July 30 Napoleon to Sandusky, OH 94.1 miles

1882 farmhouse just down the road from the fairgrounds, where we camped last night

The farmhouse's barn-- good example of the unique barns seen in this part of the country

Napoleon watertower

Last night was great— we all actually had time to hang out and talk, which we never have time to do. It seems that lately its “get the ride done, get your tent up, get things organized, eat dinner, do the blog, go to bed” and I’ve missed just hanging out and visiting with people. Diana, Janet, Darrell, Liz, Tracey, and I just hung out, blogged, read, and visited after dinner. It was really relaxing. Darrell and I even had time to walk down the road a bit to get some photos of a lovely old circa 1882 brick farmhouse and its barn, which are great examples of some of the farm architecture that you see in this area. I really like the 2-story barns where its set up on the side of a hill so that you can drive right into the second floor– very smart! And we also got shots of the Napoleon water tower. Every town has a watertower and that can often be a clue that you are close to the town because the water tower is visible from miles away.

One of the abandoned brick buildings we saw this morning

We got up in the dark again today and had a camp breakfast before hitting the road. It as another flat ride and we had a tailwind to start with. We passed some lovely old brick buildings that seemed to be abandoned in the corn fields. Some seemed in great shape while others were fairly deteriorated. At one time, they  could have been homes, schools, or churches but they are no longer in use. I wondered who had built them and why, and why are they standing unused now???

Sharon drives the white truck, filled with our bags and food

Our first water stop was at a side road where we could admire the first wind farm we’ve seen in a while. This time, unlike previously, I could HEAR the blades of the prop turning and its true– they are loud, and kind of unnerving because they are so huge. Since we had a tail wind and it was flat road, everyone was just blasting. Ed, Austin, Ruben, and a gang of folks came along behind me and I hopped in with them for a while. We were doing 20mph which is pretty fast for me, even drafting and with that tailwind, so I didn’t ride with them too long. It was really fun while it lasted, though!

thank you, Mark!

Thank you, Amy!

When we reached Portage, I got off the pack riding and stopped into a Rite Aid to get some batteries and some shampoo. When I came out Diana, Janet, and Tracey were riding by so I chased them for quite a ways and finally caught up with them so that we could ride together for a while. We were starving by the time mile 50 rolled around so when we spotted Mark and Amy with our lunch stop, it was a relief. Several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches later, we were back on the road and the weather turned a bit bad on us for a bit. It had sprinkled very lightly just before we got up this morning and had threatened to do more all day but now it seemed we might get some rain. One good thing about the overcast and rain was that it was keeping the conditions cool, which I appreciated. But now it started actually sprinkling. Happily though, it didn’t last long.

Some of the members of the 1/2 century club-- Dianna, Janet, Rosie and Liz-- pose in front of Nobby's

We rode along until we came to Fremont where we found Nobby’s and stopped for our daily ice cream. As usual, I got a chocolate freeze with heath bar. i have to confess that it what I always get and I am getting a bit bored with it, finally. I’ll have to try something else tomorrow. Fremont also has the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States. The grounds are lovely and there is a presidential library and museum there as well.

Janet in front of the Rutherford B Hayes home

About this time, I reached the part of the day where I really want the ride to be done so I can take a shower and get cleaned up, so I rode on from the last water stop  road we were to take was under construction so we had to take a detour that added a few miles to our day. We’re staying at a KOA campground that has wireless access– YES! Love that fast picture download. A few miles from here is an amusement park with a huge rollercoaster that many of the kids plan to go to later tonight. Its cheaper after 5 and they plan to take advantage of the lower prices. Us older folk plan to hang out, blog, and get to bed early. This is another campsite with the train very close by so this is definitely an earplug night!

More pictures from today:

wind generators

Very impressive! Catie Picou is powering this heavy bike across the country. Believe me, the thing weighs a ton but to see her ride it, you'd think it weighed nothing!

 

 

I've never seen this done before-- people in Ohio make these artificial ponds, which are used as swimming pools

A picture of Greg for his mom

This little Cedar Waxwing just got booted from the nest by its parents and is trying to learn how to fly. Noah gave it some grapes but it didn't like them.

