As a 51-year-old born and raised in Wisconsin who didn’t ride a Harley-Davidson until 2015, when given the opportunity to ride one all around California for two weeks I chose the Fat Bob Softail. I was drawn to the brawny bars and front tire, and the un-Harley aesthetic. Riding it north on US Route 101 from Los Angeles last Sunday was fun, but I wanted a bigger and dumber challenge to really get a feel for the bike. So I called my moto buddy Ryan.

Autumn is quickly shifting into winter in several states this week, as a foot of snow is falling in South Lake Tahoe and the white stuff is blanketing parts of New Hampshire. Although I’m 11-plus years removed from living in the Midwest, I carry fond memories of zooming around Pelican Lake in north central Wisconsin on my parents’ snowmobiles, striking fear into my wife as my brother Joel and I raced across the snowy ice at a squillion miles an hour.