youz people are going to go to Wisconsin, you're going to have to learn how to make a proper old fashioned. Those are for old people. My grandparents drank them. I prefer something from New Glarus. 1 Link to comment
Hosstage Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 5 minutes ago, BrianM said: Those are for old people. Hey, I resemble that remark! 1 1 Link to comment
steveknapp Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 On 10/15/2021 at 9:53 AM, Lone_RT_rider said: If youz people are going to go to Wisconsin, you're going to have to learn how to make a proper old fashioned. Can you write down the recipe, in pencil? I'll just walk over to the Angus: 1 1 1 Link to comment
Paul De Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Planned to do it last year, will do it this year (2 of us). It will be a nice ride from our new home base in the Northwoods South along the Mississippi. Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 I am confident I can and will be able to attend. I'm a definite 'maybe' now, at least! It appears to be about 2k miles from here, in five days. Then, another five days to Missoula, MT to rest a few nights before driving to Canada w/ family after the Fourth. I wouldn't mind meeting up with others headed toward DART as I pass through Cedar City, Grand Junction, and Lincoln on my way. Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 On 8/19/2021 at 3:30 PM, Mike said: We did it once and it was great fun, riding the last great undiscovered motorcycle roads in the country. Jot down the dates. I’m conspiring with Mitch Patrie, Steve Knapp, and John Ranalletta. Great riding, swapping tales, free camping, and an overall great time are among the plans. Location: 13040 Borah Ridge Rd., Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 GPS: Latitude: 42.991264 | Longitude: -91.047234 Dates: June 23-26, 2022 More to follow! Okay, consider me IN. I'll be alone. Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 On 8/19/2021 at 3:30 PM, Mike said: We did it once and it was great fun, riding the last great undiscovered motorcycle roads in the country. Jot down the dates. I’m conspiring with Mitch Patrie, Steve Knapp, and John Ranalletta. Great riding, swapping tales, free camping, and an overall great time are among the plans. Location: 13040 Borah Ridge Rd., Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 GPS: Latitude: 42.991264 | Longitude: -91.047234 Dates: June 23-26, 2022 More to follow! Hey, Mike, when I depart DART, I will plan to get to Fergus Falls next. Is there a particular route (which we won't be covering the DART Weekend) which you would recommend? Thanks Rob Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 On 1/29/2022 at 2:40 PM, Rob Nowell said: Hey, Mike, when I depart DART, I will plan to get to Fergus Falls next. Is there a particular route (which we won't be covering the DART Weekend) which you would recommend? The routes for the 2021 event were all on the Wisconsin side, and most of the rides for this year's event will be too. A direct route from PDC to Fergus Falls is about 380 miles and puts you in Minnesota right away, or at least hugging the eastern bank of the Mississippi which won't have you using any of the day ride routes. If you are looking for something specifically in Wisconsin other than the Great River Road, you'll be covering some of the same roads as the day ride routes, at least until you get up near La Crosse. Which isn't all that terrible - they're fun roads. How many miles were you looking to cover between PDC and FF? I may be able to suggest a pleasing route between PDC and Hudson (east of the Twin Cities), but if the direct route is 380, then my route might give you more than you want to cover in a day. 1 Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 12 hours ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said: How many miles were you looking to cover between PDC and FF I've got 377 on my preliminary layout... Link to comment
Ken S Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I made a reservation at Wyalusing State Park campground. Plan to bring my RV/toy-hauler. If anyone needs extra space for tent, etc. you're welcome on my spot. Hey Mitch, any way to easily get a smaller GPX file for the routes? I tried to import into Google Maps, and there's a 5 MB limit -- it's currently 8 MB. I don't use Base Camp. Thanks Ken Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 3 hours ago, Rob Nowell said: I've got 377 on my preliminary layout... Right, that's pretty much the shortest routing. If you don't want additional distance, then you'll be taking a very direct route that won't be on any of the day route roads. 2 hours ago, Ken S said: Hey Mitch, any way to easily get a smaller GPX file for the routes? I tried to import into Google Maps, and there's a 5 MB limit -- it's currently 8 MB. I don't use Base Camp. I'm guessing you're talking about last year's route file? Not sure why it's so gigantic, but it does include quite a few routes - and for this year's event, I'm adding a few more. I could split the whole package up into a few different groups of routes; it'd be up to you which one to load up on any given day, depending on where you want to ride to. Does that sound like something that would work? Link to comment
Ken S Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 7 hours ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said: I could split the whole package up into a few different groups of routes Yep, that would be good. Thx Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 On 1/31/2022 at 11:57 AM, Joe Frickin' Friday said: won't be on any o do you consider Great River Road any sort of a "must do" route? are you familiar with Headwaters State Park, and is it anything special which should be checked out as long as I'm close by? Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 12 hours ago, Rob Nowell said: do you consider Great River Road any sort of a "must do" route? are you familiar with Headwaters State Park, and is it anything special which should be checked out as long as I'm close by? The GRR is quite scenic, affording nice views of the Mississippi for most of its length, although it's not terribly sporting, and there's more traffic than the backroads. If scenery and gentle curves sounds like something you might enjoy, then you could do the GRR without adding much distance/time to your day at all; a direct route between PDC and FF is 377 miles (6hrs 8min), but if you take the GRR all the way to the edge of the Twin Cities, it's only 390 miles (6hrs 53 min). Alternatively, you could just do the GRR up to La Crosse before slabbing it the rest of the way: 397 miles (6 hr 24 min). A search for Headwaters SP doesn't come up with anything in Minnesota or Wisconsin. If you're thinking of Itasca State Park (Lake Itasca is the headwaters for the Mississippi river), I'm afraid I don't have much info about it or the surrounding area. 1 Link to comment
