Michigan/Wisconsin Solo Tour 2011 Week 2

Day 8-Escanaba to Crystal Falls- Good day of riding (80 miles) with decent weather. More stable now when I get up out of the saddle to climb. And climb I did. Crystal Falls sits atop a fairly steep hill. Today's destination was Bewabic State Park, my last Michigan State park. They were all beautiful with excellent facilities. I will miss them in a few days when I stay at my first WI state park.

Day 9-Crystal Falls to Eagle River, WI.- Beautiful, sunny day and crossing back into Wisconsin! Lots of riding thru the National Forest. Last day of following the Adventure Cycling maps. Nice short ride day (65 miles) and fun to be back on roads I used on GRABAAWR in 2006 and 2010. Stayed at the Best Western located in front of the school were GRABAAWR started those years. Had my second flat of the trip (rear again) upon arrival at the hotel. Great place for it!

Day 10-Eagle River to Merrill- Decent weather for an 80 mile day.Used the WI Bike Maps to plot my route to Rhinelander. They were very good guidance for choosing a low-traffic route. After Rhinelander, I used my old GRABAAWR cue sheets to get to Merrill and the Council Grounds State Park. Made it over Father Menard hill with my fifty pounds of gear without walking! Woo hoo! Council Grounds State Park is beautiful, but the facilities were very poor in comparison the MI state parks.

Day 11-Merrill to Stevens Point- 72 miles of GRABAAWR route today. Cloudy and windy. Today was my day to lose things. First, early in the day I shed my arm warmers and stuffed them in a bag with some food that was strapped to the top of my bag in my trailer. The next time I stopped, I noticed that the bag was mostly empty. Arm warmers and sandwich left somewhere on the road behind me. With the cooler temps and occasional rain, I was taking my rain jacket on and off and stuffing in my middle rear pocket. At some point it came out without me noticing. Bummer! I loved that jacket, my second Sugoi Hydrolite. I luckily did not get caught in a downpour on the way to Stevens Point. Bought a cheap vinyl rain jacket at K-mart in Stevens Point. Staying at a Super 8 tonight. The first floor is completely ripped up and being remodeled.

Day 12-Stevens Point to Adams Friendship- Planned on following the GRABBAWR route thru Wisconsin Rapids to Adams-Friendship, but serious thunderstorms are in the forecast so I plotted a more direct route with the WI bike maps(about 55 miles). The route worked out great. A little dull, but low-traffic and easy to follow. Got the last room at the Oak Crest Motel. More of the same in the forecast for tomorrow, so I will be up early to leave at dawn.

Day 13-Adams-Friendship to Columbus- Route plotted using the WI bike maps. Ugly weather on the radar. Pondered staying put for the day, but finally decided to take my chances. Less than an hour out of town and it is suddenly as dark as night and I can hear thunder behind me. And then the unwelcome sound of another rear flat (number 3). Ugh. Unload the trailer, detach, flip the bike, remove the wheel, extract tube, in with a new tube, pump up, reload...all in less than 15 minutes. I was able to get underway, but had no chance to outrun the storm. When the rain and lightning arrived in earnest, I ducked into the woods. This line of storms was moving fast, so I was not delayed for long. That was the worst of the rain for the day, but more strong storms were forecast for the evening, so I poured on the speed. An 85 mile day. A quick dinner at Culvers and then to the Columbus Super 8 (instead of Atisco Park).

Day 14-Columbus to Delavan- 71 miles to the end of my trip. In my mind, this was going to be a relatively flat, easy day. The last time I rode this route, it was the middle of the night at the end of a 400km Great Lakes Randonneurs brevet. Well, I was wrong. This was very much not flat, especially lugging my trailer. And my knee started being wonky. And then I had my last flat (rear, number 4) just 10 miles outside of Delavan. Finally arrived in Delavan to meet up with my wife and some very welcome refreshments.

Best piece of gear: Garmin GPS. Never missed a turn!
Second best piece of gear: Vinyl tarp. A true multi-tasker. Covered the bike over night, dry surface for staging/packing gear in the morning, wrapped my shoes in it and bungied them to the top of the trailer for quick access during the day.
Total mileage for the two weeks: 1086 miles