Hello Winter

Yes is seems that winter has really arrived in this neck of the woods - the wind chill factor is about -2 at the moment, so while the sun shines and the sky is bright blue, the wind just goes straight through most of my clothes, leaving me feeling just slightly warmer than a frozen icicle.

Today's steps = 14,237
Rode the bike for 5k

Today on my GCC travels I am in Milwaukee, the weather here is cooler than we have had for a while, they are predicting mid 20's tomorrow, so I am pretty happy. Whenever I think of Milwaukee I always think of Laverne and Shirley. At the start of each episode, Laverne and Shirley are seen skipping down the street, arm in arm, reciting a popular Yiddish chant: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" I am sure I have read somewhere that Penny Marshall (Laverne) sang this song as a child and suggested it for the opening credits. The show was a spin off from Happy Days.

Back to the present day Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin has two very big claims to fame. Firstly, it is known as a beer town. At one stage in its history, it was the largest beer-producing city in the world. Today it is still home to America's second largest beer producer - Miller.

Secondly Milwaukee is home to an icon that makes many drool, tremble or run for their lives (sometimes all three at once) – The Harley Davidson Motor Company. Harley's first bike was made in 1901 and they have always produced big, loud bikes with attitude. Which is probably why bike gangs love them so much (notably the Hell's Angels). It was Hollywood in the 50s, 60s and 70s who chose to make Harley's the bikes for bad guys and rebels (The Wild One, Easy Rider). This silver screen image attracted the bad boys to the brand and became a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can take a walk through the Harley Museum and pick yourself up a belt buckle, after all 5% of the company's revenue comes from licensing of merchandise of the image not the selling of bikes. I hope to visit the museum while I am here.