Friday, February 22, 2013

Day 2

Saturday, September 1, 2012
Milwaukee – Green Bay
119 Miles

After the efforts of the previous day I assumed I would sleep like a baby, but I didn’t.  I was up almost all night with excitement and anticipation of the next day.  It also didn’t help that the hotel bed as basically a piece of plywood with a sheet on top.  I ended up finally getting out of bed at 5:00 am and driving (Heather had brought the car up) to a Perkins down the road which turned out to be closed.  I drove back to the hotel and managed to get another couple hours of sleep before getting up for the second time.  I went back to the same Perkins at around 7:30 am for breakfast.  It was pretty much the worst breakfast I’ve ever had, and I didn’t eat half of what was on my plate.  It’s hard to believe you can mess up French toast but they found a way.  Note to self: “avoid all Perkins in Milwaukee area.”  I left feeling pretty unsatisfied and went back at the hotel to pack.  I quietly said goodbye to Heather since she was still in bed asleep and headed out the door to start Day 2.

Today would be the first of three back-to-back 120 mile days.  During the planning stages I was a bit nervous for these long early days, and today was no different.  The route did not follow the shoreline of Lake Michigan but instead wound up the back country roads further west.  I wanted to avoid most major highways and the county roads certainly offered less traffic.  However, the route was very complicated with lots of turns to keep track of.  This only added to the challenge of an already long day.  I was going to have to be on my guard to make sure I didn’t get lost since everything was all new to me.
It was a cool and breezy morning with hardly a cloud in the sky. The weather was crisply perfect when I rolled out of the hotel parking lot on a network of bike trails and side streets before hitting the rolling hills of rural Wisconsin.  The crosswind soon turned into a strong north headwind which stuck with me for the rest of the day.  As the morning and miles ticked away the day just seemed to get more and more perfect.  The scenery was spectacular with lots of rolling hills, tree shaded back roads, and small towns.  There was almost no traffic to speak of and as I cruised along I was in pure bliss.  I kept passing small dairy farms with old red barns with huge stone foundations and big silos.  I felt like I wanted to take a picture of every one so I could preserve their memory.  I stopped and took a picture of a barn that was built in 1899, it was like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting.
Day 2 Morning Scenery

Day 2 Morning Scenery
Old barn I photographed built in 1899
Around mid-morning I entered the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive which was absolutely amazing.  Rolling hills and a winding road crawled through the State Park and bobbed up and down through the countryside.  With no traffic to contend with I was on my own to ride in peace.  I didn’t listen to the radio much and was just in my own thoughts as I climbed and coasted up and down through the hills.  I hit a local country store after about two hours and stopped for a break.  Going into the small country store was like stepping back in time.  The low ceiling of the place was covered in fishing poles, fishing gear, and every other type of outdoor paraphernalia.  The ceiling was very low and being pretty tall I felt like I was walking around in a 6’ tall cave of junk.  I grabbed a root beer and a jerky stick and went outside to sit on a bench and relax for a few minutes. 
One of many farms I passed along the way
It was mid-morning and the day was starting to heat up but I found a nice shady spot to sit.  The parking lot was deserted and shortly the cashier came out and we started chatting.  I explained the trip to her and she was amazed and excited for what I was doing.  She explained that she had always wanted to do a 100 mile ride but didn’t think she could do it.  I told her to just start small and do 10 miles first then maybe 20 and just to keep working up to it.  It was really fun talking with her and I could tell she was excited.  I asked her to take a photo of me, which she did, and after saying goodbye I was off again.

