Pull up Google Maps (maps.google.com)

Get Directions; starting location: China, destination: Taiwan

Look at instruction #48...  Plan accordingly

[Yea, Yea - I'll be getting to the next set of pics soon.  Real soon... fur sur this week or next...]

X-Cee-Lent would sum up this ride quite nicely. Quick stop at Boat Drinks in Prescott and then on to Zumbro Falls via Red Wing.   Cooler than the previous couple of rides with l lots of deep green around the many farms we passed. 

Good food and service at Scooter's where there was extended discussions on which farm we wished we could afford.  

Return was on the best, twisty portion of 60 into Wabasah.

Nice ride to Ken's place on Big Carnelian Lake.

Hot but not as hot as the last couple of days. 

Soaking in the lake was great (for the 4 that entered the waters.)  Nice break from the 90 to 100's and 80-90% humidity we've had for this past couple of days.

On the way home the first deer waited for me to pass before bounding over the road in a couple of hops; the second one couldn't wait and darted across in front of me. There may have been a third although I only saw the eye glow as I slowly ambled on through the narrow tunnel being cut through the dark by my high beams. 

MarkE had it - didn't have it - undecided 'and then along came john' -  Actually it was JimH that picked it up for a trip on up to the cool interior of the Cascade in Osceola. 

Bunch of old cars, AquaCar, Army Truck, Street Rods, etc. 

Karen did the leading via left and right yanks on Milo's ears.

She hosted us to a very nice pool party at her place in St. Boni. Nice ride up there, especially liked the ride around the lake and with just a touch of dirt road to keep our skills honed it made for a very nice ride. 

Wow!  Way to go WBMC Members and Sponsors.

We are into our 42nd year with the West Bank Motorcycle Club and still going strong.  Seemed like it was going to be a rainy year but with summer bearing down on us we have managed to squeak some pretty nice sunny rides in.

I would like to thank all my officers for the hard work and effort that I have seen. The club is a club if the officers are doing their job and I believe they are.  Thanks again to the officer's of this club for their hard work; we have a lot of work yet to do so hang in there.

I would like to see more pictures on our website - that is probably the only thing that is asked "where are the pics?"

Don't be afraid to take pictures and send them to our webmaster, harald, he will put them on but you must send them to him to get the pics on our website.  Next year I would like to propose that we have a photo officer.  I think that would be awesome.    [Photo size:  800x600 or 1024x768]

"Just kicken' that idea around" - I would like some input from our membership about having a photo officer.

Hey, on the next subject: We need to get the ride schedule filled up.  Let Chad or myself know and we will get you on the ride schedule; way to many openings left to fill.

Don't forget that Hell Hole is next month. It's always a privilege to be able to go up to Hell Hole (Siren, WI);  at least it is for me and it's at my favorite time of year. I can hardly wait;  remember that this is a potluck so if you come my 2 wheels or 4 wheels you will get a ride credit. Also we have voted to spend $300.00 in club funds for this event which I will be sending to Pat about the 1st of August.

As far as the year end party goes: It will be out at Ron's house on the farm in Northfield.  I overheard from a few members that this should come up for a club vote.
Unless your willing to step up to the plate and offer your place instead then it will be at Ron's. This was announced on Ron's ride on the speaker and it seemed everyone was in agreement on the decision by the applause I got. He has the room and plenty of parking. Thanks to Ron and his lovely bride for offering there home for the year end party.

Please be careful out there around all the nutty drivers out on the road these days.  Be safe and alert.

If anyone has any suggestions, even if you just want to complain about something that you've seen that you want to bring up, flag me down and Let me know.

Thanks to all officers, members and sponsors.
  Now  Let's Ride!!!         Milo Kendall - WBMC Treasurer

Hello, My name is Jim Sutton (West Bank member). 

I’m writing this note to inform fellow West Bank members about a fund raiser for West Bank member Chuck Irmiter taking place on Friday July 8th, 6pm at the Driftwood Char Bar,  4415 Nicollet Ave. So. Mpls MN 55419
   (612) 354-3402.

On Monday May 9th, Chuck Irmiter was run over by a Chevy Suburban at the intersection of 38th and Chicago Ave south resulting in a multitude of life threatening injuries.

As you may know Chuck is self employed and had no Health coverage at the time of the incident and due to the extent of the injuries he is unable to work, leaving him in financial stress.

If the West Bank Motorcycle Club members could consider this opportunity it would be greatly appreciated . There will be a suggested $20.00 donation at the door. There will be raffle prizes and live music starting at 9pm.

If folks have gifts they would like to add to the raffle they would be greatly appreciated.

Please contact me if you have any further questions at (612) 817-9750.  Thank you for your consideration in helping out a fellow West Back member in need.

