Wayne Goes Cycling

To West Lorne
(75 miles and 600 feet of climbing)

Morning came early and we were having none of it.  I eventually got up and took down the tent and packed up.  Breakfast in the cafeteria was just fine.  All breakfasts seem to blend into a collage of oatmeal, eggs and OJ.  Once we were off, it was a pleasant ride through the countryside.  I could see the smokestacks of what I though was Detroit Edison’s Belle River Power plant. 

The route took us to Marine City on the St. Clair River.  There we could cross into Canada on the ferry for $1.00 per cyclist.  It was strange to share the ferry with a large semi-truck hauling Liquid CO2.Once we got to Canada, the ferry rose considerably when it rolled off onto the shore.  The trip through Canadian Customs was pretty easy with our passports. 

As we were traveling across the flat farmland of this past of Ontario, a woman flagged us down wanting to know if we were coming back this way so she could put out water for us.  She said it was going to be the hottest day of the year.  We thanked her for her thoughtfulness, but we told her we were on a one way trip and would not be returning.  She was impressed with our trip plans and what we already did.  The land continued on flat with lots of corn fields and hayfields.

Picnic Stop at the Oak Creek community center which included two of the friendliest neighbors.  They had interesting lawn chairs with designs woven into the chair fabrics.  I couldn’t believe how much watermelon I ate.  Shulie reminder us that she needed to return to her teaching job and it was time for her last picnic duties.

In Bothwell, we stopped at for some more water at a convenience store.  The manager said that they did not have a public washroom and directed us across the street to an open garage next to a tiny town green.  The open garage door was in fact the entrance to a homegrown museum “Soldiers’ Hall of Fame” and had memorabilia about the wars that the Canadians had participated in.  They also had notebooks of lots of veteran’s stories, remembrances and tributes for the Canadians of World wars I and II. There were also a number of notebooks for Americans who served in Korea and Vietnam as well as other of America’s wars.  It was a very nice little museum and he took donated materials from almost anyone that was willing to donate items.  This museum has been the work of one man and he had been working on this museum since October  2002 when he was sadden visiting the grave of a recently local deceased veteran that his war stories had also been lost to eternity with his passing.  He wanted to create a more permanent repository for their stories.  This museum was the result of his individual effort and will.  http://www.soldiers-wall-of-fame-bothwell-ontario.piczo.com

I told him that I was riding for Soldier’s Heart a veteran’s support organization and he thanked me.  He noted that when school kids came, he made a point to let them know that there are veterans from these wars that did not receive any physical wounds but who were never able to return to civilian life.  He said that many spent years and years at the London Ontario veteran’s home.  They decided to see if the local reporter could do a short story on our trip, so a he went to the newspaper offices.  A woman came to photograph us in the museum with our bicycles.  Gail wrote a few notes for the caption (or brief article) about CycleAmerica, our trip and Soldier’s Heart.

The heat was pretty intense all day long.   When we go to the school, the showers were all the automatic temperature kind (no adjustment) and this time the water was on hot.  Far too often we get almost warm water or barely-warmed cold water

After dinner, I went to lay down for a while and just crashed for the rest of the night. 

To Richmond
( miles and  feet of climbing)

Getting up in Frankenmuth was a little more interesting than at other locations.  Sprinklers came on in the morning as we were warned.  John from the staff was surprised to have his tent get suddenly soaked.  He had set up the tent after the managing director of the school had talked to us and said it looked like all the tents were in the safe areas where the sprinklers wouldn’t get anyone.  I pack-up the tent as quickly as possible because I a second set of sprinklers turned on  and I was concerned that a third set would start-up closer to my tent. 

Breakfast was at the Barvarian Inn.  This morning, breakfast didn’t go very smoothly.   The breakfast was good, but there was a little problem with the accounting system the wait-staff.  To properly account for tips, each waitress needed to know who they were serving and then tended to avoid catching the eye of anybody that wasn’t one at one of their own tables.    Orange juice also was an “extra” and needed to be accounted for separately.  This made it hard on the overwhelmed staff and service was pretty uneven.

After breakfast it was out of town and onto the country roads.  We ended up going through a number of small crossroad towns on the way.  One of the towns was Millington.  My first wife had taught 7th grade math there and I stopped to take a picture of the middle school that was along the way. 

The Picnic Stop was at a little park off the main road in the town on Brown City, the home of the motor home.  It was a nice shady area with a small set of bleachers forth ball field.  Carol was in charge of today’s picnic. 

With about 20 miles more to go, we stopped in the little town of Capac and I bought a gallon jug of water ($1.19) that was cheaper than a 16 oz bottle of water ($1.29).  I filled our water bottles and proceeded to pour down our jerseys to cool us off.  While Gail let herself and her feet cool off some more, I went out and did a few extra miles. 

