Big Ride Day 31

Photos from Day 31

I was looking forward to a nice relaxing morning since I didn't have to tear my tent down and all that. I got up at about 5:30 and packed up quickly. We biked to breakfast at the same place we had dinner and had a nice leisurely meal. I was even slower than usual because I was feeling a little nauseated. I made the mistake of taking ibuprofen first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and I think that's what caused it. I won't make that mistake again! Due to our leisurely pace, we got out late anyway -- about the same time as usual. Many other people were late getting out too, though, because of staying in the dorms and because of the short day we were supposed to have. After an excellent breakfast, we hit the road for what was supposed to be a short easy day of riding. It turned out to be anything but. The early part of the day was spent along the Mississippi River -- very pretty. The Mississippi is not really that big in this part of the country but still big enough. We stayed mostly on side roads and even rode on one dedicated bike path for a while. There was a cute little lemonade stand set up for us by some kids in one of the towns. We made it to the Lacrosse area rather quickly and crossed the river into Wisconsin. There was the obligatory border-crossing photograph and then we pressed on to the checkpoint. Checkpoint was down by the river in a nice park area. There was a replica of a fifteenth century ship there which was cool. The area was very pretty. On the way out of town, we passed by a brewery that claimed to have the biggest six-pack in the world. It was six giant vats of beer painted like beer cans -- very cool. Before we left Lacrosse, we had lunch at a place called the Happy Peddler. We thought it was fate that we should eat there because of the name -- it turned out to be an excellent and very popular place. The food was great but our waitress was kind of rude. Oh well.

After lunch, we rode for a while by the river again and picked up a tremendous headwind that we managed to fight through. Eventually, we turned away from the river and started to head out of the valley. That's when we hit those Wisconsin hills! The first one was 1.5 miles and was easily the most difficult hill we had encountered on the trip. It just seemed to go on and on. Doug and I hammered up it, not knowing what was next. As it turned out, there were many hills to come that were as bad or worse. Doug and Mary and I hammered for the rest of the day and totally shredded our quads.

The scenery we were rolling through is just gorgeous -- beautiful Wisconsin farmland. The whole day I was thinking "this is what I came for." We were on backcountry roads and in Amish country the whole day. We even passed an Amish bakery where they had sweets set out for sale. The great thing is that it was run completely on the honor system. You just left the money there for whatever you took. There was a fairly large store of baked goods and by the time we got there, they were completely cleaned out. It was fun. Soon after the bakery and a few more hills, we reached camp exhausted. It was late enough that I was able to go right into dinner and eat. After dinner, I was finally able to talk to my folks on their cell phone. By the time I showered and then also got a hold of Christine, it was time for bed. Tomorrow is a really long day to Madison.

This page modified November 25, 2000