        Sincerely,  Jim Sutton

A bunch of old cars, street rods, classics, AmphiCar, Vet, Army truck, Nash, more.

Jim had a great, twisty, route to Wheeler. If you didn't bring your swim suit you missed a the good time wallowing in the cool waters of the Hey River.

Skinny dippin' was approved and may garner extra ride credits

Great time gettin' down to the farm and a fun time once there.

Don't understand reference to 'Funny Farm?'; Ask an 'old timer' about Dot and the Funny Farm.

And now for a real ride report:

What a great Wednesday night ride to Ron and Laura's farm in Northfield.  Riding through what I believe was Ron and Laura's neighborhood we encountered groups of spectators standing on the boulevards waving and taking pictures of us as we rode by them.

As we pulled into the driveway of the farm you could see and hear a guy playing his guitar and singing his heart out. Never did get his name but he put out some great tunes. A big thank you to him.

As soon as we dismounted the bikes you could see the group heading over to the food table where there were hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, fried potatoes, chips and soda. After eating I started roaming around the farm, was told to check out the barn behind the music man, so I did. What a barn, the second floor of this barn had a game room and also a deck that looked over to a pond ( was told by Neil; LOL; that the pond was full of frogs, though I never did see any).

Once again Z had to work so I had to ask around to find someone that would let me ride with them. A great big thank you to a great guy go's out to Big Red, (what a gentleman ) for giving me a ride on his brand new motorcycle, thank you, thank you.

I also want to thank our hosts Ronald and Laura for there hospitality, thank you. A big thank you go's out to all of you that rode in the group. Great turn out. One last thing, thank you to all that wished me a happy birthday. I indeed had a wonderful birthday evening.     Thank you.                        CarlaZ.

We again waited until the sky dropped a few sprinkles on us then waited a bit more before heading out.

Despite a light sprinkle now and then it was a pleasant trip out 94 to exit 4, wiggled up to Star Prairie and beyond and after crossing Hwy 8 we hung hard left to the St. Croix to run up the very scenic, barren of traffic, River Road.  Little past Spangler's Landing, a great 'rest stop', we did a wide loop around to head back south to KJ's on the east side of 87; you can't miss the place - that is as long as you don't blink.

KJ's, in the middle of the bustling metropolis of Eureka Center, is a great place to stop for refreshments, good food, outdoor seating and very friendly service.       <map>

The ride back was interesting - Just short of Scandia, with Paul and BigRed trailing, I was within 2-3 seconds of running into a Great Dane sized bear that decided to cross our path. Not really concerned until the bear started running on the center line for a couple of yards before diving into the brush on the left of the road.  Glad it didn't stop. 

When was the last time you crossed paths with a bear?

Looks like we need to start looking out for one more critter.

The intention was to go to Stillwater but the rain again directed us to the Twin Point in Lake Elmo - second time this year.  Then just about the time we stripped off the wet clothes we get a call from Stillwater that it's dry - Oh well.

Since it looked like the steady heavy drizzle was going to stick around for a while (until we left) it seemed logical to sit it out with libations and good, hot food.       harald

We rode through a little sun shower on our way to Sunrise. Without rain gear, I was almost totally dried off by the time I reached the destination.

Tubing down the Sunrise River was a blast as usual.

No bald eagle sightings this time but they may have known we were coming.  Best of all, with all that beer floating down the river with us, the out houses were never too far of a walk away.           PaulM

Rain dissipated by 6 so it was a dry ride for some good food and refreshments.  Rain held off this time.  

I think this ride/route would easily fall into the top ten club rides for the last couple of years.     <route map>

Fun, and interesting, in the city ride/route.  

Fantastic day for a ride to show support for the disabled. 

Mark took us on a ride that I and many others will never forget.  All I knew was that we were going to Psycho Suzi's.

The ride was pretty routine leaving Whiskey and running west thru town, next thing I knew we were coming up to Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, I knew it well, when I was a kid I use to ride my motorcycle thru there trails. I seen trees down every where. They were cut right off at the road side where they had cleared them for traffic. It was odd to see all the trees cut right at the curb.  That was just the start.

We got into Golden Valley and the north side . At Penn and Broadway it was ripped up real bad.  We toured mile after mile of total devastation.  I had a hard time believing what I was seeing. I seen a Wind Star van that was waist high.

You could see right into someone's home and see there furniture, wall hangings and knick knacks. I couldn't tell where we were, I didn't see any of the street signs.

We ended out in the Camden area and crossed the bridge to get over to Psycho Suzi's.

It was a real eye opener for me, I really didn't know that it was that bad.  I'd seen the Fridley tornado damage in 1965, the worst in Minnesota's history.  My dad drove us in the
car and we toured the Fridley damage. This is one ride that I will never forget!  The North side looked that bad.      