It was more country roads and cornfields.  The houses here were all quite neatly kept up … unlike the hit or miss of the houses between Ludington and Farwell.  Partly because I was riding faster than Gail, I frequently circled back a quarter mile to get behind Gail again and continued riding behind her.  Then I would pass her.  I claimed to be a pesky honey bee and was saying buzz-buzz-buzz as I zoomed on. 

Upon arriving at the high school, there were lots of strange faces around.  It turned out that there were football tryouts at the school and the locker room was over-run with team wanna-bes.  The grandfather of one of the kids helped me move my duffel bags and I set up the tent.  He complained about how “soft” kids were these days and that they need structure and hard work.

After a shower and changing clothes, I noted that the grandfather was still there and I started talking with him and a group of others about the sports teams in town and our CycleAmerica trip.  Eventually I talked about the Soldier’s Heart aspect of the trip and offer to give them some materials.  One was interested in the materials, but the grandfather declined the bumper sticker but was interested in the printed materials.  I also gave him a copy of the fundraising flyer and pointed out the part that discussed “Twelve Stages of a Warrior’s Path Home” and the veteran’s return workshops that Soldier’s Heart puts on.  While I do not know if my guess was correct, I thought he might have been a Vietnam Vet, possibly a marine, with PTSD issues.

Dinner was served in the school cafeteria and was a partly Mexican theme (with baked potatoes) and salad. 

I did laundry in town while Gail went out to dinner with her best friend from her middle school and high school days.  Everyone seemed to notice that I had someone to chauffer me to the Laundromat and wonders why I got such attention from the locals.
 

To Frankenmuth
(88 miles and 600 feet of climbing)

Breakfast was provided in the school cafeteria by the same folks that gave us that wonderful dinner the night before.  I’ve taken to eating a lot of  oatmeal these days and it seems like this is one of the staples that has been requested by CycleAmerica.  I keep hearing requests for more oatmeal … more oatmeal.  I’m getting used to it now; although I still really like my scrambled eggs. 

We left the school in Farwell and headed east on Route 10 toward the city of Claire where we had driven to last night.  Once in town we turned north.  I stopped at a Marathon station that had a Subway Sandwich Shop counter inside.  I tool a picture of this building.  I was going to send this to my two boys because we had eaten there several times after each week we had spent at the Lost Lake Boy Scout Camp.   We continued on; then turned east and then back south to Route 10 again.  Once we were at Rout 10 we picked up the bikepath.  The detour was needed only to get around a part of the bikepath that was nearly finished going under a major limited-access highway.  It looked nearly completed, but it was ready not today.

The bike path from Claire to Midland was wonderful. It was and relatively new, smooth pavement and it was flat and there was no wind.  This allowed us to travel at about 17 MPH for quite a long distance.  There were lots of wildflowers along side the path, but they were not as spectacular as the Cannon Falls bike path in Minnesota.  We talked to a number of people about the trip and one of the people said that this trail was rated among the best rail trails in the country.  One elderly gentleman was really impressed that I was riding for Soldier’s Heart and veterans with PTSD issues.  He said he would contact the organization.  Then we continued on to the center of Midland where we came to the “tridge.”  A tridge is a three legged bridge where center is unsupported over the confluence of the two rivers.  There is probably only one “tridge” in the world and this is its unique name.

We continued on a kinda-bike path through the parks area in central Midland and eventually the path just ended.  We couldn’t figure out where to go next so we asked at a neighboring instant oil change.  They told us how to get to the park where the picnic stop was.  They couldn’t believe that we I had ridden from Seattle, WA.  One of them was glad to get one of my bumper stickers and said that his father had just retired from the military. 

The picnic stop was at the town senior center and we were able to use the washrooms and get cold water from the water fountains.  Then it was time to head out.  I added a few extra miles while Gail continued enjoying lunch and the shade

It was hot and the temperature on one of the buildings said that it was 104 degrees and I think that it was too high.  The weather,com site said that it was in the mid 90’s.  The humidity did not seem too bad though.  As long as we continued to ride, the breeze kept us cool. 

In the mid afternoon, I was getting hot and needed a break.  The biggest problem was that the soles of my feet were getting really tender and I needed to cool them off.  So we went looking for a convenience store for ice cream and eventually we found one.  The woman manager invited us to spend time inside where it was cooler.  She was unhappy because she had a “drive-away” earlier today.  This was an unwelcome occurrence since she was trying to be a good role-model and always being attentive to what was happening at the pumps for her other employees.  But this one slipped through.  I left some Soldier’s Heart materials (flyers and bumper stickers) with her for her community bulletin board.  