July 29 (Day 37 of 48)Kendallville, IN to Napoleon, OH 71.4 miles

State #10-- OHIO!

Cute little bunnies

Little church in the corn

Had an awesome sleep last night and woke up today feeling great. We had a time change yesterday but with the long ride, lots of folks forgot to change their watches, plus it is pretty dark here at the western edge of the Eastern time zone at 5am. We had an excellent breakfast cooked for us by the town folks, who also cooked last night. This included home-made maple syrup, which I had never had before and it was delicious on the pancakes they made for us. Fortified to the max Diana, Janet, and I set out for our day’s ride. We are now so crazy that 70 is the new 50. Does that mean years of age? It does not! We now think that 50 miles of riding is hardly worth getting on your bike to ride and a mere 70 mile ride is regarded as a “piece of cake” day. Especially today, which was billed as 35 miles of ez rollers followed by 35 miles of the flatest road of the ride. And it was….

Bruce, Pauline, Ash, and our hungarian waitress at Lester's

But anyway, we set out and rolled along until we came to the Ohio state line–our 10th state. Its not really marked on the side roads we are on right now, so Nick made a marker for us on the road and we all took the usual photos before rolling on. We immediately noticed the improvement in road surface as we crossed into Ohio. Even on these secondary roads, the surface is in good shape, which we really appreciate. And the drivers are very polite.  Next we came upon a farm that had patches of lawn trimmed for bunnies which were  very cute. And we also saw a lovely country church. When I see these churches out in what appears to be the middle of nowhere, I wonder who attends them. Guess it must be the farm families in the area.

By the time we came to the town of Bryan, we were starving and ready for some lunch even though it was only about 10:30am so we decided to see what we could find in the way of a restaurant. We were delighted to find Lester’s, which is open 7 days a week and is supplied with waitresses who are real characters. Our waitress had come from Hungary to work 26 years ago and is still working at Lester’s even though the rest of her family is still back in Hungary. Their decor is sort-of 50’s diner but they also have a collection of coffee cups from all over the world that is so large that they have to rotate them every 2 weeks in order to be able to display them all. We got great food which we enjoyed very much and also  saw Bob, Kathleen, Bruce, Ash, and Pauline at the restaurant as well.

An Ohio farm

Graveyard and Farm with clover

This ride gives you legs of steel, buns of hamburger, and brains of mush. Which way to do we go???

We were delighted to only have about 30 miles more to ride after lunch. Yesterday, we would have had 70 miles to go and while we could have done it today, its was SO NICE not to have that hanging over our heads! We stopped to take photos when we wanted and still got into camp at a decent hour. This was a good thing because our tents were soaked from the dew from last night. We got them dried out, got our towels dried out and showered off. I asked Nick (our mechanic) to take a look at my bike because I was worried the bottom bracket was screwed up as it seemed to be making a clanking noise, but it was only the left pedal. Whew, relief! I was concerned that there might be something serious wrong. So now we are all blogging and hanging out, waiting for our dinner crew to cook us some dinner.

The Maumee River in Napoleon

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but far from least, here are some photos for Kate (Greg’s mom) and Tom (Patty’s bro) and Tracey’s friends as well as others—-

Steph, Chad, and Greg outside the showers. It was so humid inside you practically had to go outside to dry off!

 

Tracey and her tent

Chad and Patty at the latest "internet cafe"

 

Austin (one of "the kids") advises Dwayne (one of the old folks, but among the fastest, at least) on how to use Windows Vista

 

Chad and Greg, my 2 favorite Nebraska boys-- this photo for Kate!

July 28 Valparaiso to Kendallville, IN 111.2 miles

Liz discusses the day with Sharon while Tony loads bags

We ended up wasting alot of time this morning waiting for our younger members, who had gone to Chicago for our day off and got back late last night. I was pretty crabby when I got up this morning– I think I napped too long yesterday because I just could not get to sleep last night. And the dorm has these doors that slam no matter how hard you try not to slam them. They didn’t bother me the first night but they kept me awake last night. So… I was not happy to have to wait until 7:25 to get cue sheets on a 110mile day, especially when its supposed to be hot. Enough complaining!!

