Wauconda mayor an easy rider

Editor's note: This is another installment in our weekly series highlighting what people like about living in Lake County. This week, we asked that question of Wauconda Mayor Salvatore Saccomanno.

Some men like to play golf.

Others watch football on TV.

But for Wauconda Mayor Salvatore Saccomanno, recreation takes a much louder form.

And that's why he names motorcycle riding as one of his favorite things about Lake County.

"I enjoy it, I enjoy the camaraderie," says Saccomanno, who rides a silver and black 2003 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Anniversary Issue.

As a Harley fan, he notes motorcycle riding isn't just an all boys' club anymore.

More women are riding, he says. And that's a good thing.

"They promote a lot more safety than guys do," Saccomanno said. "They keep us in line, is what they do."

The mayor, a motorcycle enthusiast since the 1970s, said he did stop riding for some time after a crash.

But now he's back and taking to the winding roads and byways around the town he helps govern.

"We've got a lot of motorcycle-friendly businesses throughout Lake County," he notes, naming the Broken Oar in Cary and Jesse Oaks in Gages Lake as particular favorites.

Some of the roads he likes traveling in his Harley include Fairfield and Chardon roads, but Saccomanno takes various two-lane highways all the way up to Wisconsin.

"It's a little bit quieter and a little bit more peaceful," he says, adding he tries to take to the road every weekend, at least for an hour or two.

And his favorite type of weather for riding is what we're enjoying right now -- fall.

"The weather's a little bit crisper," Saccomanno said. "When you're riding a Harley and the temperature's 80, 90 degrees, the engine gives off a lot of heat."