St Paul, Minnesota in February

It's a windy -5 f (-20 c) in St Paul today as the arctic air descends on the Midwest. The windchill this morning was -25 f (-31 c). I'd write more but I can't feel my fingers.

February 18th 2015

Keeping busy in the winter requires some creativity.
I'll be having fresh crappie tonight.

The St Paul skyline on a cold morning.

The high bridge. 

In the warmer months the Johnathan Padelford will
take you on a dinner cruise on the Mississippi.

the winter sky

North bound oil trains are carrying some extra cargo these days.

Bombing some runs with the family.

Surly's new "destination brewery"

Taps, tables and food. What more could you want?

The view from my home brewery is equally entertaining.

- Ride North

The future is bright

There has never been a better time to start motorcycling.

I've been attending the International Motorcycle Show since it was sponsored by Cycle World. Never have I seen more types of bikes for more types of riders. This years show ranks as the best one yet. The organizers did a phenomenal job putting together this event but that fifth and final star goes to the manufactures.

Is this the fall of the repli-racer and the rise of the street bike? No smoking Joe livery here, although there are many massively fast rides to be found. Young kids (or kids who I judge to be young) were climbing all over five hundred and seven hundred cc twins. Why shouldn't they be, these bikes bring the fun; the adventure and the tour. Hold the fear please.

My first bike was an XL185 and it was glorious!
This little guy was all over Project LiveWire. Is an electric enduro in his future?
I bet he'd be okay with that.

Touring on a 700cc bike, why not?
What's old is new again.

Scramblers have gotten big. Hare scramble anyone?

ABC

 A water cooled cruiser with a cast frame? That will never work.
Don't worry, Polaris knows what it's doing.

A perennial favorite of mine.

BMW steps in the ring with Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia, KTM, Triumph, and BMW.
Triumph Tiger (07-2012)?

The AMCA and VJMC sections were packed on Saturday.

What happened to Japanese motorcycle design?
Where did all the tasteful tanks and candy colors go?

I'll take one of each please. 

I had the opportunity to talk to the owner of this bike.
Just a kid, he started building this when he was 14 yeas old!

This year I was accompanied by two experienced riders and two former riders. My dad and our buddy Todd have been riding all their lives; they seem to be in a post-children-at-home motorcycling renaissance. While my brother and Matt, another friend of the family, are both former motorcycle owners with young children. My wife and I have a little guy too. I continue to ride, although my rides and my bikes are much different now.

One thing we all agree upon is that the CB300 would be fun for us big kids and a sweet carrot for those little people who grow up with motorcycles in the garage.

- Ride North

Challenge accepted.

A came across SonjaM’s moto-blog challenge via a post on Redleg’s Rides. Count me in. 

I've got barn pictures and bike pictures but surprisingly few bike and barn pictures.
I think we were lost in this picture

I've got bridges covered but not covered bridges. (Raspberry Island, St Paul, Minnesota)

Flying objects.

Me too Sonja, me too.

Ride North

Roosters Rules of the Road -

Objects in your mirrors are larger than they appear except for your elbows which are smaller than they appear.