Day 39, Sandusky to Burton, OH

Today's ride had a little bit of a lot of different rides in it. The road was dead level as we left Sandusky. We had another detour around a non-functioning bridge. This seems to happen a least every few days here in the midwest. Another legacy of all the spring flooding. We also had some real urban riding going through down town Cleveland. The picture at left is us descending the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, and entering down town.

We finally made it to Martin Luther (not the old dead German guy) King Jr Drive, (on left) which led us through the labyrinth of Cleveland's Rockefeller Park, to Case Western. We then went through Little Italy, up a steep hill, and out of town.

For the final 30 miles we encountered rolling hills, some of them up to a 9% grade. This area is largely a bedroom community for Cleveland. Even so, as we were rolling down a street full of Mc Mansions, Margaret spotted a deer on one of the front lawns.

Our friends, Nan and Scott, met us at the end of today's ride just minutes after we got in. They were a welcome sight. Suddenly my bags were loaded, and I was in an air conditioned car, heading for an air conditioned motel room and a hot shower. Later they took us out for a Thai dinner that we won't soon forget.

Tomorrow is a rest/laundry day. For those of you who might care, we have now ridden over 2,830 miles. According to the programs on bikejournal.com, we have burned over 189,287 exercise calories. I don't think we have lost any weight, but it does seem to have wandered around a bit.

Day 38 Napoleon to Sandusky, OH

The road between Napoloen and Sandusky Ohio is flat. Really flat. I can describe it best using 2 words: corn and soybeans or soybeans and corn, if you like. This was the 6 of 7 days riding in a row and it's 90 miles between Napoleon and Sandusky. Luckily, the weather was pleasant.

We're home! NOT

In Bowling Green (25 miles down the road) we stopped at Cycle Werks, a bike shop that had agreed to open its doors early for us. John and I arrived about 8:45 and the store was open for business. If you are ever in Bowling Green, stop by. Cycle Werks is a well stocked shop with knowledgeable staff.  I sent my leg warmers home when we hit warm weather. Unfortunately, the mornings can still be cool and my knees have begun to ache. Coincidence? I think not, so I picked up a pare of knee warmers. I also got another small helmet light since mile was pretty darn dim. I never thought to bring an extra, but then again, I never thought the one on my helmet would burn out this soon. I say this soon, because I just put a new one on for this trip but when I think about the hours it is on...

Katlynn with her beloved New York Times.

Eagle-eye John spotted a coffee shop just a couple of doors down from the bike shop and we wandered over. Grounds for Thought is a coffee, pastry and book store. Great combination. We each had coffee and a doughnut. It was a great break.

The rest of the ride went uneventfully until we hit camp. We were at a KOA kamping (their spelling, not mine!) grounds and heard through the grapevine that for $4 per person, we could upgrade to an air conditioned cabin. We were all over that. Woo hoo! air conditioning and we don't have to set up a tent! Sandusky is a large town and thus had many deliver-to-the-camp options. While John walked to a local restaurant, Jessica and I ordered salad and pizza.

Yet another wind farm. We've seen them in every state.  If you look carefully, you can see another whole row on the right.

Sandusky is also home to Cedar Point, a huge amusement park. There was even a shuttle from the campgrounds to the park. Many of the riders took advantage of the bus and went there. John and I have been to Cedar Point many a time with the kids, so we opted for food and rest.

Day 37, Kendallville, IN to Napoleon, OH

Sometimes I am asked why I cycle. It is partly because of days like today. Beautiful weather, beautiful country, beautiful people.

Our ride today was only 70 miles. We left camp, and shortly started a series of roller coaster hills. Hard to describe, but... Downhill coming, shift to big chain ring, push down the hill, shift gear cluster to 7, speed 22, to 8, speed 27, to 9, speed 32, speed 35, coast, speed 38, uphill coming, speed 32 and start pedaling, speed 28, shift to 8, 25, to 7, 21, to 6, 16, to 5, 14 and the top of the hill, start to push down the hill. Rinse and repeat, hill after hill.

After the rolling hills flattened out, our tandem started to eat up the miles. We stopped for a break at Walgreens, stopped twice to fill up water, stopped for ice cream at an "historical" shop (per our cue sheet), and still got into camp shortly after noon. Life is good.

Tomorrow we ride about 90 miles to Sandusky. We have only nine more riding days!

