Oct 2 Day 18

Another tough riding day too many hills and lots of lousy roads.  The road out of Dubuque had no shoulder and was rough in many places, once even saw grass growing on the road.  It being Saturday all the bad drivers were out, here are a couple of examples of the stupidity we saw today.

Case 1
In this case the stupidity starts while I am climbing a hill.  Being the excellent example of manhood I am and the hill being steep I am making great headway at 3.5 mile per hour going up.  There is a passing center lane and it is open and no one is coming down in the opposing lane.  This truck passes on my left in the right lane leaving only 5 inches between my handle bars and his side.

Case 2
We are doing 15 miles per hour on a flat road and red SUV passes up in the far left lane.  The driver slows down and the oncoming traffic beeps at the SUV she pulls backs into right lane and immediately turns rights.  So the pass into on coming traffic saved all of 3 seconds in travel time.

Case 3
This is the prize winner for the day.  David and I are on a huge downhill and I am going like a bat out of hell, making more than 25 MPH.  The wind is blowing across the road and I am trying my best to stay on the road.  This red mini van passes us.  So far so good just a car way down the way coming up the hill and the minivan is back in front of me in  a second less than heartbeat the left term signal comes on and the van comes to a complete stop.  Now at 25 miles per hour it takes a long time to stop, the thought in my mind is, &^%$ drive I will at least leave a big a scrape on the side before I land in the ditch.  However with some luck I just missed the van and the ditch with inches on both sides.  The mini van save maybe half a second in total travel time, this is driver I would like to speak to in a private meeting with boxing gloves.

Exciting stuff today late in the day we are sailing along the road, when the front wheel fell into a crack running parallel with the direction of travel.  The front wheel throw me out into the middle of the road.  The bike skidded twice and I caught it. I was really lucky not to have gone down David said I looked like a trick rider and I should not try to do that again.  My heart rate did not drop until I had some whiskey in the hotel about an hour later.

In addition to all of the above we crossed the river on one those open grate bridges with very low bumper on the side.  Being afraid of heights and being able to see though the bridge in combination with the very low guard rails to keep me from falling into the river I was happy to get over bridge and back onto solid land.  I am wimp despite what other people think.

We had lunch at Grandpa parlour in Bellevue IA the same spot in IA Dianne I and I stopped for ice cream before.  Here is a picture of the river from the lunch stop.

In the background is Lock 12

Notice that water over the dam is level on both sides even with a 12 foot drop in the lock.  The river is still over the banks.  We saw a home with the water up half the height of of the slideing glass door along the way today and many home that we could estimate how height the water was around it.  

Thankful for Today

I am most thankful for the fact I did not fall when the wheel caught the crack this afternoon.  Also I am thankful that none of the dumb driver hit me during the ride, even with the close the calls I am still riding and there is not damage to the bike, David and his coat or me.

Love and Kisses to all and to all a good night.

Allan and David

PS

At a  quick stop store today the cashier said David nice warm red bicycling jacket was "styling" while my old green shell was "not cool".  It took all afternoon before the shell feelings were repaired and it started to keep me warm again.

Oct 1 Day 17

This was a tough day for me we covered 48 miles to Dubuque IA we had a ton of hills to climb.  I think I walked up 4 times once had to serpentine the bike up while walking up the hill.  It is not uncommon for me to serpentine up the hill riding but to do so while walking means it was a really steep hill.  I have decided that any hill is bad hill.  I have I decided that the exchange the rate between the Wahoo and "OH *&^% another hill" is 1 to 100; In other words it one hill is worth 100 Wahoos, this really means I really hate hills.

Here is a picture looking up a hill at a barn on top of the hill.  I was walking at this point and David had to take the picture.

The big news in the  town of Cassville was the home coming parade and the football game tonight, during breakfast we heard at 4 people talking about this event.  I would have stayed and watched tonight I had known how bad the hills were.

Here a picture of a Grotto in the Dickyville just before we lost the route.  We stopped just past here for a lunch and it was great.


Later in the day while leaving the town we lost faith in the direction as they had direction for us to enter a divided highway then cross both sides of the road.  We than proceeded to ride and had the same road 3 more times and that made Dave mad as he did not enjoy the crossing each time.



