July 23, 2024
Day Thirty-nine: New Holstein, Wisconsin to Manitowoc, Wisconsin
My goal for the last day of this tour was for something easy and low-stress: Only about 30 miles to Manitowoc, on Lake Michigan. I'd done a very long day yesterday so that today would be short, because scattered thunderstorms were forecast for most of the day.
I'd reserved a room at a B&B in Manitowoc, where Joy would meet me, but I couldn't check in before noon, so it didn't make sense to leave too early this morning. But I also didn't want to get out too late, because the rain was supposed to be heavier later in the morning.
I rode out just before 8:00, and as soon as I turned left out of the motel, the one and only scary traffic incident of this tour happened. A semi truck (without its trailer) pulled out of a parking lot in front of the motel, and apparently didn't see me. I had to swerve widely in front of him to avoid being hit. He saw me then, and slammed on his brakes.
I was a little shaken by this, but it was starting to rain lightly now, and I didn't want to stand around in the rain. I rode a few thousand feet down the highway, and turned onto county road "X".
This was a reasonably quiet road without a lot of traffic.
The scenery was mostly dairy farms.
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After a while I saw the flashing red lights of emergency vehicles, including a fire truck, ahead of me. The emergency people told me there had been a traffic accident, and I needed to detour around it. So that added a couple of extra miles. It continued to rain lightly.
Eventually I got bored with country road "X", and turned onto an even emptier, chip seal road that ran parallel with it.
At some point the rain stopped and I took off my rain jacket.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory
4 months ago
There wasn't much to see on this backroad, but it might have been the easiest riding on this trip. After yesterday's 110 miles, which included navigating through multiple cities, boring was fine with me.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 1 | Link |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daucus_carota
4 months ago
I turned onto Lakeshore Drive for the last several miles to Manitowoc. Very low traffic, and considerate drivers.
I arrived in Manitowoc, population 34,570. It was fairly easy riding through the city - certainly easier than Fond du Lac yesterday. I wasn't in the mood to take a lot of photos. That is usually how I feel when I'm in a bigger town.
I rode down a street that had an OK view of Lake Michigan and took a photo of the bike there, then rode to the B&B, where I was an hour too early to check in. The woman who owned the place with her husband looked at me with mild disgust, I felt. I don't think she liked the idea of a sweaty bicyclist sitting on her furniture. Her husband was much friendlier; this uptight woman and her jokey husband seemed like an odd match.
She allowed me in around noon, and not long after that Joy arrived, which was a happy reunion.
I'll try to write a summary of what I thought about this tour, what I got out of it, and some of the many random thoughts I had during the long, often lonely days by myself.
Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 2,678 miles (4,310 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 9 |
4 months ago
4 months ago
I needed to read this after my fiasco on the TransAm this spring and summer.
It's amazing how many miles you can get out of a pizza, isn't it?
Any plans to take the Badger across the lake post-tour? I did this at the start of my 2016 tour.
4 months ago
I'm sorry about the dogs in my home state that caused you to abort your tour.
4 months ago
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2024tbd/manitowoc-then-to-ludington-michigan-on-the-ss-badger-6ef/#55108_uz0tqcs4jse5urcuqjo0jiviu7p
4 months ago