A new record

Three ice cream cones in one day!  I find I get about twenty miles to a cone.  In the interest of setting my  record, I did limit myself to kiddie sized cones.  The final one of the day, however, seemed to be designed for a pretty big kid.  The favors were triple chocolate, maple walnut, and caramel praline.  Fine ice cream in Canada.

Fine pretty much everything on our ride through southern Ontario.  The last two days have been some of the finest riding I think I have done, and tomorrow promises more of the same.  We get beautiful views of Lake Erie at regular intervals, see a variety of crops, ride through pretty and interesting small towns, and as icing on the cake, we have a tailwind.

We rode 67 miles today, ending in Port Dover, another beach destination along the lake.  We have seen lots of water toys for sale, but with cool temperature and some wind, not many people are in the water.  Great weather for biking, so no complaints from us.

Margaret, Ziva, Dick, Susan, Mark, and Mike in the back, enjoying our ice cream.  Ziva and Susan told me about this trip; Dick, 76 years old, is our senior member, Mark comes over from 

Scotland for these rides, and Mike is the cross-country rider we first met in Michigan, who seems glad for some company for a while.

Flowering leaf tobacco, used for cigars, I am told.

A cherry orchard along the road.  We saw a machine shaking the cherries out of the trees.

Windy shore line.

One of the oldest light houses on the Great Lakes.

Two days in Canada

We left the friendly town of Armada after a great hot breakfast prepared by church members.  The day was gray and chilly, threatening rain which quickly presented itself, and we rode in and out of showers for the rest of the day.  After two weeks of sunshine it was a shock to the system.  Our cue sheets, which Nancy has meticulously checked against Google Earth, failed us today and led us to some unpaved stretches, as well as a road impossible to find because it was a pedestrian bridge.  It was an important road, as lunch was on the other side of the bridge.  The incident made me realize how dependent we had become on cell phones for Google map checks and quick calls.  In Canada, most of us have turned off these electronic crutches and feel a bit unprotected.

The day continued with a couple of solid downpours, as well as my first flat tire of the trip.  In spite of these various travails, we ended on a bright note, with another fine dinner and social time at a church in Dresden, Ontario.  When I told the people at my table about my flat tire on my way to visit the settlement established by the man who inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin, one immediately offered to drive me to the site.  Although the museum about the Underground Railroad in Canada was closed, it was still very interesting to see some of the buildings from Dawn, the community Josiah Benton established.

Today was back to normal-- a perfect day, with a tailwind most of the way.  We rolled through fertile farmland, briefly visited a memorial to Tecumseh, who died in this area while fighting for the British in the War of 1812, and arrived at our destination of Port Stanley in plenty of time to explore this touristy town on the shore of Lake Erie.  We are staying at a bed and breakfast inn run by a woman who has done some remarkable biking, including a trip from Uzbekistan to Beijing!!  After two nights in a row on the floor, my bed is looking very inviting.

On the ferry to Walpole Island, a First Nation reserve which was our entry spot into Canada.

 A Google goof

Evening sky at Uncle Tom's gravesite.

Windy day on the beach at Port Stanley

Church camping

Today was another 70 mile day with near perfect weather, generally fine roads and another nice trail.  We did encounter some unexpected road construction which took away the road shoulder on a highway.  Things looked grim and scary until a nice trucker motioned us on to the road and drove behind us for two miles, protecting us from all the traffic.  All we could give him were big waves and smiles when we turned off.  Maybe he is a biker, too.

Several times on the trip, we are camping at churches.  We have sleeping bags and pads with us, and when we arrive we all find a place to settle in for the night, usually in a Sunday School room.  Tonight we are in a UCC church in Armada, Michigan, which has received us with wonderful friendliness.  About 25 church members of all ages joined us for dinner, another fine potluck banquet.  Tomorrow morning some are returning to prepare breakfast for us before we depart.  They definitely rank first in hospitality in our book.

Tomorrow we cross into Canada, to follow the north shore of Lake Erie to Niagara Fall.  We re-enter the States August 2.  My postings may be less frequent, as we are not sure if my friend Susan's hotspot, linked to her Verizon phone, will work in Canada, and we may not have other Internet at all of our stops.

