Going Home: The Good and the Bad

July 14, 2022

MY Town, Minnesota

One of the good things about these mini-tours is that you get to start a new tour every month. One of the bad things is that you have to return home every month and it's too soon. Another good thing is that you GET to return home--to your wife and dog--and experience that happy reunion every month.

That was the kind of thinking that got me back on the road by 8:30. Also, I was anxious to try out County Highway FF, which, for me, would be a new road through the corn and dairy land of west-central Wisconsin.

First, I did a little biking through the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Campus. I enjoyed biking through the campus of its cousin in Madison back in May. Unfortunately, the River Falls campus could not compare. On the plus side, UWRF is a respected college for agricultural studies. Nice.

My turn onto Highway FF came a couple miles south of town. I liked it, as I knew I would. There were some hills. There was plenty of corn. There were cows. There was a wildlife preserve. There was peace and beauty and fun. What more could I ask for?

I suppose I COULD ask for big mountains, vast deserts, deep canyons, and ancient castles, but sometimes you've just got to work with what exists in your own environment. I can do that.

It was feeding time for the cows, but some of them stopped chowing down to stare at me.

I just liked the landscape, so I took a picture.

The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong at the state wildlife area. I hope neither my bike nor I got infected by poison ivy or ticks while setting up this photo.

Arriving at the junction of County Highways FF and F. That's a lot of Fs.

Speaking of F's, I've been known to use a bunch of F-words while pedaling up this 3/4 mile hill on County F. Today, from the FF turn off, I only had to ride the tail end of it.

I liked the contrast in colors between the green cornfields, the white water towers and the blue sky.

County F was less pretty than County FF, and much busier. Even so, it was nice, and I appreciated seeing that weird optical thing going on in the soybean field. Was it real? Rows of soybeans appearing and disappearing as I rode? Luckily, I captured it all on a video or nobody would have believed me. Now I have a feeling for the excitement some people get after filming a flying saucer.

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

I crossed the St. Croix River via the Prescott lift bridge. Then I was back in Minnesota. I guess that makes this a multi-state mini-tour, which is cool. I was almost home.

One last hill to climb before seeing my loved ones.

A view of MY Town and it's orange-arched bridge from high above the Mississippi River.

I was only six blocks from home when I got held up by a very insistent crossing guard. He was very irritating. I'll give the guy in the box the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn't know how excited I was to see The Feeshko and Diggity. I'm definitely a forgiving kind of person.

As always, I appreciate you reading about my shenanigans. I'll be back again sometime in August. I'll do my best to come up with something better than this.

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Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 199 miles (320 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Kathleen JonesLovely little tour.
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2 years ago

Keith Adams"I suppose I COULD ask for big mountains, vast deserts, deep canyons, and ancient castles, but sometimes you've just got to work with what exists in your own environment. I can do that."

There's no place like home. There's no place like home.
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2 years ago

Nancy GrahamYou need not come up with something better. This was a great tour and showed a lot of what you rode by, through and around. Nice tour Greg.
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2 years ago

Paul Mulveyhahaha - I do the SAME thing at those crossing signals. It drives my wife nuts! I'm still laughing that there's another soul who talks to the soulless impatient computer voice and receives no feedback in return.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Keith AdamsYes, there is a lot of truth in Dorothy's famous incantation.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Paul MulveyYou too, eh? I also speak to the voice when entering parking ramps: "Please take your ticket."
"Okay, thank you."
My wife loves it. Ha.
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2 years ago