Best Motorcycle Roads - Episode 33: Discovering Minnesota's Top Motorcycle Roads
Join us as we explore the top motorcycle roads in Minnesota, from the North Shore Scenic Drive to the Great River Road. Plus, we discuss essential gear and planning tips for your ride.
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Welcome to Best Motorcycle Roads! Hosted by Tom and Todd, we share our 65+ years of motorcycling experience to help you make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be. Each episode dives into technology, planning, packing, routes, and everything in between. From essential prep to unforgettable routes, we've got you covered.
Transcripts
Episode 033 - Top 5 Motorcycle Roads of Minnesota - Best Motorcycle Roads - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ag1U-aBMBc
Transcript:
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(00:47) between from essential prep to Unforgettable Roots we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it's our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest ride guides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit in the toolkit a little bit something different um okay going a little off
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(01:51) just hey it was a good day it was a bad day it was rainy it wasn't rainy I mean I don't know how many miles that day anything quirky that happened you know just those little things I like that and and if I saw something or did something along the way hey here's a place we want to come back to let's check this next time or hey we don't need to go see Paul bunan again you know I mean whatever no no I mean that's the good point yeah I mean like even little restaurants you know sometimes it's nice
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(02:45) ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips for today's ridewise uh our episode is about Minnesota road so I wanted to talk uh just briefly about deer safety sure and Wildlife but uh deer are major Hazard on on Minnesota roads especially Dusk and Dawn um stay alert uh and constantly scan the the ditches if you're not used to riding uh you know in places in the midwest like this you really got to watch the ditches yeah and uh and use your high beams like all the time unless there's oncoming cars sure uh watch for
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(03:53) get on to 44 pass through Mabel and Spring Grove but the terrain on the calonia road it's it's only 23 miles or so to La Crescent but uh twists and turns and um it's you know Rolling Hills it's beautiful uh you get this you know a real glimpse of um a simpler life in Minnesota you know uh wooded areas and things like that uh the calonia road is actually pretty wellmaintained um it's an asphalt road of course but um because it's you know they get harsh Winters remember remember in the spring um watch
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(05:08) I have counted some of them not all um let's start with number five so this one is Highway 38 um 47 mile drive through Chipawa National Forest so that's up in the kind of North Middle Grand Rapids Marcel Effy um big Fort state park is up there if you're in into kind of the Music Theater things Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids and then just kind of some great roads to get lost on a lot of lakes of course as we know you know the funny thing about Minnesota is there's not as many roads as other states just because
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(06:17) just a fun place not always fun to park your motorcycle there because there's like the elevation the parking lot is out of control yeah but uh yeah really a nice a nice spot on the NorthShore mhm complete opposite of that is Scenic byway number seven Root River Trail so that's really not too far from us here in Iowa on the south side of Minnesota um Southeast side lots of Rolling Hills river river valleys you may have heard of Lanesboro Harmony and then this is All Around The Root River yeah um a lot
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(07:21) Day lunch spot and then the Highpoint Pub is the uh evening evening spot so you know we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about the great Great River Road that's number two in Minnesota so you can kind of take that Mississippi River from Twin Cities all the way back down to Iowa MH um Redwing Lake City uh Wabasha um so you have the national Eagle Center in Wabasha so all along the Mississippi River of course is like tons of eagles they've kind of been repopulating them for quite a few years now and really you see a lot of eagles
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(08:21) a while yeah wow that's awesome yeah um and then the Eagle View Bar is uh a mines Minnesota and then lastly this one's kind of a tough one I mean I think Great River Rod's really good but there's this 57 mile I byway way way up North they call the Gunflint Trail 57 it runs from gr marray all the way up to Boundary Waters and if you haven't heard of Boundary Waters just do some research on that it's a you boat out to the island um and tons of um Boy Scout camping that kind of uh thing happen say
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(09:20) museum is up in that area there's a nature center and then also the blue waterer Cafe in Grand marray is quite a place but Minnesota wouldn't I don't know that these are actually other rides but I have kind of two bonuses that I want to throw in there and we've been to one of the two the Paul bunan Scenic byway is a 54 mile Loop through the Bernard uh Lakes area um Paul bunion land and then Brainard I think Brainard you said Bernard Brainard both places both no uh Brainard yes thank you um just tons of lakes up there to go see
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(10:29) Mississippi River um like walking over rocks yeah and then there's a webcam on all the time so you can see uh you know someone maybe could record you or something you should try taking your Gold Wing across it all right I think it'd be fun um I think you park in a parking lot and there's a small walk okay but that that's something that' be cool to do especially like if we were take I always thought it'd be cool to start there and then ride all the way down to New Orleans and then beyond
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(11:34) wife's uh my wife's kids did and so we stopped at aoras on our yeah and I guess I would call zorbas um I don't know like a Margaritaville maybe I don't know like it's a fun bar restaurant right just unique atmosphere and yeah and I think a lot of them are built I mean in Minnesota around the water around the water right they have it seems like there always a dock yep there's always a dock indoor outdoor seating there's usually some volleyball and and then like big tables like sometimes Community
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(12:35) com podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on your mind today's roadside Q&A comes from Chris and about again I picked Chris's question because we're talking about Minnesota yeah so he was asking about hidden gems in Minnesota that offer you know unique writing
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(13:53) your time and you know have your camera with it's it's some great great riding in there and just um you know if you wanted if you want to do it uh you know check the the leaf um you know they always do that on the news they you can find websites to say when the the leaves are at their very best colors sure and check it and uh yeah Highway 169 Grand Rapids and and to elely it's it's amazing you know I know Brad used to go to Canada fishing a lot and he always wanted to write up to International
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(15:02) from Canada I see it now yeah yeah yeah yeah so so that's kind of fun too I think um it's a different world when you get up there I mean you start to get out of the I think you get into Pine Tree Land up there yeah instead of leave trees so um yeah I mean I think uh yeah it could be interesting I don't know how exciting it would be um I think it's a pretty it would we'd have to have some music maybe so I could make us a yeah playlist need a playlist yeah for sure maybe a full-on DJ that sounds good I've
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(16:07) big and also um different yeah yeah yeah for sure and and like you said with all the Lakes oh gosh it it can be hard to get around like there's no I can see where I want to go but I can't get there from here I can't get there from here yeah oh yeah now it's time for The Last Mile it's where we recap today's episode and kind of share what we liked what are you thinking Todd well I'm thinking about you know Minnesota the the weather they have it shifts quickly um you know I'm thinking
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(17:06) nearly as much cheese but but still good yeah wonderful riding up there yeah for me I would say you know honestly like that Gunflint Trail area and the 61 North of duth we just I think last year in 23 we rode through there and when we when you kind of come out and you you get from kind of what I would call Inner Minnesota to that lak's edge sometimes I'm just like this is wild man like I haven't been to the West Coast and seen the North Pacific Northwest and I know that Minnesota's not going to be big but it's shocking
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(18:20) it surprises me every time we go there and I forget every time you know like you go back and you're like oh like how can I be surprised again but I know I even for get there's like tunnel through the rock you know and I'm just like oh yeah I forgot that's where this is I remember that ride sometimes and I always think it's in Colorado or something I've never rode a motorcycle in Colorado so I know that's that's got to be on our our bucket list to is ride Colorado yeah yeah if this episode