Thank you for the ride Mark.                   Gary Z

With no one signed up for the ride Paul again steps in to fill the void with an interesting ride to The School House in Wanderoos (aka UWW).  Final leg up Random Road - wonderful...

The threat of heavy rain scared some back towards home shortly after arrival.  Those on the west side of town didn't have a problem but those that talked of heading for Prescott would have run into the heaviest of the storm. I got 12 seconds of light drizzle and was sorry I bugged out.  

First time destination for club ride. Cty Rd F and Clover.  Nice little (local charm) place.

Plenty of rain before the noon leave. 3 bikes on the ride. Blue sky rolled in by 2pm. 

First time Road Captain Clay did a great job keeping the large WBMC group together all the way to the destination. 

We made a valiant effort to get to Osceola but the cold drizzle did us in when we reached Twin Point at Lake Elmo Ave & Stillwater Blvd.  Great place to stop for a good meal.

Rain has been postponed for tonight as Mike G put in for the RC duties with a short hop to Glockenspiel in St. Paul. 

Last week someone up north bagged a bambi (aka forest rat). She was in the Duluth hospital with a wired jaw but her fingers were ok as she was texting about the encounter.

Just heard that another one of our members got T-boned and is in HCMC with lots of stuff broken, cut and twisted.

It's a full time job trying to keep yourself safe and out of harms way.  Keep alert and be prepared for anything.

The ride left at a more than respectable WBMC time towards the southwest to Henderson, MN.

Mark took the ride through some back roads at a reportedly brisk pace.  This rider took a more sedentary pace and route, being as it was my first ride of the season.

The Hog Wild is a friendly place, with some good vittles and drinks.  It being such a great Spring day, many of the drinks were enjoyed out in front of the establishment, watching other bikes coming and going.

We had 22 members sign in for this first "weather friendly" Saturday ride.  Had a great ride and great weather, hopefully a good sign for a fantastic season..       LarryS

This wasn't going to be a good morning ride, cold and rain have a way of doing that.  But there will be a lot of wonderful people that I haven't seen for 5 months so out the door I went with a friend of mine from CMA.

Arriving at The Junction, there was no one from the WBMC... But they started to show up after our 1st cup of hot chocolate. This is going to be a good year.

Noon and time to go - did I tell you how much I love Jac Kelvie and the fact he introduced me to 'Gerbing' electric jackets, the Gerbing did take the edge off riding in the rain, but I couldn't see where I was going.  NEVER ride in the rain with a new helmet that you haven't tried out yet. This one was the pits, oh well.

We didn't go on the planned route as safety was an issue with the rain (I think I even felt some hail) and the start of the riding season and people in cages not familiar with bikes out there yet.

As we arrived at my home there were 5 bikes and 9 cars
Lots of good food and people showing up left and right. Milo had the table set up with new ID cards, awards and certificates and everything else.

Be sure to thank my wife Pat for all her hard work in preparing the food and my daughter Tina and Nick for their help.

The sun finally showed up later in the afternoon, thank God, and the day turned out fine.

Good food, good friends and a great day. Yes, this is going to be a good riding season.   dave.

Dave McL is hosting the First Ride on April 30th

The officers for 2011 are:

Treasurer: Milo
Secretary: Chad
Editor: Mike G. (with assistance from Larry S.)
Ambassadors: Mike G. & Gary Z.
Safety Coordinator/s: Mike McC. & Dave G.

  Webmaster: harald
 

Many of the Membership Applications did not have either YES or NO circled or X'ed indicating notification of announcements and/or newsletters via email.  Many contained no email address.

Those that filled out the Membership Application with an email and did not circle NO for receiving email notifications have already been subscribed to the 'list'.   Want to subscribe to the 'list' ---

Here's the link to the Announcements Subscription page.

Notice anything new -
On the News Page and down there in the lower left you will see Future Tense.

      Click it and let MikeMcC know if you like it.

Better yet - provide Mike with some information on upcoming events and other interesting things to fill up the pages.

Register on the 'list' and you will get an email each time a new issue of 'Future Tense' is published.

Smallest turnout I've seen in many years.  Of course that made for an almost manageable meeting.  Pictures are on Photos page.

Links:  Chad's meeting minutes.     

Anyone (in mpls/north mpls area) using ClearWire Wireless Modem and/or ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service. Would you be so kind as to email me on how it worked out (or didn't) for you.    send email to harald

Anyone with items to be discuss at the 20 Riders / Road Captains meeting should get them to the treasurer or secretary for inclusion on the agenda... 

This will be a tightly controlled meeting adhering to Roberts Rules of Order... Ya - right

Next is the General Membership meeting 2nd April

SteveF took a couple of pictures at the I-Cycle Derby...