Riding South

On Saturday October 16th, Bike man and I took off from Eau Claire and headed southwest towards the Mississippi River. The beginning of this trip was a little different for us since we had to drop off BM's car at Anna's house in Eau Claire. From her house we navigated towards Phoenix park, where we picked up the bike trail through the city and then connected with the Chippewa River trail, which took us southwest to Durand.

From Durand, we rode the State highway south towards Nelson. The highway was extremely busy with weekend traffic.....crazy traffic I must add.


We finally arrived at Rieck's Lake park near Alma and camped for the night. The weather was beautiful, around 65 degrees, sunny but very windy, which made for a tiring ride that day. Rode about 60 miles the first day.

Dinner plans consisted of freeze-dried camp food and cold Foster's.....well, maybe two! Crawled into our tent by 7 pm. and feel asleep immediately. Woke up a few times but slept until 7 am. Wanna know my trick for sleep 12 hours? Ear plugs! They work like a charm and drown out someone snoring, trains passing by every 30 minutes and car noise. It took me three years to learn this handy trick on bike trips.

This is what I saw went I crawled out of our tent. Simply gorgeous. The ducks & geese were all awake and squawking madly. I'm guessing the morning temp at this point was about 35-38 degrees. Brrrrrr!

Now how did we mange to find this in Alma? Must have been the balloons that caught our eyes while biking through town. This is an awesome bakery with a history dating back to 1922. Of course it's changed owners, but the new owners/bakers, Chris & Stephanie know how to make delicious scones and cinnamon pull-aparts. Chris was really pumped up with much enthusiasm, since beginning today, he and Stephanie will begin making homemade pizzas. Dang, I wish we lived closer to Alma. Sounds like a road trip for pizza, hey Krissy? Check out the Vintage Oven Bakery in Alma. Their webpage is working right now, but look for them on Facebook.

It was great talking with Chris, and his coffee was excellent! Chris just happens to be a bike enthusiast himself.

Now look what he had in his bakery basement. When was the last time you've seen a Lotus road bike? Cool.

We continued on our way. The weather started to warm up, but Bike man and I continued to wear our warm gear until 2 pm. By then we changed to lighter cycling jackets and mid-tights. I don't know, something happened when we reached Onalaska near La Crosse. I think a cool front moved in because by 4 pm the temperature dropped and lots of clouds started to move in. Kinda looked like rain.

We finally reached West Salem for the next camping night. Rode another 60 miles. This was actually my final stop since I needed to go back home for work. The Son came down and picked me up. After getting some food for Bike man, we headed home.

I just have to say, this was a weird bike trip for me. The first time ever we've experienced crazy drivers, like rude drivers. I'm guessing with so many traveler's out on the road this weekend, we just happened to experience driver's that hate bicyclists. Remember, everyone wants to drive 70 mph, even though the speed limit is STILL 55!

Let's see, we had cars honking at us to get off the road. One motor cyclist yelled at us to get our "f" bikes off the "f" road.....that really scared me! Then we had a car trying to pass another car coming right towards us. He quickly moved in and cut the other car off, but gave us the fingers while driving by. Thanks buddy.

Geez, even this one little kid was a brat and stuck his head out the car window, yelled something at us while pointing his finger out the car window. It was at that point I just wanted to get off the damn highway and get back on the trail.

I told Bike man that there is no such thing as "Sunday drivers" anymore. Our American society has turned into rude, spoiled, and selfish. Simply no respect for others and absolutely no respect for people like us just trying to have a good time while getting good exercise and adding no pollution to our atmosphere. Some American don't understand that concept any longer. It seems like you have to burn fuel to have a good time. What is happening to our society?

Well, besides the hatred actions of motorists this weekend, I did have a fun time. Wish I could have continued on with Bike man, but work is calling me. Bike man will continue on to Baraboo....his final destination for a Lake Leaders conference.

PS. My dad is back in the hospital again from complications of his surgery. Sorry dad, hang in there ok? We love you.