Later in the day a dump truck going north on a narrow road kicked up a stone that hit me in the left ankle.  It hurt a little at the time but I think it rolled my pantyhose and that later in the day cause a blister on the ankle. Tomorrow I will have to put a bandage on the blister to keep it from getting worse.



By the end of the day David described my mood as, "as perky as the motel became closer" earlier in the day he said I was, "tried and silently pissed off".



Thankful for the day
I am very grateful find that when I am too tried to continue climbing the hill and need a rest to discover that someone has placed the exact location I need to rest at such a location to have a great view, with flowers and hills in the distance.  So I have to thank to the powers that be for kind the consideration in providing such great spots to rest up at.






Love and Kisses to all and goodnight to all.



Allanand David



PS thanks Niki for the direction and thanks Donna for David and his humor to keep me going and thanks Dianne for giving the me the time to do this.

Sept 29 & 30

Sept. 29 i
n a Motel in Prairie Du Chien Dave and I had a large breakfast buffet that included, sausage and biscuits, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and omelet made to order with some fresh fruit and sweets rolls and that is just what I. As it was part of the room fee I did not feel guilty or that I took advantage of them as I thought the room was over priced.
Dave and I then biked up to the Effigy mounds on the MN side of the river. This is a national heritage site to preserve the burial mounds for ancient Indians of the area. Some are simple build as a line or a cone but some are more complex and resemble bears, herons and other animals. It was interesting to walk in the woods and see the land and river far below. Those people must have worked like dogs to get the bodies way up here for burial. They had a good visitors center and liked seeing the tools and other objects they recovered in the area. It still amazes me that the primitives had some copper.

Next we crossed back over the river and saw Villa De Louis. This was huge home build in 1878 by the son of fur trader. The family had made so much money the son decided to hire a manager to handle the business and just “enjoyed life” with a 6 hole private golf course, an archery range, private park, private race course and a billiard hall. Unfortunately the family lost all their money in the depression and the kids had to work for a living, life must be tough for some. Growing up with personal servants and companions then having to find a job and work must have been an experience for the youngsters. Easy come and easy go.

View from camp site that night

We finally left town at a 4:00 and moved down the road to a Wysualying (spelling is wrong) state park and had this fine view of the river valley below from our campsite. Ate our a pasta dinner and joked around with the neighbors who could not believe we had all the stuff we did on the bikes. By the time we hit the sleeping bags the wind was howling and it did so all night.

Please note how high we are over the river this although interesting, is a terrific aggravation to me as I had to get the bike up here with all my gear. If I do not sound happy about this it is the impression I want to leave people with. David described my mood as, “Allan you were in a silently suffering snite”. This is true as I had to get off the bike and walk up two hill to reach the end of the day. For the day we covered a total of 25 miles over the day although we moved only 10 miles down the river.

 Allan cooking breakfast the morning of the 30th

c

This morning it was cold when we left the tent and walked to the showers. On the way back from the showers one of the rangers stopped me and pointed out that we had short chained them on the camping fee. As David and I had spent several minute arguing about what the fee was, I pleased that at least we both were wrong.

The ride out of the park was triple WAHOO (30+ MPH) there were too many wahoo to counts today, but with all good things comes some bad, in this case too many to count, “$%#& hills”. Once or maybe twice I had to get off the bike and push it up hill.

We reached a site of Stonefield Farm which is a reconstructed 1900 village and farm museum. It in concluded a tour of Dewey Nelson home in the park. Dewey was the first Governor of WI. It was great example of the 1900 homes of the rich, when compared to the local 1900 farm home that we also toured the difference was stark.

When then finished the day with a short ride to Cassville WI where we found a good cheap hotel, for night and we are getting ready to go to the bowling alley for dinner. Not sure how this will turn out as I have never had a dinner at a bowling alley.

Gratefully for Today.
The mounds and the Agricultural museum both are example or remembering our past. They are even more than that they are honoring our past. Even though we do not how to properly honor the dead at the mounds we currently doing our best to respect those hidden there. At the agricultural museum the tools and life the people lived are remembered such that our kids can see and understand our past. So for helping us to remember history and life thanks to all people that support that work.
Love and kisses to all and to all a goodnight.
Allan and Dave.

Sept 28 day 15

It was a fast day today we covered 57 miles in just over 5 hours and had an average of over 11 miles per hour.  Given that I many WAHOO moments so there were also a lot of "Oh GOD another Hill" shouts out too.
The ride was along state Hyway 35 most of the way.  This put the WI limestone bluffs on our left and Mississippi River lapping the road on the right. 
Here is a picture of the lock and Dam 8.

