(5-11 Lake Geneve, WI. continued) It was so windy that the road along the lake side was being covered by water blown off the lake. The lake had real waves on it with white caps. David had gotten ahead of me and went straight into town while I make a right turn on a road that had a sign that read “Motels.”
It took sometime before we found each other and we headed back to the motel road. Normally this kind of tourist town it would be very hard to find a place to stay but on this day it there was almost no one in town Of course there was not only a big storm blowing but it was still early in the year.
We found a nice place, Ambassador Motel, with a very great lady behind the counter. When I asked her if she might have some old towels so that we could dry off the bikes she said sure and they would be waiting for us at the side entrance, next to our room. Sure enough when we enter the motel there was this huge pile of old towels and some news old newspapers which we put under our bike. She also said we could hang anything we wanted to dry in the indoor pool area, which was very warm. There was only one other room occupied. Soon everything was dry including our selves.
For dinner we ordered a pizza to be delivered. Soon we both fell asleep and were very happy to be safe and sound. Somehow we pulled it off again. Have I said “life is good?”
(5-12 Edgerton) When we woke it was sunny with a few clouds but still on the windy side. We rode on very peaceful back roads but it was still hard work due to the continuing wind. The high temp for the day was in the low 60s. We had lunch in the town of Whitewater and then made our way to Edgerton for the night. Across from our motel was a Piggly Wiggly market. I walk over for my first visit to a Piggly Wiggly, which I have heard about for many years.
(5-13 Madison) Today the wind was gone, it was sunny and cool. Wisconsin is a wonderful place to ride, there are many back roads all of which seem to tie together. For the most part and roads are free of cars and the roads are in good condition. We rode through green rolling hills with well kept farms on both sides of the road. We stopped to talk to a man who was out in his front yard spraying dandelions, they seem to be VERY common in this area. As I always do I gave him my card with my web site on it. He said he would give my web site a look but wanted me to include a “Shaggy Dog” story. On this tour we were pretty free of dogs and dog stories, but if this man would look at out Coast-to-Coast tour (on this web site) he will find three dog stories (really two stories and one picture). Checkout of Week 7 - July 19 for the picture and Week 9 - Aug 6 for the two stories.
Again David lead us through the big town of Madison and to our Hostel. Since the Hostel would not be open until 4pm we rode around town and along one of the lakes. This is a collage town so there were many students on bikes going all over the place. Most had Mountain Bikes, no helmets and blasted right through red lights. The reason for making Madison a stop was to visit Mary. We met Mary in 1999 when she came out to Oregon to ride Cycle Oregon. We all had dinner together at Peking Palace, and then Mary took us to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for coffee on the terrace. By the way it was very good coffee.
This is a big University with 176 buildings and 128 parking lots. There are 41,219 students, 18,437 employees (only 2135 are faculty). They have been awarded 17 Nobel Prizes and 22 Pulitzer Prizes. The town of Madison and the University are nestled Between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona which makes for a very beautify location.
Madison has been named by leading U.S. magazines as America’s:
- #1 Dream Town
- #1 Best Place to Live
- #1 Top Canoe Town
- #1 Top Farmer’s Market
- #2 Most Kid-Friendly City
- #3 Safest of Nation’s 100 Largest Cities
- #4 Best Bicycling City
- #5 Most Enlightened Town
- #5 Fittest City
- #6 Most Mannerly City
(5-14 Sauk City) When we woke it was raining so we walked to breakfast to a longtime famous hole-in-the-wall diner named, “Cleveland’s.” Checkout time at the Hostel was at 11AM but the Warden of the Hostel, while saying was could stay until 11AM was always checking on us to see when we planned on hitting the road. At 10:30 AM in a light rain we headed out. It only rain for a mile or two then stayed cloudy and cool for most of the rest of the day.
It started to rain again about 2 minutes before we got to our motel on the outskirts of Sauk City. Dinner was at a very nice place, “Green Acres,” who been in business since the 1800s.
(5-15 Elroy) This morning the streets were wet, it was cloudy and cool but it was NOT raining. In the afternoon it turned nice and sunny. Again, we rode on Wisconsin’s wonderful back roads. We rode through long green valleys, up to the top of bluffs with great views, down the other side, and on the “400" bike trail. By the way you have to buy a annual pass to use the bike trails in Wisconsin as well as in Minnesota. Of course in Oregon you don’t have to buy a pass but we have only 5 miles of a Rails-to-Trails bike path. This short bike path is 12 miles from my house and I often include it in my daily ride.