Anybody want a bike?

However, the cue sheets were finally handed out and we set out. These long days, I try to minimize my stops so as to get to camp as early as I can. Today I was extra motivated as we moved to Eastern time somewhere (no time zone marker) so that meant we have one less hour to ride. I started out with Liz, Rosie, and Darrell but as the day went on, I rode mostly with Darrell. However, while Rosie and I were riding together I saw this “bike for sale” sign that was just perfect for getting a funny picture so she snapped me posing. And I stopped with them at Cheri’s Coffee stand— an oasis in this sea of really bad coffe. I got an iced latte type drink and it was delicious, plus nice and cold. Darrell said his ice cream was pretty good too. We also saw a huge field of sunflowers around an Amish farm. I wish I could have gotten more pictures of the Amish for you so you could see them, but with the need to move fast and the knowledge that they like you to ask before photographing, the situations mostly didn’t work out.

Thanks to Douglas' wonderful family for all their kindness to us!

Just before our lunch stop was a Geezer’s Corner sign that all us old folks had to photograph. Douglas’ wonderful family was there at the lunch stop and had provided us some yummy muffins– we are so lucky to have them around on this trip! As an extra added attraction, there was a plane with some type of sculpture that we are still trying to figure out. Wierd!

 

 

 

 

Rosie, Liz, and Darrell pose with our aid station friends

Continuing on with Darrell from the lunch break, I was drinking lots of water because it was so hot. I was down to just one bottle and it was warm — not that appetizing–and I knew that I should drink it anyway although what I reallly wanted was something cold. I knew our next aid stop wasn’t coming up so I was just trying to talk myself into drinking the warm water when I saw a sign saying “Big Riders STOP!” There beside the road were 3 wonderful people who had very cold water, milk, and heart cookies. These ladies do an aid station for the ride every year and for me, it came at the perfect time. I so much appreciated the cold water! We were asked by the older lady to write down our names and addresses. She says she will write to us once and we have to write back once. While we were enjoying our cookies, 2 girls came by in a pony cart and let me take their picture. They were just trotting down the road in the cart but wouldn’t talk to us. They just nodded “yes” when I asked if I could photograph them.

Darrell and I continued on, getting hotter and more tired. By the time we reached Walkarusa, at 95 miles, we knew we had to have something to eat as well as more water in order to be able to finish the ride. My tank was on empty so I got very excited when Amy told me that there was an ice cream store on the corner. For the second time in the day, I got ice cream at the Humpty Dumpty Ice Cream Parlor and Darrell got a root beer float with chocolate ice cream. Refreshed and feeling like we could drag our butts the last 10 miles to camp. We passed Dwayne along the way. He’d also visited the ice cream stand and then went to the park to do some business. After an hour nap, he was finishing his ride.

Diana, Tony, Darrell, and Brendan at work in the "internet cafe"

We’re camped at the Kendallville Campground, which is owned by the city. We don’t have wireless access but I have a good cellphone connection and we have power as well. Tomorrow we have an easier day, about 70 miles and the folks here in town who cooked us dinner are making us breakfast as well. ps– I had ice cream at dinner, too. That makes 3 times today!

July 27 Valparaiso, IN Rest day– 0 miles!

