one yummy thing i learned riding with jalil is that we both love peanut butter more than should be healthy (that and his butt looks fantastic in lycra). watching him spread an enournous glob of 'extra crunchy' on a tiny piece of bread has the same effect on me that pavlov's bell did on his dogs. he, meaning jalil again, not the dogs, also salavates over really good fruit and would have had a couple of high moments on this leg that almost equaled the one we had back in ny state at feinan's fruitstand.
more day 18 (105 mi.)--riding through heavy traffic: as you can see, i left my mom with plumbing problems...(after my brother matt also failed to 'fix' things, she actually called a plumber who reconfigured piping below the sink and installed a new faucet above. which, since we told her to send us the bill, should make her happy!)
i pulled out of her driveway about 9-ish in the am and headed west and north, as mentioned earlier, to bypass chicago traffic. while i would not complain too much, i can report fairly accurately, that there are a lot of people driving cars--at fairly high rates of speed--in the chicago area, even way west of town on a sunday. it was on this leg of the trip and probably this day, that i solidified my theory that 'if you just keep pedaling, you can get anywhere.'
after passing elgin, traffic seemed to lighten up so i figured it was a good time for lunch. as i was packing up after two or three pb&j sandwhiches, i thought to myself, now would be a perfect time for some fruit. lo-and-behold, before i hit pingree grove, klein's farm and garden market appeared--on my side of the road to boot! just like marcia feinen back in ny, chris klein (exhuberant smiling woman on the left) hooked me up with some "quality produce" after i querried about a more ripe nectarine and bought a couple of gala apples.
it was such a good stop and i was so full i must have been dreaming when i zoomed right past the turn off near starks for route 20 going up to merengo. i saw the sign that said marengo 17, but when i noticed another that said marengo 12--after riding at least 10 miles west--i figured oops. oh well, 72 to 23, the roads i took got me there and was definitely well paved, scenic, and peaceful.
at marengo i stopped for the other standard meal, subway. fueled for the evening, i took off north on 23. there seemed to be a lot of truck traffic but i made it about 10 miles north toward route 14 before it started getting dark and i saw a good camping spot. as i wheeled my bike into a protected area, a very large buck, or at least the head and neck of one, with at least 10 points on his rack, stood very still and eyed me in passing. when i stopped to stare back he bounded off into the swampy section of woods behind him. tyler warner sprang as quickly to mind...he would have loved to seen that.
i settled into some really comfy high grass and only woke up about four times, as trains, trucks, and assorted traffic rumbled and or roared by.
day 19 (105 mi.)--into the dairy state: the next morning, i rolled past a truck load of construction workers coming my way, setting out about two miles of cones. thankfully, that only lasted up to where 23 ran into 14 at the town of harvard il. in a few more miles i was welcomed into the dairy state where recreation, industry, and agriculture were all "open for business"! not that i have anything against any of those opportunities, but i was immediately frustrated by the condition of route 14--it was as bad as that road back in indiana.things improved north of walworth and breakfast, again, the standard subway--egg and cheese is my favorite so far, don't hold back on the veggies. soon enough it was janesville and lunch o'clock. just before i stopped, this late model car stopped a few hundred yards ahead of me and flagged me down as i approached. the driver wanted directions to the rock county correctional facility...he had quite a laugh when i told him i was from new hampshire. but i told him i had seen a sign for a 24hr truck stop 2 miles down the road. turns out the rccf was only a mile further.
as i made my way around the town oregon, headed for madison, i stopped at another 'correctional center', this one complete with a working farm and a huge pen of pheasents. i started to wonder how many bad people are there in wisconsin to have so many places of correction...? the officer who helped me with directions was really nice despite his having to get to a work detail asap.