The “400" trail is named for the Chicago-Northwester passenger train that ran on this grade. The train traveled the 400 miles between Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul in 400 minutes. Along this trail we enjoyed wetlands, sandstone bluffs, rolling croplands and pastures. The trail is 22 miles long. The bike trails in Wisconsin are not paved but are very hard packed and easy to ride on. I would guess that during the dry months your bike could get pretty dirty but since we have had so much rain there was almost no dust at all. We made a stop at Rock Springs, which is famous for it’s natural spring water, that is bottled there and sold around the area. The reason for the stop was that across the road from the bottling plant is a place where we could get free drinks and even fill your water bottles. Yes, it was very good and cold water. We found our motel and checked in. They gave us two rooms for the total price of $45.
After dinner in the motel’s restaurant we returned to our rooms and waited the total eclipse of the moon that was to happen later this night. The sky was clear and the eclipse was great. Note: Elroy is where three bike trails meet, The “400" (22 miles), the “Elroy-Sparta” (32 miles), and the “Omaha (12.5 miles).
(5-16 New Amsterdam) Woke to clear skies and cool temps, what else is new. A lot of today’s ride will be on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail which goes through three tunnels. Our reason for making New Amsterdam our overnight is the visit my family. Clara my sister-in-law and her brother, Wilbur, and his wife, Marg . Clara lives in Oregon but was visiting her brother and his wife at the time.
The “Elroy-Sparta State Trail” is the Granddaddy of all trails - it was the first official Rails to Trails conversion in the United States. The three tunnels were all hand dug in the 1870s. The surface of the trail is smooth, hard packed limestone. The Kendall and Wilton tunnels are 1/4 mile long and the Norwalk tunnel is 3/4 mile long.
As we rode through the first tunnel I found it pretty easy riding, even through it was pitch black. We had lights but did not use them. The road bed was smooth even through it was wet from the water dripping from above. Now the second tunnel was another story for me. First I was in a to high of gear and second the road bed was very rough. I soon found myself wanted to shift down but could not, so my speed dropped and I was getting miss orientate. Before I knew I had hit the tunnel wall and fell over. Except of some skin being scraped off my right hand I was OK. No damage was done to the bike. I walked the rest of this tunnel and all of the next tunnel, which is almost impossible to ride through anyway, due to it’s length. In this last and longest of the three tunnels we used our lights. At times it felt like you were in a cold shower with lots of water falling from above.
Lunch was at the A&W; in Sparta. We now left the trail and headed up and out of this valley and into the next valley in order to get to New Amsterdam. The climb was over ONE BIG hill but as I always do I just put the bike in low gear and grind it out. Soon we found Wilbur’s house in New Amsterdam. It was good to see Clara, Wilbur and Marg again.
After getting settled we all got in the van and headed for La Cross for dinner. This neck of the woods is know as the “Black Squirrel Capital of the World” and I was hoping to see one. Our first stop was on top of “Grandfather Bluff” which overlooks the town. What a great view. We than took a tour of La Cross and sure enough I saw a Black Squirrel running across someone front lawn. Dinner was at “Hometown Buffet, thanks Clara for dinner.
(5-17 Red Wing - Minnesota) Clara and Wilbur fixed breakfast of us, thanks, and all to soon it was time to hit the road. It was clear and cool. This would be our longest day covering 102 miles. The ride did not seem that long as we had a good tailwind for most of the ride. Also the ride was mostly flat as we rode first on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi and then crossed over and rode along the Minnesota side of the river.
Just before we were to cross over to the Minnesota side we made a stop at a Cheese and Ice Cream store. Of course we had planned on stopping but with a tandem bicycle parked outside it made it all the more inviting. Going inside we saw a couple sitting at table dressed like bike riders. David found out that a bike club from Minneapolis was having a day ride. Others were soon arriving and David knew several of the riders.
Now comes the big surprise, as the couple were wearing “Route 66" bike jerseys. Of course we asked them where they got them and did they ride Route 66. They told us that they had not ridden all of Route 66 but only went through Santa Fe, NM. I thought to myself, take those jersey’s off and give them to us. They went on to tell us that they had gotten the jerseys at a bike shop in the Twin Cities about 3 years ago. David knew the shop and the owner very well. On our Coast-to-Coast tour in 1998 we stopped at this shop to have a new wheel build for my bike and we also bought our “Tour of America” jersey there. The shop is now closed and the owner retired. David suggested we give the shop owner, Terry, a call when we get to his house. David said that Terry had taken all the stuff that did not sell home with him. Of course it would be a long shot but what did we have to lose.
