Since I got to my hotel early the day before, I had an early dinner. After finishing my blog post, I was doing some reading and couldn’t keep my eyes open. So, I went to bed early – at 6:30. I slept until 4:30, so I must have been tired.
I checked the weather and the forecast improved to no rain until 3:00pm. So, I started my morning routine and was able to start biking at 6:00. It was a warm morning with a temperature of 70 degrees and humid from the storms the night before.
It was a mile and a half before I crossed the border into Wisconsin – my eighth state. Again, no sign for a picture, which was disappointing.
Traffic was very light that early, which was good because I had to bike in the bike lane of a busy highway for about six miles to get out of Beloit.
Then I was on a series of country roads for 20 miles to Brodhead. Some great scenery on these roads and very few cars. The roads were hilly, though, and I used all my gears.
I was really sweating from the heat and humidity and the hills. There was almost no breeze, so it was hard to cool down even when I took a break. I just kept drinking a lot of water.
In Brodhead, I picked up the Sugar River Trail. I was on this trail for 15 miles. It wasn’t in great shape, but it was level and not too muddy.
Last night’s storms brought down a few trees across the trail, but nothing that I couldn’t get over/around myself. There was a neat covered bridge on the trail.
I passed a walker on the trail, and for the first time this trip the walker called out to me to ask me where I was going. So, I stopped and chatted with him for a while. He had also recently retired, and we talked about retirement issues. He was very familiar with the trail and gave me some good advice.
I was able to refill my water in Albany. I realized last night that my 60 oz Nalgene has a crack in it and can only hold about 20 oz of water. So, I try to refill water more often. I also came across a gas station that was on the trail and had a first lunch (it was 9:00) of a Krispy Krunchy spicy chicken sandwich. Not something I would normally eat, but it was the best they had. I also replenished my snacks and bought a Gatorade.
There were a lot of wildflowers on the trail – more than any other trail I’ve ridden on. I hope you can see the number of wildflowers on both sides of the trail in this picture.
Here are some of the individual flower pictures.
I then switched over to the Badger State Trail, which was in the same condition and also had many of the same wildflowers. I was looking forward to the tunnel that was on the trail, but the tunnel was closed and there was a two mile detour on some country roads. Of course, that meant that I had to go over the hill, and I spent a lot of time in my lowest gear.
At 11:30 I rode into Belleville looking for a second lunch. I used Google Maps and found a local restaurant called J&M Bar and Grill which was just off the trail and open. I was very sweaty and looked pretty bad, but the people in the bar were very friendly and welcomed me in. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and chatted with the two other customers, the bartender and the owner. They were very interested in my bike adventure and couldn’t believe I could sit on a bike that long. They even went outside to look at my saddle and found it on Amazon to order it. Rick gave me some book recommendations. Ernie, the owner, wanted to give me a momento of my visit and gave me an ice scraper which I will cherish. I love meeting people in the towns I stop in. And I always try to go to local restaurants and stay in local hotels for that reason.
I continued up the Badger State Trail to Verona. I rode the bike lane on a few highways then got on the Ice Age Trail.
The Madison area has done a great job with bike lanes and trails. You can get anywhere on a bike. After a few miles, I pulled into my brother, John’s house at about 2:00.
For the day, I biked 72 miles and did 2,273 feet of climbing.
When I started this adventure, I was planning on being in Madison by June 7th for my niece’s high school graduation. I’m glad to be a few days ahead of schedule. I plan to be here for a week and will visit with lots of family and friends. I’m one third of the way across the country and I’ll post my learnings in the next couple of days.
Thank you everyone for your comments and support. I couldn’t do it without you.