July 28, 2021
Pembine - Peshtigo, WI
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Today is buddy Spoon's 86th birthday. He rode metric miles (53) to celebrate. I requested a photo, but he was too busy pedaling! Happy birthday, Spoon!
I did not make mention of buddy Tom's birthday 84th birthday on the 15th - he rode 84 miles in Tucson!
I have good examples in my life of keeping with it and you can keep riding.
We had an extra hour to get out of the room today. Jacinto said he was in no hurry, we knew this was a nice motel room, and who knows what the next place looks like. I was ready to ride, after such a short day yesterday. I left at 10 AM, feeling happy about our motel placement on the correct side of town for a quick exit. We were on 141 to start. It had a shoulder, but lots of traffic. I was happy to get off at mile 20. Road W was nice to start. There were quite a few dump trucks passing me. I didn't think much about it, until I saw signs that said LOOSE GRAVEL and ROAD CONSTRUCTION. Great. The last time I saw those signs, the gravel really was a problem and I turned around. I continued down the road. I saw more orange road signs on a side road. Oh. Maybe I'm lucky and that was it. I kept going. Finally I saw several orange construction vehicles ahead of me. Darn. I didn't even go all the way up to ask the details. I wanted nothing to do with loose gravel. Right in front of me was another side road. I checked my map and saw that I could side track around and not gain too many miles. The first road was good. My connecting road to the highway also had loose gravel! I was too far gone now to back track again. If the entire road was gravel, it would be three miles. I rode carefully on the very margin of the road where the gravel didn't reach. The gravel didn't last long, then it went back to pavement. Then more gravel. Then pavement. I couldn't figure out what they were doing. This was big 2" chunks of crushed sandstone with sharp edges, not chip and seat type gravel. It wasn't road base . . . I wonder what they would be doing in the end. I eventually worked my way to Highway 64. Hurray! It was busy, but it was real pavement and I could make up some time. My next road was Leslie Road - guess what? More orange signs. I did not take Leslie Road. That cost me a couple more miles. I was so close to town, but I couldn't seem to get closer.
My phone rang. It was Jacinto. He was already there! Loose Gravel? Road construction? He hadn't seen any of those signs. He had tried a new mapping app today, bike maps. He was on Leslie Road for ten miles, but I didn't even see ten miles of Leslie Road, just the little piece I was supposed to be on.
I think the weather today was more humid than it has been. I asked Jacinto's opinion. He didn't think so. I based mine on the fact that my shorts seemed more difficult to pull up and my poor bicycle gloves finally tore from putting them on and taking them off so often. I had sewn up the seams a couple of weeks ago, but now the fabric tore.
We did ride into town one day when the clock said 90 degrees, but it didn't feel bad. As long as we keep moving, there's some breeze. Today was overcast the entire day and didn't get too warm. That works for me.
At dinner last night the waitress said that the entire area lost power in the big storm ( I slept right through it!) and the motel and the restaurant luckily still had power. A friend in Algoma says to batten down the hatches tonight, there's a big storm moving across most of the state. My phone weather app says clear by morning. I hope that is correct.
Our motel room is very small and very tidy. The bathroom has the original light pink tile in perfect condition. We are allowed to have the bikes in the room, but not to roll them across the new carpet. We are waiting to put Jacinto's bike in until bedtime, it's that tight. Tomorrow we have a Quality Inn. I hope it's nice. We've had good luck so far this trip. We had one shower that even Jacinto didn't want to look too close in. But, nothing like the Hanna Hilton last year. That one was in Hanna, Utah - a middle of nowhere stop. Great cycling road. It had rooms up over the cafe/bar. I should have known how the rooms would look when I saw the grease stained stairs leading to the rooms. The room was extremely small. Bathrooms down the hall. Even Jacinto wore his flip flops in the shower. That should tell you how dire the situation was . . . however, no Hanna Hiltons this trip!
A friend asked if I'd heard about the Peshtigo Fire. I had not. It was the same day as the Chicago fire, and killed far more people, 1,200. I'm not able to post a link, but it is interested reading. I recommend it.
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3 years ago
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Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 1,264 miles (2,034 km)
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3 years ago
Spoon
3 years ago