Category: Bike Ride of a Lifetime (C)

July 23, 2018

Day 36 – Rest Day and Ferry Ride across Lake Michigan (technically, with 7 miles of “riding”).  Seventh state visited: Michigan.  Fourth time zone: Eastern Time. 

First things first:  No, the 60-mile trip across Lake Michigan does NOT count toward our total mileage.  Just saying.

Well, we made it to our fourth rest day, although for a rest day, it was a bit hectic.  The logistics of getting 35 bikes, 35 bikers, 6 staff, 4 vans and 2 trailers loaded with luggage, supplies, and spare parts onto the SS Badger without losing anything or anyone, certainly changed our now well-worn routine.  Basically, the day mapped out like this:  meet for breakfast at 8:00 and load luggage at 9:00.  This would be the last time we had access to our luggage until our hotel in Ludington, MI.  We were told to meet at the ferry dock at 12 noon even though the ship doesn’t leave until 2.  

So, basically: kill three hours and be at the dock at noon so we can kill two hours waiting for the ship to leave, so we can kill four hours on the boat, and then lose an hour when we get to Michigan.  Clear?

“Kill” might be overkill, because we actually had an extremely pleasant day.  Oddly, we had to bike four miles into downtown Manitowoc, dressed in our “civvies”, as Garry called it.  For four miles, we figured we could manage that in sneakers or sandals.  The only holdover piece of mandatory gear was the helmet. 

Of course, there was a quick pit stop at the local bike shop (although, why, I have no idea.)  From there we went to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and took a tour of the USS Cobia, a genuine WW II submarine that saw combat in the South Pacific.  The torpedo rooms (fore and aft) were awesome displays of real world firepower.  Pretty claustrophobic, too. 

The boat ride across Lake Michigan on the 410-foot Badger was super pleasant and calming.  The boat had a movie theatre (“showing, The Titanic”, one of the staff members quipped, demonstrating why he shouldn’t give up his day job), deck chairs (for rearranging, no doubt), a TV room, game rooms, kids rooms, quiet rooms, lounges, restaurant, snack bars, bars, and (I hoped) a modernized engine room.  The lake is over 900 feet deep in some spots, and Gordon Lightfoot’s Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald kept floating through my brain.  (Oh, except, … that was Lake Superior.)

At this point, I must bring up a topic that has been nagging many of us no end and a sad commentary.  And it deals with the diet of the average American.  Based on what we have seen for the past five weeks, the average American is seriously obese.  Or obese-plus.  Or obese-squared.  Our European riders are simply stunned and I am … gobsmacked.  (I’ve been wanting to work in “gobsmacked” since Day 0.)

This morning, instead of the usual hotel fare of powdered eggs and mystery meat, we walked across the parking lot to Perkins, a “family restaurant” chain.  The menu was voluminous, extensive and gargantuan.  And laminated.  And multi-paginated.  Portion sizes were huge.  Our server came over to take our order.  I was still paging through the various 1,000+ calorie offerings, when I asked her,  “Um, … where do you have, uh … granola? … or yogurt?”  “Oh,” she replied almost immediately, “we don’t carry that.” 

No, of course you don’t.  What was I thinking?  We have been to buffets where, for $11 (I kid you not), you can sit and stuff your face to your heart’s content.  And the clientele looks it.  Oh, you can try to eat healthier if you’re really careful.  But all across this great swath of America that we just rode through, food has been generally high calorie, high fat, high salt, cheap and plentiful.  Every city and town has a stretch of fast food, fast food and more fast food.  It is no wonder that many of us are gobsmacked.  

Ok, enough about that.  Just had to be said.  

We kick off our next segment tomorrow in Michigan with our last super long day at 112 miles.  Break’s over kids, back to work. 

Please enjoy these photos from today’s sort-of hectic semi-rest day and check our progress at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com. Thanks for following and I’d love to hear from you. 

…Jeff

July 22, 2018

Day 35 – Fond du Lac to Manitowoc, WI – 61 miles, 1,470 feet vertical

In honor of our upcoming rest day and four-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan, we all went out for a really good dinner at a nearby Mexican Restaurant.  By “really good”, I mean that the giant margaritas were out of this world.  (Please note the plural – margaritas.) Therefore, this journal entry may be abridged and heavily redacted. 

