Day 35

I slept for 9 hours last night and I still woke up feeling weary.  Everyone was feeling that way and we held off breakfast until 6:30 am--just like sleeping in.  We usually like to get out really early but nobody was complaining today.

The weather had improved but we were faced a headwind all day. The carrot at the end of the ride was our last dorms of the Big Ride at Valparaiso. 

We crossed from Illinois to Indiana near the 50 mile mark.  There was no state sign going into Indiana so we made up our own on a whiteboard. 


Indiana has the reputation for having the worst roads along the ride.  They didn't disappoint us.

The roads were mostly busted up along the right side of the travelway--just where the bikes had to ride.  There were a few interactions and salutes between bikes are cars along the way.  Luckily, I didn't have any trouble.  I actually finished the day feeling pretty good.

If these posts seem a little shorter than normal it is because I'm pretty beat.  By tomorrow we will have completed nearly 400 miles in the last 4 days.  After that, we will still have 3 days to go until a rest day.

There are only 10 riding days left in the whole trip.  Sometimes I'm ready to be done, other times I still find myself really enjoying the ride.

Day 34

Today was the toughest day of bicycle riding that I've ever experienced.  Last night's weather was beyond anything that I've seen before, and I did it from a tent.

From 11 pm to 3 pm we received a steady barrage of lightning and thunder.  There was little separation between the flash and the boom and it seemed like it was happening every 10 to 15 seconds.  On top of that, the rain on my tent sounded like it was being sprayed by a hose.

The campground started to flood.  My tent was pitched on higher ground, but a couple of other riders got soaked.  I got up at 3:30 am and helped another rider pull his tent out of 6 inches of water.  He literally appeared to be in a state of shock and was a little disoriented.  He was standing in the rain in his underwear and looked at me and said, "Mark, what do I do".  I got his stuff up to high ground and then woke up one of the ride coordinators who had a big enough tent to take him in.  I went back to bed to salvage what sleep I could.  We were riding 106 miles today and I'd had maybe 2 hours of sleep.

The morning's ride was through flooded Illinois countryside.  We traversed water over the roadway in 8 locations, sometimes up to my shoes.  I saw corn and soybean fields under water and at least one farmhouse that was completely flooded.  We rode in larger groups than usual because of the adverse weather conditions. 

I paced with the younger riders all day just just because I didn't want to fall back.  Again, you'll have to take my word about the flooding, because if I stopped to snap a picture I would have never caught back up.  I was comfortable in the pack even if the pace was quicker than my normal one.  We covered the 106 miles at an average pace of 15.9 mph.  I was so tapped out after the ride that I could barely set up my tent.  I went to bed at 8 pm.

Day 33

We rode out today in the remnants of yesterday's weather in Madison.  Yesterday was a doozie!  Callene and I were called in our hotel room shortly before we intended to head out for some ice cream and given instructions regarding tornado sheltering in the conference center.  Fortunately, it wasn't needed, but I shot this picture on the TV.  There were 3 confirmed tornados in the area.  Two were southwest of Madison and one was northeast.  Madison also had over 5 inches of rain in the 24-hour period.  I was told that it was near a record.

Today's destination was Belvidere, Illinois, 83 miles away.  It was raining hard when we left Madison and it continued all morning.  Southern Wisconsin appeared beautiful and bike friendly, but it was hard to appreciate in a driving rainstorm.

We rode through several locations with downed trees--one was on a house.  In other locations the corn was flattened.  I would have taken pictures but I didn't want to stop pedaling. 

The idea was to work our was south and hope the weather improved.  It did--this place is amazing--it went from driving rain to clear, hot and muggy in less than an hour. 

We entered our 7th state early in the day near the Winnebago factory.  The roads in Illinois were not as good as Wisconsin's.  The scenery was similar--but not as pastoral.

Towards the end of the day, Jim (a former rider), met us with an ice chest full of Dairy Queen Blizzards and cold lemonade.  On a hot and humid day they were a welcome treat.

Day 32

Madison is a fun town.  If it is not tourist central for Wisconsin, I'd like to know what is.

