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Thanks for the message, Keith, and I'm sorry it took so long to reply. I've really fallen behind on that task.
Great story about "The Princess," and I also appreciated the story of your bike trip in Western Wisconsin. Good stuff.
Thanks Rocky, I'm glad I made it too. I'm also glad I avoided a patch of poison ivy. I did get a few cuts and scratches on my legs though.
2 years agoI placed it at the end of a guardrail and held it upright with a water bottle. I was pleased with the result.
2 years agoHi Sandy, it's been a while.
That's a great piece of wisdom about not mattering where you ride you're bike, just that you're riding somewhere. And yes, honesty is the best policy. And yes, the fans of Wisconsin's professional football team are some of the most rabid fans in the sporting world.
Excellent advice, Bill. I'm going to go out and buy some fine Wisconsin cheese just for that purpose.
2 years agoHi Rich, and thanks for approving of my use of the word "hate."
2 years agoGreat videos of the storm! I’m glad you had a nice bike ride after the obstacle course!
2 years agoIm so glad you made it safely across. Wise choice not taking the ladder!
2 years agoNice on-the-road picture! Where did you place your phone for it?
2 years agoMy brother related the tale of some socially prominent Frenchman in the early days of the 20th century. It seems he was seeing some declasse woman ("a tart" was my brother's description) who was ever-jealous of the time and attention he lavished on his bike.
She took to calling it "The Princess" and claimed he loved it more than her. This finally led her to an ultimatum: he must choose between her and the bike, whereupon he picked her up, dropped her in the Seine, and rode happily away.
Naturally, when my brother bought a new bike his wife immediately christened it The Princess, a name that has endured to this day. But she was wise enough not to insist that he choose between them.
My first-ever touring experience was a three-day/two-nighter with my brother, c. 1984. He lived in Madison and we made a loop from there out toward Fennimore and back.
He had put together a route using fairly large-scale maps obtained from the various county Chambers of Commerce and other sources. I still remember a nasty hill called, appropriately, The Pinnacles, as well as some soft/deep gravel roads that went straight up the hillsides, making them too steep to climb out of the saddle lest the rear wheel spin under the reduced traction.
It was also my first (and so far only) experience with "stealth camping" though of course I didn't know the term at the time. On one of our nights we simply pulled over when we felt like we'd reached the end of the riding day, and pitched the tent in an out-of-the-way corner of someone's field. I don't recall now whether it was even behind a screen of trees. The other night, I believe we stopped in at the local police station and got permission to pitch up in the town park for the evening.
A final memory to share: we had stopped at a bar somewhere for dinner (grilled cheese sammich and a beer, IIRC), and were headed out of town in the middle evening when we drew the attention of a small pack of boys in the 8-12 year old range, cruising around on their 1 speed "hot rod" bikes.
Naturally we ended up in a full tilt, all-out sprint racing for an invisible and undefined finish line. Two old guys (I was in my early 20s, my brother his early 30s) on loaded bikes "racing" a bunch of young upstart whippersnappers on banana bikes must've been a pretty amusing sight to any spectators.
It was a great experience, and a really enjoyable adventure for me. I hope you have similarly appealing experiences.
I’m totally convinced the world is windier than it used to be. I feel like I’ve been fighting the wind on every ride this spring.
2 years agoSorry you had to start out with such strong winds! Hopefully it will get better.
2 years agoGreat looking bike and it’s color coordinated with the bike rack!
2 years ago
Hi,
2 years agoOnly riding a tour is training for riding a tour. You’ll improve as you go.
You can add more obstacles to speed up your training. The 200 meter bike carry is always good for cross training. Or how about the loaded bike guardrail cross?
Don’t drink all the beer in WI.
Cheers,
Keith