  A friendly greeting makes for a nice arrival.

We set up a shower cabana in the church yard.  Ken, one of the trip leaders, connects a hose to an inside faucet, and we have a hand held shower nozzle in the cabana.  Church hot water heaters are not usually designed for 16 or so showers in quick succession, so early comers have a better chance of hot water.

    Susan playing with toys in a church nursery,

Lined up for good Michigan food.

Two of our group giving a geography lesson.  Our trip shirts have a map of our route on the front and all the places we overnight on the back.  We do a lot of reading each other's backs to check dates and places.

Christmas in Germany

Long straight roads, cool temperatures, bright blue sky, and I flew over 68 miles today.  We left Alma with jackets on, but soon I was comfortable in short sleeves.  We had been warned that we were riding through farming country, with only one place to find food along the way, and I managed to miss it.  I think it was because it was the Nixon Store, and I still have an aversion to the name.  I did impress our group leader with my speediness; hopefully my legs will move tomorrow.

I was speeding not just because it was a great day to ride hard, but because my cousins Gil and Miriam, who live about 45 minutes from our destination of Frankenmuth, were driving down to meet me.  It was great fun to see them come into the parking lot, and we had time for a good visit.

Frankenmuth is a tourist destination in central Michigan, displaying its Bavarian heritage, German food, music, dirndls, lederhosen, and beer.  It was a bit much.  The town also boasts that it has the country's largest Christmas store.  I couldn't bring myself to go in, but rode through the parking lot accompanied by Christmas carols on the loud speakers, to look at some of the outdoor directions.

Tonight marks the halfway point of the ride, with a few people departing, and four newcomers joining us for the second half of the ride.  Our wonderful support team, who have spoiled us with great lunches, including filling requests for particular foods and getting us local specialities, are leaving us to return to their home in Lansing.  We hope the young woman joining us will continue the traditions we have come to enjoy.

     One of our long, straight roads today.

       Old schoolhouse along the road

       A surprising sight as I drove into town

    KC and Joe, our wonderful support team

Rolling along through Michigan

Michigan has the country's most extensive network of bike trails, the proud Michigan contingent of our group has informed us.  We rode another 40 miles of trail today, as we covered a total of 58 miles between Rockford and Alma.  Traveling by bike trail is a bit like driving the interstate highways, as you have to venture off the trail to see the towns.  Consequently, my impression of central Michigan is that there are not very many people here.

We do meet interesting people on the trail.  Yesterday I rode for a while with a man from just outside Madison, WI, who started a cross country ride in Oregon and plans to end in Bar Harbor, Maine.  Today I met a jolly group from the Chicago area who are spending a couple of weeks riding Michigan's roads and trails.  

A great example of paved bike trail and unpacked roads.  A grocery store magnate named Fred Meijer is responsible for many paved miles of trails.

Part of an abandoned factory

Small town garden scene.  I love hollyhocks.

Treat for the day, an excellent molasses cookie.  With temperatures barely in the 70's, it was a bit cool for ice cream.  If you can find the Facebook page for Cops and Doughnuts, the name of the bakery, see if we are on it.  My brother would have loved this place, both the name and the size of the cookies.

A day full of treats

We covered about 54 miles today, making our way inland from Muskegon to Rockford, Michigan, again mainly on trails.  Here in Michigan the trails are nicely paved, while crossed many roads are not. Go figure.  We rolled along easily, a tailwind helping some of the way, with the temperature only in the 70's!

We stopped about 11 at a little store in a little town, where we found serve yourself soft ice cream.  The first group of riders informed me that any amount of ice cream was only $1.  When I went up to pay, the man at the cash register said "Nice lady, no money."  What a nice way to start the day.  A little later on, I spotted a roadside stand featuring Traverse City sweet cherries.  They were the best cherries I have ever had, and the quart box was quickly emptied by always hungry bikers.  Of course, we had to stop at Arnie's, a pastry shop well known in the area, to see if it deserved its reputation.  The chocolate cake was good, but the pastry shop in Minneapolis still wins.