Midwest cities like Madison have a rich history.  Madison was a major staging and training area for the Civil War.  The University of Wisconsin's football stadium is located at Camp Randall. More than 70,000 of Wisconsin's Union troops and more than one-half million of their families and friends passed through the arch on the right before the soldiers headed off to war.

I love Big Ten schools.  The students and the alumni are really supportive.  The stadium at Wisconsin is incredible.  These stadiums are not new, but were built for a big capacity years ago.

Callene and I were able to walk into the stadium without escort.  I don't think this is normal, but nobody stopped us.  We were able to snap a few pictures before we were asked to leave.  I guess we really stood out as tourists.  I think Callene really gave it away by her affinity for the tackling dummies.

We pretty well ate our way through town as well.  Madison has great restaurants that specialize in midwest beef, pork, cheese, beer, and sausages.  We tried them all.  I have 7 days of riding before my next rest break.  It is going to take all of them to get Madison out of my system.

We did as much tourist stuff as we could in town.  This town bleeds red for the Badgers, except when it bleeds green and cheesehead for the Packers.  I imagine this place is nuts on game day.


We also got to experience the gamut of weather in Madison, too.  Western Washington is pretty passive when it comes to weather.  Not here..it rained, then got hot and humid, then hailed, then we got thunder and lightening, then cleared up again.  I'm glad it wasn't a riding day.

P.S.  The clearing didn't last long.  Callene and I were headed out for ice cream but found out we are under a tornado alert.  There are 2 confirmed tornados south of us and another just north of Madison.  I'm glad the Big Riders are not in tents tonight.  My wife says I really know how to show a girl a good time.

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Day 31

After yesterday's ride we went back to uneventful.   Amazingly enough, there was more to yesterday that I left out. We also had our first crash, too.  Everyone is sworn to secrecy, so I can't identify the rider.  It happened in a paceline.  As I've explained before, because of accidents in previous rides, we are not supposed to paceline.  Everyone does it, some more that others.  I jump in occasionally because the speed is exciting, but I didn't do this ride just to go across the country looking at someone's back tire.  Fortunately, the rider wasn't hurt badly--just a few scrapes and bruises.

I got in another century ride today.  I think it was my 6th.  It is odd to think that I've never ridden 100 miles in a day before-- now I've done six in a month.  This ride was hard.  We had a slight headwind, it was hot and humid, and I just felt fatigued. 

I was also really excited to see my wife in Madison.  We had a day off coming and I still had all this pedalling to do, it was hot, humid, and I was tired.  So what does a bad boy do in that environment?  I jumped in a paceline.  I know, I said that I didn't want to have the world go by watching the rear tire of the rider in front of me.  Well, I wanted to get to Madison.

Madison is a busy town.  It is the capital of Wisconsin and home the the University of Wisconsin.  On the capital lawns the Madison symphony was playing Beatles music.  There were people everywhere on the lawn and sidewalks.  It was fantastic.

Callene and I walked around town.  Madison is a great place in the summer.  I'm thankful that I'm doing the ride.  I can't see us taking a vacation to go to places like Madison, but now that I'm here, I'm really enjoying it.  They have stuff going on all over town-- and it's Wednesday.  What a cool town.

I have a day off tomorrow to catch up with my wife who I haven't seen in a month.  Life is good.

Day 30

Lately the Big Ride days have been fairly uneventful.  It seems odd to spend 6+ hours on a bike and still struggle to think of something to write about.  Not today.  Today was one of the most eventful days of the trip.  Unfortunately, not all was good.

We started the day pedaling along the east edge of the Mississippi.  We still in Minnesota, but not for long.  I've stated before that there are several landmarks on this ride that really mean something to me.  Well, the Mississippi is at the top of the list.  No problem finding something to write about today--holy cow!  I've rode my bike from Seattle to the Mississippi.

About 20 miles south of Winona we stopped at the Myers residence for a second breakfast.  Actually, it was a huge feast.  Apparently the Myers are fans of the Big Ride and put out a spread every year for the riders.  The story is that they helped a rider out with water years ago and subsequently the party has grown to the point that each year the riders come though they good all out with a feed.  They have pictures of past rides and riders and plenty of stories to tell.  They are great folks--see no problem with the stories today.