Janet, Clifford, Bruce, Diana, and Liz at breakfast at the Broadway Cafe

The Valpo U carrillion

Ok, well we may walk a few miles today but I am DEFINITELY NOT getting on my bike! Last night, I was finishing up my blog while Diana got into her dorm bed. I crawled into mine shortly afterwards and sighed with relief– it was so nice to lay in a bed! I thought I would have trouble going to sleep but I could feel myself drifting off almost immediately and I didn’t even wake up in the night to use the restroom like I usually do. I didn’t wake up until 5:30, then dozed until about 7am. We went to a place recommended by the bike store guy for breakfast, which is conveniently located right on campus. Broadway Cafe and Ice Cream Parlor has a HUGE selection for any meal you may care to eat there, the portions are biker-sized and the breakfast was great. We all had a great time reviewing why we decided to take this trip in the first place and what we’ve learned since. Now we’re relaxing in the lounge and will probably stroll downtown later on. I need to get a bit more shampoo and some AAA batteries. There is a Walmart close by but I hate Walmart so I am holding off for something else. As long as I can get batteries today, I am fine. Otherwise, this day will be spent relaxing. Tomorrow is 105 miles so we should relax as much as possible. But… at least we only have to ride 4 days before our next rest day– yes!

Later that day…. Diana, Janet, and I went out for lunch at Culvers Frozen Yougurt. We wanted Liz to come with us but her knee is bothering her a bit and she wants to rest it as much as she can. I had a cobb salad that was surprisingly good and a cement mixer, which is like a DQ blizzard but better. Afterwards, we thought about walking downtown to look around but we didn’t have the energy. Janet and Diana went back to the dorm to rest while I walked over to the Family Dollar, which is a cheapie store, to pick up the batteries. They had some batteries and hair gel so I am in good shape to make it to Burton without needing to pick up anything else. Once I got back to the dorm, I laid down on the couch in the lounge and took a nap– what luxury! Tonite, we went back to the Broadway Cafe for dinner. For $9.04, I had salad (could have had soup, too), chicken with dressing and gravy, baked potato, and black cherry ice cream for desert. What a deal! Then when we got back to the dorm, Jim’s wife Joan was here with one of their sons, Eric. It was Eric’s 21st birthday a few days back so there was chocolate cake to celebrate. We’ll see Joan again when we reach DC.

Our next rest day will be in Burton, OH which looks like a darling Amish village. According to some web research I did, its the 4th largest Amish group and the town looks very historic so it should be fun to explore. Valpo, as its known locally,  is our last dorm stay and we will be camping our last 2 rest days, which are in Burton and Gettysburg. Tried to find a motel in Burton but no luck, just 2 expensive B&Bs. Brendan lived close to the area and he says there are no hotels so we’ll camp. Actually, Sharon says the camp is pretty good and by then, we’ll just be glad to have a good laundry. Plus it looks like there are some camping cabins for rent that a few of us might share so I have emailed for more information. Maybe a few of us could share one of the cabins. We have just 11 more riding days but everyone is dreading the day to Gettysburg which is 105 miles and is supposed to be a very tough ride, with some very steep gradients on the hills. Ugh, something to “look forward to”… Good night everyone!

July 26 Coal City IL to Valparaiso, IN 87.4 miles

59 years and still madly in love!

HAPPY 59th Anniversary, MOM AND DAD!  I’d like to wish my parents congradulations on reaching their 59th year of marriage. I love you! 

 

Ed takes a little siesta in his tent

Well, last night at the Coal City Area Camp was pretty bad for several reasons. Some of their members really like to party hard until pretty late at night so that kept us up. Even with ear plugs I could still hear them screaming and hollering! And I am not sure if its their friends or people from town cruising but it sure seemed like there were alot of people driving around and around. Why you would want to do that at a campground is beyond me but maybe there isn’t anything else to do in Coal City. Also, I did something really dumb last night. I got up to use the restroom and when I came back I didn’t close my tent netting all the way. As a result, several hours later my tent was FILLED with mosquitoes! And I do mean filled. Every mosquito within 25 miles must have come to dinner. So I listened to that zing! buzz! noise they make for the rest of the night while they munched on me. To make matters worse, my flashlight battery was dead and I couldn’t find the mosquito  spray by feeling around. Well, I have only myself to blame for that– Its not like I don’t know there are mosquitoes in the area!

Here are the reindeer to go with the xmas tree we saw in Belvedere!

We packed up before breakfast and headed out right after eating. I decided to ride with Diana today because we haven’t ridden together much this week. Rosie and Liz were also riding nearby for a while so we had fun chatting. The first sight Diana and I came across was a reindeer farm by Braidwood. At first the reindeer just stared at us but after some coaxing, they came closer to the fence.

