June 29 - Pepin, WI to Hastings, MN (52 mi.)

As indicated in my update from yesterday, I brought my current cycling trip to a close after today's ride. I ran into to two cyclists this morning that started earlier today from Minneapolis on their way to St. Louis along the MRT. They are from Minneapolis and said getting through the city with all the trail/road closures was difficult for them and they know the trail system. It would have been very difficult for me to do tomorrow not knowing the trail system. Besides, three weeks on the road is enough for now.

It was sunny and clear this morning when I left Pepin in contrast to the last few days when it has been overcast much of the day. That was nice. I rode a few blocks to Lake Pepin and took a photo.

Lake Pepin, WI - beautiful place

I continued north on WI-35 to Maiden Rock and took a photo. There was a historical marker that described the tale of an Indian maiden who was found at the bottom of the cliff because she could not marry her true love.

Maiden Rock

After some pretty good climbs during the morning I arrived at Prescott, WI which is the northern end of the Wisconsin Great River Road/MRT. Wisconsin was fantastic and I would not hesitate to ride this route again.

Prescott, WI

With only about 7 miles left to Hastings, MN, I called Susi to find out where she was so I would not how fast I should ride the remaining miles. It looked like I could take my time and we would arrive at the designated pickup spot about the same time, 12:45 PM. I crossed the St. Croix River on US10 and entered Minnesota.

Entering Minnesota - my 6th state (IA, NE, MO, IL, WI, MN)

The MRT route appears to be marked much better in Minnesota than in either Illinois or Wisconsin.

MRT route sign in Minnesota

I rode the remaining 7 miles to the south end of Hastings along US10 and US61. Both of these roads had very heavy traffic but a decent shoulder. US61 took me over the Mississippi River for the last time on a nice relatively new bridge. Susi pulled into the designated pickup point about 30 seconds after I did - pretty good timing.

We arrived back in Altoona around 6:00 PM and it is great to be home!! Three weeks and 1,200 miles was a nice little trip. Next up is RAGBRAI with my brother Brad in three weeks; another 7 days and 425 miles.

June 28 - Update

I have traded e-mails with a bicyclist in Minneapolis who informed me that there are a number of bike trail and road closures along the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities. The difficulty getting through Minneapolis coupled with the logistics of Susi getting up-state over the July 4 weekend to pick me up has resulted in shortening my trip by 5 days. I will cycle to Hastings, MN which is on the outskirts of the Twin Cities as scheduled tomorrow then call it a trip. Susi will pick me up early tomorrow afternoon. Since tomorrow is Sunday and since Lake Itasca is several hour north, we will visit the headwaters during a future trip.
I feel very good about the trip which will end up clocking in at just over 1,200 miles. Superb scenery the whole way, great people, good food, good weather...... I'll do a blog entry for tomorrow's leg then a post ride summary/lessons learned including; (1) questions that need to be asked and things that need to be understood of/by  internet respondees to adds for companion riders. That part of the trip has certainly been a unique experience and (2)  never give up your camping gear when traveling with someone who "lothes" camping. Enough said.

June 28 - La Crosse to Pepin, WI (69 mi.)

Riding in Wisconsin has been a terrific experience; beautiful scenery, nice riding conditions, and friendly people. I only have 45 miles left tomorrow before turning west into Minnesota to continue following the Mississippi (maybe). I also have less than a week until the end of this trip (maybe).
I left La Crosse at just after 6:00 AM this morning and after only a couple of miles on city streets I was on the Great River State Park Trail (GRSPT). This is not a paved trail and with the recent rains I wasn't sure what the conditions of the trail surface might be. The Wisconsin MRT maps that I printed include an alternate paved route. However, the GRSPT was great; damp enough not to be dusty but not soft or muddy. This trail is 22 miles long and ends in Marshland.

Wisconsin's Great River State Park Trail

View of the Mississippi from the GRSPT

 After exiting the GRSPT, the route was WI-35 along the Mississippi all the way to Pepin. Great riding, tailwind, nice roads with good shoulders, nice small river towns, friendly folks and good food. All the makins of another fantastic day of bicycling.

