Day Twenty-five

I’m writing this from our tent in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm. Thankfully, our tent is mostly waterproofed, but there are a few leaks coming in.

I headed out from Caroline and Bob’s house this morning after a fabulous breakfast of strong coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, matzo meal pancakes, fruit and yogurt. They are pescatarians, like Chuck and me, only they eat much more healthily. I need to work on that when we get home… I took a picture of the whole group (shown above) and Caroline and Chuck joined me on bikes for the first few blocks. Bob said something funny last night: we were talking about how Chuck would meet up with me and we’d have lunch and he said, “So he’s your ‘Chuck Wagon’, right?”. I liked that one! I ended up getting a late start, mostly because I didn’t want to leave Madison! What an amazing city! And everyone bikes there. Most of the people I saw in the city were very fit and I really didn’t see that many overweight people.

Once I got on the bike path, that basically runs from Madison to Dodgeville (about 50 miles), there were lots of people riding. Many of them had the Burley trailer on their bike that will hold a child. I was so impressed. And I saw parents teaching their kids the rules of the bike path. This time I was prepared and I had my Shuffle with me. I put it on and cranked it up. The road stayed paved but changed to dirt at Verona. I called Chuck and asked if he was nearby so I could switch to the hybrid. Thankfully he was and we made the switch. I was very grateful for that. I had to ride 40 miles on a dirt path and the Trek doesn’t do so well with that. I can’t seem to go as fast and I feel every little bump. Once I got on the Specialized, I was ROCKET WOMAN! The number of bikers dwindled off a bit. It was absolutely beautiful. I crossed a street one time, looked over and a deer was crossing about 50 feet away. She just stopped and stared at me.

Caroline had set me up with a power bar called “Pemmican”. When I started to get really hungry, I took it out and it really did the trick. It wasn’t bad tasting, either. I rode on some more, and got to a place called Waltz Park. I forget the name of the town it was in. They have excellent restrooms on this trail (the Military Ridge Trail – which costs $4 to ride on by the way) and there was a vending machine and some picnic tables under the shelter. I figured it was a good time for a lunch break. I dug out my bag of change, but I was a nickel short. I looked around on the ground, and found a quarter! I put my coins in the slot and they just fell right through. Then I had to find someone who could give me a dollar bill for my 4 quarters. I finally did, and that didn’t work either. Chuck was on his way with lunch, so I waited for him. We had snap peas, cheese and crackers, and edamame. It was good, and just what I needed. Chuck left and I continued on to Dodgeville. It took a while to get there, but I was going fast and making really good time. We stopped at a Subway for an iced tea, but I didn’t realize it was already sweetened and I didn’t enjoy it. I had one of my Emergen-C packets and that made me feel much better. I still had another 50 miles to go to get to Prairie du Chien, but I didn’t know if I was going to make it. The weather was pretty hot. I rode on Route 18, and it was nice. A wide shoulder, not much traffic and more gently rolling hills. Very scenic too. I saw a huge windfarm right by the highway and it reminded me of War of the Worlds. It’s really something to see.

I made it as far as Montfort, and called Chuck. We stopped in a biker bar for a beer and I had some broccoli bites, which I loved, but Chuck was little cranky at that point and refused to share them with me. That’s OK, more for me! This is where things went downhill. We drove to the State Park in Prairie du Chein but they refused to give us any kind of discount for the ride and actually tried to charge us more than Chuck had been quoted over the phone (they’re getting a letter from me). We left in a huff, hoping to find a motel that would give us a break (especially since I knew this storm was coming), but EVERY hotel room in Prairie du Chien was full. What the heck was going on? We didn’t know what to do. We had called Jellystone Park (the home of Yogi the bear) and they offered us a discount, but it was still more than we wanted to pay. I suggested we stop at an Irish pub for a drink and some food and see if anyone would be willing to help us. That didn’t quite work out, so we went to Jellystone. A nice lady named Sam checked us in, and here we sit. I really wish I had the foresight to leave my bikes in the “Ranger Station” since they’re just out there in the pouring rain. Not good for them. Plus my gel seat cover is getting completely soaked… Oh well, I hope the rain stops so I can get back on the road. The lightning was so severe this morning, that there was no way I was going to take a chance on riding.