La Crosse, WI to Wabasha, MNStats!
Miles biked today: 68.4
Total miles biked on trip so far: 918.0
Max speed: 25.5 mph
# of names of blog readers seen on on the road today: 2
# of Mississippi river crossings on trip so far: 4
We started out this morning, fresh as daisies in La Crosse. We crossed the Mississippi for the fourth time so far, bringing us into Minnesota for the first time!The road we were on would soon merge with an interstate, and we really wanted to avoid that, so armed with some vague advice from the Smith's Cycling and Fitness guy and an android phone, we endeavored to find a way to Wabasha that would allow us to avoid cycling on the interstate.
We tried to find the "Dresbach Rd." that the bike shop guy told us about. I'm .... not sure if we found it. What we did end up finding was a poorly maintained bike path that led us to a county road that got us back on track pretty quickly. We've been on lots of badly maintained roads recently -- you'd be surprised how much it affects the ride, and the butt.
But the bike path went *right* beside the Mississippi, so it was a beautiful ride.
When we got back on the highway (shoulder), we biked awhile, all along the beautiful river. When we came to a scenic overlook, I wanted to pull over and get a picture. There was a couple there birdwatching, so we asked if they'd take our picture. See? We are on this trip together. The couple was super nice and from Massachusetts, on an Elder Hostel birdwatching course.
As we biked along, a train snuck up on us and blew its whistle so loud I nearly had a heart attack. As it sped past us, Dean and I noticed that one of the cars had a graffiti shoutout to some of our family members. We raced the train, got ahead (it was going pretty slow), and managed to stop and take a quick pic. Cool!That seemed pretty neat, and then, not but a few more miles down the road, we noticed another tribute to one of our readers (see the top of the "boat").
Click to enlarge
We were getting pretty bored on the shoulder of the highway, so we were grateful when the path took us into a Nature Conservancy reserve. It was really beautiful, with fields full of yellow grasses and purple flowers.
Curious about just how boring the highway was? We noticed that there was a ton of loose corn on the road shoulder -- for MILES, just corn kernels all over the road. So we decided to try to roll over as many corn kernels as possible (only when the road was pretty empty and it was safe, of course). Odd things entertain us these days.
We are glad to have made it to Wabasha. It was a long ride. Despite the highway monotony, we've passed the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip over these past few days. We are trying to do three consecutive 60+ mile days, to make it to Minneapolis on Saturday. Fingers crossed!Also, a couple of things I forgot to mention in previous posts:
- On the ride to Lynxville, we saw our first fish roadkill. We see a lot of roadkill each day, but only one fish so far. How'd he get up there?
- Yesterday, in La Crosse, while we were just walking around town to entertain ourselves, a local news crew asked us for our opinion on the new local "chicken ordinance." We didn't have an opinion, so we were robbed of our Wisconsin fame. Apparently people are now allowed to keep live chickens in their yards. Something like that....
More tomorrow! But to keep you interested, a few more pics from today!
A Whooping Crane
I like these birds. Don't know what they are, but they're EVERYWHERE. 
They forgot the -ing. Shi-mo!
The mighty Mississip, and bluffs!
Mer, That is a red wing blackbird. You indeed are in beautiful country. You have inspired us to start looking more closely at the interesting things around us. We never notice goofy signs and stuff like that. I didn't know that E rode the rails.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the photo of the Stettler graffiti. I'm not sure why, but it makes me kind of happy to see my name spray painted on that truck. I will be sure to share it with the boys. Keep truckin!
ReplyDeleteI am in Salamanca this weekend so finally got a chance to catch up with he blog -- love you both! Next Tuesday I get internet finally so will follow daily! Dean -- do you remember jujitsu (sp?)??? Hope so if you need to disable some mugger.... Maybe stick to cheap motels and official campgrounds with security (and showers!) This blog is GREAT -- glad you are finding fun in every day, despite the inconveniences and heat and etc... Dean -- Have a great birthday tomorrow. I will be thinking of you and looking forward to a grand get-together to celebrate it when you return!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Dean has/had a great aunt who was named Winona.
funny story about that boat... there is actually a family connection. In the town of Winona there used to be a steamboat. Tim's grandfather and his brothers brought it on land and set it up to be a steamboat museum. They named it the Julius C. Wilkie after their father or grandfather -- i can't remember which. Then, it burned down. So they built a building in the shape of a steamboat to replace it. That should still be there. I didn't know there was a cute little boat sign to point the way, tho. did you see the actual building?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I know someone already identified the bird, but just wanted to use my line: that black bird with red on the wings? That would be a red winged blackbird. haha.
I have been informed that the Julius C. Wilkie is no longer around. But the little sign lives on...
ReplyDeleteVery cool family history, Mayhem! I'm glad we caught it!
ReplyDeleteTim and I were in Winona today and saw the boat sign -- wow I didn't realize it was so huge! I thought it would be like mailbox sized. We are also seeing a ton of red winged black birds along the mississippi and I think of you guys every time! Hope all is well!
ReplyDelete