After riding through more and more corn fields (with shorter corn than we saw in the Midwest states), we finally arrived in Frankenmuth, I was just short of 100 miles (along the way I added some extra miles) so we went past the school and came back.  Another day … another “century” ride.  I set up the tent and proceeded to get showered and changed just in time for the shuttle to dinner.  While waiting for the dinner shuttle, we talked with the person in charge of the schools when she came by to see how everything was going.  She ran the adult enrichment programs and was proud of the things the town offered.  She noted that the sprinklers on the athletic field would go off at 6 AM, but all of our tents seemed far enough way from them.  She ended up being annoyed with a comment that was made about Frankenmuth being only a façade that imitated the façade of a German tourist town’s.  Oh well!

The dinner at the Bavarian Inn was excellent.  However, being among the very last, there was a surprising little of the wonderful German potato salad and sauerkraut left.  The sausages were great and the sauerkraut was wonderful.  I wished for more!

Gail and I then took a walk back to the school and spent time reading the informational signs and doing a little window shopping.  Frankenmuth was a neat little tourist town that had all the trappings of a Bavarian tourist town.  Everything was neat and tidy and inviting … except that the Frankenmuth Brewery was closed and for sale.  I had been there years ago and it was sad to see it closed.

After the ride meeting, there was time to work on recapping the events for the last few days.

To Farwell
(92 miles and 2500 feet of climbing)

The morning was a little more restless than usual.  Gail (my wife) had arrived the afternoon before with some problems.  Her bike had not arrived with her and the two airlines involved could not give her any information on its whereabouts.  About 9 PM on Sunday, she had reached the baggage department for Northwest and they told her it was now at the Grand Rapids airport and that it could be delivered after midnight by a baggage courier. It was finally delivered at 4:50 AM and our alarm went off ten minutes later at 5:00 AM. 

It was time to get up because breakfast was to start at 6:00; I needed to see how our new two-person camp break-down routine would work; and I needed to assemble Gail’s newly delivered bike.  Once we were packed, we were off to breakfast in downtown Ludington.  The comments I heard from others were that it was an excellent buffet and I agreed that it was among the best.  Then we began our ride out of town.

The road out of town was quite long.  I thought Ludington was a small town, but it had a long commercial sprawl out on Route 10.  After about ten miles, the route took us off of Route 10 and onto smaller county roads.  These roads took us through lots of pine plantations.  Much of this area had been logged and completely cleared in the 1800s through the 1920s.  In the 1930s, millions of little pine trees were planted by the CCC in rows that are still visible.  So as we were riding along the road, you could look to the left and see row after row of 100’ tall pine trees.  There were also patches of woodlands that had not been planted and were just wild forest. 

There were lots of houses in the woods and along side the roads.  Many looked like cottages and were closed up while others looked like they were year round homes.  The level of maintenance of the houses varied considerably.  The route went south and east and south and east through a number of townships. 

We rode through the towns of Baldwin and Idyllwild.  The town of Idyllwild was really economically depressed.  Many of the housed were boarded up.  Others were simply just poorly maintained and a few were actually burned and boarded-up.  Most of the side roads were dirt / sand and some were overgrown as if they were originally laid out and then nothing ever happened to them. 

Eventually we came to the picnic stop on a beautiful lake.  John had made a corn relish that was really tasty and a few cyclists actually took a swim in the lake.  It was not nearly hot enough to entice me to take a swim.  One of the town’s business people was riding by and welcomed us to town.  She explained that in the 1910-1920 time period someone (?) purchased several townships and enticed only African-Americans to move there.  These townships became centers for entertainment and many African-American musicians played at the local music hall and rose to fame as the audience would come great distances.  I thought that this explained the stunted and sporadic development in this area.

After leaving the picnic, the roads began to be more rolling hills and some more agricultural land and fewer pine plantations.  There were corn fields that were much smaller than those we saw in the western states.  The corn also seemed to be much shorter.  The pattern of affluent houses down the street from ramshackle houses continued throughout the day’s trip. 

Upon reaching Reed City, we ran across a delightful water stop at the Lutheran Church and school … courtesy of Judy’s cousin and her kids.  There was a table of ice water, ice tea, brownies, watermelon, ice cream and more.  Ice Water!  She also had a map of the United Sates and a smaller one of the world.  We were all asked to sign our names next to the place we were from.  It was a really neat thing to do.  What a delightful stop on a hot sunny (nearly windless) day.   

Continuing on, the roads twisted from south to east to south to east some more.  There were more hills and I was beginning to regret having told people that Michigan was nearly flat.   The hills were not very large though with rises of 60 feet at one time probably the typically “big” hill.  It is just that there were many of them.