steveknapp Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 The Minnesota side of the river, 16 around Lanesboro for example, is quite nice. 1 Link to comment
BigtowH8 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 New to the site and found the DART. Nice the logo. I'd like to come down for the DART. Not sure about the Old-fashioned y'all, I'm a bourbon guy! 2 Link to comment
Dave_in_TX Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 4/1/2022 at 9:17 AM, BigtowH8 said: New to the site and found the DART. Nice the logo. I'd like to come down for the DART. Not sure about the Old-fashioned y'all, I'm a bourbon guy! Bourbon also makes a great Old fashioned. Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 33 minutes ago, Dave_in_TX said: Bourbon also makes a great Old fashioned. I think there are laws against such things in Wisconsin. Just sayin.... 2 Link to comment
Rob Nowell Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 well, at least Miller is the king of beers, not butt-wiper, in Wisconsin (hopefully?) Link to comment
BrianM Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Bud is more popular that it used to be. Don't really drink either. Unless you include Leinenkugels, which is owned by Miller Coors. New Glarus is on the way from my house. Link to comment
BigtowH8 Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 18 hours ago, Dave_in_TX said: Bourbon also makes a great Old fashioned I'm sorry I started down this drunken rabbit hole. We should get back to motorcycling and the DART '22. 1 Link to comment
Jake Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 On 4/1/2022 at 10:17 AM, BigtowH8 said: New to the site and found the DART. Nice the logo. I'd like to come down for the DART. Not sure about the Old-fashioned y'all, I'm a bourbon guy! Might be the best first post ever. Bourbon is no place for an Old-fashioned (apologies to Dave). Try one with Pikesville rye. But you said "down". DART is somewhat fairly geographically up. Does your country have better beer than ours? On 4/3/2022 at 7:41 PM, Lone_RT_rider said: I think there are laws against such things in Wisconsin. Just sayin.... Shawn speaks. I listen. Even though I used to be a FIB. On 4/4/2022 at 1:53 PM, BigtowH8 said: I'm sorry I started down this drunken rabbit hole. We should get back to motorcycling and the DART '22. We could and perhaps we should, but reading through this thread you'll note that you did not start the rabbit-holery, thus no apologies are necessary nor will any be accepted. We kinda live in the hole. Ride and imbibe. Responsibly, of course. I think I'm still in. I usually cancel by now. Link to comment
Dave_in_TX Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 Any opportunity for some off pavement riding? I'm a pavement guy but a friend of mine might be interested if there was some off pavement riding available. Link to comment
Mike Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 13 hours ago, Dave_in_TX said: Any opportunity for some off pavement riding? I'm a pavement guy but a friend of mine might be interested if there was some off pavement riding available. Dave, the routes that Mitch has put together are on pavement (with perhaps an occasional short stretch of gravel), but there are some good opportunities to go off pavement. The most developed of the Routes is the Trans Wisconsin Trail, which starts in the Driftless, then heads north, becoming more off-roady as you progress. Another possibility is the Cheese Country Trail, a 47-mile multi-use trail (meaning you might encounter bicycles, horses, and ATVs), which is maybe a little over an hour from here. It requires a $15 permit, which goes toward trail maintenance. The DNR lists about 750 miles of dual sport routes, though these are scattered throughout the state. Also, the Wisconsin Off-Highway Motorcycle Association offers some good info, including a number of links to other resources. Around here, most secondary roads are blacktopped/chip-sealed, but there are a lot of opportunities to shoot off onto gravel roads, something that us farm boys from the Midwest consider more or less the norm. I’ll ask around for other ideas. Meanwhile, if there’s anyone who would like to take the bull by the horns and compile some info on this it would be great! Link to comment
steveknapp Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 On 4/16/2022 at 5:46 PM, Dave_in_TX said: Any opportunity for some off pavement riding? I'm a pavement guy but a friend of mine might be interested if there was some off pavement riding available. Not sure if covered in Mike's links above, but I've heard good things about the TWAT: https://www.travelwisconsin.com/adventure-sports/trans-wisconsin-adventure-trail-dual-sport-motorcycle-ride-235418 1 Link to comment
Paul De Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 5:22 PM, Paul De said: Planned to do it last year, will do it this year (2 of us). It will be a nice ride from our new home base in the Northwoods South along the Mississippi. Sadly, I wont make this trip. We are in the middle of upgrades to outbuildings at our Northwoods home base and some of the work got pushed out to take place over DART. As anyone building anything these days likely knows, it is way more than weather permitting, and now includes not only getting on the contractors schedule and their schedules slipping because of struggles with thin and reliable work crews all if which impacts how fast they are getting things done. Ugh Link to comment
Mike Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 20 hours ago, Paul De said: Sadly, I wont make this trip. We are in the middle of upgrades to outbuildings at our Northwoods home base and some of the work got pushed out to take place over DART. As anyone building anything these days likely knows, it is way more than weather permitting, and now includes not only getting on the contractors schedule and their schedules slipping because of struggles with thin and reliable work crews all if which impacts how fast they are getting things done. Ugh Rats! Understand completely. Our paving project here at DART HQ is just finishing up, though we had hoped to be done by now. If you’re able to slip away for a day or two, feel free to join us. Link to comment
BrianM Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Doing final packing - Are Scotch and cigars ok? (or are they required) Link to comment
steveknapp Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 On 4/5/2022 at 5:25 PM, Jake said: Shawn speaks. I listen. Even though I used to be a FIB. Worth noting, Shawn didn't show up. Kim had no issues pouring a fantastic bourbon old fashioned. Link to comment
Jake Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 True, but the Brandy Old Fashioned I had in Shawn’s absence was well constructed by her as well. Still, bourbon beats brandy in every instance I have experienced. And boy am I experienced. 1 Link to comment
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