We’ve been biking steadily through the month of July, although there hasn’t been much coming out on the page. This is symptomatic of an over preoccupation with the Tour de France.
On Sunday, July 29th, we followed butterflies out over the big hills to Galena and 112 miles of glorious suffering.
On the first Saturday in August, it was time to shake off the lactic acid of Galena and head northeast out of the Upper Left Hand Corner.
Our destination was Brodhead, Wisconsin which is the southern gateway to the Sugar River Trail. It is a cycle friendly community with a very nice town center where we found a bike shop with a bed & breakfast above.
Our route took us up through Clarno, Twin Grove and Juda. A lumber yard in every town in case we would require a 2x4. The roads were in great condition and traffic was light—nearly nonexistent. Unlike the previous Sunday where the incessant sunlight sucked the life out of my legs, the weather was overcast and cool.
Out of Juda, we headed north to Greenbush Road and followed that east to County F. Here we took a detour towards Albany in order to catch a lovely “Rustic Road” called Park which we followed back down to Brodhead.
Brodhead has spruced up the old limestone buildings in its center. We found a friendly sandwich shop and tavern at the southeast corner of the piazza and settled into a nice lunch. My guest, Geno Sapinski from Downers Grove, very nearly spoiled my prime rib sandwich when he asked if my lively Salsa cycling jersey was available in a mans’ color.
Afterwards, our route back to Freeport took us south along Mount Hope Road past the go cart track where Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick launched her meteoric career. Mount Hope carves through the flat rich bottom land and eventually rises up to meet State Line Road.
Turning west, we hugged the state line over to Davis Road. We rode south on Davis Road to Walnut Grove Road and turned west again. Walnut Grove, though freshly sealed and overly chipped, was a welcome alternative to rough treeless boring Rock Grove Road. So we crunched through the chips over to Juda Road and Rock Grove.
From Rock Grove, we continued west towards Afolkey Road along Hickory Grove Road. Hickory Grove is another “preferred” route to Dakota Road which is in terrible shape.
We stopped at Berner Cheese in Afolkey to see if we could get Geno some cheese to take back but no such luck. So, we continued down Afolkey to Angle Road and took that over to Henderson Road and the home stretch to Freeport.
In spite of a light drizzle, this is a great 80 mile ride over some beautiful scenic rural roads.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Rain Rain Get Out a Here
I rode 75 miles back from Williams Bay, Wisconsin through a warm (ish) rain last Sunday. South of Davis, along Farwell Bridge Road, the clouds thinned, and a warm breath blow dried me and my pannier laden Las Cruces.
Since Sunday, however, we have had nothing but rain, soak and soggy.
Makes one think of our Irish friends.
Since Sunday, however, we have had nothing but rain, soak and soggy.
Makes one think of our Irish friends.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Adventures in Thompson?
On Sunday, July 29, suffering from Post Tour Anxiety, I followed two butterflies over the hills to Galena and back to Freeport. Jill Whiting, Colleen Neary and I had a glorious 115 mile ride, although the sun sucked the life out of me legs. More about all that later.
The Tour de France and the PTA has really put the brakes on my writing. So, I share Jill's trip to Thompson this past weekend with you now.
"Still HIGH on the ride Dave took us on last Sunday (which I did AGAIN on Monday – but on the back of Kenbob’s motorcycle – I found I did a LOT less heavy breathing the second time around), today Colleen, Michelle and I (Jillyf!sh) started from Freeport and went out East Loran to 78 North.
At this point I had a not-so-pretty blow-out. Left a quarter-inch hole in my tire, right in the center where “the rubber meets the road”. I put in a new tube along w/ a dollar bill to cover the hole.
As I attempted to pump it up, it blew again. Colleen generously donated her only tube and I tried again. George Washington was staring out the hole at us, so I took one of Colleen’s patches and covered the OUTSIDE of the hole (if I would have thought about it BEFORE pumping, I’d have put it on the inside of the tire. At least George was blind-folded now.)