Eventually we got to Route 10 again and had to deal with the trucks and traffic for another 10 miles before turning south toward Farwell.  A short while later, the school was in view and after 103 miles, Gail and I were ready to call it a day.  I set up the tent and cleaned up before dinner. 

There was a smoker cooking pork on the side of the school and the High School Football Boosters treated us to some wonderful smoked pork loins, salad, fruit and more. 

In the evening, two of my friends from Jackson came up for a visit.  We had dinner with the group at the school and went out to the Dougherty Hotel in Claire for a drink. It was a great little visit. 

Then it was time to get ready for bed.

Nothing to report except difficulties getting Gail and her bike  here.  It appears (so far) that her bike is lost in transit and this is a disaster because Continental and Northwest won’t do anything because they are too busy pointing fingers.  It also appears that her biking shoes are missing from her luggage and that they may have been removed for inspection by the TSA baggage inspection group and never returned to the correct luggage.  Her luggage had the standard TSA notice saying that “this luggage had been ransacked for your security (or something like that).”  More on this saga in coming posts.

The Ferry Crossing
(40 miles and 500 feet of climbing)

Today it was the usual process to get up and get going.  I had slept in the gym again and I needed to gather up all my belonging.  There were a few people up and packed already.  There were going to be a lot of people leaving today (and some had already departed the day before) and logistics were to be challenging.  There were special arrangements to get all the vehicles up to the ferry dock by 11:30 and us riders to be ready to board by 12:30.  Because of the logistics, there was to be no SAG support without an SOS from one of the sweep riders. 

Once the bags were safely loaded on the truck and the tires were firmly inflated, I took off for the 6:00 breakfast at the same place we had dinner last night.  Once I got there, the news was that they had been expecting us at 6:30, not 6:00 so things were not quite ready.  We all ended up sitting around the U-shaped table and once the food came out to the buffet table, it was like a hoard of locusts had descended upon the food. 

Once breakfast was finished, it was time to head to Manitowoc, the Picnic and the Ferry.  The weather was cool and a short sleeve jersey top was just about right once I got warmed up by riding.  The first part of the trip was along a bike path that went along a busy highway.  This bike path was unlike most others that we’ve ridden on.  It was not an old railroad grade, but rather, the Old Plank Trail recreational path followed the ups and downs of the terrain that the highway went through.  There were lots of rolling ups and down; and a lot of street crossings that needed to be navigated.  Because it was so early on a Saturday morning, there was no traffic on those cross streets.  It was a delightful 10 mile ride east toward Lake Michigan with a cross wind from the north.

Then we turned north to Ludington.  Yes; into the wind!  It seems to never fail that we need to ride into the wind.  Much of the ride north was along sparsely populated roads with little traffic.  There were lots of forest land on either side as well as lots of cornfields and dairy farms.  The road had a lot of ups and downs and I got to work on my climbing hills with a standing position.  I find I can climb a 50 foot ascent in this manner, but any more and I need to quickly drop down into my lowest gears and spin up the rest of the hill. 

The road went on and eventually we came to our first water stop.  This was a lovely spot where we got out first glimpse of the lake.  It was so big and so broad and looked like the ocean.  Continuing on from the water stop, there were more woods, more farms, and now there were occasional houses on the bluffs overlooking the Lake.  One of the water towers that we passed along the way had the words “Kohler” on it and they looked like the “Kohler” logo on the bathroom fixture catalogues that I had been going through before this trip.  I though how appropriate for a toilet manufacturer to have enough water to flush a million times (for testing purposes?) at their own factory.  However, the smaller words on the tower added “Power Systems” at the bottom and this made me think that the factory wasn’t about toilets after all.  Oh! How the mind wanders while the feet go spinning along!

Once we reached Manitowoc, there were lots of houses and the town was bigger than many we’ve ridden through in the last couple of months.  Because there was plenty of time, I made a detour through the town to find a Post Office.  It wasn’t easy because it was a big town, but once I asked for directions it wasn’t too difficult to find.  

The Picnic stop was at the home of one of the former CycleAmerica staff members.  Her house was on the same street as the ferry dock and it was very convenient.  Her house was surrounded by bicycles and cyclist all buzzing around eating and chatting.  It was a delightful stop.  Her friend was doing reflexology treatments in the garage for a nominal fee. 

Then it was off to the ferry dock.  The first glimpse of the ferry was impressive.  I’ve ridden this ferry twice before; once about twenty years ago and a second time about ten years ago.  The first thing to notice was the size of the ship.  The second was the smoke coming out of the smokestack.  The ship is fueled by coal, a remnant of its prior function of transporting train traffic, including lots of coal cars, across Lake Michigan.  The loading of the boat was a festive time with lots of activity and excitement all around.  Paul from the Netherlands dipped his front wheel in Lake Michigan.  Eventually we all walked out bicycles onto the ship and stacked them along the wall next to the motorcycles. 

