bikes shoorams

This was the fourth time I’ve done the Rapha Festive 500 (I didn’t do it last year because I was heading to do the Baja Divide, and would have missed two days). It was, by far, the hardest one.  The Festive 500 is a Strava Challenge sponsored by Rapha. The goal is to ride 500 km in the 8 days from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. That works out to just under 40 miles per day. It is a worldwide event with over 80,000 participants. This year, as usual, I rode a lot of the miles with my friend, Jean, and a few of the rides with her partner, Ron. However, this year, Cindy, also a glutton for punishment, joined the Festive 500, and I rode many miles with her too. If not for these three friends, I may have given up. I know, that’s not really like me, and in past years, I’ve not found the Festive to be all that difficult. This year was different. Christmas Eve, Day 1 of the Festive, was very good. The four of us rode together doing the loop known as Johnson...

Which is all to say...DONE! Yep, I finished! Somewhere around 4300 miles, 12 states, and two Canadian Provinces.   I'm glad to be done. I think the weather has been telling me it's time. It was pretty cold again this morning. In fact, I rode in my long sleeve shirt the entire day (okay, I could have taken it off toward the end).   My concern about the Gandy Dancer Trail did not materialize. I did the trail, but did not see another soul. Gandy Dancer Trail It's funny--Wisconsin charges to ride their unpaved paths, and there is no one on them. Minnesota, on the other hand, paves their paths, and charges nothing to ride them. There are tons of people riding the Minnesota paths. Hmmm...of course, that's just my limited observations.   I had one final second breakfast in Osceola, Wisconsin, just before crossing the St. Croix River into Minnesota. The Belgian waffles were pretty good.    I was pretty lucky because the St. Croix Bridge is due to close on September 11....

Yes, I definitely think I have left the Northwoods of Wisconsin behind. It was back to farm land today, including the occasional dairy farm. At least the roads continued to be rolling, giving me one of my higher average speeds of the trip at 10.7 mph.   Fall really seems to be in the air. While it is sunny with no clouds, it's not terribly warm. In fact, it's downright cold in the morning. It was in the low 50s this morning--brrrr!   I finished riding along Chetac Lake. Chetac Lake It seems most of these lakes, even if they are pretty big, are mostly for fishing. I have not seen any waterskiing, nor jet skis either. Maybe they have a rule about speed and noise??? A guy yesterday told me this area is mostly about tourism. I could see that by the number of lodges and boat rental places I've ridden by.   The biggest town I went through today was Cumberland. I stopped at a cafe and had breakfast for lunch. Generally, I'm more a fan of link sausage than sausage patties, but ...

Alas, it has happened. I took no photos today. Why, you ask? Well, the day started out sunny (granted, a bit headwindy), but just when I got down to my minimal riding attire, the clouds rolled in.    I stopped at the only convenience store I came to today, got a snack, and saw there was some big black cloudy nastiness coming my way. I stowed that which had been drying on the rear rack, and pulled out my rain shorts. My rain jacket was already tucked in the pocket of my pannier.   Not even a quarter mile down the road I had to stop and don my rain gear. I could hear thunder in the distance. I wish I had looked closer at my map because there was definitely a section of gratuitous miles. Although, who knows, with the rain, it might have been better to go the way I went instead of the County road I had been on, then returned to. I'm sure there was less traffic.   The rain continued with prolonged periods of downpouring. It brought to mind my ride along the Soulange Canal...

It rained last night so due to that, and condensation, my tent was a soaking wet blob once it was packed up...yay...   It was as thick as pea soup on the road. It makes me glad I have a headlight and taillight. Although, there was hardly any traffic to speak of. Foggy road     I continued on County Road FF. I decided FF stood for Fur and Feathers. First I saw deer bouncing across the road. Zoom in on the photo below and you might spot one. See it? Then I saw a bunch of turkeys--some baby gobblers too. Then I saw a small rodent, not a mouse, too small for a mole, maybe a vole (there's such a thing right?). It was running across the street. A car was coming. Instead of continuing across the street, it did a sweeping 180, and headed back the other way. I told it to hurry or it was gonna get squished. I think it lived to scurry another day.   The first town I came to was called Butternut (no joke). I wonder if their football team is the Squash. Actually, I'm not sure if ...

After the first few days of riding by dairy farm after dairy farm, I thought I just wanted to get across Wisconsin and back to Minneapolis. While it is still true that I'm looking forward to getting back to Minneapolis and My Sweet Baboo and Little Miss, I am really enjoying Wisconsin now. Even the last two days in the rain weren't that bad, and of course there was THAT BEAR I SAW!   Speaking of bears, I was on the lookout as I left this morning. I didn't see any bears, but I saw a few deer--not nearly as exciting. It wasn't raining this morning (yay!), and the road continued to be rolling hills past numerous lakes. Still a little foggy and cloudy, but not raining!     I picked up the Crystal Lake Bike Path into Boulder Junction. It was a nice path into town. I decided I would look for a restaurant for 2nd breakfast. I haven't had the opportunity for awhile. As I pulled into the parking lot of The Granery Restaurant, another couple pulled in on bikes. They were ther...

Today was another full day of riding in the rain. It mostly drizzled. Still, I ended up pretty wet. Combine that with yesterday's wetness, and most of my riding clothes are wet. Putting on the still soaking wet arm warmers this morning was...delightful. But, once I had my rain coat on, I was warm enough.   Today I continued riding by multiple lakes. I really wish the weather had been nice because I'm sure it would have been beautiful. Whitefish Lake--would be beautiful I'm sure. On the upside, this being Sunday, there probably would have been a lot more traffic if it had been sunny. As it was, there was very little traffic on the winding roads. There was much more traffic on the highways, but there was a shoulder then.    The best road (even in the rain) was Military Rd. Scenic Byway. It was winding and a rollercoaster. It was really fun. It was through the Nicolet National Forest. Here's a little info. Nicolet National Forest     I had decided to even out today...