Valparaiso to Kendallville, IN July 25

The alarm when off at 5 AM. Neither John nor I wanted to get up. We've done 292 miles in the last three days. We are tired. Not ready to quit, but really tired. I thought, when looking at the riding schedule, that this week would be much easier than it has turned out to be. I figured after reaching the halfway point, we would be in such good shape, 663 miles in one 7 day stretch would be no big deal. Wrong. That many miles in a row is not easy, but it can be enjoyable.

Valparaiso University

As I am sure John outlined, our first 3 days were challenging, mostly due to the weather. Today dawned hazy and humid but not horribly hot, and without rain. The forecast called for mild west-winds (we're traveling east) and highs in the upper 80's. No rain! This was good news. I was beginning to wonder how one contracted jungle rot. Luckily, we were able to do laundry since we stayed in a dorm last night so at least we had dry clothing, and by hanging my shoes in front of the AC unit all night, I had dry shoes!

The day was overcast, but dry all morning as we rode through Indiana's corn and soybean fields. The scenery had not changed a lot since we hit the border of Illinois. It is  a lot like Michigan, as far as vegetation goes, but much flatter. I am surprised at the joy large deciduous trees are bringing me. I really missed them when we were out west. Even in Montana and Wyoming did not have anything like the beautiful shade trees we've been enjoying since entering Wisconsin. On a hot day, at least we have some shade to shelter us when we rest. Folks from the desert areas are wowed by the green. The riders from Seattle are amazed at the strength of our storm systems. Having no mountains to stop them, the bad weather can be seen a long way off and the winds are impressive (not to mention the thunder and lightening which scared the stuffing out of some riders). It is interesting to experience my home territory through the eyes of people who have never been here. I found myself explaining how to know if lightning is close or not and what to do if the tornado sirens go off.

Whatever!

We hooked up with Kate Montana for the last half of the ride and had a very pleasurable afternoon. Just before we made it to camp, Kate saw the local ice cream shop and "made" us stop. The owner told us it was only 13 miles to camp from her shop. Apparently, other members from our group had wandered in before finishing the ride as well. 

Ice cream on a hot afternoon :)

A friendly horse at one of our rest stops.

Our campsite.

Tomorrow we cross into Ohio. This experience is going way too fast!

Day 33, 34, 35

Well, this is an attempt to catch up a bit. When we started this journey, we had no idea how difficult it would be. Now we know. Life has three foci: ride, eat, sleep. If we have internet access, not a given even with our Verizon card, and if we have time, and if we are not so tired we are sleeping before we get back to the tent, THEN we may blog. This is the most difficult physical test I/we have ever attempted. Sometimes all other tasks end up being ignored.


Day 33, Madison WI to Belvidere, IL

We left Madison in the rain. The route out of town was a bit complex, and we were lucky to have Bob, an 2008 Big Ride alum, to guide us. Turns out he will be doing DALMAC, 5 UP along with AD Carson and I (and others) this Labor Day.

The tractor picture was taken by Margaret while we were still in WI. Sometimes you see the oddest things. Notice the flag. Headwind.

We were interviewed for the local paper in Beloit as we were leaving WI. The news guy snapped this picture of us. That is Jessica, Kate Bridgeman, Bernie, and Margaret and I.

The Illinois sign appears to need a little work.




By 1 PM, all cloud cover was gone, and the day really began to heat up. We were glad to get to our camp ground, get the tent up, and go across the street for a pizza dinner, and.....The Tour De France on TV while eating pizza!

Margaret has installed a little fan in the tent, and it really helped us get to sleep.







Day 34, Belvidere to Coal City IL

The day began about 1 AM with one hell of a thunderstorm, simultaneous thunder and lightning, two inch an hour rain, the whole nine yards. After about an hour of that, the rain slacked off, and we went back to sleep.

Unfortunately, it was still steadily raining when the alarm went off. Not good. Even worse, someone (me) had left the speedometer/odometer on the bike, so we had to ride today without one. Later our mechanic loaned us a Garmin GPS, so we could at least figure out distances until its battery died.

So, we took down our tent, packed the truck, and ate breakfast in the rain. Somehow it is OK if you are riding and it begins to rain, but it is somehow wrong to decide to start riding while it is raining. There was no real option.

After riding all morning in the rain (again) the skies cleared and the day began to heat up (again). This is the kind of rather flat countryside we are now riding through.

Today, as yesterday, there was a road detour that added several miles to the day's ride. We finally got into camp around 4;30, and got a much needed shower.


This is a picture of our Enterprise gear truck in camp at Coal City. I have dubbed her "the mother ship," but I'm not sure our younger riders catch the Star Trek reference.