US Army COE service facility in Fountain City

Great River Road - Wisconsin sign

Chippewa River just upstream from where it enters the Mississippi

  After cleaning up I went for a walk around Pepin. There is a museum that was still open. It is the old railroad depot that was relocated from down by the tracks to a park. There I met Ruth Varnum Alvord Hartung Swanson. Ruth says jokingly that she outlived three husbands but never killed any of them. She gave me a very good tour and showed me how they used to use an old bullhorn to communicate between ships on the river. What a joyous person, one of the highlights of my trip for sure.
 

Old train depot museum - Pepin, WI

Ruth Varnum

 I made my way down to the marina and took a pic of the high water. The view of the bluffs on the Minnesota side of the river were awesome. Lots of motorcycles on the road today. This is a nice place to ride.

High Mississippi River levels at Pepin, WI

Lots of motorcycles on the road today

 Tomorrow - Minnesota! I've started looking ahead to accommodations in the Bemidgi/Lake Itasca area for the weekend of July 4th and every place so far is already booked. If I can't find anything I'll go as far as I can and Susi will pick me up somewhere else.  I may end up having to turn back towards Minneapolis after a day on the Paul Bunyan Trail.  I'm not a purist about reaching the headwaters. By now I'm already satisfied with the trip even if I stopped tomorrow at the outskirts of Minneapolis.

June 27 - Prairie Du Chien to La Crosse, WI (66 mi.)

66 miles in 4:45; with a slight tailwind of course. WI-35 is pretty flat between PDC and La Crosse. The weather was cooperative again today; all the rain in the area took place while I was not there).
There was a short detour at the north end of PDC due to street flooding. The Mississippi is high (see pic below). Most of the ride was below the tall bluffs and next to the river which provided some great views. I passed two lock and dams which appeared to be passing full flow. The width of the river for miles upstream of the dams is immense. About 15 miles from La Crosse there was an Amish group making repairs to one of their rigs. This appears to be a simple, honorable lifestyle but I don't understand how/where they draw the line with the use of technology (I'll have to Google it).

High river levels

Bluffs and river scenery for most of the ride again today

Eric - this is the only view of him I get most of the day - the old guy can scoot on a bicycle!!

Amish group making repairs

Another great day of riding in beautiful Wisconsin. Only two more days of riding here then it's on to the final state of Minnesota. Tomorrow's ride takes me to Pepin, WI.

June 26 - Dickeyville to Prairie Du Chien, WI (54 mi)

Milestone: Over 1,000 miles.

Another great day today. It was overcast with low clouds for most of the ride with temps in the low 70s. The low clouds started to burn off as I entered Prairie Du Chien about 1:00 PM. The Wisconsin landscape so far is beautiful. Everything is really green and the terrain is rolling hills with mostly corn and the occasional dairy farm.

There was a nice three mile descent from Dickeyville to Potosi which put me along the Mississippi. Potosi looked like a nice town. A long, medium-grade climb out of Potosi put me on another high ridge with nice views into the adjacent valleys.

Riding a high ridge early in the morning

Potosi Beer; I'll have to try one

Back down to the Mississippi River outside of Potosi

Home in the heartland of America

I crossed a road named "Happy Lane". Good reminder that this where we should all live - life's too short.

Happy Lane

 I passed a number of dairy farms; some big some small. The bigger ones appeared to have a number of employees to support the operation.

Near the end of ride I crossed the Wisconsin River only a few miles upstream from where it flows into the Mississippi. It appeared quite high from all the rain that has fallen in this area recently. I believe there is more forecast for this weekend. My route through Minneapolis is primarily on bike paths next to the Mississippi so I'll need to check to see if there are any path closures due to flooding and figure out the best way around them. 

Wisconsin River just upstream of confluence with the Mississippi River

June 25 - Savanna, IL to Dickeyville, WI (51 mi.)

Made it to Wisconsin!

While today's ride was not a long distance, there was a lot of climbing. My quads are feeling it. The skies were clear all day with temperature in the low to mid 80's and just a little head wind from the north; perfect bicycling weather.

The first 15 miles to Hanover were flat and along state highway 84 which I was warned yesterday can have lots of traffic and no shoulder. It turned out to have light to moderate traffic so not having a shoulder was never an issue.

It was 16 miles from Hanover to Galena. This section started with a long, sometimes steep, climb to the top of a high ridge which I followed for about 8 miles to Chestnut Mountain Resort. The views from the ridge were spectacular as can be seen in the photo below.
 

Riding the high ridge - always fun.

There was a really nice descent from Chestnut Mountain and I hit 47 mph; not a personal best, but really fun!

