biking

3 Days by Bike…

We began our 3 day bike trip through rural west-central Wisconsin in a downpour.  In fact it rained on and off much of the first 2 days with the sun waiting to show its face until the morning of our very last day.  You may think that’s a bad thing, but in truth biking in the rain can feel better than biking under a hot sun.  The heavy clouds and a wet landscape also add color and shadow to an environment that would have otherwise been lost in a white summer glare. There were sections of the trail that seemed more like they were winding their way through Panama than the heart of cow country.  All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better way to take in Wisconsin’s amazing Elroy-Sparta and 400 Bike trails. Continue reading

The Quiet Earth

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Omaha / Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters  / It’s the heart that matters more
I think you better turn your ticket in  / And get your money back at the door
– counting crows

It became downright spooky when we arrived in the community of Elroy, WI  early Sunday afternoon.  Elroy is where the stars, or I should say the bike trails align.  The 400 Trail, The Elroy Sparta Trail & The Omaha trail all meet in this little town.  It’s here where the Elroy Commons, a renovated train station with gift shop, showers and bike rentals, stands as a gateway to about 100 miles of beautifully maintained bike trails. It’s here where we found out there were no restaurants, no shops of any sort and not a car on a road or a person on a sidewalk. Not even a cliché dog barking in the distance.  Having just watched a flick from New Zealand called, “The Quiet Earth”, the day before, we had the spooky feeling we’d arrived on set.

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Beyond Boundaries

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Years ago while paddling along out on Devil’s Lake we came across this young couple who were out paddling as well.  We learned then that they were a bit new to kayaking and actually lived nearby  in  Reedsburg, a community about 15 miles from our home here in Baraboo.  Now, as often happens when you meet people in passing, we sort of dropped out of touch.  It wasn’t until yesterday when we were out riding on the 400 bike trail that we realized that they were now married and owned an outdoor shop right along the trail.

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