Day 116-121: Pepin, La Crosse, Wonewoc, Madison, Milwaukee

Day 116: Newport, MN to Pepin, WI, 65 miles

Day 117: Pepin to La Crosse, 75 miles

Day 118: La Crosse to Wonewoc, 72 miles

Day 119: Wonewoc to Madison, 85 miles

Day 120: Madison to Milwaukee, 89 miles

Day 121: Milwaukee, 0 miles

Day 116: 7/06/14

At about 3:00 a.m. it started to sprinkle so I jumped out of the tent and threw the rain cover over the tent and hopped back inside to get a few more hours of sleep.

Just as I got back inside the tent and tucked into my sleeping bag the rain really started to come down. I gave myself a little high five for getting out when I did and went back to sleep with a big smile on my face as the rain pattered down on the rain fly and my butt stayed dry.

I finally got up around 7:00 a.m. and quickly packed up my gear and threw my rain jacket on and headed down the road to a Burger King to eat breakfast and hopefully wait out the rain.

It took a while and a whole lot of BK breakfast foods and fountain sodas but, by 11:00 a.m. the rain had stopped and I got out on the road. Rode backroads to Route 10 which I used to crossed the Mississippi again, this time into Wisconsin... And no welcome sign again! These states have to get their acts together. At least I got a pic with Minnesota... Once in Wisconsin I got onto WI-35/Great River Road that follows the path of the Mississippi River which I will be on until La Crosse where I turn east towards Milwaukee.

The rain had stopped, but it was 75 degrees out and the humidity was at 95% so after about 15 minutes all of my clothes were dripping anyways and I kept having to wipe sweat and sun tan lotion out of my eyes. I did come up with a great idea however. I'm going to keep growing out my beard and then start bottling water that I've filtered down through it as I had a perfect drip going on the ride. Haven't come up with a good name yet but, there is time for that. Any investors???? Possibly you......

Lunch consisted of 2 ham and cheese sandwiches and a slice of pizza from Driver Dave's Diner in Bay City, one of the many small towns that line the Mississippi River.

Ended the day in Pepin. Hung out down at the Marina in town chugging water and drying out my tent while swarms of flies/bugs/gnats attacked every inch of uncovered skin on my body and then threw the tent up in my sleeping quarters for the night (the local high school baseball field dugout).

Day 117: 7/07/14

Had a delicious breakfast consisting of pancakes, hash browns and coffee at Homemade Cafe in Pepin and then rode off en route to La Crosse.

Spent the beginning of the day riding on Great River Road and then the last 20 or so miles on the Great River State Park Trail which, minus the ridiculous amount of bugs, was a nice, scenic crushed gravel trail that allowed me to relax and not have to worry about cars/trucks for a while.

Got to my warmshowers hosts Scott and Susan's beautifully restored Victorian home right in La Crosse and was greeted by their son, Robert.

Robert had just completed a bike trip with his girlfriend from Key West across the southern states and then up to Washington only a month ago and we ended up staying at a lot of the same warmshowers hosts on our travels which was a lot of fun rehashing... Small world. Scott and Susan had joined Robert for some of the trip as well and Scott was a part of Bike Centennial (a huge group of people that did XC bike trips in '76) that culminated in the creation of Adventure Cycling Association.

Had a delicious vegetarian meal prepared by Robert consisting of Curry sweet potatoes, peppers, tofu, and rice. Maybe, being a vegetarian isn't so bad when you can cook like this....

The rest of the night was filled by bike talk and travel talk on their front porch as the storm clouds came in for a little rain and a thunder and lighting show.

Day 118: 7/08/14

Morning coffee and breakfast with Scott, Susan and Robert and then onto the bike. Rob volunteered to escort me out of the city which was a welcomed relief. We rode out from their house and then up the not so blissful Bliss Rd., a 2-mile, 500-600 ft. climb, up and out of La Crosse and onto the bluffs through really beautiful farmland on empty roads. Rob rode me out about 13 miles and then we parted ways, myself onto the next stage of this adventure and Rob onto the next stage of his....(i.e. Finding a job!)

Rode the country roads for another 15 miles or so and then onto the La Crosse River Trail then led me into Sparta, the self proclaimed "bike capitol of the U.S.A. Got on the Elroy Sparta Trail here, the very first Rails-to-Trails trail in the U.S. A really spectacular ride down the old railway line and through 3 separate tunnels, the longest being 3,833 ft. long. A little spooky inside but well worth it.

Ended the day in a small town called Wonewoc on another State Trail in a free campground that also offered free fire wood! Took a swim at the local park pool (totally counts as the shower for the day), watched Germany drop the bomb on Brazil, and then built up a huge fire to get rid of all of theosquitos and nats, which only partially worked and then hit the sack.

Day 119: 7/09/14

Another regular day of trail riding and country farm roads into Madison until just 10 miles outside of Madison on County Road K. I was riding along all happy-go-lucky and then all of a sudden a hear and feel a smack against the back of my helmet. I flip my head around just in time to see the black and red flash of a Red-Winged Blackbird swooping in for another attack on my helmet. I then took off on the bike as this little devil-bird chased me down the road for another 20-30 seconds... IT. WAS. TERRIFYING. No joke, it actually was kind of scary...

After escaping the bird I made it into Madison to meet my warmshowers host for the night, Zac, at the Capital Tap Haus for some beers and to watch the Argentina and Netherlands game. Zac had spent some time living in Argentina so we were naturally rooting for then and were pleased with the result, even if the game was a bit lacking...

After the game we headed back to his house and Zac prepared us a nice dinner feast of chicken, and homemade tomato soup, and cheese and chocolate. A delicious hodgepodge high-calorie goodness. I also got my very first taste of "raw" milk... This milk had literally been inside of a local Madison cow the day before... And then it went down into my belly!

Day 120: 7/10/14

Most of the days ride had me on another trail called the Glacial Drumlin State Trail. It was a very scenic route, but not as well packed as some of the other trails is been on so the ride was a little more difficult than the previous days. Still nice to not have to deal with cars.

Rode into Milwaukee and met my warmshowers host Carolyn at her bike shop that she owns right in town. Got to hang with her, Jordan (a bike mechanic at the shop) and another dude who was sporting a nice cast on his arm and a pretty gnarly stitched up gash down the middle of his forehead from his not so pleasant meeting with an SUV the night before... The SUV won that battle. However, he was going to win the war as he is still breathing and he's getting a new bike and a lot of new gear from the insurance money... He seemed content with the outcome.

Closed up the shop and went back to Carolyn's house in the hispanic hood of Milwaukee where we very fittingly had tacos for dinner and Mexican beers. Reminded me very much of some of the sections of Brooklyn that I'd been around....

Day 121: 7/11/14

First day off since Gackle... 9 days straight of riding and a days rest is already feeling really great.

Slept in until 8:00 a.m. and then off to The Naional Coffee House for breakfast and blogging and then some more exploring around town before hopping on a ferry tomorrow and riding across Lake Michigan and continuing my journey....

Got my pic w/ Minnesota as I was leaving it.