Here are some Pics of the Day:
Early morning start thru the rolling Wisconsin Corn Country
Flowers decorate the fields
Hollyhocks among them
Barry and I visit a railroad tie making factory
We the visit "Ben Biking" at the start of the Sparta-Elroy bike trail (The Black Rocket and I ride along with Ben)
Barry and Mello Yellow ride with Ben
I change into my Ben Biking riding outfit - we're going on the Sparta Trail
Barry suits up as well....
And we start out on the 32 Mile Sparta Trail
The trail is mostly gravel with 3 tunnels along the 32 mile route. Nancy and Adrienne behind us.
The trail follows the abandoned Chicago and Northwestern Railroad bed
There are 3 tunnels on the trail; the first is the Norwalk tunnel, more than 3/4 of a mile in length. (Nancy photographing me)
Here is a local entrepreneur selling flash lights for the dark trip thru the tunnel (private enterprise is alive and well in Wisconsin)
We have to walk thru the tunnel; here is a view looking back
The walls are a mix of sandstone, granite and crystal (very beautiful and smoothed by water)
Barry, Adrienne and Nancy walking in the tunnel
We emerge into the daylight and start riding again
A view from the trail, a lone hawk sitting on a post (hopefully not waiting for us)
Lilly pads on the trail, reminds me of Monet at Giverny
A typical Wisconsin red barn and silo just off the trail
We're off the trail now, time to shake a leg for Wisconsin Dells
Modern farmhouses (like this one below) are common here.
Just across the street are the farm buildings (a mix of old and new)
In the last 10 miles of the day, we encountered a pack of 4 dogs from a farm much like this one. Three of them were Border Collies, one looked like a terrier. We saw them coming. They gave us a good chase. Unfortunately, one of the border collies got under my wheel and I ran completely over this poor fella. I was able to stay on the bike, the poor dog seemed to survive my back wheel, and that pretty much ended the chase. We were able to make it in to our Best Western lodging at about 5:30 pm, but only then did I discover that I had damaged the back wheel and was in urgent need of repair. That night at mechanics, I replace the wheel with a loaner that work until I could get to the bike repair shop in Fond du Lac the next day.
At the end of this day, we had traveled 92 miles, with most of the afternoon in 90-plus degree temperatures. That midwest heat way you have been reading about is still cooking.
We shared the dog incident with the group that night. As it turned out, others had similar problems with unleashed farm housed dogs. We got lots of advice on how to deal with this in the future. Rule number 1 is don't lose control of your bicycle, even if you have to stop and get off. We also received a good tip to pull out a water bottle and give the chasing dogs a squirt. For the most part it is a friendly gesture and diverts their attention. We had a chance the very next day to try this out. We were chased by a growling labrador and the water bottle trick worked just great.
By the time we got in, we didn't have much time left to explore Wisconsin Dells. It is a popular tourist attraction with roller coaster, water sports, canoeing, rafting and swimming in the Dells. The Dells are actually a limestone riverbed formed by ancient melting glacier run-off that have very interesting designs and clear, clean water from the Wisconsin River which runs thru the Dells. Oh well, we'll save Wisconsin Dells for a future trip.
More tomorrow when we journey to Fond du Lac (at the foot of lake Winnebago)
Love to All,
ME
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