Next we rode into Wisconsin.  Our 7th state.  I was thinking that this was a great day, no problem with the blog tonight.  It was already written in my head.  What could top riding on the Mississippi, being fed by Big Ride Fans, and crossing into a new state?

Well, that's easy--crossing the Mississippi.  It is a dang landmark.  Seeing a landmark is one thing.  Putting it behind you is another.  We crossed into La Crosse, Wi.  The Mississippi is so big that Wisconsin calls La Crosse their west coast.  I thought that was funny.

LaCrosse is home to La Crosse Brewing.  I've never heard of them but I had heard of a feature related to the brewery.  It is the beer storage tanks known as the world's largest six pack.  I'm not sure how I knew about them, I just did.  For scale purposes you can see me leaning on the sign at the bottom of the middle can.  Pretty cool day, huh?

It gets better.

The upper Mississippi wetlands in the refuge are incredible.  What was also amazing is that my GPS indicated that our elevation was less that 800 ft.  That means the Mississippi drops less than 800 ft. between Wisconsin and New Orleans.  That is incredible to me.

The climbs out of the Mississippi valley were painful.  One climb was 1.5 miles long and averaged 8-10 percent.  We haven't climbed significantly since the Black Hills in western SD, so everyone felt it.

We still reached Viroqua by early afternoon.  It was hot and the humidity was high so everyone was parched.  Some of the young dudes started trash-talking Sam (the sauerkraut eating champion of New Elm) that they could out eat them.  Needless to say, a competition was born.  I never thought it would happen, a I went down the street to do my laundry.

Well, the competition did happen.  I don't know all the details, but it involved a relay consisting of consuming a brick of cheese, and downing a half-gallon of chocolate milk and ice cream. 

In eating contests, if the product doesn't stay down it's called a reversal.  A reversal is ground for disqualification.  Apparently, there were several reversals and the competition was called off.  To add insult to injury, while everyone was in the dairy barn watching the competition, an old dude turned around in our campground and backed over Andy's bike.  The bike was totaled.

Andy is the school teacher who is posting the great videos on you-tube.  Andy was livid.  I don't blame him.  This is a once in a lifetime trip.  You can't just pick this up next year.  It wouldn't be the same.

The bike situation remains unresolved.  Frank, one of the ride coordinators, has loaned Andy his bike until Madison.  The old guy initially offered Andy $1500 for his damages.  I think that was close to the value of Andy's bike and he could buy another in Madison.  But then the guys family showed up and they took back the offer.  Andy will have to deal with the insurer.  I hope it works out.

Some of the riders ride bikes that are worth at least $4000.  The old dude is lucky he didn't run over one of them. 

Day 29

Minnesota has a mix of the best and worst roads that we've seen during the Big Ride.  Honestly, some of the milled (pavement ground for a new layer) in Montana were better than a few of the finished roads here.  There are deep cracks or expansion joints every 10 feet or so that jolt your arms and smash your jewels on the seat.  A few minutes later you are on a smooth shoulder enjoying the scenery.  Amazing.

The scenery in this part of Minnesota is more of what I expected.  We traversed rolling terrain than was mixed with trees and streams, then entered big agricultural valleys.  The up and down made for tougher riding than we have seen for days, but the view was worth it.  The farms seems well kept up and many were very beautiful.

Brad was feeling old so a couple for the riders bought him a 90th birthday balloon.  He towed it behind his bike for 30 miles this morning before trashing it.  I called it his anti-drafting device--no one dared follow him closely for fear of the thing would wrap around your neck.

Mike and I stopped at a tavern called Brewski's in Utica, Mn. to celebrate reaching 2000 miles.  Mike is from Utica, NY so he bought several t-shifts for his buddies back home.  The owner was very nice and let us take a few pictures behind the taps.

It turns out that we were a couple of miles short on our calculations and the ride coordinators painted the 2000 mile mark on the road.  We celebrated again by darting in and out of traffic to get out pictures taken there, too.


Tomorrow morning we cross the Mississippi into Wisconsin.  The next day I get to see my wife, Callene, in Madison.  I can't wait.