The group is staying tonight in a country church, surrounded on three sides by cornfields, and across the road from a lovely old cemetery, with graves going back to 1810.  Several church members brought in supper and stayed to talk to us.  They were good cooks, and I realized this was my first home-cooked dinner since we left Minneapolis.  I have to count the oven-fried chicken on my long treat list for the day.  I sure hope the riding and the eating come out even.

     Heading down the Muskatawa Trail

     The ice cream cone that lured us to the friendly store.

     Bamboo?   Look again.

 

A different way to travel

We covered a lot of miles today but didn't burn very many calories, so no treats today.  In the morning we had time to return to Milwaukee Art Museum to watch it open its wings.  A building as kinetic sculpture is new to me, and watching it opening up was lovely.  From there we made our way back down the lakeshore to catch the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, Michigan.  I'm now back in the Eastern time zone, but so far west that it was light until nearly 10 pm.  We did a grand total of  12 miles on our bikes today, but one of the group had a GPS that stayed on during the boat ride, giving him a total of more than 100 miles for the day!

     The museum with its sails closed.

    Bikes waiting to load on the ferry

      Arriving in Muskegon

Delafield to Milwaukee

I miss real maps. We have cue sheets generated by Google, and when possible, I try to look at a map on the computer, but last night we didn't have a good connection, so I didn't check out the route.  Although I didn't recognize the road and trail names, after about 10 miles I figured out where I was, quite near where my brother lived.  We could have taken a more pleasant and easier route to that point, which I would have known immediately if I had looked at a real map that showed roads and bike trails.

That said, I had been very nervous about biking into Milwaukee, but the rest of the way in to the city, as well as seeing the sights by bike, was an absolute blast!  

Waukesha County has a fine new system of bike trails.  As you can see, they aren't exactly scenic routes, but they are highly functional.  The power company gave right of way to the county park system to develop trails on their land, and I believe the company also maintains the trails, which are well paved, well marked, and link directly into Milwaukee County trails, so we rolled easily into the city.

I have crossed both of these bridges many times, the first the Milwaukee skyway, and the second the bridge to the airport, but I have never seen either from these angles.

We saw the Milwaukee Art Museum from all sides.  Does it look like a butterfly or a boat?

And my treat for the day, from a custard stand I had eyed when visiting the city by car just a few weeks ago.

Middleton to Delafield

Leaving Middleton was much easier than arriving, as a member of the church where we stayed rode with us into downtown Madison. The bike trails in Madison are great if you know where you are going, and more than a little confusing if you are trying to find your way by cue sheet.

We ventured through the Saturday morning farmers market in Madison walking our bikes and admiring the wonderful food and flowers. Alas, I couldn't figure out how to carry raspberries in my bike bag. On the bright side, I found the stand that carries homemade doughnuts that taste just like the ones my grandmother made. Upon reflection after leaving the Square, I realized the only bikes I had seen were others in my group. Maybe local protocol, or even common sense, says one should park the bike before venturing  in to a crowded space. 

We rode east out of Madison and connected with the newest bike trail in the state to make  our way to Delafield, for a total of 75 miles for the day. The riding conditions were perfect, with a high of only about 80 degrees and low humidity, making the day much less tiring. I even had the energy to give my bike a much needed shower before I took one 

      Saturday on the Square in Madison

    Lunch along the trail. Our support van and great support team meet us every day. 

      My afternoon rest was in this lovely shady spot. 

Baraboo to Middleton

Blue skies make for nice pictures, but gray skies were welcome today, as we were a bit more comfortable riding.  We had a leisurely morning and didn't leave Baraboo until after 8 am, which felt like sleeping in compared to previous days.  We passed  the Circus World Museum on our way out of town and wished we time to visit.  A couple of good climbs leaving Baraboo helped us rediscover our climbing legs, followed by a great down hill swoop to the Wisconsin River.  It was fun to cross the river on a ferry, a trip I loved as a child.  And of course we had to find treats along the way.  I am happy to report that I have corrupted some of the group, who decided morning ice cream was a fine idea.  I was happy to find a bakery and turned down a chocolate doughnut in favor of caramel, the local specialty.  It was excellent, but I wished I had capacity for the chocolate one, too.