No sale, Rosie! Looks like you'll have to keep riding!

On we went to Beecher where we saw the Gemini Giant and next to him, a sign for Route 66. We couldn’t figure out whether this was the actual famous Route 66 or something else but next to the 66 sign was a sign advertising motorcycles. Both Rosie and Diana took advantage of the sign to try to get rid of their bikes but no luck– probably too early in the morning, it being Saturday and all.

A water stop around the white truck, which hauls all our gear

There was a big crowd at our white truck when we got there for water and Sharon had some good snacks set out for us. We took advantage of the corn, which is over our heads now, to have a bio break. Now I have documentation that Diana has actually used the corn!

Sharon with Nick, Steven, and Ruben

Barb and Diana at the Indiana state line

A photo for Douglas' wonderful family: Douglas and his new bff

Reichert's Tavern- cuter on the outside than it is on the inside!

At mile 52 on State Line Road, the road was marked for us to show the actual state line since there is no state line sign here. As usual, we all stopped for photos and to celebrate a new state! Then it was off to Reichert’s Tavern where Amy was staged for our lunch break.  I remembered the place from photos in blogs from last year. Inside, Douglas met an old friend. I thought we would be able to get lunch there but they no longer serve food. While it doesn’t look like it from the outside, this is quite the biker bar, with lots of calenders and photos of women who have had their chests enhanced. The guys loved it. Across the street is a darling house with guitars in the windows where you can get guitar lessons.

Diana and I decided we wanted real food for lunch today rather than peanut butter and jelly so we continued on in search of a restaurant. Right about the point where we were going to be diverted from our route due to road construction, we realized that among the road construction was a DQ and a Subway. We asked a couple of locals what the situation was like with respect to the construction and it didn’t sound too bad so we braved it in order to have Subway for lunch. Oh yeah, and a blizzard for desert! Fortified, we began to set out through the construction zone but realized that by cutting cross country through the lawns that separated the strip malls and the dirt road behind them, we could avoid the construction. This was desirable because the road through the construction was very narrow and the drivers couldn’t pass us. Once back on the route, we immediately saw our BR marks on the road and knew we were back on track.

Kevin negotiates the terrible Indiana roads

Diana in our luxury dorm room

Right about this time, the roads disintegrated from bad to worse. I mean no shoulder or the shoulder was so bad that we couldn’t ride it anyway. And sometimes the right side of the road was so torn up that we practically had to ride in the middle of the lane. The drivers, of course, did not appreciate us being there as it was very hard to get around us. And we did not appreciate being there either, because a wise cyclist does not anger drivers. So it was a bad situation all around. We got screamed at and honked at a couple of times. Diana and I were really happy finally get here and to check into our dorm room. Our needs are so simple these days that a clean, air conditioned dorm room where they give you a pillow, wash cloth, and towel seems the height of luxury to us. Here at Valparaiso U, we also have some very clean washers and dryers to do our laundry. After 7 days of riding, things were DISGUSTING to say the least. Plus, when we got here the humidity was very low and we were finally able to dry out our tents as its been so humid the last few days that nothing dried out. We had a great dinner of lasagne in the college cafeteria and have scoped out where to go for breakfast tomorrow. Sharon was kind enough to take us to  the only bike shop in town after dinner. They didn’t have much but I was able to get a new spare tire. I brought 2 folding tires with me but put the last on the front wheel yesterday and I wanted another spare, at least. I also wanted chamois cream but they don’t carry it and the only other shop in town that might have it is closed tomorrow. We are really looking forward to hanging out tomorrow and NOT sitting on our bikes.

July 25 Belvidere to Coal City, IL 102.1 miles

Daylilies are everywhere beside the roads in the midwest

Rosie (l) demonstrating Fig Newtons and Sharon

Whew! We made it! Today started out with camp breakfast, organized by our wonderful new ride leader, Sharon Cowdery. This included excellent coffee and some much needed breakfast protien in the form of eggs and yougurt, which was missing previously from our morining diet. Great changes–especially the addition of Sharon. Welcome Sharon!