Note how the dam in the center of the picture looks pretty much level even though there is suppose to be a 11 foot drop.  We watched a whole tree pass though the dam. 
Just here David saw his first barge up close.  Here is a picture of it.

Notice the pile of coal, I would assume the coal is going to one of the power plants up the river. 
Here is a bonus picture looking north at the upper Mississippi refuge.

Wildlife is picking up considerably, yesterday we raced a deer down the road as the area next to the road was flooded.  Today we saw a flock of pelicans, Canada Geese and plenty of ducks.  But what was really cool was the bald eagle landing right next to the road.  David tried to take a picture of it but it took off before and the picture looked like clouds with little black points.

Talking about the photography Dave does has a problem.  We currently have two pictures of his feet, two pictures of his packs, three pictures of the ground and several of his fingers.

One truck passed within 1.5 feet of me and made me a little nervous but Dave said I was OK.  The shoulder on the road was great but at times a little rough and narrow.  On the narrow shoulders when a truck passes you the suction from behind the truck speeds the bike up 1-1.5 miles per hours.

Thankful for Today
Today with the river next us all day and lots of history plagues next to the road it was beautiful ride.  The Upper Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge created in 1934 was easy to appreciate.  I am therefore grateful for the foresight of the people who passed the laws needed to protect this resource.
Love and kisses to all.
Allan

PS Dianne I still appreciate you too! 

Sept 27 Day 14

Well yesterday I finally found a hotel that I could post all the updates from the last few days, so better get reading guys.

Today it was chilly in the morning and David and rode into town for a Kwik Stop breakfast of coffee, breakfast sandwich, and donuts.   It was cheap but not a sit down quality.

After breakfast we started down the road but David had to stop at the Frank LLoyd Wright home in Fountain City, so he could take pictures of it.  This small town in WI is an interesting place to find a design home from the turn of the century, it shows how important this town one was.

The ride was simple with good shoulders in the early part of the morning.  We found the start of the pay for use bike trail and started off on it.  When we reach a stop the trail is closed for all public use we had to stop and discuss what we were going to do.  Due to all the flooding we decided that the best route would be to follow St. Hwy 35 to the next crossing.  After 3 miles we reached a road that looked that might reach the trail so we started down.  A woman was getting her mail and we asked if we get to the trail.  She said, "maybe the fields were flooded yesterday, But today it might be possible."  So down the road David and I went after about mile of walking we gave up and went back to highway 35.  We then followed the road all the way into Onalaska an stopped at bike shop for direction.  The owner said the trails though La Cross were flooded so our best bet was too follow 35 all the way though La Cross and stop in town for the day as the campsite would be flooded.  So we are currently in a La Cross hotel (Welsh Hotel) and thankful for being close to the route again.  We had selected the WI side only for the bike trail and they are all flooded and closed.  So we spent the whole day with large trucks right next to us.  One driver beeped his horn at us so I gave him the one finger salute, he did not stop to discuss his opinion with me.

Here is a  picture of the flooding next to Highway 35. 

I am most upset today, as reported earlier my camel back hydration system (water bag) broke yesterday and I can not find a replacement bag.  So today I at I found a $25 bag and bought it.  So with great regret I thought out the Camelback.  This bag made it across the country with me but I can't find the bag to fit it so away it goes.  The new one is easier to put on has more pouches and more modern but I will the old bag.  Please send your notes and flowers to the landfill for La Cross I will miss the burial so only those close to old bag need send flowers.

Here is a picture of the river from LaCross.

Weird stuff on the Road
Broken scissors
Arrow Carbon fiber shaft
Dresser
A pair of Pliers (buried in asphalt)
One rattle snake (not moving fast)

Thankful for today
Yesterday while David and I were recovering for a short period of time, a man on bicycle stopped to talk and visit.  It turn out he was a 75 mile loop as it was his 75th birthday.  It is people like him that make me glad to be alive he is a guy that is still going it just makes me happy to, shake his hand and wish him a happy birthday.

Sept 26 Day 14

Sept 26 Day 14

Last night we invited to a tent site next to us to have some Smore and how can a person say no to that.  We were camped at State park overlooking Lake Pipen and here is Dave overlooking the Lake.

