(Note: I added some thoughts to the July 13 - 16 blog)
July 17 – 92 Miles from Rochester, MN, across eastern
Minnesota to La Crosse, WI. This
was our first day of heavy rain.
We left in the rain, which continued for well over an hour. Partly due to this, a group of
four of us missed a turn and went 8 miles before discovering the error. Fortunately, we were on a parallel road
to the route, so only added 3 miles for the day. Lunch was at a café in Rushford (see comments below), where
we waited out a severe thunderstorm for an hour. This was followed by a lovely 15 mile though very wet bike
path along the Root River. During
the final 500 ft. climb of the day, 72 miles into the ride, the rain came back,
and it was heavy for the rest of the way in. I crossed the Mississippi in a downpour and entered the
East. And it indeed looks
like the east, with winding roads through forests, farms and hills, lined by
tiger lilies. For all the rain and
though I have never been so wet, it was a lovely ride.
July 18 – 93 miles to the Wisconsin Dells, on what turned
out to be one of the highlight days of the ride. 50 of the miles were on the Sparta – Elroy rail trail, a
hard packed dirt trail with lovely views of the rolling dairyland of
Wisconsin. The trail high points,
literally and figuratively are 3 railroad tunnels, up to ¾ miles long, which
you have to walk the bike through, owing to the utter lack of light. We carried flashlights to see. Acoustics were amazing as well, due to
the rock walls – great fun to sing in.
Its amazing that the State of Wisonsin allows pitch black tunnels to be
traversed by the public – I would have thought the liability lawyers would have
had the tunnels closed by now.
Bully for Wisconsin.
Following the tunnels, then we had superb pie in the small village of
Wilton, at a shop called Pie Are Square (where indeed the pies came in square
pans, so not just a geometry pun).
Then more lovely hills and dairy farms. Just a great day.
July 19 – 85 miles to Fond du Lac, WI. More lovely hills and farms. No drama, just a pleasant ride, though
warm and humid. Went through
Ripon, WI, birthplace of the Republican party in 1854. We can thank Ripon for Abraham
Lincoln’s rise, and I think it would be unfair to blame it for George
Bush. I noticed that there is a
pretty severe eutrophication problem (i.e. algae blooms) on the lakes of
Wisconsin (fertilizer runoff from the farms and septic tanks of the lakeshore
cottages the likely cause) which, combined with the housing market crash, means
lakefront property is going for a song out here. A lot of cottage owners must have lost a lot of money. We have now done 476 miles in 5 days
and I am getting pretty tired.
July 20 – 60 miles to Manitowoc, WI, in a bit cooler but
very sticky weather. Again lovely
rolling countryside with nice small towns and and lots of dairy farms. We have now done over 2700 miles and
are ready to cross Lake Michigan and enter the eastern time zone.
Thoughts: Never
Give Up
On July 17, the rainy day, as the group I was riding with approached
the small town of Rushford, we started hearing thunder. The promised thunderstorm of the day
was closing in on us. So we
decided to take a somewhat early lunch, and entered the local café, Stumpy’s –
a rather plain place with an old fashioned soda counter, a bunch of tables,
pine wood walls with cheap posters, and of course checked curtains on the
windows. It tuned out to be the
local hangout (as there are not a lot of other choices in Rushford), and there
were lots of customers having lunch, including some Amish farmers we talked
to. Anyway, the storm came, with
dramatic lightning and thunder, and we spent over an hour waiting for it to
pass.
At Stumpy’s, the waitresses (never “servers” in these parts)
all wore purple T-shirts with “Stumpy’s” on the front. On the back was the slogan “Never Give
Up”, and in smaller print, “Root River Flood, June, 2007”. We asked for the story. Apparently, the river had a record
flood last year, which engulfed much of the town. At Stumpy’s the water came into the café, up to about table
height, and pretty much everything was ruined – floor, walls, furniture,
appliances, food – I guess everything but the basic structure and ceiling. But the owner of Stumpy’s rebuilt,
buoyed by a strong community committed to keeping the village of Rushford as
their home.
The town has recovered well. You see no vacant or decrepit houses, and the stores (the
few of them there are) are back in business. No doubt there is a lot of debt to pay off, but Rushford did
not give up and is back.
I suppose there are lots of situations where Stumpy’s slogan
would be inappropriate – for example, a terminal illness where the best course
is to accept the inevitable, or perhaps to abandon a losing cause (where the
adage “ when in a hole, stop digging” might be more appropriate.) But I had to admire the slogan, and the
spirit behind it, at Stumpy’s. For
their circumstances, perseverance, courage and hard work could prevail over
difficult circumstances and trying times, providing they simply did not give
up. You have to admire that in a
town, or a person.
Oh, and the food was homemade and quite good, and everyone
was very frieindly. You have to
admire that as well. We had a
great time and were thankful for the storm.