Illinois farm

Being cyclists, we had to get a shot of this

 

 

 

I started out from camp and within 5 miles had a flat tire on my front wheel. The tire itself was pretty worn so I’ve finally replaced it. Should have done it last night, but we got in too late to do it. Jim gave me a hand with the tube replacement and then helped me catch up to Diana, Janet, Liz, and Rosie.  Off we went into the Illinois countryside. Today proved to be a less hilly day, with some rollers but mostly flat land. Like yesterday, the farms were all beautifully kept, with lovely gardens and well-trimmed lawns. We really  enjoyed looking at the vegetable gardens, too.

From left: Steven, me, Austin, Janet, Tony, Jim, Douglas, Ed, Rubin, Brendan, Darrell, and Liz

Rosie, Janet, and Liz gather their strength for the final push into camp at the end of a long day

Coal City Area Club lake

At the lunch stop, we all goofed off and decided to have some pictures taken by the corn. Then Liz, Rosie, Janet and I set out again. By mile 78 we were hot, tired, and I was almost out of water so we decided to take a bit of a break out of the sun. By then, the ride was getting to the point where we wanted to be done with the ride for the day. We were also wondering where the last aid stop was. Sure enough once we got back on our bikes, it was just a few miles away. We caught up with Darrell there where he was refilling his tire. He wasn’t having much more fun than we were. The 3rd century in a week isn’t the fun one! After the rest stop, Liz  and I put our heads down and pushed for camp. She is a much stronger rider than I am but I managed to keep with her and we were both relieved to finally get off our bikes for the day. The Coal City Area Club is a nice place with lots of grass and I even am plugged in and charging the laptop. This was a former coal mine and has been turned into a lovely lake area with lots of grass. You would not believe the cicadas buzzing in the trees– its incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.  Some of the folks nearby  where we are camped are a bit loud now but I am hoping they won’t party all nite becase we ALL are very tired. We are all looking forward to getting tomorrow done with and getting on to our rest day. Its been a very long week! I am a crispy critter and its time to go to bed!

ps- just came back from washing my face and brushing my teeth before bed and wanted to add one last thing: FIREFLIES! There are fireflies here. its been so long since I have seen them. They always seem so magical to me, like you’re in a dream. I love fireflies. Goodnight, everyone!

July 24 Madison, WI to Belvidere, IL 99.8 miles

Sunrise over Lake Monona

I had an absolutely marvelous dinner with Scott and Judy last night at L’Etoile– sorry that name is probably mis-spelled! It was SO nice to sit in a good restaurant and have a delicious meal served on a linen tablecloth. I felt so spoiled!  After dinner, we went and rescued Janet and Diana from the mosquito-infested camp and brought them to the hotel. Its such a shame that there wasn’t time to show them around Madison. Plus there were lots of places I wanted to go myself!

Scott, Liz, Diana, Judy, and Janet pose in front of the van

Sandhill cranes with restored prarie in the background

 

 

 

 

 

We got up this morning and had a pretty decent breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express, then said goodbye to Judy when Scott had us hop into the van for the ride back to the camp so we could begin today’s ride. We had a great surprise on the drive into the camp: sandhill cranes! I’d never seen them before so I as very excited to see them.

From the state of Oregon to the town of Oregon, WI

Liz and Bob from last year's ride, looking through Bob's memory book from the ride

The ride started out in the rolling countryside past lovely farms and then into some towns. One of them was the town of Oregon and since I’m from the state of Oregon, I had to get a shot. When we reached the town of Orfordville, we found an aid station set up for us by Bob and Liz, who were 2 of last year’sriders. We really enjoyed talking with them about their and our experiences. And Bob had a wonderful memory book of his ride that we looked through.

