Hot Times in Spring Green, WI

Hello!  The weather is crazy, I hope you are safe and well.

Before I get to telling you where we are and what is going in, I have to tell you a story that I forgot to share last time.

The 3% grade up to the tunnels on the Elroy Sparta trail isnt steep but it can be long.  To avoid bordom, I pulled up one of my audio books on my phone and let it play.  The book I was listening to was Demon Copperhead.  It was recommended by a Sister on the Fly.  So far it is about a boy put into the foster care system.

I don't have my headphones with me.  I just play the book. The trail wasn't busy.  Steve was riding well ahead of me most of the hill.

Anyway, when I reach the Tunnel I dismount, turn on my bike lights, and start walking my bike through the tunnel.  I must have been deep into the tunnel because it was very dark when I noticed I had forgotten to turn off the book.

You can imagine as I get into the tunnel how the narration is reverberating off the walls and seems quite loud.  But it is dark and there are now families coming from the other end of the tunnel and people behind me.  I can't stop.

Just about this time the main character, Demon is in a room with some older boys who start talking about girls and blow jobs and fingering girls on the bus.  Omg!  And all I can do is keep walking and hope no one notices!

Oh my.  Note to self, "bring the ear buds next trip."

***

Last I wrote to you we were sitting at a picnic table outside a Kwik Trip in Elroy, WI.  

The Elroy Sparta Trail connects with the 400 Trail in Elroy.  We rode on to Reedsburg  for a day of about 36 miles of riding.

As we approached Reedsburg I was remembering the tour that George and I did in 2008.  It was bizarre in this area.

In 2008 some of the bridges were destroyed and there was a detour set up.  We were riding North.  The detour took us on the roads.  First left then right.  And here is where I don't know how we messed up.  We turned left when we encountered the Trail again.  But we did not see that we had ridden over the trail when we were on the road.  

When back on at the trail I was sure we turned North.  We rode and rode and encountered some bridges in really bad shape.  One we had to unload our trikes and haul stuff over on the support beams because all the planks were missing.

Anyway, you can read about the day and how we ended up getting all the way back to Reedsburg before we realized we had turned the wrong way and headed back south instead of north.  I journaled while on that trip on crazyguyonabike.com

The bridges are repaired now, though they are rough.

The city of Reedsburg allows people to camp in the park for one night for free.  They have a flush toilet and a cold shower and picnic tables under a shelter.  Campers need to call the city ahead of time so they know to leave the facilities unlocked.

By the time we arrived, set up, and showered we were very hungry.  Right around the corner on Main Street is a Pizza and Pasta restaurant with old Italian music playing.  Steve got Lobster ravioli and I ordered some eggplant roll thing, but they were out of eggplant.  I got the spaghetti marinera.

I tell you what we ordered because we enjoyed it so much.  We ate it all and drank water and beer too.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well again.  Even though it was cool enough for a light cover and we had some camomile tea before bedtime.

We could see that our next day of riding would be on the highway, in full sun, with little shade and the temperature was going up.  We planned to get up and get going as soon as possible to ride into Spring Green before the worst of the heat.

We rode Highway 23 which has a 3-foot shoulder the whole way.  And hills, yes there were a few hills.

We got some Gatorade to add to our waters.

This area is called the driftless area.  It was not covered by glaciers during the last ice age.  It was a plain and over 10,000 years of the streams flowing through the area on their way to the Mississippi has created hills and valleys.

We rode straight to the Wisconsin Riverview Grille which had a salad bar.  

Afterward we were getting ready to ride to our campsite.  It was hot.  The weather report said it would only get down to 78 this night and would be even warmer tomorrow night.

We made the decision to stay cool.  We have a motel room for two nights.  The Round Barn Resort is in Spring Green.

We have already showered, used the pool and showered again.

Now we are chilling with the wifi in the lounge, which is the only place the wifi works.  Steve walked to the gas station nearby and got us some beers.

Tomorrow morning we will bike to the visitors center for Taliesin, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's schools.  I have the 2-hour tour booked for us.

Music is free at the American Players Theater tonight and tomorrow night but tonight we are still recovering from the heat.

We will see what we do tomorrow evening.