Drivin’ down your freeways, midnight alleys roam, cops in cars…. here’s a list of “topless bars” to help you find a woman, so alone, so alone… courtesy of the Driftless Riders.

King of Diamonds Gentlemen’s
6600 River Rd Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
(651) 455-3886

Cajun Club
1400 Main St Houlton, WI 54082
(715) 549-6901

Border Lounge
N1620 County Road VV Hager City, WI 54014
(715) 792-2660

Fat Jack’s Caberet

4 Mile Gentlemen’s Club

Cruisin Chubby’s

Sugar Daddys
500 66th St NW Sauk Rapids, MN 56379
(320) 529-9100

Sugar Daddy’s
1318 Highway 45 Cloquet, MN 55720
(218) 879-8668

Wisconsin Dolls Gentlemen’s Club
4179 State Road 13 Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
(608) 254-8708

Loch Ness Lounge
32nd?

Class Act
32115 64th Ave Cannon Falls, MN 55009
(507) 263-5115

Mettler’s Bar & Restaurant
117 S Front St Mankato, MN 56001
(507) 388-6885

Phipps Tavern
11905 N Phipps Rd Hayward, WI 54843
(715) 634-8811

Garden of Eden Gentlemans Club
688 Meeker Ave E Eden Valley, MN 55329
(320) 453-7080

Showtime Gentlemen’s Club
1709 Merrill Ave Wausau, WI 54401
(715) 675-9933

Pin-Ups Gentlemen’s Club
812 1/2 4th Avenue South Park Falls, WI 54552
(715) 744-1156

Barons Gentlemens Club
3986 State

Temptations Gentlemens Club
132 2nd Ave S Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495
(715) 423-0220

Northern Exposure Gentlemens Club
N11104 Us Highway 45 Birnamwood, WI 54414
(715) 449-2793

New Yorker Gentlemen’s Club
1896 Old Highway 51 Mosinee, WI 54455
(715) 693-2777

Foxtail Gentlemen’s Club
N4305 16th Rd Montello, WI 53949
(608) 297-7011

Screamin Mee Mee’s
402 W Delavan Dr Janesville, WI 53546
(608) 373-0189

Body Shop
140 2nd St N Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494
(715) 424-1810

Placemark 24
Silver Street, et al

If you have a addition, send the location and information to info@driftlessriders.com

Wisconsin Dells Bar

Day #1: Twin Cities to Dells: Headed out of Twin Cities on sunny Wednesday morning and wound our way down to Durand, Wisc and got lost on windy roads on the way to Independence and Whitehall, and a lot of other small towns…Ended up staying at the Dells…a good 300 mile day.

Costal Road along Lake Michigan

Day #2: Dells to Sturgeon Bay: Have to admit we didn’t find many good roads as we worked our way to Lake Michigan, or maybe we were just hungover…if anyone has good suggestions, let us know. We ended up popping out to the Lake around Sheboygan, and road all the way up to Sturgeon Bay…Once again, not great roads…we need suggestions, as the Driftless Riders were out of the Driftless Region.

Safari Motel

Day #3: Door County to Wabeno: Well, well, well…let’s just say the Driftless Riders were somewhat unimpressed with Door County, but we did happen to find a cool old lighthouse to climb. Ended up on a death march through Green Bay and into the Great Woods on northern Wisconsin and stumbled on a gem of a town that goes by the name of Wabeno. I can best some it up as a small town, with many bars, a motel by the name of the Safari, and pole shed party with dollar beers sponsored by the local EMS, illegal fireworks, and regrets for drinking Absinthe.

Kick ass road through the woods

Day #4: Wabeno to Hurley: If we didn’t defile ourselves enough in the small town of Wabeno, the granddaddy of them all lie ahead..that’s right, Little Vegas…you might know it has Hurley. If you don’t know what Hurley is, you shouldn’t be able to call yourself a ramblin man.