Crossing over the Mississippi we again headed north towards David’s house. As we rode through Lake City I saw a sign that read “Lake City Birthplace of Water Skiing.” Finding a reasonable priced motel in Red Wing was not easy task. We finally settled for a motel about 2 miles north of town. Dinner was at “China Royal” another all you can eat buffet, and we did.
(5-18 Minneapolis - David’s home) Today was our last official day on the road. Another typical day, clear, sunny, and cool. After a McDonald’s breakfast we headed back towards Red Wing to pick up the bike path which we would ride for the first 20 miles of today’s ride. We purchased a one day pass for $3.00 and were on our way. We no longer need maps as this is David’s home country. Across bridges and along bike paths that ran along side Minnehaha River we rode. Pulling into David’s driveway out great adventure was at an end. I would spend a few days at David’s house before catching Amtrak home.
(5-19 Minneapolis - David’s home) Today we just took it easy cleaning the bikes, doing wash, searching the Internet for Route 66 jerseys. Tonight, a big welcome home party was planned with David’s family and friends. I knew a lot of them from passed tours and visits. It was a wonderful party. We did find a Route 66 jersey on the Internet and gave the place a call. They had none left. David gave a call to Terry, owner of the bike shop that had Route 66 jerseys about 3 years ago. Terry told us that he did not know of any but would check with his wife and give us a call back.
(5-20 Minneapolis - David’s home) We met Keith for coffee and then rode around the Twin Cities area. I knew Keith from 1998, when we rode RAGBRAI together and 2001 when we met in Moab, UT for some mountain bike riding. We made a stop at the Amtrak Station just to check it out. Then we stopped for a real breakfast at “Keys Cafe” a famous family run restaurant since 1973. There are several Keys Cafe location all family run. The one we stopped at was the first and the walls of the restaurant is covered with pictures of the famous. We had our picture taken with the owner who also asked for a copy. She told us the she would put it on the wall along side all the others. David fixed up a very nice collage of pictures into a 8x10 frame for her. Yes, she did put it on the restaurants wall. So next time you are in St. Paul stop at the Keys Cafe and ask for the “David and Tom” booth.
We, Dana (David’s wife) David and TOB went out for dinner, but first stopped to watch Liz, Dana’s daughter, play a softball game and then headed for the movies. We saw “About Schmid.”
(5-21 Minneapolis - David’s home) We did another ride around the Minneapolis area.
(5-22 Minneapolis - David’s home) Today it rained so we did not ride. David gave Terry a call and Terry told him that he had TWO Route 66 jerseys left, and went on to say they were XXXL and XXXXL. We decided to go over and give them a look anyway. I did not hold much hope but decided if the XXXL was anything but a tent on me I would buy it. Arriving at Terry’s house he showed us the two jerseys. I took one to try on, is was the XXXXL one. It not only fit but was a hair on small size. Had I grown that much!! No, as the jerseys were made in Italy and were in European sizes. I remember when I was working in Germany that the sizes we strange and not what we are use to. Without even asking the price I said SOLD as did David. By the way the price was $30 which is great. Most bike jerseys sell for $75 to $80. How lucky could we be.
On the way back to David’s we made a stop for lunch at “White Castel” my first. These bit-size burgers are very famous on the east coast. I have had one at home in Oregon but they were frozen and not very good. After having one fresh off the grill, I now know why that are so famous. David was a little upset and the burgers were now $0.46 each and were only $0.42 each before he left on this tour.
(5-23 on Amtrak) Another rainy day. We had taken all the film that we shot of Target for their one day processing. We each had double prints made and exchanged them. Between us we took about 600 pictures, most taken by David. My train leaves at 11:15 PM so we had the day to just mess around.
David took me to the train station and waited with me until train pulled in and I was off for home, thanks David. On the train I met Wil, a guy from Madison who was heading for Seattle to lead a Coast-to-Coast Adventure Cycling tour, The Northern Tier. Which is the route we (David and I) rode in 1998 when we rode Coast-to-Coast.
I found it ironic that Amtrak at some stops, would let those off who wanted to have a smoke and they called it “A Fresh Air, Smoke Stop.”
(5-24 on Amtrak)
(5-25 Home) Arriving in Portland at 10:05 am I put the bike back together and load all my gear back on the rode the 15 miles home.
HAVE I SAID “LIFE IS GOOD”