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WI Rustic Roads Rides
The WI Rustic Roads Award Program is set up by the WI DOT to encourage motorcyclists to enjoy the Rustic Roads System throughout Wisconsin. Ride 10 of these roads and submit proof and you receive a patch, 25 and receive a special certificate. Together with my dog, Annie, we rode the first 10 roads in June & July of 2017 and the photos that follow are in the approximate order they were ridden.
This year, I've decided to begin a little adventure and ride all 120 of the roads in the system. I'm not sure how long it will take, maybe a couple years; but I will document it in words and photos, on this page for anyone interested.
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Looking back - It started simply enough. As I began my final year of being "in my 50's", I realize that I may not be able to ride my 850 lbs. Yamaha Venture forever. My wife seemed to take some devilish pleasure in reminding me that "you're getting old". Of course, she is also getting............ less inclined to hop on the back of the Venture for long rides anymore. I've never been a huge fan of trikes, in part because every old fart seems to get one, in part because they lack any real uniqueness and in part because they offer no advantage (other than stability) over a 2 wheeler. You can't carry more people and you can't haul your dog on a trike. Plus - I've always liked sidecars. I also thought my wife might like traveling in a bit more comfort and with more weather protection - things you get with a sidecar, but not on a trike. But I'd also heard they were much different to ride and that they handle much different than a motorcycle. And I wasn't sure I'd like the differences. So before I shelled out big $$ to modify my Venture and add a sidecar, I thought I'd pick up a used rig for a few grand and test it out. In April of 2017, I came across this used 2013 Ural located in Oconomowoc, so I went and checked it out. After conferring & discussing it with my wife - I bought it. Of course, then I had to learn to ride it. My wife, who is a bit superstitious, was not fond of the year - 2013 - feeling that was an unlucky number. So being a person that likes to taunt Fate more than a bit, and as a tribute to her Latin roots - I call the bike "Trece Suerte" or Lucky Thirteen. I even found a few Lucky 13 decals and some Dias de los Muertos skulls - Day of the Dead or Sugar Skulls as they are called - to adorn her with. For the next month, I took short rides familiarizing myself with the handling differences and with the locations of the controls. They do handle much different, especially in the corners. Sidecar rigs (or "hacks" as they are called) cannot lean in the corners and they tend to lurch a bit from side to side when you shift or apply the brakes. A few words about the Ural motorcycle are in order. They are made in Russia in the Ural mountains. If it looks like a restored antique bike, it's because superficially, it's not much different than when the Russians "reverse engineered" the design from the Germans in 1941. They have a 750cc air-cooled engine and a top speed of 70 mph.........for short bursts. It can go 55-60 mph all day, but you will probably never see a Ural on the super-slab or the Interstate. And if you ever get passed by a Ural - you are probably driving below the speed limit. It's not a speed machine, but it's perfect for tooling down the country roads and smaller state highways. It hearkens back to the old days of motorcycles, when motorcycles and Life were more simple and basic....and fun. There are no electronic controls, no bells and whistles, no cruise control or radio. All of which you can live without.  Once I
got proficient on this new machine, the next step
was teaching my Yellow Lab, Annie, how to behave and
ride in the car. Getting her used to wearing
eye protection was the biggest challenge. I
tried Doggles, but she would paw them over her nose
or rub her face on my leg and push them up over her
ears. Then I got some Rex Specs and she
liked them better. Well, she didn't try and
take them off as often. She adapted to the
noise and motion very quickly, got used to her
safety harness and the short lead to keep her in the
car in case of a squirrel attack, a random
bunny sighting or if she saw another dog she wanted
to befriend. After a few rides, I realized she
did NOT like seeing the world thru the plastic
windshield, so off came the sidecar windscreen and
she loved it. Now she could ride with her nose
over the sidecar and lay down if the wind got to be
too much. Soon we were riding 10 hours and a
few hundred miles on a weekend day. Most every biker will tell you, it's not about the destination, it's about the ride. Which is true. It's also good to have a destination just to give you that incentive to actually get out and ride. Having ridden some of the Rustic Roads before on my Venture, I thought these would be perfect roads for the Ural. They are made for each other. Together, Annie and I rode the first 10 Rustic Roads in June and July, then we rode another 5 in September. I always take some toys for her, her Frisbee doubles as a water dish and some snacks for both of us. If there's a spot for her to swim, or a woods to run in, she gets to do that. Everywhere we stop for gas, or sometimes just at stoplights - people have to take her picture. And she loves people! I sent the pictures into the Dept of Transportation and waited for the patches. Finally, they arrived and I put Annie's patch on her harness. To the best of my knowledge, she may be the only dog to have received the WI Rustic Roads Motorcycle Tour patch. That got me thinking - why not try and ride ALL 120 Rustic Roads in WI? And maybe - try to see all 47 state parks in WI? I don't know if anyone has ever ridden all 120 Rustic Roads on a motorcycle before, I doubt anyone has done it with a sidecar motorcycle and it's a pretty good bet no one has EVER done it with their dog! So that's what we're going to try and do - a fun little quest to see the Wisconsin countryside, take some pictures of our beautiful state and have some fun. I'll write about the various roads and trips here, if for no one's amusement other than my own. If you have questions or comments - feel free to drop me an e-mail - there's a link at the top of the page - or say HI if you see us in a gas station. And be safe out there! |
Annie and her new WI Rustic Roads Motorcycle Tour patch |
At a friend's place near Antigo - ready to
head out  |
2017 on the Ural with my yellow Lab, Annie. Annie and I road these together - first 4 on June 17 and next 6 on July 1, 2017.