After a night out in Hurley, you’ll feel like this too…

Day #5: Hurley to Twin Cities: Licked the wounds, got the bikes up over 100 MPH on GG, and flew oursleves back home to the cruel reality of the year of our Lord of 2008.

http://motorcyclevideonetwork.com/

I love the Flood Run. Here’s the quick 101: There’s two Flood Run’s. One in the spring and one in the fall. It starts at the Beach Club Bar right outside Afton, MN. From there it meanders down the river road, on the Wisconsin side between Prescott and Nelson, then on the Minnesota side from Wabasha down to Minnieska. It’s one of the largest local motorcycle rallies. Its thousands of bikers. Its kick-ass.

Here’s how the Driftless Riders do it:

Well, well, well…what can I say but…. my guts hurt, my ass is sore, I did throw up once, and my head is still ringing, but what the hell…it was all worth it! All hail the Flood Run. http://www.floodrun.org/ Guess there’s no where to start except the beginning:

7:00 a.m. Awake to overcast and 45 degrees (Its going to be a rough day)…Place Egg Bake in oven.

8:30 a.m. Driftless Riders arrive at St. Paul Headquarters, weather still shitty and cold, after some counsel we all decide to put on chaps and long underwear for the day.

9:15 a.m. After some good egg bake, links, toast and bloodies, bust out of town on I-94 to St. Croix Trail to The Beach Club, the official start of the Flood Run.

Beach Club Line Up

9:45 a.m. Arrive at the Beach Club just in time for the line-up…check out the pics. Now the actual run was scheduled to leave at 10:30 a.m. but the Driftless Riders got a little antsy and decided to get ahead of the group. This usually wouldn’t be the case, but we had a little wrinkle this year. It seems that one of the Driftless Riders, who will remain unamed (Chopper) has a wedding coming up shortly, and he agreed to his lovely fiancee to be back in Minneapolis by 1:30 p.m for the wedding shower…while he took some good natured ribbing about this, we all thought it best that we ride south to Prescott to take in the No Name Saloon… gotta love the Monkey Bar (it’s open air annex).

Streets of Prescott

10:00 a.m. I think it actually got colder and wetter riding to Prescott, and we all were pretty happy to roll into town, things were just starting to build-up…check out the pics.

The Nauti Hawg Bar and Grill

10:45 a.m. Roll-out to Diamond Bluff… Now this is where things started getting a little bit interesting, because unlike other years, there was a mechanical bull present. After a whiskey coke, low and behold, the bachelor of the day rode that mutha.

High Noon: On to an unsanctioned stop at the Boder Lounge in Hager City, Wisc… You all can fill in the blanks, but the highlights are the pork fat sandwiches and the scenery.

Let’s not forget Maiden Rock… we did stop here, too.

1:30 p.m. After the bachelor peeled off, the two remaining cowboys were left to plot the rest of the day’s devilish dealings… we did not fail… Usually our route would have us making a stop in Nelson, Wisc. This time, we decided to forgo this stoppage and head straight to Buck’s Bar in Minneska, Minn.

The view from Bucks Bar

2:30 p.m. We’ve reached the last official stop on the run. Buck’s (Bar) patio offers a great view of the river valley. This (with a cold beer) was a perfect cap to the Spring 08 Flood Run. We were ahead of the crowd, so we grabbed a picinic table, relaxed and watched the waves of bikes roll in. In the midst of all of this a unique event unfolded: There was some negotiating and I think that a hat was exchanged… long story short… we now have a photo of the Driftless Riders stickers being used as pasties. All in the name of advertising.

Driftless Riders stickers being used as pasties.

4:00 p.m. After the fun at Buck’s, we cruised down to Winona, fueled up, and headed across the river to the infamous Four Mile…This is a great place, good drinks, and a great place to layover, especially on a shitty weather day as this one.

