Day 37 - Luddington to Mt. Pleasant

112 miles with 2,400 feet of elevation gain.

Probably the best century I have ever done, it was quick.  My average speed was 16.5 mph, the quickest century I have ever done. 

Roads were in pretty good condition, overall, I would say.  But definitely more population, even in the agricultural areas. 

Day 36 Ferry Ride Manitowoc, WI to Luddington, MI

Seven miles and elevation climb not even worth mentioning.

Pic from the day before:

Bikes waiting for loading on the ferry:

While on the boat, we passed through our final time change into Eastern time.  

We did not have to be at the ferry until noon, so we started kind of late.  On the bike ride over to the ferry, we stopped by the lake:

  Then we went out to the lighthouse. 

The boat, SS Badger coming in to pick us up:

Boarding:

The ferry is a coal burning boat, so it gets some ecological flack; but from what I understand, it mostly comes from a competitor ferry.

Arrive in Michigan:

Day 35 - Fond du Lac to Manitowoc

About 62 miles and 1,300 feet of climbing.

Dinner tonight, Mexican, the chips and salsa were great.:

Desert tonight, Culvers custard:

Yesterday, leaving the Princeton American Legion Lodge where we had the brats:

Yesterday was SBW Jersey day in Wisconsin.

When we left the hotel, we headed off, in the rain, to Lake Winnebago to see the light house.  It stopped raining after about an hour.  Within three hours I had taken off my rain suit.

The lake:

Towards the end of the ride, here is a clip of going downhill:

Day 34 - Mauston to Fond du Lac

Just under 95 miles, and just under 1,700 feet of elevation gain.  It rained, off and on, during the last 30 miles of our ride today.  I was called the Michelin Man, lol.  The wind fills up the rain suit pretty well. 

A couple from yesterday:

Herman from the Netherlands (Holland).

When you come to Wisconsin, you must stop for a Brat Fry.  So at mile 54, we stopped at the Princeton American Legion Lodge for the local Brat Fry.  I made a fatal error at the Lodge, I failed to also get a piece of fried chicken, ugh.  It looked awesome.  When I decided to get a piece of fried chicken, the line was just too long to wait as we needed to get going, we still had 40 miles to complete the ride.

We finished this pretty long ride pretty quickly for us, it was kind of nice.  I was much more comfortable in the rain today because I had on the full rain suit; yesterday I did not put on the pants, and as a result, and as crazy as it sounds, because I did not have my rain pants on, the water runs into the rain booties, and my shoes were soaked.

Day 33 - La Crosse to Mauston

We did 75 miles with 2,260 feet of climbing, did I mention, it was a wet one today.

Some pics:

When in Rome:

When we go by a SAG truck and all is good, we are supposed to put our arm out.

We saw some cows up close today:

We took a trial to the tunnels discussed below:

We went through two tunnels today.  One of them was a mile and a half long.  We were required to walk through the tunnels.  It was dark, and it was dripping like rain.  We turned all our lights off and it was very eerie, complete darkness, you could not see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I lost my balance a bit.  If you watch Stranger Things, you will know when I say I felt like I was in the "up side down."

After the last SAG stop, it really got wet out there; this was the worst rain we experienced since the trip started.  We have been pretty lucky.  I probably would have quit with seven miles left to go, it was just not fun.  But Satish really wanted to finish.  A couple of clips in the rain.

Day 32 - Rochester, MN to La Crosse, WI

New state today, Wisconsin, we were in Minnesota just a few days.

Today's ride was 87 miles, 2,700 feet of elevation gain.  I thought MN is supposed to be flat, SURPRISE.  Rain was threatening all day.  I started to sprinkle from time-to-time.  At the first SAG today, I decided to put on my rain suit.  However, as the day went on, I slowly shed it.  It only seemed to start raining in the evening, after we were back to the hotel from dinner.

A downhill, but not from the killer climb I discuss below:

We were on a bike path for over 10 miles.  It was really pretty nice.  After the path, we had lunch at Baristas Coffee House.  Then we had about an 8 mile ride to the big climb for the day.  It was only a mile, but the grade is what killed me.  The steepest grade was almost 13%.

Welcome to Wisconsin:

The Mississippi River:

Day 31 - Mankato to Rochester

100 miles, 1,800 feet of climbing.  Back-to-back centuries, never did this before.

Lot's of corn and soy.  Only video from today. 

One of the other riders got upset at me today, he became a little unhinged, ugh.  That's life.

We were pretty steady today, John started with us, but he dropped off after the first SAG.  Pretty much, Satish, Jeff and I made the whole ride.

Couple of pics from yesterday: