Shovelhead Reunion 2021 Milwaukee, WI

Posted byKaran AndreaPosted inUncategorized

Day 6:

The ride home: Milwaukee, WI to Ann Arbor, MI

What. A. Day. The weather, yet again, was sketchy all the way across our intended path of travel today, from Milwaukee, to Muskegon on the ferry, to Toledo, which we landed short of. And the universe was seriously messing with us both today as well.

Boarding the ferry, Marjorie Kleiman was ahead of me, and this guy came out of nowhere and started micro-managing how she needed to park her bike. I was watching helplessly as the shit show unfolded. First he had her pull up diagonally to the bulkhead. Then he had her back up into this weird spot that made zero sense. The floor was slick with oil, probably from the previous bikes on the ferry. By some miracle, and with a lot of skill, she managed to get her bike situated and strapped down.

Meanwhile, another parking person got me located in the spot where Marjorie should have been. She was aggravated with the dude who was messing with Marjorie, and I told her how dangerous his stupidity was.

The rest of the ferry situation was fine. No pitching and rolling today, so we were very grateful for that.

Once we got on the road in Muskegon, we decided to take the interstate toward Toledo and see how far we could get. We were hauling pretty good and making time, even though my bike was bucking and stalling constantly. Stalled completely several times. All but one time I popped the clutch to get it going again.

We hit a heavy downpour with thunder and lightning, so we had to stop under an overpass for shelter. That was right after we discovered that Marjorie’s turn signals had stopped working. Not even surprised…

Shocking… more rain… Marjorie Kleiman
Not pleased with the latest weather developments. Photo: Marjorie Kleiman

After the rain let up, we hauled ass, and made it as far as Ann Arbor, when the sky got heavy with some angry looking dementor clouds, so we pulled off for gas and decided to park it for the night. It was getting on to twilight, and we still hadn’t eaten much since breakfast. We found a hotel, and hauled ass again to beat the rain.

On the way, my bike went into a full stall. I was in 3rd, bumped to 2nd, popped the clutch, nope. Bumped to 1st, popped the clutch, and oh buddy, the Atomic friggin disaster got super squirrrely! Oops! But I hung with it and kept going. Currently, we are checked in, fed, and about ready to crash for the night.

Finally parked for the night, safely in Ann Arbor, MI Photo: Marjorie Kleiman
The sun is setting over the Doubletree as we are unpacking our bikes for the evening.

Published by Karan Andrea

I ride motorcycles, I live motorcycles, and I write about motorcycles. Both of my blogs are written for motorcyclists: atomicshovel.blog tells the never-ending story of my 1974 Harley-Davidson FLH, which I have named the Atomic Shovel. My other blog coachk.home.blog is written for riders of all skill levels, but is primarily aimed toward the rider who is transitioning from the riding range where they learned basic skills, to the open road. This blog address the most common questions I see in the online groups and forums: dealing with anxiety - yes, that is the number one question, navigating traffic, parking, holding your bike on an incline, just to mention a few. Much of what I write is simply drawn from my own experiences - successes, failures, do-overs. Nothing in either blog should be construed as the absolute one and only approach; rather, look at them as a starting point for your own discovery process.

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