Me, Ellie, Willard, Rahul at the entrance of a tunnel
Another day on a bike path, racing the weather! Nearly the entire route today was on rails-to-trail paths, which brought us all the way from Reedsburg to La Crosse in 82 miles. We hit the “400” State Trail, the Elroy Sparta State Trail, La Crosse River State Trail, and the Great River State Park Trail. Since we're riding on crushed limestone, if it rains our bikes will take a long while to clean. That means that today was a race against time, as the rain was set to begin at around 3:00 and our ETA was 5:00! In the end, we lucked out, and the rain was only heavy for a few minutes during our final rest stop.
Gibby and Sofie
Parallel to the path is a road, so some groups opted to take that over the path at different points in the day. But the bike trail was (in my opinion) definitely worth the moments of rougher terrain. We had shade, new scenery, and three awesome tunnels that cut through the hills! That saves us from having to go up on the road, but also keeps us from enjoying those descents… and such is life!
Jacob and Ryan
Sometimes days seem to drag on— today was one of those days for the most part. But the cool mist and darkness of the tunnels put us through a wormhole and spit us out on the other side feeling brand new. Maybe it was the water dripping from the ceiling, maybe it was the cold air, maybe it was the fact that without a light, you’re walking completely blind and guided simply by a spot of white in the distance… but the tunnels seemed to give us just the pep in our step we needed.
Ellie, Willard, and Rahul reaching the tunnel’s end
We finished the last 20 miles in a slight drizzle and rolled up to our stayover that graciously made us dinner. Nature decided to let loose on the thunder and lighting with us safely inside, and now everyone’s asleep early to rest up after a long day. Tomorrow we ride one more 80+ route into Rochester, WI, for our rest day on Saturday.
— Marielle
On the road for a small portion of the day
Elroy Commons?!
Wheeeee
Ellie rinsing her newly shaved head with cold hillside water
Stunning terrain (Willard)
We could feel the cool tunnel air from a hundred feet away
Sofie beaming, ready to go in!