Safety courses, and alot of seat time are about the best thing you can do. Depending on what kind of riding your into there are tons and tons of really cool roads down in southern mn, and southwest WI. I gave up riding on the street a few years ago, got into roadracing. Not sure if you have ever heard of MSTA, but they have a mn chapter which MN-MSTA.com i believe. They put on some pretty cool rides, everything from beginner to advanced riders. Some day i might pick up a cruiser, i do enjoy just going out and putzin through the country side enjoying the scenery.