Rachell, Letty, and I reach our 8th state

We continued on back into the farmland and I entertained myself by thinking about what it would be like to live in one of those farm houses. They all were beautifully kept with lovely gardens and well-trimed lawns.  At about 55 miles into our ride, we entered our 8th state and stopped for photos in the town of South Beloit. Then it was on to lunch. The river in the town was very high from the recent rains and the town park was completely flooded. We saw evidence of the recent rains in all the standing water in the fields.

a beautiful WI farm

I live near Beaverton in Oregon-- today is a day for west coast place names!

With about 20 miles to go, Mark stopped me because the cue sheet was wrong and the route had to be determined. We all sat waiting for the ok to go on and when a local gave us a map, Darrell and I decided to go ahead and mark the new route. We’d only gone about 3 miles when we ran into Mark who reported that the new route had been marked out. Just then Tony, Brendan, and Doug rolled up after taking a lunch break in town. Evil me, I abandoned Darrell and hopped onto the Tony-Brendan-Doug train, hoping to get a fast ride into town. It was now 3:30 and I was MORE than ready to be off my bike, out of my bike clothes, and into a shower. The guys must have wanted to take mercy on me because I was able to stay with them and get protected from the strong wind. It was really fun riding in a paceline with them– even though all I did was sit in the back and let them do the pulling. I felt like I was playing with the big kids! Before I knew it, we were at camp.

Blogging in my lounge chair under the xmas tree while watching the Tour de France

This is another camp with lots of mosquitoes– I’m beginning to think that is the way it is in the midwest. We had a spaghetti dinner cooked by the camp hosts that hit the spot. But one thing is wierd. The lounge is still decorated for Christmas!

We’re looking forward to getting tomorrow out of the way: our last 100 mile day, then I think Saturday is about 85 miles and then Sunday is a REST day. Oh  yea, can’t wait!

July 23 Viroqua to Madison (MADTOWN!), WI

Folks, I just rode my bike 110 miles and I am busy celebrating my return to Madtown. Here are some pictures of some of our cast of characters while I am out stuffing myself on Babcock ice cream, gobbling brats and guzzeling Lienies. I would like to thank my dear friends Scott and Judy Owen for spending the last few days travelling with me and riding with me. It means alot to have your company on this ride!

Ruben (L) and friends entertain us

Scottie and Judy married 32 years and still madly in love

Lettie

Catie changes a tire

 

Rachel, Austin, Noah, Simon, and Ed

Kevin can fit himself AND his recumbent bike into his tent

                                                               

 

July 22 Winona, MN to Viroqua, WI 68.7 miles

Mississippi River limestone bluffs

Wow, slept great in our hotel last night. They say that we spend so much time sleeping on the ground on this trip that its supposed to be hard to sleep in a bed afterwards but I was perfectly content to sleep in a bed last night! What was wierd was having that hotel room with its own bath all to myself. I kept walking around looking at all the space!

The Meyers Family honors the memory of their grandfather by supporting a rest stop for the Big Ride

Open your eyes, Megan! I'm here!

Look at that table filled with goodies!

Thank you for the bracelet!

Some of the Meyers girls pose with me--- note display of momentos from past rides

Judy Owen and I started out riding in slightly foggy weather whole Scott started in the van. It wasn’t as bad as its been lately but the fog was still down on the top of the bluffs that line the Mississippi River. We rode along Hiway 61 along the river on the Minnesota side, enjoying the views of the small farms. At Dakota, we moved off to Hiway 12 for a short time and came to the rest stop sponsored by the Meyers Family in honor of the family grandfather who died in 2000 of lung cancer and emphysema. I’d read about the family’s rest stop last year in the riders’ blogs but being there in person certainly made it come alive for me. They have a beautiful yard with gardens and flowers everywhere, all beautifully kept and so peaceful that I wanted to linger all day admiring them. When you first pull up, the young women  of the family scrutinize you and then search the pictures of the riders that they’ve pulled off our blogs. When they find your picture, they as you to autograph it. Then they as you to sign their guest book and leave a message if you like. We could look thru past years’ guest books and see the messages  of past riders along with their pictures which have been posted alongside. The family also proudly shows off the posters and cards that past rides have sent to them. In all, this is a touching memorial to a man who must have been very much loved. For us, their was coffee, punch, and a beautifully laid out table of goodies, both sweet and savory. And if you’d do an interview, out could pick out one of the beaded or woven bracelets that the young women had made. The entire stop was a wonderful experience and, as I said, touched my heart. Thank you so much to the lovely Meyer family for their friendliness and kindness!

