Biking Dude Blog

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 traveled about 82 miles today.
I realized that I never sent a post from my bike ride into the twin cities last Monday, so here is my delayed update. I had another morning rain storm as I was getting ready to leave, so I didn't get going until a little later. Pretty easy ride, just following the MRT into st Paul. I stopped at the great water brewing company for a bit while I waited to meet up with my parents. Great waters is pretty unique in that it does cask conditioned ale and is CAMRA certified. For those that aren't familiar, I'll just say that they make some very fine English ales. Met up with parents mid afternoon, and we rode together for 20 miles to my house in Richfield. Then it was a lengthy dance of driving my car back to st Paul to pick up my parents car, driving back to my house, loading up our bikes and gear in my parents car, and driving that back to my parents house in EP. Then, I sat on the couch for a week. Nice rest, but it's good to be back on the road.

I traveled about 62 miles today.
Just crawled in my bivy sack to escape the bugs. There was a church event in the commons outside the library, so I ate dinner there. The event was songs and testimonials presented by Minnesota adult and teen challenge , which is a faith based program for people suffering from addiction. There were some really powerful stories shared by people from all walks of life. I donated some of the money I had on me, as these folks are on a much more difficult journey than I. I did a bit of research on the group, it seems like a very good and transparent charity. Had a shower at the campground before turning in. Looking forward to my ride tomorrow. It will mostly be along 7, which had faster traffic but nice, wide shoulders. Glad the weather cleared up, it's a nice night for camping

I traveled about 78.3 miles today.
This is Mark and Celeste, my warm showers hosts today. By some crazy coincidence, I already knew their son, Mike, from working at Many Point Scout Camp. I had recognized the surname, but thought it was just a coincidence. What's are the odds? Got an early start this morning, but highway 7 did not have the wide shoulders promised by the Minnesota DOT bicycle map. I'm still pretty upset about that, as a misleading map is worse than no map at all. I ended up rerouting north to take some less busy roads to Montevideo, which added about ten miles. Not a big deal, but I would have been SOL without my phone or cell service. Going to watertown tomorrow. I pretty much have to take 212 all the way in, there are no good alternate routes as almost all parallel roads are unpaved. Oh well, I'm not the first to go this way, and I won't be the last.