Day 17, 26 July, (Distance Biked 86 miles): An update on the previous night. My last-minute decision to stay in the Madison, WI area and my late attempt to use warmshowers.org went well. I had several hosts respond, even one that wasn’t home; thank you to those that responded. I met my hosts Rachel and Emily and they went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable; shower, food (late snack, breakfast and even a lunch to go) and a mattress. I was impressed with their ability to take on a complete stranger at the last minute and they made me feel very welcome. I hope to be as gracious a host as they were. Thank you Rachel and Emily so very much.
I left around 730 A.M. and biked about 20 miles and decided to stop for a second breakfast at Sauk City, WI. I am glad I did because between the heat and the hills I needed the extra fuel. The last half of my ride today was on hiker/biker trails and I couldn’t have been happier after having to ride up and down hills for 25+ miles.
One interesting thing I witnessed while riding down a long hill, I could see 50+ cows grazing in a field off to my right and down below. When I was about 150 yards away they began to stampede towards the road and I quickly discovered they weren’t contained by a fence. I had to stop for a few minutes as they all crossed the road and entered the safety of an area around several farm buildings. During their rush across, every now and then one of the big cows would stand for a few seconds in the road and stare me down.
I decided to stay at a pay campground that I came across at that last-minute. I am at the Tunnel Trail Campground off of the Elroy Sparta State Trail approximately 48 miles from LaCrosse, WI. My phone company, AT&T has been absent for 50 or so miles, so I am sorry to my family for not sending you a message on my location for the night; at least the camp has wi-fi and I am able to update my blog. I hope this isn’t a foreshadow of my phone coverage for the rest of the trip. I like the motto of Wonewoc in the picture below, which states, “We Are User Friendly.” My camp is already set up, I am showered, clean and sleepy. The ride all the way into LaCrosse tomorrow is on trails and I am looking forward to that.
Peace on the Peninsula 