June 10, 2019
Happiness Is
Shawano to Kaukauna
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Jackie’s avg speed: 10.3 mph
Scott’s avg speed: 11.1 mph
Weather: 55-65 degrees, SW wind, 10 mph
The elevation graph on the map and our average speeds tell the complete story of how this day went. Although 08:49 was a relatively leisurely start, we completed 54 miles in about six hours. What a difference a tailwind makes. This was our fastest time since the ride from Chester to Havre, MT.
The break in the weather came just in time to renew my existential joy of cycling. (Scott is unfazed by adversity, he’s even tougher than Montana bears). This was our 35th day of riding and only the third with a tailwind. Still, I would not trade hard days for three-hour rides a couple times a week. Casual rides just make me want more. A day of favorable weather and terrain simply rekindled a life long passion, one that is constant but needs a spark now and then to make the flame flicker a little brighter.
The route led us on a meandering zig-zag through Wisconsin farm country, still vivid green from spring rains. Back in the late 90s when we lived in a Washington DC suburb, we took 70-80 mile rides, sans panniers, on the backroads of Maryland and Virginia. In those days before smartphones, we clipped paper cue sheets with all the turns and mileage markers to the derailleur or brake cables on our handlebars. This Wisconsin ride was like that, but with digital maps on our phones and audible cues from the app.
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Not only was the weather ideal, but the roads were in good shape and lightly traveled. This east central stretch in Wisconsin is crisscrossed with miles and miles of blacktop connecting “America’s Dairyland” with bigger highways leading to larger towns. The quality and sheer number of paved miles may be a factor of a larger tax base, 5.84 million people. Farm-to-market roads are gravel in North Dakota, which has only 755,833 residents, and in Montana, the fourth largest state with just over one million residents.
The land had been cleared for field crops, no woods obscured the horizon like on previous days. Corn and cabbage were just starting to sprout, due to the delay in planting caused by the long winter. The houses were surrounded by perfectly manicured acres of lawn. People were out on their riding lawnmowers, going to great lengths to make their lawns uniformly smooth, thick, green, and bigger than the neighbors.
We took a lunch break at 11:45 to eat our Subway sandwiches at a bench in the town of Black Creek. With the higher speed, 35 miles were already behind us, just 20 to go.
We got to the Kaukauna Days Inn at 14:50. We had amended the Adventure Cycling route to go through Kaukauna on a more direct path to Manitowoc. There we would store our bikes for a week while we drove to eastern Montana and back for his aunt’s 100th birthday. While living overseas, we missed many family milestones, so we would do what was necessary to participate in this one.
After showering and making a few phone calls about travel arrangements for the next day, I took a refreshing swim in the pool while Scott read John Grisham. The motel was near Interstate 41, and the only food option was an Arby’s. Not the best, but as our younger son says, “hunger is the best sauce.” We are always hungry at the end of a ride, so almost anything tastes good. The after-dinner treat was Game 6 of the Golden State-Raptors championship. Despite Kevin Durant’s injury early in the second quarter, Golden State was up at halftime, 22:00 Central Time. We turned off the TV without watching the second half. Too much suspense would keep us awake and we needed a good night’s sleep. We had a lot to accomplish the next day and had no margin for error.
As promised, below are photos of some of the barn quilt designs we saw yesterday and today.
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 1,573 miles (2,531 km)
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