Day 41 Green Bay

July 28, 2018

Green Bay, WI

So, we didn’t set out to do another century ride today, but it happened nonetheless. Since we knew we’d get a late start because of the bike repair needed, we thought we’d do somewhere between 60 and 85 miles. We had a decent continental breakfast at the hotel and set off for the bike shop at 8:30. They opened at 9 and had Jon’s bike fixed and had us back on the road at 9:45. Great service from Builer’s Cycle and Fitness in Wausau. They had a cool collection of antique bikes hung all around the upper level of the store that kept us occupied as we waited. We then made our way East. The first 10 or so miles was a series of pretty steep rolling ups and downs. Took us a little while to get warmed up after yesterday’s ride! We were supposed to go to Shawano, pretty much straight for 30 miles. Until we hit the “Road Closed Bridge Out” sign. And no warning signs, no detour route, just a closed road. Perfect. Do they just assume that everyone has a phone or gps? Our best option, aside from riding on a major 4 lane highway, was to go south, then east. That took us away from Shawano and more directly towards Green Bay. We took a break at a gas station/restaurant at 30 miles and considered our options over a bowl of rhubarb crunch ice cream. The waitress was amazed, as most people are, that we’re riding from coast to coast and have gone 2400 miles already. She was super nice and filled our bottles with ice water; it was getting pretty hot, into the high 80’s and supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. That’s when we decided to head for Green Bay today rather than tomorrow. If we can get through the city and onto the Door Peninsula, we can escape the worst of the heat. It was a rough day to do 100+ miles. Not nearly as enjoyable as yesterday. At about at 50 mile point, we stopped at a McDonald’s for ice water. We took our own lunch provisions inside and sat at one of the side booths. Thankfully no one seemed to notice or care. After that, we just kept pushing on to get to our destination before dark. We passed innumerable farms and fields of corn and soybeans and saw a few deer and cranes and eagles. We meandered along various back roads, some incredibly bumpy and rutted, some newly paved and smooth as glass (we reeeeally like those!) It’s funny how the mind works on long days. Once we get over 50 miles, I start thinking about what we have left to do and not so much on the total. I tend to compare it to rides at home. Like 50 miles is a big loop we do to Jamestown, or 30 miles for the Xenia loop. Once it gets below 15 miles, I know it’s about an hour, give or take.

We got to Green Bay around 7:45, checked into the hotel and promptly showered and made our way to the restaurant that stops serving at 9. We both ordered glorious salads with lots of greens, fruit and chicken and cheese. The waitress was kind enough to quickly bring us a bread basket while we waited on our salads and sipped our beers. After dinner was laundry. We have 2 full sets of biking clothes, but today’s clothing was so crusted with sweat, it made sense to take advantage of the laundry facilities here. Bed by 10:30 and asleep by 10:32 😴😴

Today's ride: 103 miles (166 km)
Total: 1,434 miles (2,308 km)

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