Biking Dude Blog

I woke up early this morning to the sound of a surprise thunderstorm rolling in. I delayed my departure for a while, leaving around 8am. The first 30 miles were on a dirt trail, and it was still raining, though the thunder had abated. My rain great performed admirably, but I still got lots of dirt in me and my bike. I also had my hardest down tree yet, I had to carry my bike sideways under a tree trunk. Once I got off the trail, I took 30 minutes to clean of my bike and dry my raincoat (the rain had passed by then). The next sixty miles were easy by comparison. Paved roads with generous shoulders, a slight tailwind, and cool, sunny weather. I crossed the Mississippi at Nelson/Wabasha, and continued on to my hosts Martha, Brad, Emily, and Willa, who live on a farm just west of frontenac. There was a really good climb up a dirt road to get to their house, which was actually pretty fun after the flat (but fast!) terrain along the river. The picture is from reeds landing. I saw a barge going up the river, a pretty cool sight. Now I'm all caught up on my posts, whew.

I finally got to la Crosse Saturday afternoon, after a grueling day of riding limestone trails in the heat and humidity. I had a beer at pearl street brewery before meeting up with Olena, my host in la Crosse. I met Mike, Toni, and Dan/Doug (it was hard to hear) there, and talked about my trip a little. Hi guys, thanks for offering to help me find a place to spend the night! Olena was my wonderful host, we talked about traveling and the sights we have seen. Thanks for hosting Olena, I hope we meet again someday!

This was the view just inside tunnel 1 on the Elroy Sparta trail. The trail was built on an old railroad path that went through three tunnels with a combined length of 1.36 miles. The rain from the previous night combined with the heat made the air around the tunnels hazy with fog. Bikes are walked through these tunnels, and the cool air was a welcome relief. Approaching the second tunnel, I was actual able to smell the tunnel air before I rounded the bend and saw the tunnel entrance. In the third and longest tunnel, I just stopped in the middle, turned off my light and listened to the water drip in the dark of the tunnel. Greg, thanks for the tip on taking this trail, it was really, really cool.

The harder they fall, right across the trail. My ride on Saturday from wonewoc to la Crosse involved getting me and my bike over, around, under, or through six or seven trees that fell on the trail during the storm the night before. It was almost like doing cyclocross, especially since I was riding on dirt trails all day. I passed lots of recreational cyclists, many of whom were towing small children behind their bikes. I don't know how they managed these trees. This is definitely one time that packing light was a huge benefit. I can lift my bike over a waist high obstruction without a huge amount of difficulty.

One other thing from friday. Near the start of the 400 trail in reedsburg, some kind soul had set up this rest stop for bikers on the side if the trail with a water jug, chalkboard, and American flag. Whoever you are, thank you, this was a really nice thing to come across in my travels.

I stopped at the Wollersheim distillery near Sauk city in my way to wonewoc. When I arrived, there were 10 (!) Corvettes parked outside, here's a picture of three. The ride to wonewoc was long. I took back roads to get to reedsburg, so I had some pretty good hills to climb. Luckily, the down hill was nice, and I got my bike up to 44.6 mph. Fun! I stopped in rock springs, in need of water, and was directed to the eponymous fresh water spring a few blocks away. I stopped there for a snack, and met Paul, who I talked with about my trip for awhile. Hi Paul, if you're reading this! I finally made it to the American legion park in wonewoc, took a shower in their pool facilities (a pleasant surprise), then walked over to Old Blue for pizza. And it was very good pizza. Just the thing after a long day's ride. I chatted with the owners, Pat and Carol, for awhile. Hi if you're reading this, and thanks for the pizza! By the time I walked back to the park, the rain had already started. I set up my sleeping gear under a shelter, and hit the hay as soon as it was dark. Lots of lightning and rain, but it had cleared up by the morning. And that's what happened on Friday.

I stopped by the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison before heading out friday morning. After having ridden from Madison to (almost) the twin cities, I think it would be really cool to do a week long capitol to capitol tour, going from st Paul to Madison.

I traveled about 169.7 miles today.
Ok, time to catch up on posts. For starters, my post from my night in wonewoc (friday) didn't send until Saturday afternoon, so I've combined the millage from Saturday (75.9) and today (93.8) in today's miles. This is a picture of Emily, Dan, and Jake, my hosts in Madison. Only three days ago, but feels like such a long time. Dan made a great breakfast friday morning before I hit the road to go to wonewoc.

I traveled about 80.9 miles today.
Good day, but long. Will post more tomorrow. Looks like we're getting a good storm tonight, I'll be setting up my sleeping stuff under a shelter.

I traveled about 88.3 miles today.
The rain broke quickly this afternoon, far less water than I had expected, but still enough to get some mud on my tires. Madison is a really cool city, lots of cyclists. I'm staying with Emily, Dan, and their son Jake. After dinner, Dan and I took Jake for a walk and stopped at a really great ice cream place near their house. Camping at the American legion park in wonewoc tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be ok.