Then it was upstairs to explore the ship.   My exploring didn’t go very far because I found the movie theater and sat in the comfortable chairs and promptly fell asleep.  I awoke occasionally when the movie about the history of the car ferry ships was playing.  I recalled seeing this on the last trip I took across the lake.  It was still interesting.  Then a real movie started and I watched the entire film.  It was about the rebuilding of the Marshall University football team in 1970 after 75 members of the team, coaching staff and fans were killed in an airplane crash. 

Once the movie was over it was up to the deck to see where we were.  We could see the Michigan shore in the distance and there were lots of our cycle group milling around on the deck.  I worked on some postcards.  As the shore grew closer and we entered the harbor, the attention turned to watching the ship dock.  Then it was waiting in line to get down to the bikes, then it was off the ship.

We had been given maps to the school which was about a mile away.  There were no yellow arrows so it was an adventure to follow a map without the whispering yellow arrows helping ensure we made the correct turns. The school was nice and I set up the tent for the weekend.  Unfortunately, I set it up near a basketball court and soon there was a game of neighborhood kids playing.  I decided to relocate the tent so I took everything out of it and carried the assembled tent to another spot away from the basketball courts.  Apparently, I was told, that it was hysterical to see my tent “on the move” with only my feet visible underneath. 

For dinner, about a dozen of us went back downtown in an overloaded taxi-van to Michaels Fine Foods.  The beer and prime rib was good. There was a large TV and we were able to get the two hour recap of the Tour de France events for Stage 19.  Tomorrow will be the final stage, Stage 20, of the Tour. 

Then it was bed time again.

To Plymouth
(62 miles and 1900 feet of climbing)

Sleeping in the Beaver Dam High School had gotten off to a little shaky start because of the thunder storm.  While we had been cycling through drought plagued areas, this town had received a two inch deluge just the previous day.   It looked like something similar was going to happen tonight.  Our weather forecast for today was 60 percent chance of rain and a high of 60 degrees at our destination, Plymouth.  I decided that today would be a great day for my long sleeve jersey and I made sure I had my rain gear. 

Breakfast was a short ride away and it was fully satisfactory.  Then we needed to double back a little and to head east and north on a number of county roads.  The route was pleasant going through corn fields and a surprising number of open fields. The pavement was generally good for riding on, but there were often the irritating thunk … thunk … thunk of underlying concrete pavement seams. 

The path took us along a busy highway and then along the Heinxxx Marsh.  This marsh was very large and is part of a National Wildlife Refuge area.  I stopped and saw that there was a three mile automobile loop through this part of the marsh and I followed it.  There were varied types of terrain ranging from forested areas, to prairie, to open ponds, to cat-tailed choked marshes.  There were a number of pull offs for the information signs.  Goldfinches were everywhere and there were a lot of other water birds that I could see … Sandhill cranes, Great Herons, Egrets as well as Canada Geese and ducks.  Wildflowers were all around and it was a delightful place.  I rode my bike out on the floating boardwalk (it was wide and there was a railing) and it was delightful to be underneath the dozens of swirling birds (purple martins?).  I rode the trail a second time in the opposite  direction to see it again. 

Continuing on down the major highway again, there was a sign to be aware of wild life crossing and noting that there had been 394 roadkills this year.  I assume that this count did not include frogs and snakes or it would be too low.  For the next 10 miles or so, there were a few other observation areas.  And the size of the marsh was even more impressive.

Once we turned off the busy road, there was a water stop with Lemonade instead of Gatorade.  This was a pleasant change except that it boasted less sugar and there was no sodium and potassium (ingredients that Gatorade has and which cyclists need).  The route passed through more rolling hilly terrain with corn fields, grass lands and some woods.

As I was traveling along, I started to see some lawn signs opposing some wind turbines.  In front of one house was a huge sign that said “Greed and Stupidity Is Ruining the County” and “Good Neighbors Don’t Allow 400 Foot Towers.”  I stopped to ask a man who was cutting his grass about the signs.  He told me about the plans to install about 130 turbines in the area and that construction had just started three weeks ago.  He went on to talk about the proximity of these wind turbines to the Wildlife Refuge, bird fatalities and the central part of the these marshes in bird migration.  He noted that the two wind turbines that we could see had been there about ten years and they were half the height of the new ones.  I told him about my riding for Soldier’s Heart and gave him a bumper sticker and some literature. 