Woke up to chilly morning and started with a shower to try to warm up some.  Then I cooked some pancakes and coffee.  The coffee was so good we brewed a second pot afterwards.  The down hill out of the camp could have gone to 40 miles per hours but there was a stop at the bottom kept me riding the brakes all the way down keeping the bike speed to only a double WAHOO, but as it early I did not want to wake anyone so I only whispered them.

The ride today took us to Wabasha all the way on US 61.  There was plenty of shoulder but a few of the RV on the road seemed to crowd me a little for comfort.  We crossed over to Nelson from Wabasha, it was a long bridge that was under repain and therefore the shoulder was a lot more narrow than I would have liked.  I had forgetten how big the limestone bluffs were on Wisconson side of the river.  The small towns are fun to ride though see all the old buildings. 

Today the weather was sunny and chilly.  The sun seemed to bring out all the motorcycles for a last ride or something like that.  There must have been at least 10 major rides that passed us and an uncountable number of single riders.  For some reason they did not often wave maybe it was too cold to see us or the hand up would have frozen their fingers.  Water was visible in all the fields close to the river.  The river is to rise another 7 feet in next week and end up 2 feet above the flood level.  I am not sure what this will mean to the ride but I thing the mashland ride scheduled for tomorrow will not be happening. 

Here is a picture of the Mississippi as it leaves the lake.

 

Weird stuff on the Road

Tennis Ball

Paint brush

Lots of Banana peel. (more than normal trash amounts)

Thankful for Today

The smores were great last night and they deserve a call out for their kindness.  But all people have been kind to us and the kindness of the world to me needs to be grateful for.  When you review how people have provided support I must admit that my wife Dianne gets an extra loud call out.  She is home watching my dog, picking up medications, taking care of the family stuff and paying my bills.  So here it Dianne I am grateful for you and promise to think of you tomorrow.  Love you Allan

Love and Kisses to all

Allan and David in Fountain City.

Sept 25

Sept. 25
Day 13
Woke up to a cold cloudy day, slept to the grand old hour of 6:30 hardly and then started the morning routine of washing up and packing the hotel did not have coffee early so I started out low of caffeine and therefore slow on packing. When Dave was finally ready we walked to the local Perkins for breakfast and coffee, after the coffee I was feeling much more lively.
The Bike shop in Hastenings is closed and the replacement repair place is in a fishing store and works only part time. Today was not part of his part time working so David and I decided to bike to Red Wing to repair his bike. A change of plan but that was the closest spot. It was raining when we left Hastenings and Dave made fun of the fact that old shell absorbed water while his coat beaded the water.

At the bike repair place I found a new shell designed specifically for biking as it fitted well I bought it for 30 dollars. Dave bought a new wheel and should stop the spokes breaking. After the repair we had pizza at an “all you can eat buffet” and started off for a Frontenac State park. It had a huge hill to climb that I again proved I could walk up.

Filling the Camel Back with water this morning I blew it. Putting more water into the carrier than into the water holding bag. This resulted in water leaking down my back all morning until I figured out that the rain had stopped and I was still getting wet. I explained to Dave I was just demonstrating a new water based cooling system. He noticed that the outside temperature was only 45F and asked if I was really that warm. I just hope that the new bike coat will keep me dry when I make this mistake again.

The ride was great today with limestone bluffs on both sides of the river clearly visable. This provided some great views. But the climb up to some of the rigdes were so steep I gave up and walked. The roads were generally good but there was one streach where they provide a wide shoulder with rumbble strips places so we had only 8-10 inches of space. This was impossible to keep straight in and a couple of times I shook the bike up pretty hard. Once when I was trying to read the map I drifted over to them and the bike shaking really woke me up and made me give up reading for a while. We had a couple of WAHOO down hills reaching 30 miles per hour.

Weird stuff on the road.
Our second tooth bush
A spoon
A broken builder's level

Thankful for Today
The rain stopped early and that was something to celbrate and say thanks to the powers that be. But the veiws that the careful routing of the roads so we can enjoy them is really something to be thankful for, all this beauty around and people speed down the so fast that the never seem to notice how beautiful everything is.

Love and Kisses to all and to all a good night.
I am sleeping outside let us hope it will slightly warmer than the last couple of days has been.