despite his help and my sketchy directions, i managed to get onto a restricted access highway and a bit befuddled...i got off at the first exit "before" a woman assured me, "the law grabbed me." with her help and an equally lost driver named luke, i found the days high (or "rose" as jay davis likes to put it), the forty mile, military ridge bike trail, from verona to dodgeville. when i asked luke if he had a map, he responded, "even better, i have a phone." given how adept jalil was at working google maps on his phone--when he had a connection--i figured great. imagine my suprise when he futzed about for a while until he finally handed it to me "here, do you know more about phones than i do?"
the bike trail, once i got to it, took me off in the right direction as its terminus was on route 23 a road i was headed for. the surface was a quite smooth, fine-crushed limestone and pretty fast. i zipped along until dusk and found a place to camp just west of barneveld. trailside, with my bike leaning against a disc harrow, i tucked into a patch of tall grass, just as soft as the previous night's.
day 20 (90 mi.)--on and off trail: i awoke early and rode about 15 miles in the cool, most of it before the sun hit my back. i got into dodgeville and broke stride. skipping the subway in front of me i got directions to a country kitchen. pancakes, eggs, hashbrown's, and two postcards later i peddled out of town. i may not have mentioned the search for postcards earlier, but this was the first business i walked into with honest to goodness, real postcards. i had bought a couple of generic blanks from a post office--they are to send from each state to the canaan elementary fourth graders--but these picture beauties would be way more appreciated.
off trail and back on road, i headed north to reedsburg where i had planned on looking for a series of four trails, stretching 101 miles--bike 4 trails. lunch o'clock, i pulled into town and first things first, i visited the grocery and had my second fruit experience. wandering the isles looking for more peanut butter, yogurt, and fruit, i spied a half of yellow watermelon. it was definitely to big to carry but i bought it and hung it off the handlebars as i made my way to the chamber of commerce to purchase a trail pass. pass in wallet, i made use of the picnic tables and then restroom to slurp down the several pounds of juicy, sweet melon, wash up, and then start in on an actual lunch.
the 400 trail, first of the four, took me to elroy in quick fashion. at the modernized train station--complete with showers--i stopped and had an evening snack of a couple of pb&j sandwiches as i wondered about. i saw the play structure made of connected triangles and thought of leah wheelan's geometry class. it was pretty cool set in a bed of soft, crumb rubber. i don't know if you can make it out but there is a seat suspended right in the middle of all that web like rigging.
at that point i got onto the second of the trails, elroy-sparta. this promised to be really cool, as it had not one, not two, but three fairly long tunnels to go through. i rode toward them excited by my find of a giant puffball just outside of town. as it got darker and darker, i kept thinking about stopping but hoped to go through at least one of the tunnels before stopping. soon enough the dark increased a significant amount and massive overhanging stone walls on both sides of the trail funneled me into a black hole. it was by far the coolest 'scenic' type thing to happen to me on this trip--only it was so dark i couldn't see it, or get a good picture. winding my way through, with a measly front light to see into the gloom, i made it out the western end and could just make out the overhanging sides again. given that the grade sloped down, i pedaled an easy mile to a picnic table, or place to stop and set up camp.the road was not too far off but traffic was pretty light that night. there were some cows mooing off in the distance. at one point much later when i woke i heard the distinct clip-clop of a horse, drawing an amish buggy. it may be a stereotype, but what the heck was a good religous soul doing out at that hour? i fell back to sleep wondering did the buggy have lanterns or battery powered lights?
day 21 (80 mi.)--lots more trail: another early rise and off into the foggy mist. by the time the sun found my back again, i spied the 2nd tunnel and stopped to get a picture. it was not nearly as impressive as the longer one in the dark, but it looked good. the two i went through this am were shorter and you could see the proverbial "light of day at the other end..." i am not sure if the 1st tunnel had the same huge doors or not, but they were quite something. i couldn't imagine why they were there, but built like they were, there had to be a reason.
by the time i got to sparta--"bike capital of the united states"--it was breakfast o'clock. i parked and ate trackside at the picnic tables across the former tracks from another refurbished train station. the entire trail system runs along old railway lines and hence comes with a great base of crushed limestone, running as straight as can be, and with an even grade, up or down.
