Total miles to date since start of trip: 2,718 miles!
Day 43: July 27 - Eagan, Minnesota to Fountain City, Wisconsin
Day's Mileage: 108 miles
After a great stay in the Twin Cities with Tom and Nona, I bid them farewell at 5:30 am as they dropped me off for breakfast. Their daughter was participating in a biking event at 7 am way north of the Twin Cities in Chisago City so they hit the road early. I am grateful to them for their hospitality and our new friendship.
It was a beautiful day again with clear skies and cool temps as I hit the road early. I got a bit lost getting out of the Twin Cities area as I am now off the prescribed bike route and was cutting over to cross the Mississippi River at Prescott, Wisconsin.
I particularly liked the motto on this church wall. Outside Eagan, Minnesota.
It started clouding up as I crossed the Mississippi River.
This sculpture was made totally from debris and rubbish found along the Mississippi River in this area during periodic river cleanup. Zoom in closer for a better look at the component parts.
Along the backwaters of the Mississippi many lakes and marshes form. Lake Pepin here is I think one of the largest at 35 miles long.
Lake Pepin.
I enjoyed reading this highly embellished historical marker. Oh those handsome, suave French. Oh those arrogant, aggressive English. I think the writer of this marker was told to spice it up with adjectives and creative style. Probably fabrication of imagination.
This the first time I've had to use my rain gear since Day 1 or 2 of this journey. It rained once an hour for about 5 to 10 minutes and then the sun would come out. This occurred about 5 times that afternoon.
Who knew that Wisconsin had bluffs? This is along the Great River Road along the Mississippi in Wisconsin. A very beautiful part of the state.
I had a nice dinner at the Golden Frog Bar. Wish now I had taken some pictures of the frog motif in the bar.
Day 44: July 28 - Fountain City to Sparta, Wisconsin
Day's Mileage: 65.6 miles
Today I was going to try to get as far as possible so that my next day's ride to Madison would not be so long. Unfortunately I did not set an alarm, slept in and didn't shove off until about 8:30 or so. Also there were no breakfast places in Fountain city so I made some oatmeal, ate a banana and some dried fruit and nuts and off I went.
After about 12 miles I came to the Great River State Trail. It's crushed limestone not paved like Minnesota and goes for 22 miles to Onalaska, a suburb of La Crosse.
Along the way it runs through Trempealeau a small town which had a hotel/restaurant/saloon. It's very well maintained and it looked like a good place to finally have brunch. Trempealeau derives from the French "trempe à l'eau" literally "dip or soak in water" which leads me to believe that this town most likely would occasionally be flooded by the Mississippi River.
After lunch I continued on the trail toward Onalaska and La Crosse. Much of the River backwater has marshy, swampy areas that border the trail as in the photos below.
Probably the most dangerous part of my trip so far was when I was detoured off the trail outside La Crosse and tried to improvise getting back to the trail further down, only to end up on a very busy 4 lane commercial road around the shopping malls. With no shoulder. During afternoon rush hour! I ended up having to call the trail association HQ (luckily I had the trails brochure) to get directions back on to the La Crosse River Trail. It was a bit hairy but I made it finally.
The La Crosse River Trail had a very different look and feel than the trail along the Mississippi. This trail was 25 miles long if I recall correctly.
I finally reached the town of Sparta which was the end this trail and the beginning of the Elroy-Sparta Trail which was the very first rails to trails conversion in the US, opened in 1967. I decided to spend the night here in a motel and get a bright and early start for the next day's long ride to Madison.
Day 45: July 29 - Sparta to Madison, Wisconsin
Day's Mileage: 107.5 miles
I got up at 5 am, made a quick breakfast and went out the door at 6:15 as the sun was coming up. On the way out of town I took a picture of the big bicycle statue and the bust of some weird looking dude with piano key teeth.
Weird looking dude with piano key teeth.
The Elroy-Sparta Trail is also renowned for its original railroad train tunnels on the route. I knew there were 3 of them. I did not know that the first one I'd come to was 3/4 mile long! Or that the ceiling and walls would be dripping (or in some cases pouring) water! And that there might be bats. Of course it was pitch black so I was hoping the batteries in my headlamp and bikelight had enough juice to get me through all three tunnels.
The second tunnel. Not as long as the first. Only a quarter mile or so.