????? p.m. Headed out of Four Mile to the Jailhouse Saloon… Full of bikers, cold beer and good burgers. www.jailhousesaloon.com/

Super-human Strength

9-ish Started getting dark, so we needed to hang our spurs up in the river town of Trempealeau, Wisc. There’s alot I can say but here are the highlights:

1. stopped at the historic and haunted Trempeauleau Hotel Bar (you can stay here, even though it used to be a hospital, or you can get a room down by the Marina…we chose the later)
2. got lost trying to find our over-night accomidations, talked to drunken fisherman who hadn’t ever heard of the lodging we were looking for,
3. found the Kingfisher (our room) less than 100 yards from the drunken fisherman;
4. walked a mile back to town to take in the two local bars;
5. witnessed a bad heavy metal band, talked to crazy local girls, and witnessed a hometown barfight;
6. went to Vet’s and met local girls who were gracious enough to take pictures of their cleavage;
7. ate a twice warmed pizza;
8. walked a mile drunk off my ass through a marina;
9. somehow made it back and fell asleep;
10. woke up at sometime in the morning and expelled the twice warmed pizza.

Trempealeau Cleavage

The Next Day: We felt shitty as expected, but what the hell, take a shower, suck it up, and get back on the horse and put her into the wind.

We managed to get our groggy selves to Centerville and Beedles Bar for brunch…Great place, good food, biker friendly, and nice folk. http://www.beedlesbar.com/

After eating we pretty much pointed ourselves home…we headed up Highway 35 to Nelson, jumped across the river to Highway 61 and then onto Highway 52 back into St. Paul.

Another awesome and memorable Flood Run.

Cheers!

All the county roads are pretty right on as you wind your way up and down through the valleys that are held down by generation old dairy farms and very small towns (Note: These people are working hard for a living, so these aren’t speed routes, take it easy and keep your eyes open for farm implements and trucks on the roads).

Your options for routes in this area are endless, but we usually make a ride east into the country and work our way back to the river…especially awesome roads are around the small village of Montana (roads C, CC, X and XX).

I might also mention that a great little town to hang it up for the night is Buffalo City, which is located on the Mississippi River backwaters…lodging can be tricky, but I recomend the Viking Hotel (you can’t miss it because there’s a huge Viking in the front of it).

Following is link to a nice road map: http://www.buffalocounty.com/Maps/travel%20map.pdf

What I’m trying to say is that I ordered baffles and the V-Star is going to be taking it down a notch this summer.

 Got them for a pretty reasonable price ordering online from Dennis Kirk, if you need accessories for your bike they are the best around (good online selection and quick shipping).

www.denniskirk.com

Day One–St. Paul to Prairie du Chien

Hwy 52 to County Road 60 (near Zumbrota), very cool twistys as you wind your way east to Hwy 61. There some different routes you can take, but they’re all good, and a lot of small towns if you get thirsty and need to stop in for a brew.

Bust ass down Hwy 61 and jump the river at LaCrosse to Hwy 35 (this a critical point as you need to stay or go). There was a bit of an allure to stay in LaCrosse as its just a kick ass place to party, but it was good that we escaped, as the ride down to Prairie du Chien with the sun is setting is spectacular. The ride from LaCrosse to Prairie is when you first get the experience of being really close to the river and you have some kickass views as your cruisin.

(Note: If you want to stay in LaCrosse the first night, you may want to jump the river over to Wisconsin earlier in the day. The ride from Prescott to LaCrosse (Wisconsin side) is much cooler and laid back, along with some nice stops)

“Prairie” is a great town to stay in, friendly people, lots of small bars, but lodging can be a bit tricky, be sure to call ahead to get a room, as the town tends to be busy in the summer.

We ended up staying at a small shithole, but who cares, it was within walking distance of downtown bars. We ended up hitting a great old lounge restaurant, frequented some small dive bars, and then found some locals to drive us down to this bar down by the river to sing drunken karoke. Quote of the night…”Do you have any jumper cables? Oh, I meant to say do you have any weed?”

Day #2–Praire du Chien to Moline

A night in Prairie might leave you a little groggy in the morning, but you just need to buck up, climb on the horse and get some fresh air in those lungs.

We headed out bout 9 am and cruised out on Hwy 18. Your gonna want to get off on County Road C and get yourself closer into the river, there’s some options here, but we went to County X to the City of Bagley to County A, to County W (the object here obviously is to work your way close to the river, but it can get tricky at times).