Day 35, Coal City, IL to Valparaiso, IN

The day began with a 1 AM thunderstorm again! Fortunately, it was not raining when it was time to get up and get on the road.

The lack of rain did not last for long, and by mid morning, the weather conditions were so extreme, that about 20 of us ended up a little McDonald's along the highway. We just about filled the place. It looked a bit like a drowned rats convention. Most of us, Margaret and I included, took it as an opportunity to have a second breakfast.

By the end of the morning the rain had stopped, and we had a very pleasant ride into Valparaiso College, where we are spending the night in an air conditioned dorm. The last three days we have ridden over 90 miles each day, what with detours and such. Tomorrow we will be riding 109 miles into Kendallville, IN. We also lose an hour entering the eastern time zone. BUT, only a 20% chance of rain.

Goodnight.

Day 32 Madison, WI

Catch up day. Yesterday pretty well kicked our butt, so we slept in all the way to 7 AM. Then the usual, find breakfast - nice little second floor cafe that was 4 blocks from the dorm.







We did get to take in some of the finer cultural sights of Madison on our walk back to the dorm.



We also shopped on the way back to the dorm for the usual stuff plus laundry soap. It is always time to do laundry. Again. Some kind of brown stains are growing on our jerseys, mold perhaps? Others in our group are having the same issue.

Today our friend, AD Carson, of Recycled Recumbents fame drove out from his home in Milwaukee to meet with us for lunch and the afternoon. If anyone reading this has thought about trying a recumbent, one way to do so for a relatively low cost is to build a bike from AD's plans, or have him build one for you.

AD was doubly welcome because he arrived with a pair of much needed tires. We have had it with the Schwalbe Duranos that we have been using since New Ulm, and AD was kind enough to bring us another pair of Schwalbe Marathon plus. I'm sure the Durano is a wonderful tire, but not for a 400 pound touring tandem.

The Marathons got mounted just in time to allow me to watch the Tour De France. Then it was off to bed. We ride 94 miles to Belvidere, IL tomorrow and another new state.

Day 31 Viroqua to Madison, WI

The trip from Viroqua to Madison, WI sucked could have been better. We began the day well enough: loading luggage and breakfast at 5:30 and rolling out at 6AM. The humidity, while still oppressive, was a bit better. It was already 85 degrees and we had 99.3 miles to go. I had thought it was going to be 103 miles and discovering it was 4 miles less somehow brightened my mood.

The first 30 miles was through beautiful farmland, mostly corn grown in (no pun intended…well not much) maze-like patterns. At first we thought it was done as an alternative to having one field fallow and the other producing. The idea being that the farmer would alternate rows each year. A friend suggested it might be for water conservation. We don’t know, but it makes for a handsome landscape.

Wisconsin cornfields – the dark green is corn and the light green is a low-growing ground cover…clover?

By the time we stopped for lunch, the heat had intensified to sweltering. We rode the lettered country roads, which for the most part have good pavement with little traffic. Then we got back on highway 14, lots of traffic and blacktop that reflects waves of heat into the air above it. Did I mention it was hot, 97-degrees hot with humidity to match? I was sweltering. We got to Peck’s Farm Market for lunch, ate popsicles and stood in front of a huge fan and later under a tree to cool down. Then we were on the road again. By the time we got to Mazomanie, WI (where the only legal nude beach in Wisconsin is located) we were seriously overheated and in the horns of a moral dilemma. The route we were given took us off of hwy 14, but the route had us climbing a half-mile long 11% hill. Take my word for it 11% is steep. We really did not want to climb that hill, but after looking on-line and hemming and hawing, we did. We signed on to a group activity and needed to follow their plans.

The new road was pretty, but hilly. Walking around in 40-degree weather with no jacket is no problem for me, doing anything in 97-degrees is a big problem. Climbing hills in 97 degrees is a huge problem. But we thought it was only 25 or 30 more miles; we could do it.

Cool logo; cooler bike shop.

Ten or fifteen miles down the road we found Uphill Grind a coffee and bike shop; my kinda place. John was dizzy and sick to his stomach; I was just overheated and tired. We each had a beverage. Once more we told each other, “Only 15 more miles; we can do this.”

This is where things began to really suck. The promised hill was tough, but we got up it. It was the two hills that followed it that got to me. Going 3 to 5 mph on black top in sunny 97-degree weather is horrid, doing it hill after hill is ridiculous. By the time we reached the sag wagon a mere 5 miles later, I was a wreck. I wanted to give up. Thankfully, Lynne, our great co-leader was there to talk me down and hand me a cool drink and some fruit.

