July 5, 2024
Glacial Drumlin Trail from Cottage Grove to Helenville
The end of the supported tour
This was the final day of the tour and the Glacial Drumlin Trail had been recommended to me by friends. Apparently, glaciers did their thing in this region, even though they eschewed the Driftless areas we biked through on previous days. The glaciers left behind low, teardrop shaped hills known as Drumlins but since they were covered by lush vegetation, trees and farms they really just looked like hills to me.
After a great breakfast at the Grace Coffee shop, we got on the bikes one more time. There were sixteen wooden bridges along the way, a couple very long ones, meaning 32 bumpy transitions between the trail surface (mostly the usual double track limestone) and the bridges. Great weather, very pleasant and level trail surface - just a fun ride.
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There was a lunch stop somewhere around mile 14 and Lake Mills, and at about mile 22 there was a gap in the trail that required a detour with a bit of climbing to a bridge over a highway and then about 2 miles of rollers. I was in the rare position of being the first rider at this point, but the tandem caught me and then when were back on the trail, Parry went flying by as well.
A few miles later, the van was waiting with lunch while sand cranes argued with smaller birds in the field across the road.
Most of the touring group assembled for the "after" group photo in front of a big stone thing, probably some kind of water tank - maybe it was left there by glaciers. To help Helenville compete with the slogans of all those other Wisconsin trail towns, I am dubbing it "The World's Capital of Whitewashed Stone Cylinders."
We had a chance to change out of our sweaty bike "kit" and got in the van for one last shuttle ride back to the airport hotel where we had left our cars. After unloading our stuff from the van, and saying our goodbyes while the air conditioning cooled down the car, Carole and I headed north to tack on 2 days of exploring Door County WI.
Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 207 miles (333 km)
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