Judy and I enter Wisconsin-- yeah! I rode my bike to WI!!

Little bike on the Mississippi River

Judy and I continued on, enjoying the warm sun and the cool temperatures. At about mile 29, we crossed over into Wisconsin. I was so excited to have riden my bike all the way to Wisconsin! We stopped for photos and continued on to the crossing of the Mississippi River, then met up with Scott so that he could ride with me for the rest of the day. The ride now continued downriver on the Wisconsin side and later turned inland for a beautiful ride up the bluffs and through rolling countryside. It was just a gorgeous ride through the bluffs with the farmland stretching out beside us. Some of the farms were Amish and we saw the men working the fields with their horses. I really wanted to take pictures but I’ve heard they don’t like to be photographed so I respected that. I also saw the women with thier long dresses and bonnets. Even though our ride today was just 68 miles, the up and down of the bluffs made it a tough ride and I was very happy to reach Viroqua. Judy made us some yummy ham sandwiches and we enjoyed a cold drink at the Viroqua Food Co-op with Duane and Patty before coasting through town.

We are staying at the Midway Motel right accross from the fairgrounds where the rest of the folks are camped tonite. It looks like a few more folks than usual are camped out– not as many tents as I would have expected are in the fairgrounds. Tomorrow is the longest ride of the week, 110 miles. The restaurant next door opens at 5:30am and we intend to be there for breakfast,

July21 Owatona to Winona, MN 91.4 miles

Ane and I

Kathleen, Jim, and Bruce at breakfast

Pauline, Ash, and Diane at our luxurious breakfast table-- note chicken pens

We happily departed the fairgrounds in Owatona this morning, happy to be moving on to someplace else away from those icky bathrooms. It was a foggy morning again. That seems to be the pattern here: foggy for the first part of the morning and then clearing later. And the temperatures have been delightfully cool: in the high 60’s to start and moving only to the 80’s later. Love it!

Katie is forbidden from riding a road bike because she is WAY too fast on this mountain bike-- no joke!

Patty and Chuck, showing his charming side

We didn’t go far before we saw a hot air balloon off to the right. I thought it was lifting off but it actually was landing. Like rowers, ballooners go out first thing in the morning before the wind comes up. We were stretched in a long line of riders today and it was cool to look forward and see the others. And when I stopped for my balloon photo, I was able to photograph some of us as well.

 

2000 miles on the bike computer and my que sheet

Later on, we reached the 2000 mile mark on our trip. That’s right– we have now done 2000  miles, the worst of our mileage is behind us and we have “only” 1300 or so to go. So I guess I’ll keep going! We turned off Hiway 14 for a while— we’ve been travelling on it on and off– mostly on– since Montana and its still named the “Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway”. The country turned more rolling and I finally got one of my wishes– bison! Finally saw some bison beside the road, even some young calves. At about mile 35, we got a nice surprise. Ane Klomps was a rider last year and I greatly enjoyed reading her blog. This year, she and her family put up a rest stop for us with coffee, fresh fruit, freshly baked cookies, and other goodies. Thanks to the Klomps family for the support! It was exciting to meet Ane in person after spending so much time reading her blog.

Scott, Judy, and I pose above the Mississippi River

After the Klomps’ rest stop, I tried to ride hard to get into Winona because I am being joined here for a few days with my friends Scott and Judy Owen. They’ll ride with me into Madison and I’ll be able to hotel it for the next few nights since they have their van with them. What luxury! We went up to the bluffs for the view over the town and the Mississippi River before going out for Mexican food and ice cream. We finished up the evening with a stroll around town and a stop into a local bookstore where an author was giving a reading from his book. Such a nice change of pace for me!