Today was a disaster. What was supposed to be a great day on a 32 mile bike path turned out to be a total bust of a day.
It started out with a thunderstorm: followed by new oiled roads with gravel; followed by 100 degree heat and 20 mile an hour winds; followed by a 10 mile detour and was capped by ending up at the end of 100 miles with no room to stay in.
So while the day did not start off well - the bike trail was actually quite interesting. Wisconsin (and Minnesota) have a scads of old railroads that have been converted to bike trails. The one we rode today in Wisconsin started in Sparta. Spart claims it is the world capital of bicycling. So naturally I had to get my picture taken.
The fun part of this ride is that you have to go through three old railroad tunnels. The first is one mile long and none of the tunnels are lite. So you have to dismount and walk your bike through the tunnel carrying a flashlight.
This is the entrance of the first tunnel. Again the temperature outside was 100 - the air in the tunnel was so cold you could see your breath (using the flashlight of course). It was almost like being in a cave - with water dripping from the ceiling. In one tunnel there was an owl hooting - quite weird actually.
Again there were three such tunnels and the second two were shorter but you still needed a flashlight to navigate through them.
The path went through lots of little towns and in each town the old railroad building was converted into a ticket office for the bike path and little museums. There was a daily fee to use the trail ($4 I think) or a season pass for $20 bucks. The path was pretty cool.
One of the towns we passed was Norwalk and it claimed it was the "black squirrel capital of the world". Seemed strange - and I tried to get a picture with a black squirrel - but these Wisconsin squirrels are not stupid - why would they ever be outside in 100 degrees.
They were also getting ready for the big August Truck and Tractor Pull..
Didn't get to see any tractors but did get to see the track that they would be using. Grandstands, lights and everything... Be a great way to spend a Friday night.
As I said after the bike trail the road we were supposed to take (County Road O) was closed completely. So the crew had to scramble and find us a way around. So they took us on County Road P. It appears every road is named after an alphabet letter - sort of like Sesame Street.
Tomorrow we are going to go ride on the letters R, S and T.
So what was supposed to be only a 90 mile ride turned into 100. Plus the re-routed roads went directly into the wind which picked up to about 20-25 mph in the afternoon. I was exhausted and at one point had to stop as my body was overheating. Almost got hit by a car which then stopped to yell at me. I was so tired I just ignored them - which as you all know is not my typical, mild mannered reaction.
Got going again and was looking forward to getting to the hotel and taking a shower. Arrived at the hotel only to find out they did not have any reservations for our group. Given it is the beginning of the weekend in a big resort town (Wisconsin Dells - home of Paul Bunyan) all the hotels were booked.
The staff scrambled and found rooms in at least 4-5 different hotels. But it took at least 3 hours to work it all out, get our luggage delivered and get into our rooms. It was 6pm before the much needed shower. One of the guys took action in his own hands and walked next door and bought a 12 pack of beer - which was consumed in about 2 minutes. And it was Pabst but no one cared.
To add insult to injury tonight's dinner was a gift card to Denny's. I kid you not. Today was like a scene out of "the gang that couldn't shoot straight".
But in the end we are now cozy in our beds - it's 9 pm and well past our bedtime. Tomorrow we have 86 miles to do and wake up is at 5:15am. Plus breakfast is again at Denny's - looking forward to my Grand Slam.
So good night all...
No comments:
Post a Comment