Get yourself to Cassville and then jump on 133, and head to Potosi.

We recommend a stop to grab a burger at the local bar across from the town brewery. Don’t forget to have yourself a Potosi beer.

Next you’ll have a deparature from the river as you jump on Hwy 61 and get some highway time in down to Dickeyville, and its all highway to the Illinois border, where you’re gonna want to get on Hwy 35, and then to Hwy 20.

Editorial note, this section of the ride kind of sucks, as you’re on Highway to Galena and then aren’t a lot of options, but trust me, things do get better.

After Galena, look for the Blackjack Trail and jump off on that and slow it down for a while and enjoy the ride. Your gonna come out on Hwy 84. Unfortunately, once again your gonna have some boring highway time as you work your way down to Savanna, Fulton.

A highly recommended stop in the Iron Horse Social Club in Savanna, good food, cold beer and a motorcycle museum. http://www.ironhorsesocialclub.com/main.html

Things get a bit better south of Fulton as you find the river and quite few small towns along the way where you can stop in and have refreshments.

We ended up staying in Moline that night, but I have to admit that there is not a lot of nightlife in this town. Guess what I’m trying to say is you might be better off staying in some small towns outside of the city, and save yourself a few bucks.

But if you do want to have some comfort, there is a Radisson next to the John Deere Headquarters. The comfort is a little pricy, but there are plenty of bars within walking distance.

If all that riding has made you want to see some boobs, we found a club over in Davenport called the Chorus Line, decent place, but a little tricky to find http://www.stripclublist.com/c.asp?c=8000

Day #3–Moline to Canton Ferry (yes it really is a river ferry) and Back (Big Boy Day)

We behaved ourselves the night before and got some good shut eye because we knew today was going to be a “big boy” day, lots of white knuckle miles.

Bust ass out of town on Hwy 92 cursing the Quad Cities and try to find yourself some country. This is divided highway so if your looking for a speed stretch, this is it.

Things brighten up around Andalusia as you find yourself getting back to the river roads. Your gonna want to get off on County Road TT and head through the Loud Thunder Forest Preserve. This is a real nice ride, some twistys and good scenery as you’re making your way to Illinois City, and back on Hwy 92.

Take 92 and get of on County A, which turns into 14 and then 17 (lots of corn fields). Look for the turnoff to Keithsburg on 76th street. This is how you get back closer to the river, and you’ll follow 25 and then 3, and work your way to 34. This stretch is mostly corn fields. Enjoy.

We cruised down to Fort Madison and jumped the river to look for some lunch. We decided to try one of the river boat casinos. Note to self: don’t eat at these places, they’re rotten, find yourself a restaurant in town. There’s also little bar in Niota if you want to get yourself a beer and a bag of chips.

Then go south and down to 92, very cool stretch along the river, as you work your way to Keokuk. Out of Keokuk, find 12.

Once again, a lot of corn fields and the empty roads. Its somewhat cool as you get into levee country and the flood plain.

This is where it gets a bit tricky, but a major highlight… turn off on 2600th avenue and head to the river through corn fields to find the ferry to and cross the river. (there should be a sign that cleverly says “to ferry”)

You’ll think your lost, but just keep going and go past a huge grain elevator, and there you will find the cargo ferry. This is usually to take grain trucks across the river, but they will also acommodate motorcycles. I think its was $8 bucks a person, but very cool. Can’t say that I’ve ever had my bike on the water before.

I’m not gonna lie, the rest of ride back to Moline on the Missouri side is not cool, but you just need to suck it up, and ride like hell on Hwy 61. Motivate yourself by thinking about going back to the Chorus Line.

To sum up the day, left early got back at dark, put on over 400 miles and my ass was sore.

Day #3–Moline to LaCrosse, Iowa Side

This day is by far the highlight of the trip as you start making your way north on the Iowa side. Be sure to get an early start. You’ll have a lot of nice riding ahead of you.