Fortunately, we had a short day today, only 40 miles, as we all found the directions for the final few miles intok Middleton very confusing.  Would that the Google phone app had a bike option.  We all found our way safely to our destination by a variety of routes, but no one managed to follow the cue sheet.

I went out to dinner tonight with friends and family from Madison and Middleton, a fine conclusion to another fine day.

Ferry cross the Wisconsin River

My friend Ziva indulging in morning ice cream

Ceci showing me her playhouse

Why bikers get confused

Sparta to Baraboo, Wisconsin

Another fine day on the trail, long, hot, dusty, and beautiful.  We covered 78 miles, including walking through three tunnels, and six miles before our final destination, we stopped to tour at the International Crane Foundation.  We were riding out by 6:15 am, and my first treat came at 9 am.  It's not often you can have pie a la mode at that hour and feel you have earned it.

We were on rail trails for about 56 miles of the trip, including the Elroy-Sparta trail, which was the first rail trail in the country, converted for recreational use and opened in 1967.  The surface of all these trails is packed limestone.  I was worried about riding them with my skinny-tired road bike.  However, the surface is well packed, with very little loose stone, and none of us had any problems or accidents.  We welcomed the shade, saw many wild flowers and wildlife, including skunks, sandhill cranes, turtles, and lots of goldfinches.

The International Crane Foundation, located about six miles outside of Baraboo, is dedicated to preserving the 15 species of cranes and their habitat around the world.  We heard about the efforts to preserve and protect the whooping cranes, whose numbers were down to only 21 in the 1940s, and now are up to six hundred, with substantial numbers living in the wild.  It was a thrill to see two of these magnificent birds close up for the first time in my life.

Catching up

Between weak wi-fi connections and busy days off, I'm behind on my blog.  On Monday, July 15, we rode from Frontenac to Winona, Minnesota, with a brief foray into Wisconsin and back.  We were within sight of the Mississippi virtually the whole way, with spectacular views of water and bluffs.

We had a day off on Tuesday, a bit early in the trip, but Winona, MN offers a lot to see and do.  My down day was more wearing than the biking days, I think.  The town has a good, small art museum; my favorites were a Georgia O'Keefe and a Jamie Wyeth.  In addition, as a result of wealth in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there are many architecturally interesting houses and public buildings, and several feature outstanding stained glass windows.  The photo is of a Tiffany window in one of the banks.  And to top things off, our visit coincided with the Great River Shakespeare Festival, and we were able to get tickets for a production of Twelfth Night.  Some of it was Shakespeare meets the Three Stooges, definitely played for laughs with some good comic acting.

Did I mention it is hot out here, too.  We hit the road at 7 am this morning to cover the 57 miles to Sparta, WI  and are aiming for 6 am tomorrow to beat the heat.  Fortunately, today we were on shady rail trails most of the way, and I wear white "arm coolers" which I wet down frequently, while also drinking lots and lots of water.  And of course, there's nothing like a chocolate soda at the end of the ride to give me good memories of another fine day.  I had to drink some of it first  to give me strength to take the picture.

Northfield to Frontenac

Fifty-two beautiful miles today.  Leaving Northfield, pop. 20,000, was much easier than getting out of St. Paul.  We are immediately on nice country roads, stopping to see some of the native fauna.

The highlight of the day was a twenty mile rail trail between Cannon Falls and Red Wing, Minnesota.  It was well maintained, shady, and had lovely views of the Cannon River, as well as flooding from recent rains evident on the other side.  One rider from our group came through much later in the day and had to make his way through about 150 feet of flooded trail! He and his bike were fine.

Our first two stops were on college campuses, and each campus had a modern wind mill, as well as beautiful patches of restored native prairie grasses.  Tonight we are at a former Ursaline convent, now a retreat center, where we have a labyrinth in the back garden.