With a welcome short day – and by the way, we are all still amazed that 61 miles constitutes “short” – we had a lazy start time with an 8:30 load and go.   No “early  rollers” today, just one start time for everyone.  The only problem?  It was still raining and we were just getting tired of the rain and the wet.  So, a few of us – Garry, Tami, Randy and I – stayed back in the hotel.  We had been checking radar and the “green blob”, as Tami called it, was moving past us.  We decided to keep an eye on the “green blob” and chilled on the comfy lobby couches at the Holiday Inn.  We had to get special dispensation from Judy, but … she relented.  

Around 9:30, we headed out and although the roads were still wet, it had stopped raining.  So, we made the right decision.  Still, … it was very w-i-n-d-y!  Anyway, it eventually cleared up and we had a nice day.

Our ferry ride tomorrow departs at 2pm.  But, we were instructed to be there at 12 noon, and on top of that, we lose an hour to Eastern Time.  So all in all, it’s a seven-hour tour.  

Sleeping in tomorrow, so I will bid you all adieu and point you to the photos from today’s “short” ride.  See you in Michigan. 

Good night folks.

…Jeff

July 20, 2018

Day 34 – Mauston to Fond du Lac, WI – 95 miles, 2,680 feet vertical

Cumulative totals: 2,553 miles, 93,380 feet vertical

Another (yawn) 95 miles today.  We’d end up finishing in the rain (again), but nothing would dampen our enthusiasm today.  It was just beautiful.  We rode mostly on back roads, away from traffic, away from trucks with nothing but sun, sky, great friends and lots of laughs.  It was another day to just chill and be thankful that we are able to do this incredible ride. 

Everyone was in a good mood. Tomorrow is a “light” day at only 61 miles and then after that, we have our next “rest day” during which we will take a 4-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan.  (And, no, the boat ride doesn’t count toward our mileage.)  I am already starting to feel the pangs from the inevitable end of this journey.  The line of green dots on Where’s Jeff is getting longer and longer and even we can’t believe it.  But enough about that. 

Halfway through the ride today, we stopped in Princeton, WI for their world famous bratwurst.  Normally, this would be a dangerous thing to do, but it was worth it.  The bratwurst was delicious!  Just about everybody stopped here for lunch.  

Our weather-luck ran out after the 70-mile SAG 2 stop and it rained off and on for the rest of the ride.  As with yesterday, it was mostly “on”.  And again, as with yesterday, I spent the last 20 miles thinking “hot” … “tub” … “hot” … “tub” … “hot” … “tub”.  Hey, it works for me – you can choose your own coping method. 

Tonight, after dinner, we had the long-awaited T-shirt swap.  Everyone was instructed (pre-ride) to bring a clean T-shirt for the event and to be prepared to tell a story (if there was one).  We followed Yankee Swap rules which meant that all the merchandise first made it into the center of the room.  Then one by one, each person got to pick one item to keep.  The rub was that you could also decide to “steal” a previously chosen item.  This would totally piss off that person, who would then pick – or steal – another item.   No immediate steal-backs allowed, and after an item changed hands three times, it was considered “sold”.  All I can say here is that there are no friends in a Yankee Swap.  Things got ugly pretty quickly, but everyone had a good time and no one went home empty-handed.

Please enjoy these photos from today’s activities and be sure to follow along at Where’s Jeff.  I welcome comments or questions, so feel free to weigh in.  

Thanks for following.

…Jeff 

July 20, 2018

Day 33 – La Crosse to Mauston, WI – 75 miles, 2,570 feet vertical

It was Day 33 out of 50 with 2,458 miles covered on our way to a total of 3,700 or almost exactly two-thirds of the way to our final destination.  (I just wanted to throw in a little math to get us started.) 

Once again, morning skies were dark and threatening with heavy rain in the forecast.  And so, once again, we set out with dry roads, but we had a feeling that this time, the Sword of Damocles would eventually fall.  (If you missed yesterday’s post, please read that for an explanation and do watch the Three Stooges clip that explains Damocles in a way that even a seven-year old can understand.)

