TREMPEALEAU, Wis. – The Wisconsin representative of the motorcyclist training organization ABATE, Bill Roberge, cautioned automobile drivers to watch for bikers as the new biking season begins. “Be aware that motorcycles react a little bit different than a car does,” Roberge said. “We need the entire lane in case something comes up in the road where we have room to maneuver.” He noted that vehicles with new driver-assisted systems pose unanswered questions.” A lot of the cars actually going to the point of saying the cars will drive themselves,” Roberge said. “One of the issues we have as motorcyclists, ‘Do those cars recognize us on the road? Sre we being included in the testing of those new systems?'”
Rite of spring
Some call it the official arrival of the biker season: The Spring Flood Run. The tradition dates to 1965 when 12 Twin Cities motorcyclists vroomed down the Mississippi to Winona to help sandbag during a horrific flood. Now the event starts up the St. Croix River, but most riders, thousands of them, choose still to travel through Minnesota or Wisconsin along the Mississippi.