Once you jump across the river on I-74, get off on the Great River Road (hwy 67), dust off the cobwebs and point that hog north. You’ll have some nice river time for awhile as you work your way up to Clinton. From this point you can get creative with some routes as you work your way up to Dubuque. Best bet is to get a local map, otherwise if you want some highway time, feel free to crack the throttle open and cruise up Hwy 52 or 61.

PAY ATTENTION! The key route is to get on C9Y which is north of Dubuque, lots of good twistys and lots of nice views as you go in and out and up and down the bluff country. When God made the motorcycle, this is where he did is test riding.

A great and historic stop is in Balltown. It has a great vista, which on a clear day they say you can see Illinois.

However, I’m sad to report that the oldest drinking and dining establishment in Iowa, historic Breitbach’s burned to the ground this winter, here’s a link I found with some memorable pictures http://www.kannimports.com/x_breitbach/breitbach_main.html

(I’m just glad I was lucky enough to see it once. It’s a good lesson for those who put off taking motorcycle rides… you just never know how long you or something else might be around, so do it while you can).

Anyway, great bluff county ride all the way to Millville, where you jump off and get some highway road north to Guttenburg. Jump off on X-56 north of town and make your way to McGregor which is just south of Prairie du Chien.

I would strongly recommend stopping at the historic lookout near Prairie in Pikes Peak State Park. It’s really cool and you can see the whole town of Prairie du Chien and where the Wisconsin River flows into the mighty Mississippi.

Following are some links with some cool pics:

http://www.sierravisionsstock.com/sierravisions/pictures-from-pikes-peak-state-park/

www.pbase.com/stanzman/image/35341961

After getting some blood back in our sore asses and legs (Pike’s Peak has a nice rest area) we cruised out on 76, which is a very cool ride along the river and through Effigy Mounds Park. Follow this north to X52 and it will take you to Harpers Ferry and then into Lansing.

Lansing is a nice little town to stop into and have a brew.

Next, you’ll want to hit 26 and bust ass north to the Minnesota border. This stretch is away from the river. Its a nice rural stretch with some good scenery and a few good sweeping curves.

26 will take you through New Albin and then into MN. The first part of the MN stretch is also away from the river and it goes through some flood plains and marshy areas, but its still somewhat cool. Once you get to Reno you’ll have really nice roads.

From then on all I could really think about was getting to LaCrosse and getting some beer in me…and I have to say, even though it was a Sunday night, I did accomplish that task.

Day #4–The Last Stretch (LaCrosse to St. Paul)

Well, there’s not much I can tell you about this stretch, but you have some options. You can either bust ass back on I-90 or Hwy 61 or you can wind your way back if you have some time and still have the energy.

Me, let’s just say I did the straight hwy 61 shot home in morning, as I had too many whiskey shots the night before. However, I do recommend breakfast at the Whistle Stop in the small town of Frontenac in between Red Wing and Lake City. Don’t blink, cuz you might miss it.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING ABOUT OUR TREK AND IT GIVES YOU SOME GOOD IDEAS FOR A RIDE. LATER.

Bikini-less Contest

Hey boys and girls, if you haven’t had the pleasure of making it to the Dam Saloon in Fountain City, Wisc, you better make it a point to this summer.

This place is hard to describe, but let’s just say its probably the last “legal” floating bar on the Mississippi River. Yes, that’s right, this place is not on land, its actually a floatilla located just below Lock 5A. Be sure to leave the bar owner a donation so he continue his good fight against the Wisconsin DNR.

Its really a bar for boaters to stop at, so its a little hard to get to from the road, but the adventure is definately worth it. Let’s just say you literally have to walk across busy railroad tracks, jump up on a floating ramp, and stagger yer way up to the helm. I’m not bullshitting you on this one. Just be sure to watch yourselves on the way out after having a few, as it wouldn’t be good to fall in the river or get yourself splattered by the train.

Oh, and did I mention that they have a “ahem” bikini contest every summer (usually last weekend in June). Here is the bar’s website that has some good pics http://damsaloon.com/ … Ask the bartender if you can join the “Rat Bastards”.

More photos: http://www.driftlessrider.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=14