ice bike take 2

somebody said the sun was supposed to be out all day and it was gonna be warm..... wrong. it looked like this all day and that wind coming across the lake just cut right to the bone.

Brett and Mark are both Techs at my work and decided to come out to join the fun. Thats Mark on his '72 250cc Honda. He put a big bore 350cc kit to produce 18hp... you wouldn't think it, but this little bike boogies. Against everyones advice, Mark spent the time to put every single last screw in his tires himself, and he must have done something right cause they stuck just as good as the professionally made ones.

the cool thing about riding on the ice is that every week theres a different track. This week they had a huge oval set up flattrack style. Ski got some good speed going around er

brett on the 350cc

 

some dude rolled out this really cool 500 yammy

 

don't know who this guy is but he was ripping pretty good

first guy on the ice- and damn was he fast!

tire guards- i don't know about you, but to me, they look lame-o. plus, if you dump the bike, you can easily bend the brackets making them rub against your screws, thus trashing your pricey tires. no thanks.

 ski doesn't like stickers. 

we get onto the lake by using the boat ramp at Sunset Grill right on the lake. The folks are real nice there, and they are the ones that send their employees out to plow the tracks with 4-wheelers. Most of the bikes that show up are 250cc and up, so alot of the tracks tend to have some good lengths between the turns. My little 125cc likes to run out of breath before getting there, so the trick is to keep it pinned and just lean.... not this time though!

This time the plow guys were nice enough to make a short track! real short straights, lots of hairpins and tons of fun!

 

you don't realize how much it takes out of you until you stop after a dozen laps and realize you're out of breath and soaked in sweat. there comes a point too where your eyes start to play tricks on you- it's like your retinas don't want to look at white ice anymore, everything gets a purplish shade and it gets super hard to see where the track goes.

ski's son Jay on the oval right before....

he ran out of gas. pit crew dad to the rescue!

Jay can get moving pretty quick on that little bike too. seems to get even quicker when the camera comes out.

i told ski to make a face like he was rooting him on.... looks more like he's shouting explitives at him

Jay finally got the hang of wheelies too!

an old 2-stroker set to go.

so after a while, the ice starts to shave off after so many passes and covers the track in a real fine snow. try all you want, you can't help but run through it sending the ass end right out from under you. make an effort to intentionally get the back to come out, and it never does. when it does though, it sure makes for a cool picture!

 

all in all, a very fun, very cold, very exhausting day. i think i was in the tub for at least 2 hours when i got home....

....which brings us to our latest beer review! I've become a HUGE fan of wheat beers since i've moved to Milwaukee- there's tons of small time breweries with their own take on flavors. This time i decided to try Point's Horizon Wheat, and what better place to try it- my tub. Good, yes, but the flavor that usually stands out in wheat beer is real weak in it. I like one that reaches out and smacks you.... kinda like Leine's Sunset Wheat. Good nonetheless, but i've definitely had better.

Thanks for watching kids!