DART ‘23 Dates and Details (June 22-25, 2023)

[Mike]

It’s the best little motorcycle gathering in the middle, the Driftless Area Riding Tour. This will be the third year, and this is how it works:

-“Headquarters” is our place at 13040 Borah Ridge Rd., Prairie du Chien, WI, located in the heart of the Driftless, an area comprising parts of four states that is comprised of thousands of ridges and deep valleys that are criss-crossed by thousands of miles of paved roads (and some gravel, for those who are interested). Folks generally roll in on Thursday (6/22), but you’re welcome to arrive the day before if you’d like…just know that I might put you to work.

 

-Some DARTers elect to camp at our place. We’ve got a large expanse of grass, and toilet/shower for those who would like to camp. For those who prefer more civilized attractions, there are dozens of hotels within a few miles. More on that to follow.

 

-Mitch Patrie has put together a great set of rides that you can download to your GPS, or you may decide to head out individually or in a group to simply see where your wheels take you.

 

-Steve Knapp and John Ranaletta pitch in as wranglers for the whole thing…food, accommodations, ride suggestions…basically anything I’m too lazy to do myself.

 The riding in these parts is great: thousands of miles of twisty, lightly traveled roads with little traffic (save the occasional Amish buggy or tractor), great food, and inspiring scenery. June weather is fairly moderate. And the atmosphere is informal and relaxed. We hope you’ll join us.

 

 

 

[Dave_in_TX]

After attending the last two years, I had hoped this event would be a bit earlier or later. I had planned to be in New Hampshire June 19-22 for a small rally there. I may consider leaving the NH rally early, however, that will be at least two long days of riding to get to Prairie Du Chien.

[Mike]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:16 PM, Dave_in_TX said:

After attending the last two years, I had hoped this event would be a bit earlier or later. I had planned to be in New Hampshire June 19-22 for a small rally there. I may consider leaving the NH rally early, however, that will be at least two long days of riding to get to Prairie Du Chien.

Dave, I hope you’ll be able to stop in. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

[Dave_in_TX]

5 hours ago, Mike said:

Dave, I hope you’ll be able to stop in. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

Mike, I will certainly try to stop in. If I leave the other rally a day early, I should at least be able to get to your place to make the Saturday dinner, maybe even making it to your place by 7 or 8pm Friday. I'll probably be in Wisconsin for a couple weeks afterwards so maybe we'll be able to meet for lunch somewhere. I'll keep you informed.

[BrianM]

Unfortunately I will be in the Twin Cities that weekend.

 

We are taking our daughter to the Taylor Swift concert.

[Dave_in_TX]

On 3/29/2023 at 1:39 PM, Mike said:

Dave, I hope you’ll be able to stop in. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

Mike

 

It's still tentative. but I"m now considering leaving the New England rally on Wednesday which means I should be able to reach Borah Borah Thursday evening or Friday morning

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Very much enjoyed the company and the riding last year, so Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, ima be there this June.   I’m a bit occupied right now, but I’m hoping to have the Basecamp files for the routes uploaded a month or so before the event.  

[9Mary7]

I'm lookin at making it up there.... Any suggestions on Hotels? This boy's too mature for camping.

[Hosstage]

16 hours ago, 9Mary7 said:

I'm lookin at making it up there.... Any suggestions on Hotels? This boy's too mature for camping.

Post #3 has some lodging info. The link contains a lot of info for the event as well.

 

https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/93495-driftin-june-10-13-2021/#comments

 

A link to the lodging in the area.

 

https://business.prairieduchien.org/list/ql/lodging-62

[Mike]

19 hours ago, 9Mary7 said:

I'm lookin at making it up there.... Any suggestions on Hotels? This boy's too mature for camping.

Hope you’ll be able to join us!

