Self-Indulgent Photo Overload

May 20, 2022

Downtown Milwaukee

I'm not one to give bike touring advice because I am far from a bike touring expert. But in this case, I think I have something very important to offer. My wisdom might help tens of bike tourists throughout the world.

What do you do when you're carrying a soaking wet tent at the end of your tour, and there is no place to set it up in downtown Milwaukee to dry it out? You could ignore the wetness and pack it up for the train ride back to Minnesota, but then you'd be risking mold infestation or delamination of the factory taped seams.

I have a little tip to save you from such a result. You can dry out your tent right there in your hotel room--like I did.

Just be a good hotel guest and clean up afterward.

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I had a blast riding around in Milwaukee today. I zigzagged around the city for over four hours and found it to be surprisingly bike-friendly. I took more pictures today than on any other day of this tour. For that matter, I think I took more pictures today than on any other day of any other previous tour. I didn't count, but there might be over 20 pictures coming up.

If you're not interested in viewing all those vacation photos, please don't hesitate to click on that X up there in the upper right corner of your computer screen.

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Aha, I see a few of you continued past not just one, but TWO lines of a dozen asterisks each. Thank you for that. In return, I'm going to make it easier to endure by dividing all those pictures into four categories. Here they come:

Lakefront Pictures

My first order of business was to ride to Lake Michigan. It was only, like, six blocks away, but that was enough to solidify my bragging rights for completing a Coast-to-Coast bike tour. That's right, I rode from the west coast of Wisconsin on the Mississippi River all the way to the east coast on Lake Michigan. Major kudos to ME! It was time to celebrate.

I was so glad to be here that I almost did a cartwheel. I used my good judgement and decided that might not be a good idea on those big rocks.

I saw some great concerts here back in my college days. Some good friends and I drove 300 miles to get here.

The Milwaukee Art Museum. Check out the work of art in the foreground to the right.

The city did a great job of developing its lakefront. There is a fine network of trails that gets plenty of use by walkers, joggers and cyclists. In addition, the entire area has been designated as a State Park. I enjoyed my time in that area quite a lot.

Pictures of Big Old Buildings With Towers

Earlier in this journal, I wrote that I like buildings with towers on them. Often those buildings are churches. In church parlance, towers are called steeples. Steeples, towers, things that rise up high above the rest of the building . . . I don't care what they're called . . . I like 'em.

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. In a way, I'm an evangelist for traveling by bicycle, so John and I have something in common.

Twin steeples, but asymmetrical steeples.

Impressive Buildings Without Towers

I like concrete pillars almost as much as I like towers.

The Pabst Theater looks like it might fit right in at New Orleans.

Two pillars amongst other grandeur--like the eagles on top

A big bulk of a building. And look, it has a tower at the far end.

Miscellaneous Pictures

A Jesuit college that is a perennial NCAA basketball powerhouse--just like Gonzaga University which I showed last year on my Idaho tour.

The central commons on the Marquette University campus.

Have you ever been pecked by pink swallows? I have.

Sad to say, tomorrow I get on the train back to Minnesota. I had a lot of fun on this tour. I hope you had fun reading about it. In a couple days I will put together my usual GRAND SWEEPING CONCLUSION.

This isn't even close to exact. Really, I rode back and forth on almost every downtown street.

Heart

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Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 320 miles (515 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	5

Scott AndersonWhat? Did enough people request a Grand Sweeping Conclusion? Is this like the Wine Review, back by popular demand?
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2 years ago

Emily SharpSorry I haven't followed along, but I rarely get to this website, so didn't know you had set off on tour. But congrats on breaking in Son of Bing Bong on a cross-Wisconsin tour. Does it have the same ride feel as your old bike, or does it feel a bit different? Anyway, glad you had a chance to get in a decent tour. But you scare me with the motel stays.... My friends reassure me I'll be tent camping until I die, and I do have some good role models in their 70s that still go backpacking and camping, so I do have hope. But still....

Other thoughts: glad you have The Feeshko to provide some good sense on poor weather days. WI does have some interesting geology with the Canadian Shield, glaciation and those hilly unglaciated bits. You got a nice cross-section for sure. I spent 5 days in Madison in 2012 for a work conference. I quite enjoyed it. I drug my Aussie colleagues out to State St for drinks and live music :-) We also toured the capitol building and cowered in the basement of the motel with other guests when there was a tornado warning (nothing like that for an all-American experience).

Some of your tent sites looked quite nice - good to know there are hiker biker sites in the Midwest, too.

Nice that you could be flexible and change up your touring plans on the go... and that you don't have to book waaay ahead on Amtrak to get a seat.

Thanks for the tour of Milwaukee. I don't think I'll ever make it there in my lifetime, so nice to get a touring cyclist perspective of the city.

Hope you get the chance to squeeze in another tour or two this summer. Is there any chance of resurrecting the Texas tour this year?
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Scott AndersonThere was no need to wait for popular demand. I already know that my Grand Sweeping Conclusions are loved and revered by everybody on earth.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpSon of Bing Bong does ride and feel almost exactly like The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong, and that's a good thing. It does have a couple of changes in frame geometry, but I didn't notice that they effect the ride.

Yeah, I am a little embarrassed at all the nights in motels--correct that--I'm not embarrassed about staying in motels, I'm embarrassed about not camping more. Particularly since I sleep better in a tent. Don't worry though, I think your friends are right in that you are highly unlikely to fall into the motel trap.
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonThanks for the tour of Milwaukie, it looks like a great place to bicycle. I loved the video!
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2 years ago