We were thinking maybe it best to start heading back though we were really psyched to do the planned ride. I said, let’s see if I get 5 feet down the road, and,……if so, we’ll go to Massbach Rd (if I make it that far) and re-evaluate. Well, the patch was still on and the tire still held air, so I felt cocky and said let’s keep going.
We rode Derinda south to Scenic Ridge Road along the east side of Pallisades.
We hit Savanna and Michelle took off down Rt 64 to head back while we took the path down to Thompson. There we found a delightful bike shop called “Arnold’s Bikes and Embroidery” -- REALLY!!! Too funny! He had quite the inventory – a fun shop.
We stopped for lunch and the rain hit! By the time we were ready to hit the road, it subsided a bit but still rained on us all the way to Freeport. We were soaked but happy! We zig-zagged through Chadwick, Lanark, Shannon and back. Clocked 104 miles. Michelle did about 20 less and later wished she rode the extra 20 just to have someone to paceline with and take turns blocking the headwind. NEXT time!
Once I got home the patch was still there but pretty much worn through and George was peeking out again. I really think ol’ George made our ride possible.
For those interested, the 2006 Hawaii Ironman will be televised again tomorrow (Sun) from 4 – 6.
Andrew, gotta tell you about a fun bike gadget I saw at the Embroidery Shop – OOPS, I mean BIKE Shop J, that you’d find interesting as a commuter.
No Italian from me, except CIAO!"
__~O
-\ <,
(*) (*)
~ Jillyf!sh
The Tour de France and the PTA has really put the brakes on my writing. So, I share Jill's trip to Thompson this past weekend with you now.
"Still HIGH on the ride Dave took us on last Sunday (which I did AGAIN on Monday – but on the back of Kenbob’s motorcycle – I found I did a LOT less heavy breathing the second time around), today Colleen, Michelle and I (Jillyf!sh) started from Freeport and went out East Loran to 78 North.
At this point I had a not-so-pretty blow-out. Left a quarter-inch hole in my tire, right in the center where “the rubber meets the road”. I put in a new tube along w/ a dollar bill to cover the hole.
As I attempted to pump it up, it blew again. Colleen generously donated her only tube and I tried again. George Washington was staring out the hole at us, so I took one of Colleen’s patches and covered the OUTSIDE of the hole (if I would have thought about it BEFORE pumping, I’d have put it on the inside of the tire. At least George was blind-folded now.)
We were thinking maybe it best to start heading back though we were really psyched to do the planned ride. I said, let’s see if I get 5 feet down the road, and,……if so, we’ll go to Massbach Rd (if I make it that far) and re-evaluate. Well, the patch was still on and the tire still held air, so I felt cocky and said let’s keep going.
We rode Derinda south to Scenic Ridge Road along the east side of Pallisades.
We hit Savanna and Michelle took off down Rt 64 to head back while we took the path down to Thompson. There we found a delightful bike shop called “Arnold’s Bikes and Embroidery” -- REALLY!!! Too funny! He had quite the inventory – a fun shop.
We stopped for lunch and the rain hit! By the time we were ready to hit the road, it subsided a bit but still rained on us all the way to Freeport. We were soaked but happy! We zig-zagged through Chadwick, Lanark, Shannon and back. Clocked 104 miles. Michelle did about 20 less and later wished she rode the extra 20 just to have someone to paceline with and take turns blocking the headwind. NEXT time!
Once I got home the patch was still there but pretty much worn through and George was peeking out again. I really think ol’ George made our ride possible.
For those interested, the 2006 Hawaii Ironman will be televised again tomorrow (Sun) from 4 – 6.
Andrew, gotta tell you about a fun bike gadget I saw at the Embroidery Shop – OOPS, I mean BIKE Shop J, that you’d find interesting as a commuter.
No Italian from me, except CIAO!"
__~O
-\ <,
(*) (*)
~ Jillyf!sh
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