When you’re young, it’s fun to hit the trails on a motorbike, flying around corners, soaring over tree roots, zipping between trees, and just having a blast. That fun can continue as riders zoom into middle age and beyond—like those still doing it in their 60s, 70s, even 80s. 

There are plenty of bikers in northern Michigan whose enthusiasm hasn’t been tempered by their years. People like Bill Edmonson and Dave Geisler, who are among a group of riders who get together Wednesday nights—the Wednesday Night Nationals, or WNN—to ride various trails throughout the region and beyond. While some members are in their teens, 20s, and 30s, there are a significant number of those at the other end of the age spectrum. Their group, which is now overseen by Epic Powersports, has grown in the last decade; in mid-2014 it was regularly 20-30 riders, and “on Dec. 5, 2022, we organized a WNN ride on a Saturday with 56 riders,” says Geisler.

Read more about WNN - plus several other stories about biking and trails - in this week's Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker. The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a free copy on newsstands at nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.