They’re pretty much across the board. There’s a place just down the hill from us…Captain’s Cove…that’s very old school, but well kept. That’s the closest, but you need to remember that we’re about five miles out of town. In the downtown area there are two—the Waterfront and River District—that are nice and also the priciest. There are a few nearby places to eat, as well as some shopping venues (Don’t expect Rodeo Drive 😆). A number of people stay at the AmericInn, which is walking distance to Jones’ Black Angus, clearly the best restaurant around. Walking is important after three or four of their famous Wisconsin Old-Fashioneds.  There are a number of mom and pop motels/motels, so there are many options.

[Dave_in_TX]

Rooms at the Captain's Cove are very nice for the price. While it is close as you can get to "rally central" without camping, all the restaurants and everything else, as Mie stated, are about five miles away

[bjorn240]

I'd like to attend.  Would be camping for sure.  Too nice to sleep inside!

 

(1) Any folks riding up from Chicago?  I'm in Andersonville and would be riding my R1200RT.

(2) Anybody like to fly fish?  I'll be bringing at least one rod...  
 

 

[9Mary7]

See y'all Thursday afternoon

[Brodiepunker18]

I’m a tentative yes for this again! Hoping for some sunshine this year like in 2021. The rain last year was a damper but was fun to lollygag about cabelas for a bit. If I can make it I’ll be camping like I did the past couple years. :)

[rounder jim]

I'm disappointed we can't make Dart. I promised my wife we would go to Madawaska Maine after the MOA rally and take our time coming home to northern Illinois. I know from experience there are great roads to ride in that part of Wisconsin.

  I can recommend a great place for ice cream and milk shakes. In the southeast corner of the town square of Monroe Wisconsin ( 101 miles southeast of Praire du Chein)is a place called the Garden Deli. They get their ice cream from the Chocolate Factory in Madison. On the label of the ice cream where you would normally find an ingredient list you will find a statement where they list NO specific ingredients. Instead  they tell the reader they only use the richest creams and purest sugar and that there's nothing healthy . The Garden Deli gets it's milk and cream from local farmers. And in the fall for a very short time they have an apple pie milk shake that i doubt i can adequately describe . It is about the richest thing i have ever drank.

    I looked at the map Mitch included in his post and can't find all those roads on the map I have with me here in Florida. Is there any chance of getting the routes without making it to Dart?

Edited May 25, 2023 by rounder jim
miss spelled name

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

10 hours ago, rounder jim said:

    I looked at the map Mitch included in his post and can't find all those roads on the map I have with me here in Florida. Is there any chance of getting the routes without making it to Dart?

 

If you saw the map, then you must have downloaded the file and imported it into BaseCamp.  The routes are in there, way down at the bottom of the long list of waypoints and points of interest.

[Dave_in_TX]

13 hours ago, rounder jim said:

I'm disappointed we can't make Dart. I promised my wife we would go to Madawaska Maine after the MOA rally and take our time coming home to northern Illinois. I know from experience there are great roads to ride in that part of Wisconsin.

  I can recommend a great place for ice cream and milk shakes. In the southeast corner of the town square of Monroe Wisconsin ( 101 miles southeast of Praire du Chein)is a place called the Garden Deli. They get their ice cream from the Chocolate Factory in Madison. On the label of the ice cream where you would normally find an ingredient list you will find a statement where they list NO specific ingredients. Instead  they tell the reader they only use the richest creams and purest sugar and that there's nothing healthy . The Garden Deli gets it's milk and cream from local farmers. And in the fall for a very short time they have an apple pie milk shake that i doubt i can adequately describe . It is about the richest thing i have ever drank.

    I looked at the map Mitch included in his post and can't find all those roads on the map I have with me here in Florida. Is there any chance of getting the routes without making it to Dart?

Maybe we'll see each other on the road. I'm also going to Maine after the MOA rally and will be spending a couple of days in New Hampshire at a small rally before heading for DART.

[Mike]

On 5/20/2023 at 12:21 PM, bjorn240 said:

I'd like to attend.  Would be camping for sure.  Too nice to sleep inside!