after the requisite pb&js, i took off on the 3rd leg, the la crosse river trail. well fueled, i covered this flat section quickly and rolled into la crosse and onalaska along the mississippi, flowing by just to the west. you could see the mighty river, but i was dissapointed that there was no clear outlook of the impressive water and with its many islands at that point. once through town a huge amount of flooded forest started cropping up, with plenty of bridges to carry a biker over the wet. besides the wet, a working set of train tracks was pretty much constant traffic of some really long trains strung along it.
i met two sets of long distance bikers, mike going north, and kristen and will going south. mike and i chatted about bikes as we pedaled until he turned toward perrot state park and a local brew in trempealeau. kristen and will were going the other way, clear to louisiana, following the great river trail. they had started up at the canadian border and had passed through bemidji where i went to college. we share a few interesting stories and exchanged electronic addresses to follow each others' progress.
at the great river trail's end, the 4th and final section, i got back onto 35, the great river road. way different than the trails, but sometimes just as interesting. the trains were often just a few yards the other side of the road, and i figured out their whistle pattern--2 long, 1 short, 1 log--blown as they approach crossings. there were some random long blows i figured were hi to the neighbors or some not so secret lover, living trackside. i am constantly amazed, and have been the whole trip, at how close houses and such are to trains and traffic.
dark overtook me somewhat north of alma and as i set up camp, i put the rainfly on--just in case. the first time i woke it was raining, as it was the next three times (remember trains and traffic were always close at hand). but when the human sounds quieted, one could hear all sorts of animal noises out in the "lake" on the non-river/track/road side. jalil would have freaked, but something even whacked against the tent a couple of times in the wee hours.
day 22 (100 mi.)--along the mississippi: speaking of very early, as i got back on 35, i had my lights flashing. they stayed on until breakfast o'clock when i pulled into pepin--birthplace of laura ingalls. i took the photo of the historical marker to show skip p. that i actually do stop sometimes, basically to eat, but i can read. even though it was still really early, the park bathrooms were open and the picnic tables had a roof above. for some unexplained reason there were also five regular refrigerators under the same shelter. don't ask...north of maiden rock and the smiling pelican bake shop--which was big time dissapointingly closed on thursdays, i was so looking forward to some baked goods and maybe tea after seeing their name on the section of 35 they adopted--i came upon some hills the likes of which i had not dropped down to the granny gear since ny state. two monster climbs of about two miles each got my heart rate up and a good sweat going. my luck that the resultant down hill runs were even longer than the ups. the stretch from diamond bluff up to prescott was especially roller coaster like, including a down hill run in town with traffic approaching the crossing of the mississippi. my brakes had not been used that hard this trip.
just before that little drop, i ate lunch atop the hill overlooking the mississippi at the great river road visitor center and then skipped between raindrops over to the town library, biding time while the showers passed. if you look at their website the double roofed pagoda was were i sat. soon enough i was over the river and climbing out of the valley, headed toward minnesota 95, which would take me up the east side of the city away from most of the traffic. i made it up to lake elmo library and checked my email for my brother's hidden key combo. the library kept me a bit longer than i should have stayed as they tempted patron's with tea and cookies.
with the final pathway marked out, i set off on the last 17 miles of this journey. i suppose the late hour payed off as i got onto a lakeside bike path just as the sun was setting. i had taught jalil the "red in the morning, sailors take warning, red at night, sailors delight" saying when we were together and wished he was there for all the "delight" supposedly promised by the color i was getting to see. it was beautiful and i only had 10 more minutes or so until i made it to palmer's and nancy dawn's. with impecable timing, i finally got the key free and had just opened the house door when my brother pulled into the drive.
day 23--at rest: this morning nancy dawn and i were chatting before she left for work about all the things i could do today...i ended up drinking tea and eating, drying gear out, and blogging. up to this point it has been very satisfying. but now...
later!
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