General store where I stopped in Kettle Moraine

Picture taken at the general store by the cashier I talked too
Looking south (where I had come from) at the general store

The day heated up fast and soon I was sweating buckets… Heather was on her way hoping to meet me for lunch, but with no easy way to communicate it was hard to find a meeting place.  Finally at around 2:00 in the afternoon I stopped at a Laundromat in some small town and met up with her.  It was nice to have a break, and I was out of water completely.  I filled my bottles from a mop sink at the Laundromat and ate half a Panera sandwich before setting off again.  I had about 40 miles of my 120 mile day left to go (about 2 hours) and after another 30 minutes or so I hit the last stretch of trail that would lead me into Green Bay. 
A really scenic hilltop on my way north to Green Bay
I spotted the trail up ahead and as it grew closer and closer I realized with growing dismay that it was not paved but gravel.  I was aware of the potential for some gravel roads on my route but I was not prepared for how rustic this one was.  The first few miles were rough, but after 100 miles my body was sore and tired and this bumpy trail seemed to be like some sort of medieval torcher.  Mile after bumpy mile, crawled along with the only saving grace being the tall trees on either side which not only blocked some of the wind but offered precious shade from the afternoon sun.  Finally after what seemed and literally was hours I made it to the final paved section leading into Green Bay. 
Section of gravel trail on my way to Green Bay
It was always amazing how the final 15-20 miles each day seemed as easy as the first.  But everything in between was very hard.  The last few miles through Green Bay took me over the river and up the city streets to the hotel.  When I finally got there my feet were crying out for mercy and I was exhausted.  But, this evening I had a swimming pool and hot tub to greet me which I had been thinking about since about 11am.  Immediately I took the shoes off my aching feet and went to go check in.

Bad picture of me taken by a tourist at the hotel at the end of Day 2 (Note: Shoes still on)
Ahead of me in line to check in to the hotel was a mother and her son.  When I walked in the door in my stocking feet they both glanced up at me.  The mother turned around and smiled and asked if I had a long ride.  I laughed and said “you could say that.”  I told her I’d left Chicago Friday and ridden up here on my way around the lake.   The sons eyes grew round and he stared at me in disbelief.  Finally after a long few seconds he said “Boy you must really like to ride your bike!!” I laughed out loud and all I could think to say was "yep."  We talked for a few minutes and they just could not get over the fact that I’d ridden my bike up there.  However, they were excited when I explained about WBR and the reason I was doing the ride.  With some minor celebrity encouragement I headed up to the room to do the daily laundry.
Doing laundry in sink with MGD Bottle
As I was washing my clothes the first of many hunger cravings came over me.  I called Heather who was out looking for a swimming suit and asked her to bring a six pack of MGD bottles.  I can’t explain it but I just had to have one right then and there.  When she finally got back I immediately grabbed one and cracked it open.  God I have never tasted anything so GOOD!  After washing the bike clothes for the day and hanging everything up to dry we went down to the hot tub for a soak. 
The hot tub was filled with giant fat hairy men and there was a greasy film on the top of the water that looked like the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  Disgusted, but also sore I pushed aside my thoughts of what diseases might be in that water and plopped in for a soak.  The water felt great and was really relaxing and I sipped my beer, relaxed and considered the first of three 120 mile days in a row.  The next two were going to be tough!

After a nice soak I was back in the room going over some of my gear when I made a surprising discovery.  My front wheel had a crack in the rim!  The rim had split horizontally along the edge in a way that didn’t look like I had hit something.  I was in shock because I didn’t remember hitting anything and I didn’t have any idea what would cause a rim to do that.  The tire was still holding air and I decided to just keep an eye on it and push on.  This turned out to be a Big Mistake!!  No more like a HUGE Mistake.  I wouldn’t find this out for a few more days but the groundwork was laid for an epic fail to come.  As it turned out I think the heat was to blame for the fracture.  Later, after talking to my mechanic, he said that rims can sometimes fail with a buildup of heat and split like that.  With the long ride and heat of the day I think that is what happened, but I can’t be certain.  Heck it might have happened the day before… I’ll never know.
Broken rim

We went out and found a small local Italian restaurant and I ate a giant pasta dinner with two or three huge glasses of chocolate milk.  I had read that chocolate milk was very good for post ride nutrition because it had lots of vitamins, protein and the chocolate added something that I can’t remember.  I might have just imagined reading that actually... But it really doesn’t matter it seemed to work and I drank as much of it as I could throughout the entire trip.  After that enormous dinner we headed back to the hotel I passed out. 










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