…and give us the change of route caused by road construction. It only added 3 miles! I’ll spare you the rest of the suckage, more hills, didn’t get any cooler, traffic…

By the time we got to Madison, I was having fantasies of flinging myself off the bike , with Catwoman like grace, leaping toward the latest horn-honking, air conditioned vehicle that passed, flinging open the door, (which would simultaneously send a waft of hot humid air toward them and cool air toward me), and screeching what I thought of their horn, their car and their place in the universe.

There were only two issues to be overcome: one, at my best I cannot display Catwoman-like grace, and two, I was not at my best. Sigh

We entered Madison at rush hour, got turned around, bla, bla, bla… The dorm rooms in Madison are air conditioned, we have tomorrow off and what does not kill us, makes us stronger. I am apparently alive, so I must have gotten stronger.

Day 29 Owatonna to Winona MN 7/18/11

AnneMarie and her little dog too!

AnneMarie came for a visit : )  so John and I had a lovely night's rest in a motel (not to mention a meal that was to die for). At 5 AM she and Chanzie got up to take us to the truck. Now that is a true friend.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed over to HyVee, a local grocery store that was providing us with breakfast. Unbeknown to them, they had alson hosted two of our flock last night. Caitlin and Geena, "asked" permission and spent the night in HyVee's air conditioned comfort. Apparently, they just plopped down their sleeping bags and went to sleep. Six other members: EA, Eric, Gabe, Sarah, Brian, and Kenny, slept in an employee of the skating rink's house. Apparently, they were watching the tour at the rink and mentioned how hot it was at the camp site. One thing led to another, and they ended up scoring an air conditioned spot for the night. Hey, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Just as it had been yesterday, it was hot and muggy out. We were drenched in sweat before we hit the ten mile mark. Fortunately, we had no flat. At a rest stop, Deidra Linstrom, a 2010 rider, came by and provided snacks and fruit. (the plums were delicious!) She is from St. Paul and has inspired John and I to do a snack stop for next year's riders. 

Queen Anne's Lace has appeared. Today was the first I've seen it.

Our ride was 89 miles today and I have to say, I do not remember a lot beyond the heat and the rolling hills. I am perfectly comfortable in 40 degree weather with out a coat. The heat and humidity of today made this a very challenging day for me.

Dick and Noel in their natural habitat... a coffee shop.

We ended our day at Winona College. It seemed air conditioned at first but as night time began, it got hot in the dorms. In an attempt to at least have a breeze, I opened the window. It felt like a blob of hot, wet air was invading the room. Warm as it was in the dorm, sleeping in a tent would have been much worse.

Day 28, New Ulm to Owatonna, MN

It is hot! Very difficult to sleep in our non-climate controlled dorm. Everybody was up early to try to get some miles behind us before the heat became oppressive. Margaret and I were actually the first bike on the road this morning.

During our "rest" day I replaced our bike's drive chain, had Rich install a new gear cluster to allow lower gears for climbing, and replaced our Schwalbe Marathon plus tires with easier rolling and lighter Duranos. The Marathons had over 3,000 miles on them, and had never had a flat, but we wanted to try a faster tire.

Well, before we had gone five miles, we had a flat. So much for an early start. Our friend, AnnMarie, and her mother were going to meet us this afternoon in Owatonna, so we wanted to be in camp as soon as possible. Still, we figured we had lost no more than 15 minutes, and we would still be fine.

The day became hotter and hotter as we rode. We even stopped a couple of times in local stores for "AC" breaks. By lunch, at mile 46, we were feeling pretty fried. As we left lunch, we noticed a BP station with ice cream. Perfect! Ice cream for dessert.

By now both of us were pretty tired. We had made a left off of Old Hwy 14 to enter the BP, so we knew we needed to make a left out of the BP parking lot to continue on the route. Neither of us noticed that the BP was on a corner, so when we came out we turned left onto the wrong street. I should have known this was the wrong road. It had very light traffic, very good pavement, and the cross wind was now a tail wind. Ah, but we were very tired.

Seven miles later, about the time we should be entering the town of Waseca, the road T'ed into US 60 at a stop sign. There was no stop sign, no T intersection, and no US 60 on our cue sheets. We were lost and off route. A consultation call to Charlton, our crew chief, gave us a route to get to Waseca and back on route. It only added about 13 miles to the day. Did I mention it was really hot? And humid? And we were tired? And we had friends driving all the way from Michigan to meet us?

