June 12, 2021
Day 38: Marquette, IA to Genoa, WI
Rolling On The River, Hello Wisconsin!
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Climbing Today; 1,956 ft Climbing to Date; 61,877 ft
We decided to sleep late this morning, so the alarm was set for 05:00. That seemed early enough after yesterday's extended ride, and we slowly got ready to roll. I was too sleepy to be excited, but hey - we were rolling on the river!
It's been a while since I added to the "found money" fund. Leaving from the Frontier Motel in Marquette this morning, I noticed a nickel in the roadway. It was slightly embedded in the tar, so I used my Swiss army knife to pry it up. The "found money" fund now has $1.97 total. There are lots of most coins in the bag, but there is only 1 dime; either people don't lose dimes or I don't find dimes.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
My left toe was a bit messed up from being too cramped in my road bike shoes, and it had been smashed/compressed/mutilated enough that it was infected. So Doc consulted with a Podiatrist pal and determined that I should take the antibiotic Augmentin. I confirmed that with #3, my youngest, so if 3 doctors agree it must be right, right? I need to take the Augmentin with food, so we had "1st breakfast" at the nearby Casey's store and I ate a slice of nutritious breakfast pizza and washed it down with cranberry juice. "Hey, your lights are on," a guy at the Casey's store said to me. I explained that they would go off on their own in a bit. I get that comment a lot from folks who assume that my lights are battery powered - it's too much trouble to explain that my lights are powered by a dynamo that generates electricity when my front wheel is turning, and that the lights contain capacitors that charge up enough to maintain output for several minutes after I stop (so while stopping at a red light I still have lights) - so I often just say "thanks" and don't bother with the explanation.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The Mississippi River Trail is an attempt to connect a trail along the full length of the river. Parts of it exist in the form of trails that go through cities, and occasional bike lanes or sufficient shoulders of roadways. But it starts and stops in spurts at the moment.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
As you can see from the profile, we had 3 steep climbs on today's route and they all occurred in Iowa prior to crossing the bridge to Wisconsin. These were steep climbs, similar to riding in the Appalachians. I was carrying some extra weight in the form of items I needed to ship home, and I had to carry those up the 1st climb. Fortunately I was able to package and ship the excess items from the post office at Harper's Ferry, so I didn't have to carry them up the last 2 climbs. I find you get better service at a small town post office than in a large city with lots of folks waiting in line.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We found a place for breakfast in Lansing. It was pretty good, except for a brief period when a little girl was screaming at the booth behind me - her mom eventually gave up trying to get her to stop and left to take her home. I looked for jelly for my toast, but Doc had eaten the 3 packages available. He likes jelly with his breakfast sandwich. I could have asked the waitress for more, but I already had a pretty substantial plate of food with my veggie omelet and didn't really need it. It was getting hotter outside and we needed to roll on.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Leaving Lansing was exciting, because we got to ride across the Mississippi River once again. The ACA map warned us that the bridge decking was a metal grate and that the lanes were narrow with no sidewalk. You have to climb up the bridge, then descend down the other side. If it was wet it would have been very slippery and treacherous for bicycles, but it was dry and there was no traffic when we crossed - it was easy-peasy. That makes the 3rd time I have crossed the Mississippi on my trusty steed Harvey, and we must cross yet again to get back to the western side.
There is commercial shipping on the Mississippi even this far north, and Lock & Dam #8 resides at Genoa.
I was saddened to see the U.S. and Corps of Engineers flags flying at half-mast. We have not turned on a TV for 5+ weeks now since we began this journey, so I have not kept abreast of the news. But a quick google check on the phone confirmed my suspicion; yet another mass shooting. I noticed flags flying at half-mast at Kent State in Ohio when we cycled past, and the reason was the same. So a bit more checking and I learned that we have had about 10 mass shootings PER WEEK this year. I suppose no amount of bloodshed will convince the NRA gun nuts that we need sensible gun control. The Republicans in congress prevent passage of sensible gun laws despite the fact that a majority of Republican voters want it. We simply aren't going to have sensible gun control until we elect a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate. Or I suppose we could save a lot of money by building all the flag masts only half as tall since they are always flying at half-mast anyway. For crying out loud folks, how many have to die for you to take some action? Gun violence exists because of the over-proliferation of guns in our country; anyone can get a gun, even an assault rifle, with little effort. We can fix this.
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The internet was weak in the hotel - too weak to upload pictures or video. So we ate at a nearby bar that let me log into their wifi, and I uploaded everything. Their internet was also slow, but it worked well enough to get the job done. Because of the time it took to upload the video, I had to have an extra beer - so I sacrificed for you so the journal could be done. Good night all, I think I will sleep well tonight...
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,955 miles (3,146 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |