In spring 2022, my friend Vincent and I spoke about the 120th Anniversary. Having lived in Mequon, Wisconsin – just a few miles from former Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich – I described to him how amazing the annual Milwaukee rallies are and how the 105th and 110th Anniversaries were “grandioso”. Vincent was looking to make a trip to visit Yellowstone, and we tentatively made a roadmap from Chicago to Milwaukee then Las Vegas via Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. Some friends heard about our plan and asked to join...

Preparation
We had a meeting every other month to organise flights, rent motorcycles, finalise the route, reserve hotels and rent a big SUV for the luggage. Leading up to the trip, we had to deal with flight cancellations and last-minute troubles, so it was a real relief when departure day finally came.

Day 1: Chicago to Germantown
My family and I arrived at Brussels Airport around 4am on 14 July 2023 and were met by the rest of the group. On our shuttle to the airport, we had discovered that our driver was a biker and had dreams of taking a US road trip too.

The first stage of our journey took us to London, where we snapped a quick photograph together before splitting into three groups for the flights to Chicago. We landed in Chicago at around 1pm and, after collecting our luggage and rental car, drove to the EagleRider facility on Touhy Avenue, where Danny Brown and his team welcomed us warmly.

Once everyone had arrived, we loaded up the car with more luggage and at 5.30pm hit the road for Chicago Millennium Park. We stopped at Millenium Park Garage for some quick sightseeing: the Bean (Cloud Gate), the Crown Fountain, the Route 66 road sign, the Loop, the Chicago theatre and the Pritzker Pavilion, where a band was playing.

We set off again at 8pm towards Milwaukee with heavy traffic, rain and wind, and weather reports warning of a tornado. We stopped at a gas station in Evanston for drinks and snacks, by which time the rain had nearly stopped, although we had to deal with some side wind gusts and a little light rain after crossing the state border. Due to traffic and the dark, our group split into two and I led one group to our hotel in Germantown, Wisconsin, arriving at 1am. The second group arrived around 2am; after a 29-hour day, we were all ready for a well-deserved rest...

Day 2: Germantown, Thiensville, Milwaukee and Greenfield
Our first stop of the day was at the Harley-Davidson Powertrain Operations on Pilgrim Road, where H-D assembles the heart of our dreams: the engines of our bikes. We parked and waited to join a factory tour, talking to bikers in the queue from around the US including two Native American ladies (Apache) from an Arizona chapter. The tour was a blast: we could see how the factory was organised and feel the true pride of the workers. What a wonderful team!

We then headed to Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson in Thiensville, Wisconsin; I really like this dealership and its team of highly skilled people. Among them, David (a.k.a. Big D) is always ready to help, and we’ve become friends over time. We spent a good two hours here before leaving for the Harley-Davidson Museum^™ via North Lake Drive. The view across Lake Michigan was lovely and we stopped for a moment at Bradford Beach before moving on to the Museum.

At the H-D Museum, FOX6 interviewed one of our members, then we split up to either enter the museum or go shopping. In the evening, we went to the House of Harley-Davidson dealership on West Layton Avenue. We ate at Culver’s next door before returning to the hotel.

Day 3: Germantown, Milwaukee and La Crosse
After breakfast, we were on our way to the American Family Field (Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium) to line up for the anniversary parade. We dropped the car at Bradford Beach and left Julien (our photographer for the day) downtown. During that time, the rest of the group had fun meeting bikers from France, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, China, Korea, Russia and more... there were thousands of bikers, all lined up to leave from downtown.

Soon, we heard the rumble of the bikes at the end of the column and saw it begin to move. We were ready for the experience of a lifetime and impatient to start riding. The column moved at a steady pace and as we arrived in town we were welcomed by a fantastic crowd, with some kids high-fiving bikers. When we landed in Veterans Park, we had goosebumps and some of us shed tears.

Once we’d got our breath back, we hit the road towards La Crosse, Wisconsin. We saw Amish carts and were riding alongside the Mississippi River when a storm hit with heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightning – we could barely see the tree branches in the road ahead. Fortunately, it only lasted for 15 minutes before better weather returned. We reached our next hotel around 8pm and grabbed pizzas for supper.

Day 4: La Cross to Chamberlain
Two of my son’s American friends joined us for breakfast, so we now had 11 bikes, one car and 23 people. At around 9am, we crossed the Mississippi River and started our 700km ride towards Chamberlain, South Dakota. Weather conditions were excellent, and we chatted with a Canadian biker at our gas station lunch stop who had seen us in Milwaukee. I could feel that my clutch was slipping in fourth and fifth gear, so I called Danny and stopped by the dealership in Rapid City. Reaching Chamberlain at 5pm, we checked in, unloaded the SUV and went for dinner at Silver Dollar Bar, where the owners welcomed us like family. We ate, played games and spent a lovely evening after a long day of riding and emotions. We then went to bed, ready to cross the Missouri River the next day.

In the next installment: mountains, museums and an unexpected celebrity encounter!