We were almost the last to reach camp. AnneMarie was there to help us load our bags into her car, and take us to our air conditioned motel. After showering, she and her mother took us out to dinner. We slept well in air conditioned comfort. I love AnneMarie.

Tomorrow we ride 90 miles to Winona, MN, and our last night in Minnesota. Given the oppressive weather, we are hoping for air conditioning at Winona State College where we will be staying.

Day 27 New Ulm - Martin Luther College

The people at Martin Luther college could not have been nicer. Martin Luther College is operated by Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Its mission is to prepare men and women to be ministers, teachers, missionaries... They are a conservative German people and thus, as Garrison Keilor would attest, prone to a belief in suffering. John and I, however, are Catholic Germans and lean more toward guilt, comfort and beer.

Martin Luther College, Ulm, MN

We arrived just before a torrential downpour and were given our accommodations: families in the basement, women on the first floor and men on the second ...no air conditioning in the dorm room. Since John and I are married, we got the basement. One would think that would be cool; one would be wrong. It was damp and a bit scary. Our room smelled dank. The "windows" gave us a view of the well covers. The room was L shaped. It opened to a "closet" (more like planks tacked together by boy scouts), turn left and a built-in shelf/desk with  2 bunk beds opposite set into the wall. Gabe, a fellow rider, described it best saying he would not go back unless he took garlic and a crucifix. We asked for and were given a different room. Hot, but less creepy.

Historical Museum and cool looking building

New Ulm is a cute German town with historical buildings, shops and restaurants. I got a pedicure, John and I perused a bookshop and lounged over a couple meals. Beyond that, all we had time/energy for was laundry, bike maintenance, and watching the Tour De France in the air conditioned common room.

One funny note: I ordered pizza for John, myself and 2 other riders. Three large, thin crust pizzas. The man on the phone asked if the order was really for just 4 people and warned that his pizza was filling and did I realize that was 6 slices per person?? We're bikers, I replied, we eat a lot. It was good... Pizza, the Tour de France in an air conditioned room and a couple of smuggled beverages. Life is good.

"Herman, the German" stands guard over the city.

 

Downtown New Ulm, MN

Day 26, Tyler to New Ulm

Once again we benefited from the AC at a school, and had a restful night in Tyler. Breakfast was catered by the Tuphat Ladies, who did supper last night as well. Nice not to have to do clean up before we can get on the road.

Tyler is a very nice little town that is recovering from a bit of a disaster. Two weeks before our arrival, they were hit by an F2 tornado, and while they have been working hard to clean up the mess, evidence of the storm abounded. The top third of the school and post office flag poles were bent over. We saw half of a barn just sitting in the middle of a cornfield. Lots of trees had been uprooted, and at least one house in town was totally destroyed.

Was once a house.



Lots of wood for the winter.


If you haven't guessed, we have been pretty well beaten up by the head winds day after day, but today we had a morning gift. A quartering tail wind! Very nice. So for most of the day, we were windstrong.

Back on US 14, we rolled easily through rolling farmland. As we got closer to New Ulm, the shoulder of the road got narrower, and finally disappeared. As road conditions got worse, the traffic volume and intensity increased. It all made for some fairly unpleasant riding. Several times vehicles honked at us to get out of the way. Get out of the way to where? The ditch?

At mile 72 for the day, we entered Sleepy Eye, MN. There has to be a story behind that name, but the day had turned hot and humid, and our curiosity was on hold. All we could think about was getting off Route 14. Our cue sheet had us turning on to county road 27 in Sleepy Eye, and taking it to New Ulm.

When we turned on to CR 27, several things happened. Traffic almost entirely went away - good. The road surface improved - good. The weather changed - not so good. The skies clouded over to threaten rain, and our tail wind turned into a 15 to 20 mph head wind. For the next 12 miles we struggled to make 10 mph. We got a few sprinkles of rain, but nothing that mattered. We arrived at our dorm at Martin Luther (not King, this is the old dead German guy) College in a light drizzle.

Turns out that we were lucky. Shortly after we got in, the skies opened with a torrential rain storm. Two of our number we still on the road. Our support crew drove out to them and offered to sag them in, but they both refused. (I think they are members of the "EFI" club ((Every Full [?] Inch)), as are we.) The crew put a vehicle in front of them and another behind, and escorted them in. Now THAT'S a support crew.

I have to apologize for the paucity of pictures, there don't seem to be any saved for today. The two above were borrowed from Daria's blog. I will leave it to Margaret to comment on our dorm room. She has a more colorful perspective than I on this.

Rest day tomorrow!