I had a nice lunch when arriving in Reedsburg and then was back on roads down to Sauk City, some with very heavy traffic and little or no shoulder and the occasional rumble strip. I passed through Baraboo on the very busy Rte 12 and emerged alive on the other side. I got to Sauk City about 5:30 pm and still had another 26 miles to go when a rainstorm and gusty winds started so I ducked into a Culvers for dinner. By 6:30 the storm had stopped so I decided to continue my ride to home in Madison. Part of it was even paved bike path.
Although it was late and I'd be arriving in the night I didn't mind since I know the Madison roads and bike paths. I had just arrived in the Madison area near University Avenue. Shortly after texting Cathy that I was almost home I got back on my bike only to find that it started fish tailing... A clear indication that I had yet another flat (my fourth) on my rear tire. It was 8:30 pm, dark, and I was in a mosquito-infested marshy area of the bike path. So my vision of arriving home like a knight in shining armor was dashed and I called Cathy and asked her to pick me up. So I arrived home safely but not like I planned. The best laid plans of mice and men.... Wait. What mouse plans?
It was very nice to be with Cathy and our son Tim and sleep in my own bed after so long (45 days).
Days 46 - 48: July 30 - August 1 - Madison Rest Days at home
Days' Mileage: 0
I reached home in time to attend our son Tim's send off party on July 30. He was to be moving to Oakland, flying out on August 1 and we had planned a little party at the house for him, his girlfriend and other friends and family. It was a nice affair.
Most of July 31 was spent running around from bike store to bike store looking for decent durable touring bike tires. I ended up going to 5 different stores before I found one that had what I needed. I can't remember what else I did that day besides install the new tubes and tires. The day flew by!
Days' Mileage: 0
I reached home in time to attend our son Tim's send off party on July 30. He was to be moving to Oakland, flying out on August 1 and we had planned a little party at the house for him, his girlfriend and other friends and family. It was a nice affair.
Most of July 31 was spent running around from bike store to bike store looking for decent durable touring bike tires. I ended up going to 5 different stores before I found one that had what I needed. I can't remember what else I did that day besides install the new tubes and tires. The day flew by!
I realized also that I didn't take many photos while I was home and those I took were not with the iPad which is what I use to compose this blog while traveling. And it's too difficult to transfer the photos to the iPad for uploading. Too many steps involved. So I apologize for not having any photos from this entry.
On August we drove Tim and his girlfriend Michele to Chicago O'Hare Airport for their flight to Oakland. Traffic was abysmal both ways as there is still about 40 miles of construction in Illinois which reduces the speed to 45 mph in the work zone plus therewas heavy traffic volume as it was Friday afternoon rush hour traffic when we came back to Madison. But I was with my sweetheart so it wasn't all bad.
I re packed all my panniers and got rid of about 10 lbs of stuff that I had been carrying that I hadn't used or only used minimally but not enough warrant keeping it. My gear is now under 40 lb. and I think I lost about 8 lbs or so. So there's that.
Day 49: August 2 - Madison to West Allis, Wisconsin
Day's Mileage: 72.2 miles
Saturday morning I hit the road again but not until about 9:45 am and breakfast at Crema Cafe with Cathy. Crema is our usual Sunday Brunch venue but since I was leaving that day we had to move it up. It was a beautiful sunny but not too warm day and I rode most of the way toward Milwaukee (actually West Allis, a suburb of MKE) on county roads and then cut over to the paved part of the Glacial Drumlins Trail 8 miles west of Waukesha. In Waukesha I picked up the New Berlin Recreational Trail which by sheer coincidence ended about 1 block from the (dive) motel I was staying in. Very convenient.
Day's Mileage: 72.2 miles
Saturday morning I hit the road again but not until about 9:45 am and breakfast at Crema Cafe with Cathy. Crema is our usual Sunday Brunch venue but since I was leaving that day we had to move it up. It was a beautiful sunny but not too warm day and I rode most of the way toward Milwaukee (actually West Allis, a suburb of MKE) on county roads and then cut over to the paved part of the Glacial Drumlins Trail 8 miles west of Waukesha. In Waukesha I picked up the New Berlin Recreational Trail which by sheer coincidence ended about 1 block from the (dive) motel I was staying in. Very convenient.
Here's n example of the shoddy workmanship at the Day's Inn in West Allis.
Tomorrow I ride the remaining 8 miles to Milwaukee to take the Lake Express Ferry to Muskegon, Michigan where I'll be biking across in 3 days and then into Ontario, Canada. Which reminds me I'll have to change the name of this blog to "Greg's TransContinental Bike Ride 2014."
Til next time.
Hang in there, Greg! You're almost ready to cross off another thing on your bucket list. We're almost ready to say, you DID it! Be safe.
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