And it did fall.  Big time.  We got soaked. 

Today’s ride feature was the Elroy-Sparta rails-to-trails bike path that included three massive rock tunnels that cut through their respective mountains.  Cars can drive up and over, but trains need a steady grade.  The first tunnel was almost one mile long and it was absolutely pitch black once inside.  Audrey (being a teacher) educated us that when it’s pitch black, you can’t be sure if your eyes are open or closed.  So, our headlights (and for me, a bright LED flashlight) came in handy.  

We were also advised to bring flip flops or other footwear that would give us better purchase than our cycling shoes with their unwieldy cleats.  The ground was uneven with lots of gravel and wet with puddles from groundwater dripping from the ceiling.  So we did … and walked a mile in a pitch black tunnel with our rear lights flashing and water dripping all over the place.  It was eerie.  It was different.  It was fun.

It was also muddy on the trail, especially with the constant on and off drizzle and several folks had some spills (luckily, nothing major.)  Unfortunately, the Damocles Sword fell around the 50-mile mark and Tom and I rode the last 25 miles in on-again/off-again pouring rain.  (Um, … mostly on-again.)  The saving grace was that it was relatively warm (one town’s bank displayed 68 degrees) and so, at least we weren’t freezing.  

Still, it wasn’t pleasant.  I thought back to my daughter Samantha’s soccer games when she was in high school.  The girls would play in the rain and didn’t seem to care one bit.  We parents, of course, were miserable on the sidelines.  And so, I spent most of the last 20 miles thinking about the hot tub that awaited us at our destination.  Tom spent most of the time either zoning out or thinking “big thoughts” – or so he says. 

Please enjoy these photos from today’s wet and muddy ride and check out our progress map at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

Thanks for following. 

…Jeff

July 19, 2018

Day 32 – Rochester, MN to La Crosse, WI – 87 miles, 3,130 feet vertical

Executive Summary / Highlights:

• Rain threatened all day but mostly held off.
• Beautiful ride over rolling hills, including eight miles on a secluded (and flat) bike path …
• … but headwinds hounded us much of the day. 
• Only one kick in the teeth: a one mile climb at 12% grade. 
• Managed to have a life-affirming double espresso at Barista’s Coffee House in Houston, MN.
• Enjoyed “reading” my fourth book. 
• Crossed into our sixth state, Wisconsin.
• Crossed over the mighty Mississippi River.
• Wondering how to get our bike helmets on tomorrow morning over our cheese head hats. 
• Oh, and yeah: new tires were great.  No flats today. 

I loved cartoons as a kid.  I watched Bugs Bunny all the time and it was very educational.  I was probably introduced to every famous operatic aria and orchestral piece while Bugs Bunny continually outsmarted Elmer Fudd.  (“Silly Wabbit!”)

I also loved watching the Three Stooges.  Every day, after school, Officer Joe Bolton would remind us, “Now kids, don’t try this at home,” right before Moe, Larry and Curly poked each other’s eyes out or hit each other on the head with a steel head hammer.  Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.  And this is where I first learned about the Sword of Damocles.  Watch for yourself right here.

Well, we had the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads most of the day today.  When I woke up this morning, the forecast on The Weather Channel was for heavy rain and thunderstorms – 90% chance.  And it may have been still dry when we saddled up, but the skies were dark and threatening.  It looked like it was going to come down any minute.  We rode and rode, wondering how long the rain was going to hold out. 

At SAG 1, it started to drizzle lightly and riding through the mist was like having air conditioning.  But then it got a little wetter and switched over from air conditioning to light rain.  I stopped to put on my rain jacket and rode for a while in the rain.  But it never got much worse than that and in fact, after not too long, it stopped.  The last half of the ride was just fine.  We should all buy lottery tickets. 

Unfortunately, tomorrow looks pretty wet as well, if the forecasts are anywhere near accurate.  Nothing to be done – unless there’s lightning, we’ll be riding.  So we shall see what we shall see.  

I was afraid my camera would be in a plastic bag all day, but instead, I had to edit down from well over 100 pix, so please enjoy these photos from the day.  And check out how we just crossed the Mississippi River at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

Thanks for following.

…Jeff