 

(1) Any folks riding up from Chicago?  I'm in Andersonville and would be riding my R1200RT.

(2) Anybody like to fly fish?  I'll be bringing at least one rod...  
 

 

Good call on the fly fishing! I’m not among those who do it, but there are thousands of miles of trout streams in the Driftless. If you motor on up to Viroqua, there’s a fly fishing shop that folks tell me is great: https://www.driftlessangler.com.

[David]

Oh, man. Sure wish I could come. I originally had an event I was going to do, but it got postponed. But it would be about a 12-hour drive each way. Ouch. Thinking. Thinking.

[Mike]

40 minutes ago, David said:

Oh, man. Sure wish I could come. I originally had an event I was going to do, but it got postponed. But it would be about a 12-hour drive each way. Ouch. Thinking. Thinking.

The only thing I can say is that I’ll buy you a steak at Jones’ Black Angus. 

[Dave_in_TX]

10 hours ago, David said:

Oh, man. Sure wish I could come. I originally had an event I was going to do, but it got postponed. But it would be about a 12-hour drive each way. Ouch. Thinking. Thinking.

It's going to be a 24 hour drive for me to get there. I will be staying in WI for a while afterwards but the return trip will also be about 24 hours.

[Brodiepunker18]

On 5/30/2023 at 7:35 PM, Mike said:

The only thing I can say is that I’ll buy you a steak at Jones’ Black Angus. 

That’s a helluva offer. I’ve got a short 5 hour jaunt.

[Brodiepunker18]

I’ve gotten confirmation, I’ll be leaving work early that Friday for DART. ETA about 4. I plan on having the bike packed so I can literally just leave from work. 
 

I can’t wait! 😃

[Mike]

13 hours ago, Brodiepunker18 said:

I’ve gotten confirmation, I’ll be leaving work early that Friday for DART. ETA about 4. I plan on having the bike packed so I can literally just leave from work. 
 

I can’t wait! 😃

Great! Looks like a smaller crowd this year (maybe). We’ll be looking for you that day!

[DBULL]

Small potential for me/us to join or at least drive by!   figuring out schedule with baseball games for grandkids, anniversary trip the following week to northern WI, but love those roads-all of which we have done many times.  

 

Dave

 

[duckhawk64]

Well, if the weather is decent, I am going to try to come the 22nd, solo. Tent it of course, ride Friday morning and go home Friday afternoon. Weather dependent, but there is no rain forecasted through 30June.

... might be better to leave Saturday morning.  Only a 2 hour drive home.

[Dave_in_TX]

I'm currently in Gorhan NH and still planning to leave here Wednesday morning and arrive at Borah Borah Thursday evening or worst case, Friday morning.

[Brodiepunker18]

I’ve got 4 days to get ready for this weekend…where has the time gone? 😵‍💫

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 6/15/2023 at 5:24 PM, Dave_in_TX said:

I'm currently in Gorhan NH and still planning to leave here Wednesday morning and arrive at Borah Borah Thursday evening or worst case, Friday morning.

similar for me: leaving Wednesday, showing up Thursday afternoon sometime.

[Mike]

One day away! Looking forward to getting together with BMWST friends. 

We’ll have the coffee maker ready each morning. Generally folks who decide to ride together get together in the morning at HQ - 13040 Borah Ridge Rd., Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 - or at Huckleberry’s, a breakfast place in town.

To navigate to HQ I recommend: from Highway 18,  turning south in County Highway C and making an immediate left on Borah Ridge Road. We’re about a mile up the road (and you might want to approach the first switchback in first gear). Friday we will lead an expedition to Jones’ Black Angus, an iconic Wisconsin supper club. Saturday will be our group dinner at HQ. 

Finally, it’s gonna be dry and warm, with highs around 90. Dress accordingly. If it looks reasonably safe to do so, we’ll fire up the campfire in the evening. See you all soon!

[Dave_in_TX]

I am about four hours east of my planned stop at the Best Western in Elyria OH.

