Day 36 Marquette, IA to LaCrosse, WI 66.0 miles Total 1,737.0 mi

 Good Morning, Wisconsin! Waited for the Marquette Diner to open their doors at 7am.  Once fortified, Steve left to cross the Mississippi into Prairie du Chien, WI.  The 2 mile bridge was under construction, with a one lane section governed by a traffic light.  I was nervous for him,and we wanted Welcome to Wisconsin pictures, so I drove across too.  He was directly ahead of me on the one lane and rode VERY fast so as not to anger any drivers.  The semi truck behind me hung way back,  nicely with no pressure.



Statue of James Marquette who discovered the Mississippi River here in 1673.


Steve rode north and I went back across the river.  Just north of Marquette on the Iowa side is the Effigy Mounds National Monument.  Lovely, serene woods and trails up, UP, UP along the river.  Along the ridges, about 1,400 years ago, Indians built mounds, some shaped like bears.  There are no written records and few tribal stories, so it is not clear why they were built.  They are preserved in the National Monument, and the paths, even the steep switchbacks, are smooth, soft pine chips and a pleasure to hike on.  River views from Eagle Rock, Fire Point and Twin Views were majestic.


Check out that Mississippi mud!




Steve was well ahead of me, and found his planned lunch stop closed.  I went on ahead 10 miles and explored the tiny town of Genoa.  Other than the gas station, I found Rudy's Bar and Hotel.  I gamely ventured in and asked the only patron, an older gentleman nursing a can of beer, if they did any food.  He assured me that they made pizzas and really good hamburgers and cheeseburgers.   When Steve caught up with me we joined a few other customers and enjoyed a couple of those great cheeseburgers.  




Back on the road, we headed for LaCrosse.  I had to stop and take a picture of this river sign...be careful how you say it!







Comments

  1. John OppermanJune 15, 2021 at 3:36 PM

    I told my old college biking buddy who lives in LaCrosse that I figured you'd be passing through there today. Be well, and may the temps and winds be favorable!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PamJune 15, 2021 at 10:38 PM

    Love the photos!

    ReplyDelete
  3. John OppermanJune 17, 2021 at 6:33 PM

    LaCrosse is a great city...but?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 78 The FINISH! Snohomish, WA to Brackett's Landing, Edmonds, WA 22.2 miles Grand Total 3,820.5 mi

Image
STEVE HAS FINISHED HIS RIDE!!!!!! Son Ben, with great grandson Chip, grandson Elijah, granddaughter Briana, Steve, grandson Jacob, DIL Alison, granddaughter Alyssa and Allane celebrate at Brackett's Landing Steve dips his tires as Ben narrates for the Zoom participants and Brian Soergel, the editor of the Edmonds Beacon newspaper, gets the story. Like 67 other mornings this summer, Steve woke up and got ready to ride.  It was not a long ride, but it certainly was a momentous one.  I actually left before Steve for the first time, intent of finding my way to Brackett's Landing in Edmonds and ensuring a parking spot.  It is indeed a busy place for walkers, beachgoers, Tai Chi practicers, and scuba divers.   When the wildfires west of Winthrop forced us to find an alternate route through the Cascades, Steve elected to come through Stevens Pass along Rt 2.  We needed to find a place (originally supposed to be Anacortes) where he could dip his tires into the wate...
Read more

Day 1 - Belfast to Windsor; 35.7 miles

Image
My dear friends, John Williams and Judd Thompson, joined me for this first leg of the journey. John Benziger, who rode this leg yesterday because of the sketchy forecast for today, will join us tomorrow and onward.  Allane, bless her soul, got us to the start point and then drove the car back to Windsor. We dipped our tires in the Atlantic waters off the Belfast pier to not just officially start this journey, but to bless it for a safe and successful finish. The three riders for this day left Belfast under a partly cloudy sky. We anticipated colder weather, heavy clouds and winds. It turned out to be an almost perfect riding day. The clouds cleared, sun came out - we even lathered on sunscreen, and the winds were light. A remarkably nice day though we all went in with layered clothing, rain gear in our panniers, and a stiffened resolve to ride on regardless of the weather.  John, Steve and Judd The ride from Belfast to Windsor is one I've done several times in training. It's n...
Read more

Day 76 Leavenworth, WA to Skykomish, WA 51.0 miles Total 3,756.1 mi

Image
 The Enzian Inn in Leavenworth was above average in all respects.  When Steve learned that they offered breakfast, he signed up for the 7:30 seating and decided to sleep in.  Since he has not had a down day, this turned out to be a great idea.  He got a good night's sleep and filled up on a delicious breakfast.  They had an omelette station as well as fruit, meat, cinnamon rolls, pastries, muesli, and special yeast waffles with an amazing berry sauce.   He was off at 8:10am  for the last challenging mountain pass climb of the ride.  Stevens Pass was an elevation gain of 3,331 feet.  He stopped at the rest area after about 17 mies.  After that, he just climbed.   I was waiting for him at the top of the pass when he came riding up at about 12:40.   Finally reaching the peak! The ski area was all closed up, but there were a lot of day hikers all throughout the mountains.  Steve had a little lunch of tortilla, s...
Read more