Chestnut Mountain

 The rest of the way to Galena had lots of moderate climbs and descents. I passed a place where someone collects old signs and misc other "stuff". Old signs are always interesting; nostalgic.

Antique signs

Upon entering Galena, I turned onto Main St. and started looking for Eric. I never did find him. I called his cell phone but he hasn't been turning it on. With all the things to look at while riding along this street it's no wonder I missed him.

Downtown Galena

 I climbed through Galena on Franklin which is not a terribly steep street, but is a moderately long climb. At US20 I started looking for a place to get some refreshment before heading towards Dickeyville, WI. Since I was now on the outskirts of town and didn't know if there was anything down the road, I chose a chain drug store where I also had a very pleasant conversation with a local gentleman. Very fun and  interesting talking to local people in the communities I pass through. Shortly after heading out again I stopped and took a photo of the Ryan Mansion. Interesting looking place that gives tours periodically during the day. I didn't stop long enough to take the tour.

Ryan Mansion

 I soon entered Wisconsin. The rural roads don't have state welcome signs but as I crossed a road named Line Lane and the residential 911 signs changed from green to red, I figured I had entered Wisconsin.

Wisconsin/Illinois State Line - Line Lane

Another fantastic bicycling day!!

Tomorrow's ride to Prairie Du Chien is not quite as hilly as today thanks to some route changes Eric came up with.

June 24 - Moline to Savanna, IL (58 mi.)

I made the decision during the night to leave all of my camping gear and two front panniers at Deb and Randy's. This leaves me with no camping options for the remainder of the ride (10 days) but instead requires a motel each night and splitting the cost with Eric. I'm sure it will all work out, but leaves me with a bit of anxiety. I picked up all that I had unloaded before leaving and it really didn't weigh much as I have very lightweight gear. I came close to changing my mind at the last second but ended up leaving it. The bike is lighter which will help with the hills the next few days but time will tell if I made the correct decision. [Later: it turned out not be a good decision].

Randy graciously took us to the bike trail at the Celebration Belle in Moline. In addition to allowing us to avoid Andalusia Road in Milan and the morning commute traffic in Rock Island this probably saved us as much as 10 miles of riding

Me and Randy at today's drop off point

 The weather today was ideal and the portions of the path where it was next to the Mississippi River were outstanding. We rode opposite from Riverside Generating Station, next to the John Deere combine assembly plant, through Port Byron which is opposite Le Clair, IA and then near Cordova Energy Center which I had a part in building and operating in the late 1990s/2000s. Cordova will always be a special place for me.

MidAmerican's Riverside Energy Center

John Deere combine assembly factory - Moline, IL

Port Byron high wheeler statue

Le Claire, IA as seen from Port Byron, IL

Cordova Energy Center

The direction through Albany, IL were confusing but we managed to find our way. Had a cheap lunch (Taco Tuesday - $1/each) in Fulton, IL where we went to view the Dutch windmill. The Lincoln Highway passes through Fulton and we rode a couple blocks on it. I'd like to drive it sometime. Then it was off to Savanna, IL where we are spending the night.

Windmill in Fulton, IL

Lincoln Highway sign in Fulton, IL

 Tomorrow we cross into Wisconsin via Galena, IL. This will be a hilly day but hills are good if the traffic is good. I look forward to the challenge of the next few days.

June 23 - Keithsburg to Milan, IL (56 mi.)

The rain stopped in Keithsburg around 9:00 PM last night. We were up and out of the lodge by 7:00 AM this morning. It was overcast and sprinkling lightly as we left Casey's following breakfast. It was cooler today than the past 3 or 4 days but VERY humid. There were no services for the first 40 miles. All in all - still a good ride except for the last three miles to my sister's house. This took us on Andulasia road in Milan which had no shoulder and heavy, heavy noon hour traffic. This was a suicide run and I would not recommend anyone attempt this. I know I won't. We should have to ride from Deb and Randy's back down this same route tomorrow to get back onto the Mississippi River Trail tomorrow but Randy offered to take us and the bikes past all this to the paved trail and we gratefully accepted his offer.

After cleaning up, Deb and Randy took Eric on a tour of Rock Island, Moline and Davenport. I went along. One of the stops was at the downtown lock and dam. 

Me, my sister Deb and brother-in-law Randy at the lock and dam in Davenport

 We stopped at Whitey's for ice cream on the way back to Deb and Randy's - always a treat.

