Our time in Wisconsin has proven to be a pleasant surprise. Each successive day here unveiled more and more of the area’s considerable natural beauty, as well as the joys of eating dairy (apologies to our lactose-intolerant readers). Today saw us finishing up the last of our riding through the state, and it was undoubtedly memorable. We enjoyed a route of mostly bike trails and found a bit of adventure in the old railroad tunnels that interrupted them. Tomorrow, we move forward from Wisconsin and head into Minnesota – “L'Étoile du Nord” (in English, “the star of the North”).
ride overview
Mileage: 82.4
Elevation: 1,618’
Points of Interest: The Elroy Commons, Norwalk, WI, Bailey’s Diner, 400 State Trail, Elroy-Sparta State Trail, The Pearl Ice Cream Parlor
quote(s) of the day
“If you ever wonder what I’m thinking about, one-third of the time it’s just ‘Gangnam Style.’” - Izzy
*Nervously starts playing the drums on the water cooler* - Olaf
tales of the trail
Today’s morning activity was decided by Lucas, who required each of us to take a selfie with every member of the team. If you witnessed us scurrying around a parking lot deliriously giggling and rapidly snapping selfies with each other, you’d think that the current generation was doomed. The reality of the situation is that any morning beginning at 5:40am is in need of some sort of pick-me-up – this one just happened to take up a lot of spots in everyone’s camera rolls.
One of the many selfies taken this morning, featuring Lucas and Olivia (and some of the chaos in the background).
Around 90% of the day’s route would keep us on bike trails, much to our delight. To be specific, the trails we would be riding on are called rail trails: paths for walking or bicycling that were formerly railways for trains. The Elroy-Sparta State Trail is unique in that it maintains three 140-year-old railroad tunnels interspersed throughout its path. These tunnels are pitch-dark and dripping wet, meaning we had to walk our bikes through all of them – the longest one being almost a mile long.
A classic morning mega-group.
While that may sound miserable, it’s actually incredibly awesome. Each tunnel had our mouths agape in pure amazement – walking through an old train underpass was a first for many of us. Our tiny bicycle lights cast their glow upon the tunnels’ layered calcium insides, which would sometimes transition into old brickwork. The floor of each tunnel was a mess of watery, gravely indentations and drooped on either side, guiding our eyes to running streams of water collected from the trickling ceilings. Sometimes we would wander through in pure silence, nothing but sounds of our clip-clopping cleats and water hitting the ground around us. Other times, we blasted our music into the tunnels’ vast echoes (“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd was found to be a particularly fitting song for one group). We emerged from each tunnel into the contrast of the trail’s rich greenery, feeling like lost underground explorers who had rediscovered the surface.
Olaf, Maaike, Dylan, and Neal take in the first of the tunnels…
…Lucas and Jack in a tunnel’s depths…
…Kavin, Tommy, Kev, Izzy, Anthony, and Emma surface from a tunnel.
It rained lightly for some part of the day, but these showers thankfully had more of a cooling effect than the usual “my socks are sopping wet” effect. Despite some dodgy surface conditions at times, groups worked together to avoid the worst of what the trail had to offer.
Maaike captures the foggy aftermath of the rainy conditions.
At our second rest stop, we stopped in Norwalk (the black squirrel capital of the world, according to the welcome sign!) for some delicious Mexican food at Bailey’s Diner. As we ease into the routine of the ride, we’ve learned to balance the rewards of an enticing rest stop with the demands of cycling – we’re relieved to say this was not a repeat of the pancake incident. We also pulled off at a cool bicycle store in Sparta.
Maaike makes Champaign’s mark on the map!
We love Sparta(‘s bike trails) <3
More pleasant trails took us all the way to our lovely stayover in La Crosse, First Presbyterian Church. Adorably small rabbits darted out in between our wheels, a charming experience complemented by the gentle Wisconsin landscape that dotted either side of the path. After we arrived at the church, we made sure to give ourselves and our bikes a good rinse from everything that had stuck to us during our adventures.
Thank you to Domino’s for generously donating pizzas, as well as to Izzy and Olaf, dinner chore partners, for making us a delicious meal of lentils and pasta. We of course followed this with some ice cream from The Pearl Ice Cream Parlor downtown (thank you to Logan’s aunt for the recommendation!), which Maaike and I believe is the best ice cream place we’ve visited on the ride thus far. Finally, a massive thank you to Wisconsin for treating us well, from your gorgeous scenery to your delectable food.
In answer to a comment from a reader, here is Lucas in his iconic Chamois Butt’r shirt!
A rare find in the wild — a bib and jersey tree.
cyclist’s corner
Today’s Rider: Dylan Hendrixson
How are you feeling today?
Feeling good. I liked the Elroy-Sparta Trail. I rode on the path, so it was nice to do that again. It was nice to be on trails all day.
You’ve fundraised thousands of dollars for our cause. What has been the most impactful fundraising experience you’ve had?
I feel like most of my fundraising was friends and family. But it was nice just reaching out and hearing the support, like “oh, you’re doing this crazy thing.”
What keeps you going when it gets difficult to put in all of those miles or even to get on the bike?
It’s hard every morning, waking up. You immediately feel the soreness, and you’re like, “I don’t know how I can do this.” But I kind of tell myself, the first 20. You’ve gotta keep telling yourself, just this next little bit. Eventually the day’s over, and you’re like “oh, it wasn’t so bad.” It’s worse in the moment, it feels like you can’t do it, but you always can. So I guess there’s not something really in particular that motivates me, it’s more than I chunk it out into small little bits. I do think the music, talking to people, distracting yourself, it kind of flies by. I like the country music, rap, the 2010s pop music is pretty good too.
Do you have a favorite accessory to wear with your ride uniform?
I wear the sun sleeves, like most people. I also have the gaiter, which is more for the sun. Then I have my cycling cap.
What’s your rest stop routine?
First, I fill my water bottles, because I always feel like if I don’t have those, it’s a bad ride. And then, after that, it’s snack. I try to get everything done, so I can relax. That’s my perspective on it.
In the remaining portion of the ride, where are you looking forward to visiting the most?
I didn’t realize we were doing the [Elroy-Sparta] Trail, so I’m really happy we did this trail. I still think the Tetons are probably my top. Also, I think Crater Lake will be cool to see. I haven’t been to Crater Lake or Mount Rainier, so I think those would be two cool ones to see. I’m not sure if we’re camping those days, that would be a cool experience. It’s probably going to be hard with the rollout, but it’ll be a good time.
Is there anything else you want to talk about?
It was a good day. I feel like it was long, which was my only issue with it. [Being on one trail], you don’t get the variety. It’s hard to kind of lock in to the same thing the whole time. It’s nice to not have to call “car back” all the time.
(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)