The new ones must be really big because it was at least five miles to get to the ones that were only 200 feet tall that were in the distance.   Today’s ride was quite long before the Picnic stop and I was getting hungry.  As I turned a corner in one of the little crossroads, I noticed two familiar bikes and thought I’d stop in to see what was happening.  I found Beth and Peter finishing up their fish and chips platters and some high carbohydrate liquid refreshments.  They suggested that I join them, but I politely declined.  It was only another half hour, or so, ride to the Picnic Stop.  So I continued on.   

The Picnic Stop was in the Kettle Moraine State Forest and it was a nice ride through the forested areas.   The pavement was new and the only thing I got tired of was the ups and downs and the road followed the surface of the glacial moraines.   At the picnic stop, I was welcomed as a long lost rider.  I was much further behind the main group.  They were glad to hear the news that the other two riders had already eaten and they could start putting the food away.  As we were getting ready to leave, the others showed up and got some snacks for the road.   I would not be surprised if this was the exact place my Wisconsin friends had taken me to 20 years earlier. 

In the mid day sun, I was pretty warm.  It never rained on us this morning and my long sleeve jersey was hot with the temperatures were in the high 80’s (not the 60’s … as we heard in the forecast).  There was less than 20 miles more to go and it turned out that there were a number of pretty big hills.   They were fun to go down and not as much fun to climb.  They were probably in the 150 foot climbing range.  There was a really nice downhill as we entered the town of Plymouth.  Then the route took us through the downtown area and then to the school.  Once there I set up my nest in the gym and then decided to add some more miles.  It was suggested that I go to the “Old Plank Road” recreational path. It went almost all the way to Lake Michigan at Sheboygan.  It was a nice path and eventually I was able to get 103 in for the day.  “Another day … Another Century,” I began to say.

This being Friday evening, there was an awards ceremony after dinner.  Doug and Joyce were given a pair of “personal billboards” that pinned onto a shirt and these were really great for them.  A little 1.5” x 4” LED panel would scroll words such as “Bye Bye” and “Thanks So Much.”   Peter got the rider of the week award and said his best day ever cycling was a day he rode in Spain up a long climb and at the top was a monastery where he was going to spend the evening and they had a bar with good beer there. 

The children’s theater was putting on a play “Tom Sawyer.”  We were invited to observe the play (free) if we sat in the back.  I wanted to go, but the meeting went so long, I decided to walk into town and get some copies made.  I ended up stopping at one of the bars and enjoying some liquid carbohydrates. 

The Earliest Picnic Stop
(65 miles and 1500 feet of climbing)

Today, we were to get up and ride to Beaver Dam.  The day started of with a ride around the middle school on the bottom of the street and off to breakfast at the breakfast buffet where we ate the previous evening.  I remember looking at the parched, golden brown lawns of dead grass and feeling the pain of drought.   We had our own dining area at the front of the building and there were rows of tables for us.  As we left, we headed out on Mulberry Street and all I could think of was the Dr. Seuss book entitled, “And to Think It Happened on Mulberry Street.”  Then we passed signs for the Barnum and Baily’s Circus Museum/.  They didn’t open until 9:00, but rumors were that some from the group were going to be visiting it before heading out.  I wasn’t so inclined.

The road out of town was quite pleasant.  The shoulder was generally wide enough and the trucks were not too frequent.  We crossed the Baraboo river.  I don’t recall seeing it, but the roadside information signs said I passed it and that the Baraboo River valley in this area illustrates almost all phases of Wisconsin geology.  Continuing on, we crossed the Wisconsin River which was nearly all sand bar (mud bar) that is.  The drought had diminished the flow immensely to the lowest level in many years (according to a news paper article). As soon as we crossed the river, we turned south into the wind.  And soon found ourselves in a park where the Picnic Stop was.  It was about 9:00 AM and not too many people were very hungry. 

The Picnic Stop was at a nice little lake and we had been told to bring some swim wear if we wanted to swim.  However, it was quite cool, not very sunny and somewhat windy.  This made it less than ideal for swimming.  Carrie from Massachusetts went for a brief swim, but decided to make it a short swim.  The Canada geese also made the beach environment less pristine than one would like. 

After taking a long refueling break, it was time to hit the road again.  There were a long succession of turns on county roads that were actually pleasant.  The winds out of the south and east made the ride harder than I wanted.  At one point, I turned around to ride with the wind just for the joy of a tailwind.  We’ve all gotten used to the fact that we will have lots of headwinds and we keep telling ourselves that “headwinds are my friend; They give me patience and they make me stronger …”  It doesn’t help much.

