I had a great 100 mile ride today!

[MDO]

Living were I do, I can ride across 1 bridge & be in Illinois in 20 miles.

One of my favorite rides is through Alton, IL going along the Mississippi river's Great River Road up to Grafton, IL & to a couple of great lunch spots, 1 being a very friendly biker bar called the Hawg Pit, but I opted for fresh buffalo fish at Beasleys.

If you ride past Grafton about 5 miles, there's a ferry that will take you across the Mississippi for FREE & you have about a 50 mile ride to get back were you started. There is also a great state park, Pere Marquette, were you can ride up through the bluffs to a great lookout area were you can see where the Missouri & Mississippi rivers meet.

Great ride, great fresh fish lunch, but my goodness, it was hot!

[David357]

Michael, it sounds like it was a good day all in all.

Thanks for sharing.

[Zammy]

Sounds like a great day

[Jack Klarich]

Good on u Michael

[Free Bird]

Ridden that circuit a hundred times on two wheels.... I need to do with three. Thanks for the reminder

I am a St. Louis guy too. My wife and I had a cottage in Chautauqua for YEARS and used to go to the Long Branch in Grafton a lot. Next time you cross the ferry, stop at the Widman Hotel in Calhoun county for dinner. "Best damn fried chicken in the state" comes to mind...

[ol' school]

Sounds like an awesome day and a good ride Michael!

[GrandpaDave]

Great to hear about your ride along the Mississippi River. Two of my brothers and I are planning a trip in mid July starting in the Minneapolis area along the river down into Iowa, then ferry across into Wisconsin and head back north again. Taking our wives along and plan to do a fair amount of sight seeing and exploring along the way.

[MDO]

Thanks to all who responded. It's a great ride with the Mississippi on 1 side & the bluffs on the other side. During the winter months, bald eagles nest in this area & have their young.

There is also a very good dealer, Ted's HD, on the other side of Alton, IL that also sells Can-Am & Honda, and they sell a lot of trikes.

I have to also mention another motorcycle spot called Fast Eddies Bon Air, which has great cheap food & live music 7 days a week. On summer weekends it's like a bike show, with 200 bikes in the lot.

[MDO]

I have done something else new in our 94 ° days. I have never rode the FW without the windshield on, but I removed it this past week & got about 150 miles in & it's not bad. I have the HD 20" clear & its a nice design with the tooless quick release. It's a good option to have.

[Jack Klarich]

I have done something else new in our 94 ° days. I have never rode the FW without the windshield on, but I removed it this past week & got about 150 miles in & it's not bad. I have the HD 20" clear & its a nice design with the tooless quick release. It's a good option to have.

The quick release is a nice feature

I am pretty spoiled after riding baggers most of my life

I rode my Streetbob to Sturgis with NO windshield, never again