Big Ride Day 32

Photos from Day 32

We knew right off that this was going to be a long day but what we didn't know was that it was going to be a hot one too. Doug and I got a pretty late start as usual and attacked the first 30 miles feeling pretty fresh. Mary isn't riding with us today because she wanted to get started early and get in a little earlier than we have been. We do tend to do dilly-dally quite a bit! The first thirty miles was like the last thirty of yesterday -- very hilly and challenging. By the time we got through most of the major hills, we were ready for some lunch. We stopped at this coffee shop and I had a double latte and a tuna salad sandwich in a spinach wrap. It was a great lunch. The place we stopped was called "Treasures in the Bakery" and was also an antique and knick-knack shop. We looked through all the stuff for a while -- that was neat. After leaving the coffee shop, we met up with Jeff and started riding with him. His wife Karen was taking the day off. We rode into the country again and stayed on winding farm roads for the rest of the day. We actually more or less followed Route 14 all day but on side roads, winding back and forth over the route. It added some miles but it was worth it -- much more peaceful and quiet than riding on the highway. Some people rode on the highway all day to save some miles but I think they really missed some of the best parts of the trip! Some of us found a huge sprinkler to take a shower under along the way.

We reached checkpoint about 1:30 and found out that it was almost 100 degrees -- it really felt like it too! To top things off, I got a flat at checkpoint. Soon after checkpoint, we stopped by the Frank Lloyd Wright visitor's center (he lives in this part of Wisconsin). I wish we had been able to spend more time there. After more long hours on the bike, we finally made it to Madison about 6:30 PM, about an 11 hour day. I was really tired of being on my bike by then, but looking forward to our night in the dorms. The dorms at UW were really nice - air conditioned and all. They even turned the air conditioning on for us ahead of time and put linens on the beds and everything. Dinner was excellent -- I absolutely stuffed myself until I was ready to bust. We walked around a little until it was time for bed and after I talked to Christine, it was time to hit the sack.

Oh, I almost forgot -- three flat tires today -- one for each of us!

This page modified November 25, 2000