These county roads went up and down and they were tiring.  I had already done three 100 mile days this week and I was feeling the effects of the exertion.  The route went through mostly open land that was probably for grazing and haying.  There was less corn and soybeans here.   Continuing along, were was a stretch of the road that cut through the middle of one of the bays off of Beaver Lake.  Then I knew I was getting close to town.  Unfortunately, it was not all that close.  And once we made the final turn north toward town the traffic and congestion became much worse.  The routing through the town had lots of twists and turns and it was more confusing (and especially, it was further) than I had hoped.  Finally I made it to the school.  We couldn’t put tents on the grass next to the school because a rainstorm last night had left that area flooded.

I set up my nest in the gym again and began plotting my next activities.  I was feeling pretty good and after asking for where one might do some extra riding, the school custodian suggested some rides to the north. We had a map showing the county roads and I decided to go and see about putting on either wither 20 or 30 miles.  If I did 30, then I would have dome four centuries so far this week. 

The ride north of town was great.  After some food, I had energy and the wind was at my back as I rode north.  I knew that it would be much slower heading back to the school.  It was great fun to be zooming along at 18 -23 MPH on roads with no traffic and good pavements.  Yahoo!  These roads had some open fields as well as lots of corn.  Once I got back to the school, I had put on 101 miles.
 
Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant with a buffet, Dos Gringos, and it was really filling.  I tried to avoid some to the cheesiest foods, but, it is hard to avoid in the land of the “Wisconsin Cheese-heads.”  After dinner was the mundane task of laundry at the local Maytag center. 

We had been invited to a performance of “Singing in the Rain” by the local community theater, but laundry took too long, and I was too tired to go so I skipped it.   There was some trouble getting tall the gym lights out (a couple of fluorescents were still on).  I don’t remember them going off because I was soon sound asleep.
 

Thorin Oakenshield; Son of Thrain; King Under the Mountain
(76 miles and 2100 feet of climbing)

It was another day of waking up in the gym, packing and getting ready.  Then it was off to Breakfast at the same place we had dinner the previous evening.  It was a wonderful breakfast with a buffet of quiche, oatmeal and sweetbreads.  Orange Juice and Coffee were at the table along with a yogurt parfait (vanilla yogurt, with blueberries and strawberries and a dash of granola on top).  After eating too much again, it was time to get on the bike and start riding on the Sparta – Elroy Bike Path.

We got on the path behind the restaurant and rode through town for a few blocks to a park where there was a twenty foot tall man on an antique big wheel bicycle.  The sculpture talked to us and told us a few things about the path and how to get places.  If you missed what he said, just wait a few moments and he will start again.  We took pictures and then began to follow the route out of town.  Then there was a left hand turn onto the bike path in front of an old depot-type building.

The path was a crushed limestone which made a good surface to ride on.  I had been apprehensive after hearing that we would be riding 56 miles on an unpaved bike path.  I had been used to unpaved bike paths using pebble sized stones which were hard to ride on.  This surface was very good … even with the skinny road tires.  

The path entered the woods and it kept going on and on.  There was a gradual climb, but it was never very steep.  The path began to show slopes on both sides and an information sign said that this rail bed was made mostly of coal cinders.  We kept going on.  Then we came to someone’s backyard and there was a sign for water, soda and flashlights.  They were closed, but we didn’t need anything.  The reason for the flashlights was that we were approaching the first tunnel.  These tunnels are huge.  The first hint of the tunnel was a sudden drop in air temperature.  Then we saw the huge gaping hole in the mountain and two doors standing guard on either side.   The sign said that cyclists must walk their bicycles.  Because the tunnel was 3800 feet long, there was no light visible at the other end. 

Our group entered the tunnel and it quickly turned eerie.  A forty foot vaulted ceiling and the tunnel was nearly 20 feet wide, lit by a few flashlights made me think of the book “The Hobbit” again and the Name Thorin Oakenshield, Son of Thrain; King Under the Mountain was reverberating in my head.  It seemed like we were approaching the lair of Smaug (the dragon).  With water dripping from overhead, my thoughts suddenly switched to Golum and the Orc tunnels.  What an adventure!

Eventually the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel became visible.  Because it was so hot and humid outside, the moist air at the entrances turned to fog as it was cooled.  This made it hard to see anything outside the tunnel until we were near the end. Looking back at the tunnel, once again the doors stood like silent sentinels guarding the entrance. 

Once we were riding on the path again, the riding was easy because the slope was now downward.  It was a delightful ride through forested land with small bridges over streams and other roads that the path crossed over.  There was a road that paralleled the bike path that we could see from time to time.  Along the path there were a number of small towns where the town depot was converted to bike rental and snack shops.  Apparently the pie shop and ice cream shops abducted some of our riders. 