The First 10 Rustic Roads
2018
ROAD
#106 - DODGE COUNTY |
 VIEW OF THE HORICON MARSH FROM #106 Not much special about this road. |
| ROAD
#33 NO DESIGNATION # SIGN at HWY 167 & ST. AUGUSTINE RD.  |
 Road #33 Turns are poorly marked, study a map before setting off. Lots of tight turns, blind corners and hills. Road is rough in many spots, beautiful canopy of trees over much of the road. |
| Road #10 Nice turns, decent pavement. Runs thru a community of lake homes - not really very scenic, but nice.  Road #86 Connects to the south end of #115  Runs thru some rolling hills, farmland scenery. |
Road #115 Connect to #10 at the north end.  Nice road, turns are pretty well marked. Some tight corners. Very shaded under a canopy of trees.  |
| Road
#43 No sign or road # designation at South end. Hwy B & Hwy 142  |
Road
#43 North end  Nothing really memorable on this road. |
Road
#42 |
Road
#42 Some nice tight corners on this road. Several roads are included in #42 - watch for signs. |
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#2 at the South end in Burlington.  Several turns are NOT marked - study a map before setting out. |
Road
#2 Nice pavement, some nice scenery, very pastoral. Watch the turns not all are marked for speed.  |
| Road
#82 Classic WI farmland, hilly and some fun turns and corners.  |
Road
#82 Runs thru some huge wind farms - turbines all over. Also runs thru parts of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, so the terrain in pretty hilly. |
2019 Rustic Roads
Many signs in the NW sector are missing signs at one end and at intersections along the road.
Bring a map!
~To see the full size image ~
Right click on image and click "view image". Us the browser "back" button to return to this page.
 Road #76 |
 Road #45 |
 Road #73 There is no number designation sign at either end. |
 Rustic Road #1 - the road that started it all. |
 Rustic Road #62 |
 Rustic Road #105 |
 Rustic Road #100 No number designation sign at either end of road. |
  Rustic Road #111
- Once again - no number designation sign at the
post. This is the east end. There was a sign
at the west end. |
 Rustic Road #95 - south end |
 Rustic Road #108 |
 Rustic Road #71 |
 Rustic Road #80 - no sign at east end |
 Rustic Road #98 Sign is not at beginning of road, but back where you turn to get to the start of #98. |
 Rustic Road #79 |
 Rustic Road #15 Again - no sign at either end or at any place along the road. |
 Rustic Road #93 |
 Rustic Road #41 No number sign at either end again. Number written on sign.  |
 Rustic Road #28 No sign at west end. |
 Rustic Road #67 |
 Rustic Road #83 |
 Rustic Road #18 |
 Rustic Road #114 |
 Rustic Road #6 south end No sign at north end or along the road. |
 Rustic Road #89 |
 Rustic Road #107 |
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The Rustic Road Quest Continues Article moved
to -
http://www.simpsontaxidermy.com/Hidden.html#Rustic_Road_Quest_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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The
Northwest Rustic Roads Ride -
the After Action Report
edit - 7/5/19,
7/9/19 |
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The
Final Drive Repair
7/5/19 Updated and edited article moved to http://www.simpsontaxidermy.com/Hidden.html#Final_Drive_Repair ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next - the removal and opening of the Final Drive & the replacement. Then on to more Rustic Roads. |
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2020 -
Planning Begins for This Years Rustic Roads
1/20/20 |
Road Dogs - Story about Annie and I and the WI Rustic Roads
Click on photo for a full size pic
Or - Read the article in the June-July issue of Our Wisconsin magazine
2005 on the Venture
I did the first 8 roads on April 3, 2005 and covered 280 miles by the time I was back home.
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April
3, 2005
Hwy MM
just north of Hortonville. Nice easy ride,
good pavement. |
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Rustic
Road #57 April 3, 2005 I accessed this off Hwy 10. Watch for sand in the corners. Pavement is mostly good, but the sign marking the turn onto Town Line Rd, just after Cobbtown, is down. Watch for the turn or you'll miss it like I did. |
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Rustic
Road #17 April 3, 2005 I roade Hwy 54 w , then turned N on Hwy D. follow that for a bit (nice ride) to the junction with Hwy T. Take T until you run into #17. Again, watch for the right turn onto Otto Rd, the sign is not there. Very nice road. |
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Rustic
Road #23 April 3, 2005 Heading E on hwy 54, I turned onto Hartman Creek Rd. Just before you enter the state park, #23 goes off to your left. Not tremendously scenic for the first part. The ride thru the town of Rural is very pretty. |
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Rustic
Road #24 April 3, 2005 #24 intersects #23, so I rode it to the dead end and turned around to finish #23. Very scenic, lots of turkeys out in the fields. |
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Rustic
Road #48 April 3, 2005 #48 is just out of Saxeville and is a very nice ride, pavement is OK with several blind curves and loose gravel |
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Rustic
Road #22 April 3, 2005 This "road" is a 1 lane rutted, potholed, 99.9% gravel, sand and mud path thru the White River Marsh. A flock of turkeys challenged me for the right to be on this piece of dirt. If it was wide enough to turn around, I would have. |
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Rustic
Road #72 April 3, 2005 Also part gravel, but not as scary as #22. Pretty, but not spectacular scenery. Road is fairly straight and boring. |
Velma road with me over Roads # 48 & #23 - no new pix
April 17, 2005
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Road #53
Just West of Hwy 41 near Kaukana,
nice little country road. |
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| Rustic
Road #46 Off Hwy
57/32 just S of DePere. Some BIG houses on
this road. |
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| Rustic
Road #7 We actually thought Pine Grove Rd was more scenic before we got to the Rustic Road 7. The last stretch is gravel |
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The
most scenic of the day. Runs thru Point
Beach state forest and along Lake Michigan, very
nice pavement, beautiful scenery. The road
was a little angled, so I hopped of and took the
pic. |
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