Staffing Across America North for ABB 2005: Day 32 -- Bratwurst or Bust!

July 21, 2005

ROUTE: Rochester, MN to La Crosse, WI

DISTANCE: 89 miles

WINDS: Not a factor

WEATHER: Thunderstorm in AM; sun and humidity in PM

TERRAIN: Big rollers with a couple of good climbs . . . one an XXL goodie!

TOTAL CLIMBING: 3,700 feet

RIDE OVERVIEW: We were scheduled to be loaded and on the road by 7 this morning but a big thunderstorm blew in so we waited until 9. It was still raining but gently when we took to the road. I was riding Float today and left with Mary and Dianne, two friends from Wisconsin who couldn't wait to get to La Crosse to see their families and friends. Mary's family promised brats and beer in the hotel parking lot at the end of the ride, and Dianne was going to meet husband, Howard, and her Hospice staff. At breakfast, Dianne handed out a Wisconsin Quiz. Here's a couple of sample questions:
1. The correct response to "Hot out, hey?" is: a) Oh yah. b) Hey. c) a or b;
2. Wisconsin's motto is: a) Eat cheese or die, b) Go Packers, c) Forward.

(The correct answer to both is the last one.) We all had fun with this quiz, but few aced it and became honorary cheeseheads.)

Barb set up our first SS at 35 miles in a picnic area of Bucksnort Park at the foot of a downhill. The park contained a waterfall and was very soothing and scenic. The delectable here was zuchinni bread baked by Lori, Murray's fiancee. Late arrivals got no crumb. Everyone raved about it. Thank you Lori. We love donated goodies! We've saved out a loaf for tomorrow's SS, so those first to the sag will get a treat.

About 15 miles later, we came to the town of Rushford and the Riverwood House where a good number of us stopped for lunch. Mike came by in Silver and decided on lunch here, too. Then Barb pulled up in Box. Then Josh came by having swept the last rider to this point. The only staff we were missing was Karen, and she was 10 miles away at SS#2 feeding and watering those who didn't stop at the Riverwood.

The original plan was for Karen to set up SS#2 at Cody's Mercantile next to the Cenex GS on Hwy 76 in Houston nearly opposite the exit from the Root River Trail. Cody's is a cute little restaurant/shop with picnic tables on a welcoming shaded deck. Last year I had talked to Mike & Valerie of Money Creek Buffalo Ranch, who were just about to have their grand opening. We decided that this would make a terrific place for our "official" SS. But, alas, Cody's was closed when Karen got there. It looked as though the restaurant had not been able to make a go of it. But, Karen set up near their deck anyway, and riders enjoyed the shade and tables on their porch. Their establishment is named Cody's after Cody, their buffalo, who played . . . a buffalo . . . in Dances with Wolves and several other movies. Hope they don't let Cody glimpse the menu: Buffalo Burger, $2.00, Buffalo Hot Dog, $1.00, Juice, $1.00.

Just around the corner from the Riverwood House was the trailhead for the Root River Trail, a beautiful Rails to Trails paved trail that followed the Root River to the Houston Nature Center and almost directly to Karen's SS#2 in Houston. Alice the owl lives at the Houston Nature Center and she is a pampered pet, with her own refrigerator full of frozen mice. There is a stuffed wolf there too, one shot several years ago by a local who thought it was a coyote. First sighting (if it can be called such) of a wolf in the state, I understand. The grounds of the Nature Center contained some very interesting sculptures made completely from bicycle parts. As riders came off the trail, their first comment was, "What a beautiful trail!" I rode it this year and agree. The trail was shaded and lined with liatris, wild phlox, elderberry, and pungent bee balm. The trail ran along the river, and bridges crossed small streams. Several riders saw deer, and birdsong kept us entertained.

It was nice to get off the roads and away from any traffic for awhile, not that we've had much traffic on the little, two-lane, farm-to-market roads we've been on for the past few days . . . maybe a car every 15 or 30 minutes or so. Our terrain today rolled more than it has for the past few days, and we had one real good climb at the 65-mile point. Mike's in the doghouse again as he told everyone that it was probably about a 7% grade for a mile. Yeah, right! It was more like 10% in places . . . but was only a mile. If you like corn and soybeans, you'd love our ride today. Everywhere we looked we'd see rotation planting and rolling hills dotted with barns and silos behind every farm house. The fields are large and farmers seem to be able to plant corn or beans on just about any slope that a tractor can negotiate.

It was a lazy day for almost everyone. The scenery was so beautiful that it would have been a sin to have hammered through it all. After SS#2, we had a steep 1 mile climb to get out of the river valley and up on the bluff. Once we were up there, you could see almost forever. Most of the riders felt it was well worth the climb to ride those great roads . . . even the ones who walked up the slope. The terrain was gently rolling on top of the ridge, and riders had a great 2-mile descent to a new concrete bridge and sidewalk across the Mississippi that replaced the steel grate one of last year.

When we arrived at the motel, riders washed their filthy bikes and then joined Dianne and Mary and their families in the parking lot of the motel for that promised beer and brats. We were also present when one of Dianne's sponsors, Bora, presented her with a custom bicycle shorts, jersey, water bottles, and socks.

Well, we are finally in the east! And in our sixth state, Wisconsin. Tomorrow some more wonderful trail riding and the Wisconsin Dells tourist mecca . . . Tune in. Susan

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:

"Don't throw in the towel, yet." (Opie to me as I was mopping up with my wrist washcloth.)
"One foot in the grave." (Someone to me as I was lying in the shade of a large tree at a cemetery.)
"Bob, every time I pass a dead skunk I think of you." (Carol to Bob -- I hope because I described his "Mohawk" as looking more like a skunk stripe than a Mohawk.)
"That was a beautiful trail! Thank you for giving us this option."
"Oops. You dropped your penguin!" (Barb [no birder she] when Eag, my little eagle finger puppet, tried to fly the coop again in the parking lot.)

OOOPS! Opie slipped. He actually said something 'negative.' When I asked him why he didn't take the hill before the SS twice, he said. "It was too hot to ride that hill twice." Too hot? This from the pup who held his arms up in the 30 mph headwind and said, "Gee this is fun . . . almost like flying"? From the guy who is a sodden mess yet declares, I love hot days and sweating"?

DUH! OF THE DAY: "Mike, did you get any shots of those two beautiful white churches?""No but I think I got some good ones of the cornfields." Well DUH! We have been driving through endless cornfields for the past four days. (Mike's cornfield shots were excellent, though, as a couple of pix above will attest. The farms in this area are just irresistible subject matter.)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Josh in his Clark Kent glasses showing
the type of cell phone he uses to
communicate with Krypton.

Jim signals that he's got his 10th flat for the trip--
doesn't come close to tying Murray who got
8 flats in one day and still managed a 4 hour,
20 minute century (counting only the moving
minutes, of course).