After crossing under the road that had paralleled the path, the path began to go up again.  It climbed gently until reaching a second tunnel.  This tunnel was less than half the length of the first one and you could see light at the other side.  It was just as impressive as the previous tunnel though. 

There was a water stop at a visitor’s center in Elroy.  I got some postcards and a few other items.  Eventually this part of the bike path gave way to a path that went through the open fields.  Sometimes there were trees alongside and sometimes there were none.  The path went on for miles like this and then the Baraboo River was on the left side.

The picnic stop was at Reedsboro which was as far as we were going on the path.  Since I had doubled back on part of the path to do an extra 16 miles (or fun), I was among the last to arrive.  Today was “Crazy Carry’s Salad and Corn Days” which hit the spot.  

After picnic, it was time to ride on roads again and one of the problems with this was that I needed to climb up real hills.  This was harder than I thought.  I suppose it has something with riding flat roads all day and then being shocked at a 12 percent climb.  Most of the hills were much gentler, but the heat and humidity of the day made them all harder work on the uphill.  This section was actually a really enjoyable ride through farmland and wooded areas.  Then we were at the crest of a hill and the entire valley was visible down below … a very pretty sight … even if the elevation difference was only about 400 feet (as opposed to the 4000 foot vistas in the Rockies). 

Once at the school, I had put on another 100.3 miles today.  Dinner was at a local buffet and it was good.  I was tired so there was nothing to report after dinner.

One Case When No Headwind is Bad
(94 miles and 1500 feet of climbing)

This morning Breakfast was set for 6:30 and about 5:45 it seemed like a good time to begin getting up.  There was sunlight coming into the gym through the open door.  I didn’t sleep too well because of the heat, humidity and stickyness. Breakfast was provided by “The Friends of Laura Ingels Wilder” and it consisted of a baked egg casserole, sausage, toast, and fruit.  There was a cereal option too. 

Eventually it was time to get on the bike and go.  As we rode south along the Mississippi River, there were times when we would get glances of the vast expanse of the river.  On the western side there was a large estuary, or backwater, that was huge.  All I could think of was the number of mosquitoes that could grow there.  Across the river we could see Minnesota. 

The road had its modest ups and downs, but the trend was downriver so there were not many significant uphills.  Most of the time there were so many trees that it was difficult to see any part of the river.  A double set of rail road tracks were between us and the river.  A number of trains passed us as we cycled along.  There were

One of the more interesting places we passed was the Lock and Dam Number 4.  There was a visitor platform with information about the estuary and the locks.  You had to climb a pedestrian walkway over the railroad tracks to get to the visitors platform.  Looking south, there were a number of smokestacks from some large coal fueled power plants.  Later as we cycled past them, they were Dairyland Power Cooperative’s Ames and Magdett plants. 

Continuing on down the Route 35 we came to a bike shop that was great. They were on the south side of town and they had lots of bikes and lots of accessories.  I ended up getting some energy food, skin cream and some more clothing.  I was there quite a while.  At the Picnic Stop, there was almost nobody there.  They had already done the picnic and they were gone.  There were about five of us in this last batch of riders.  The special meal deal for today was tortilla corn chowder that was excellent.  

Shortly after Picnic, we turned inland and began climbing out of the Mississippi valley.  It wasn’t a big climb. But there were definitely more ups than down in this stretch of the route.  The weather was hot and sticky and there was virtually no wind.  We had hoped that we would have a day with no headwind and especially no headwind while going uphill.  Today was that day!  But I found out that with no wind and the slow speeds that I typically maintain on the ascent, there was no cooling and that made it really HOT.  A little headwind would have been nice.  

About 10 miles from Sparta, I ran across an interesting tiny state park.  It was a series of small sculptures that was created by two retired people between 1929 and 1936.  These sculptures included a passenger ship, a replica of their wedding cake, a church (or synagogue) and a peace monument and a flag.  For color, they used broken red, yellow, blue and green glass (and probably other colors too) inserted into concrete.  The state of Wisconsin acquired it as part of a folk art initiative.

Shortly after the glass park, we turned south toward Sparta and the last eight miles was mostly rolling hills down into town.  Once I reached the school, I decided to add an extra eight miles to make today’s total mileage over 100 miles (third time in three riding days).  

Dinner was downtown and after getting cleaned up we all went.  It was a delicious meal with chicken and rice in a cream sauce (with vegetables and bread).  I was surprised when they started handing out small hot fudge ice cream sundaes to everyone.  They were good.

Returning to the school, there was a meeting about tomorrow’s route. And then it was time for getting ready for bed.  Once again there was trouble getting the gym lights out, but, eventually the maintenance people were able to do that.