 

At the current pace, I should arrive at Borah Borah late or early evening tommorrow 

.

[duckhawk64]

Question. How are the mosquitos?

[Mike]

16 hours ago, duckhawk64 said:

Question. How are the mosquitos?

Not so bad…it’s been pretty dry for the past month. But, in any event we have bug spray. 👍

[BrianM]

Have fun.

Made it to the Twincities.

 

 

I guess it is Swiftyapolis for the weekend.

[9Mary7]

Just wanted to thank Mike publicly for a great weekend in the Driftless!  We were a small group but that didn't detract from the excellent twisty's and beautiful vistas.

Mitch did a good job leading on a couple of nice routes, and we "got" to practice several U turns as well........."which way do we turn?"

 

Seriously, a beautiful weekend with warm hospitality and I got to meet more of our diverse membership as well. 

I'll definitely be back next year

[wbw6cos]

"Garmin Turn?"   

[Mike]

53 minutes ago, wbw6cos said:

"Garmin Turn?"   

Well, yeah. 

But, this prompted a request for 9Mary7 (who for those who haven’t figured it out is a retired motorcycle officer) to consider hosting a clinic on low speed riding at next year’s DART. He’s agreed to do so, so this will be part of DART 2024. 👍

[Hosstage]

That area provides some surprisingly technical and narrow roads to ride. U-turns can be no easy task on many of them! Honestly, I would probably get off and turn it around most of the time, roads with elevation changes make it especially challenging (most of them).

[Brodiepunker18]

An excellent weekend! Had a blast for the 3rd year in a row! Looking forward to a fourth next year!

[Chris K]

Hoping to make it next year!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 6/28/2023 at 10:44 AM, wbw6cos said:

"Garmin Turn?"   

 

Sometimes when you're truckin' along, the GPS gives you a cryptic verbal instruction and you have a few seconds to figure out what it means.  And sometimes it gives no direction, and you likewise have just a few seconds to suss out from the tiny, dimly lit screen where your route is supposed to take you (while not crashing).  I got it wrong a few times, which resulted in everyone having to do U-turns on two-lane roads that often had unpaved shoulders.  If you haven't mastered the cop-style U-turn, where you turn the bars nearly to the lock and then counter-lean about as far as you can stand it, then you end up having to do a slow dog-paddle turn instead with lots of clutch-slip.  Fun times.  

[Hosstage]

I've done those, but my HD weighs 900 pounds and it can be a challenge and a pucker. If you're going to go for the one move U-Turn, commitment is a must, don't question it and lose focus halfway thru! Luckily the seat is a lot lower than those damn sky high RTs. Well, sky high for me with my 29" inseam.

[Brodiepunker18]

Just takes practice…I messed one up last fall and tipped my bike and broke my mirror glass and my pilot peg on the left side…no other damage. Was an expensive tip over. 😓

[Dave_in_TX]

I plan to be back next year if my plans for the BMW MOA Rally in Redmond OR don't interfere.

[9Mary7]

On 6/30/2023 at 10:00 AM, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

Sometimes when you're truckin' along, the GPS gives you a cryptic verbal instruction and you have a few seconds to figure out what it means.  And sometimes it gives no direction, and you likewise have just a few seconds to suss out from the tiny, dimly lit screen where your route is supposed to take you (while not crashing).  I got it wrong a few times, which resulted in everyone having to do U-turns on two-lane roads that often had unpaved shoulders.  If you haven't mastered the cop-style U-turn, where you turn the bars nearly to the lock and then counter-lean about as far as you can stand it, then you end up having to do a slow dog-paddle turn instead with lots of clutch-slip.  Fun times.  

Funny you posted this 'cause I ran in to that same problem heading back to Beloit. I firmly believe that we were simply going too fast for the Garmin sat nav to keep up........at least that's the story that lets me sleep at night.  

 

Edit: (Low speed maneuvering techniques in a more structured setting next year.)

Edited July 4, 2023 by 9Mary7
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