Just Like France

May 15, 2022

Madison, Wisconsin

Pre-ride Minutiae

Last night I was awakened by a pitter-pattering sound. I won't say what it was, but it sounded like thousands of tiny, tiny diamonds were being sprinkled onto my tent by angels on high. There were a couple of glorious booming sounds too.

In the morning, the diamonds were gone and everything around me was lit up ever so brightly, as if the world's stage was being illuminated by a gigantic spotlight in the sky.

And the songbirds were going nuts. I laid in the tent a good half-hour, doing absolutely nothing but listening to the cheeps, chips, chirps, tweets, trills, whistles, woots, weets and peeps. Unfortunately, I'm a bike rider--not an ornithologist--so I can't identify one bird from another by their distinctive calls. That's why I just lump them all into a single species: songbirdae delighticus.

I was able to identify one songbird by sight though. While drinking my coffee and writing in my notebook, I noticed an abundance of goldfinches. More than I've ever seen before, flitting about from tree to tree, never perching in one place for more than two or three seconds. They were so hyperactive that it was difficult to get one in a decent picture.

With enough clicks of the phone camera, even a blind squirrel captures a goldfinch once in a while.

No bicycle touring blogger in the world takes as many pictures of his coffee as I do.

Trivial On-the-Road Stories

As I was leaving the hiker/biker campground, I talked to the young woman who set up camp in the dark last night. She had ridden in from Madison after work and this overnight trip was her first loaded ride of the year. She said she was training for a self-contained RAGBRAI experience in July.

I told her that I had ridden RAGBRAI six times, and it was a blast. More than that, it gave me the idea of going out on bike trips without the big crowds. Longer trips, solo trips, self-planned trips, like what I am doing right now.

She called me an "inspiration." I may have blushed.

************

Somewhere along way, I noticed a serious problem with Son of Bing Bong. An essential part had fallen off and it irritated me big time. Could this be the end of my Cheese-land journey?

I looked on Google for bike shops along the Military Ridge Trail and found one in the town of Mount Horeb. Thank the god of the Great Outdoors, it was only a few miles away. And it was open.

See how the cap is missing on the end of the right handlebar? Very irritating! I knew it was only a matter of time before the tape unraveled, rendering the bike totally unrideable.

The edgy dude working at the "Trail This Bicycle Shop" had the part I needed and gave it to me at no charge.

As a bonus, he gave me a second one so both sides would match. I hadn't even thought about the fashion faux pas of having mis-matched end caps. I would have been the laughingstock of the bike touring world.

************

In a way, the bike issue led to a discovery I might otherwise have missed. While searching for the bike shop, I started to see trolls all over the place in Mount Horeb. Tres chic!

I must provide a warning that if you have an unnatural fear of trolls, you might not want to look at the next few pictures.

The barrage of trolls started with this.

The mayor troll held G-2 and the key to the city in his hands.

************

Near the city of Verona there was a detour. Normally that would piss me off, but the detour resulted in another interesting discovery. I took a short detour from the actual detour to have a look at these most unusual buildings.

To me it looked like some kind of huge, farm-themed, resort hotel complex. Except nobody seemed to be staying there. Luckily, along came a woman walking up the road.

"What IS this place," I asked her in the most puzzled voice I could muster.

"It's epic," she replied.

"Yeah, it's epic, but what is it?"

"Epic is a software company. They're most famous for creating the software that hospitals use to share information."

"Really? It looks like a resort?"

"No, it's Epic's world headquarters, and those buildings are full of offices."

"Wow, not your usual corporate headquarters," I opined.

************

In the city of Verona, I stopped for a break under a pavilion. A gal came along, saw my bike and stopped to see what I was up to. I learned she was a former bicycle racer, and she showed me her cool new Salsa gravel bike that she purchased to expand her cycling horizons.

She asked about my trip, and when I gave a brief point-to-point description she said, "Wow, that's something to write home about."

I hesitated to tell her that I actually WAS writing about it, but later on in the conversation she said she likes to read books and articles about other peoples cycling adventures. I couldn't help myself. I blurted out the fact that I have an on-line journal about this trip going on.

She asked more about it and I directed her to Cycleblaze.com. I could not remember the rest of my direct blog address. Immediately, she pulled it up on her phone, and since I was a little behind we had to scroll to page two.

"That's me," I said, "Cheesy Rider."

Then she introduced herself and said she would read my journal when she got home, even though I warned her that it was pretty goofy. Now that I know she might be reading this, I am so embarrassed that I forgot her name. For some reason, I THINK it was Lia, but I'm probably wrong about that. And even if I'm right, I probably mis-spelled it. I'm terrible at remembering names. I am so sorry.

************

From there I made a beeline for the big city of Madison--Mad City--the cultural and governmental center of Wisconsin. Historically, it's also a bastion of American liberalism. You could say it's the "Paris of the Midwest," but most enlightened French citizens will agree that Paris is the "Madison of Europe."

True, Madison may not have the same cutting edge cuisine, famous viniculture, and centuries-old architecture as Paris, but it has better--and less pretentious--bratwursts and beer.

I got lost a couple of times in the downtown area of Madison. I hate having to resort to my phone to get un-lost, but I'm adaptable enough to do so when necessary.

I usually don't make hotel reservations, but I did make one for tonight. At 2:00, my room wasn't ready, so I rode around for a while and killed some time on Lake Monona.

Unimportant Stuff From the Hotel Room

I was assigned a room with a view on the top floor, which seemed appropriate for a Pulitzer Prize candidate like me.

I had a perfect view of last night's lunar eclipse. I took a picture when it was near the point of ecliptic totality. It wasn't a good picture. Hey, I'm a bike rider, not a professional photographer.

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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 215 miles (346 km)

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Nancy GrahamWHAT an eventful day! Raining diamonds onto your tent, getting a replacement and an extra end cap for free (now you will never lose one), finding Epic is not a resort it looks to be, those interesting trolls, a bird to enter into the monthly challenge, another fan for your blogging, a nice ride through and around Madison and the eclipse!! Holy Molely Greg!! How are you ever going to outdo this day?

Years ago we did some cycling in and around Madison when visiting a family member. I remember enjoying that and that lake a lot!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Nancy GrahamYeah, it really was a fine day. I'm glad the tour of Madison brought back some memories.
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2 years ago