Fred, Gay and I set a new course today varying some from the N T route. Ultimately this will shave time and distance from the cross country trek. Steve wanted to stay the course so after much internal debate over the past day or so he decided to go his own way. We said our goodbyes and swallowed hard. No doubt our homes are open for visiting each other.
Steve is a good guy. Let me make a little pitch for the cause for which he rides. EOD Wounded Warriors out of San Diego. Rather than try to reword his mission, I will post a link to his page, should you be interested in helping them.
http://burkeonbike.tumblr.com/post/120461777950/dear-friends-on-may-20-i-was-in-a-hotel-room-in
I wish Steve Godspeed and good luck with his mission.
I was chatting with Fred as we were riding along about how it felt a bit like mourning after saying goodbye to our compatriot. But we all just continue to roll on down the road. I know it will be my turn to depart in just a few days. Stay tuned.
The day looks to be long if we are to reach a campground. There are only a few small towns along the way to boot. The first town is about 24 miles from the start. Anytime I don't get much to eat before we set out, the start seems long. Before we got to the first town, we met a guy touring solo in the opposite direction. He had been on the road since May 5! That's a long time to me. He's averaging about 32 miles per day. This is proof any one can do it! (We're averaging about 60.) He looked happy and was glad to meet us.
Well, I survived to Hayward. Fred and I had pancakes and coffee. I felt much better after that. Good food always improves the attitude. Makes the riding that much better. About 30 miles later, we were in Minong. Not in SE Asia but Wisconsin. We make stops in most towns we come across to get out of the saddle for a while. It's true your tush suffers after a spell. You need to get your weight off the key parts for a while to fully restore circulation. Getting a cold drink and a snack doesn't hurt either.
At this stage, a truck driver alerted us to an incoming storm. I checked the weather on my phone. Sure enough. Heavy rains. High winds. Damaging hail. Perfect.
We secure our loads. Keep the rain gear handy and move west. After a while, a few sprinkles begin. I look at sky. Hmm. This is odd. The storm is ... splitting up. I look at the weather once more and notice that the radar showed exactly that. We had storms to the north and south of us. Only thing to take away from that is The Force must be with us and it's strong. It hasn't rained so far.
One little hiccup. I have my GoPro camera mounted on my acrobars. Been there since day one. Can capture video without stopping. Well, all of a sudden, when I hit one of the millions of road cracks, the camera mount just snaps off and the camera goes tumbling down the road!! Of course I stop and pick it up. The camera had a few scars on the housing, but otherwise it seemed ok. Will learn about GoPro warranty on my return home. It's only 6 weeks old.
We arrived at Danbury, WI after 1:00. The day was long in the saddle but we had a following wind and excellent road conditions all day. It was pretty flat with only gentle rolling hills. My kind of riding.
We stopped for lunch and figured out where the campground was. 0.2 miles away was perfect. Danbury, population 172, is a Border town with Minnesota. The campground is on the river that separates WI from MN. The fee is only $10 and includes showers and a pool. Best deal so far. Nice folks, too.
Total riding mileage today = 75
Total mileage so far = 1,920
Thanks for following us and I hope I'm not too boring with my stories.
Cheers.
KPW
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