I went grocery shopping with Deb and picked a few things I was running low on. Deb fixed an absolutely fantastic home-cooked dinner.

Extra thanks to my big sister Deb and her husband Randy who were the most gracious of hosts. As I said a couple of posts ago, I have the best family ever. Thanks to all of you.

Tomorrow are are off to Savanna, IL entirely along a paved bike trail.

June 22 - Keithsburg Update

I waited hours at the Eagle's Nest Sports Grill for the thunderstorms to pass. I kept watching the weather radar on my smartphone and the storms just kept popping up one after another.

Storm approaching Keithsburg

 The heavy rain finally stopped about 6:00 PM and became a steady "soaking" rain. I decided against camping tonight and instead to stay in the hunting lodge where Eric has a room. I was soaked by the time I found the place but it is really pretty neat; see second photo. Hopefully the rain will stop later tonight and we can get off to a dry start tomorrow.

Room at the Lazy Acres Lodge

June 22 - Dallas City to Keithsburg, IL (46 mi.)

Doris fixed me a nice breakfast and rode with me to the edge of Dallas City. Jess' bike had a flat so he wasn't able to go. What tremendous hosts!

I met Eric in Dallas City at the designated place and time. I think he'd been there a while. I left at about 8:15 AM and headed for Lomax. At Lomax I had alternate directions provided by Jess that would keep me off of Carmen Road which the local cycling group has designated as unsuitable for cycling. However, since I'd followed the Adventure Cycling map before without incident and since it was Sunday morning, I chose to just go up Carmen Road to US34. There is a convenience store there that I would have missed otherwise and there were no other services the rest of the way to Kiethsburg. The traffic was light and all the drivers courteous. It turned out to be a good decision as I NEEDED the convenience store by the time I got there (enough said). I then had to ride about a mile east on US34 which normally has high traffic and no shoulder on this section. Again, probably because it was Sunday morning, the traffic volume was not so bad and the drivers very courteous. The rest of the way to Kiethsburg was pretty quiet and I passed the Henderson Covered Bridge.

Me at the Henderson Covered Bridge

 Other than the bridge there wasn't much in particular to look at most of the way though I enjoyed the ride. There was a bit of a tailwind most of the day so I made good time and arrived in Kiethsburg at 12:30 PM. I've been sitting in the Eagles Nest all afternoon eating lunch, watching drag racing on TV and checking tomorrow's route to my sister Deb's house outside of Milan, IL. I'm really looking forward to seeing her (and Randy of course). A thunderstorm also rolled through. I'm planning to camp tonight and it sounds like I have a good chance of getting rained on. Really, once I'm in the tent, I don't mind the rain. It's sort of soothing so long as the storm is not severe.

Tomorrow off to Deb and Randy's; not sure the exact mileage but somewhere around 50.

June 21 - Quincy to Dallas City, IL (67 mi.)

Brian Hill in Quincy was a great host.

Brian Hill - super host!!

After a home-cooked breakfast, we were on the road at 6:30 AM. I knew today's route having ridden it the other direction two years ago so it was a pretty relaxing day. The first 33 miles to Warsaw are a bit tedious; flat bottom land a mile or two from the river with little to look at. The time passed quickly though and soon I was in Warsaw. After a short break and a chat with the locals gathered at Casey's, I was on my way to Hamilton then Nauvoo. This section is a terrific ride especially the 12 mile Hamilton to Nauvoo section; right next to the river all the way.

Mississippi River between Hamilton and Nauvoo

I made it to Nauvoo by 11:00 AM and biked around the reconstructed Mormon village.

Reconstructed Nauvoo village building

 I had the opportunity to talk to two Mormon families visiting with their children/grandchildren from Salt Lake City. I had lunch at a local deli then called Susi to let her know where I was. Then called my Warm Showers hosts to see when they wanted me to arrive. They said to come on over so I pedaled the last 13 miles to their farm home just outside of Dallas City; Doris and Jeff Lionberger. They are avid cyclists and very active with the Burlington bicycle club. We had great conversations about bicycling and the technology Jeff uses with a modern farming business. I cleaned up and we drove to Burlington where they showed me some the cycle racing circuit features including Snake Alley which is listed by Guinness as the crookedest street in the country. We then had dinner and returned to the farm. Dorris had one of her famous apple pies with ice cream. By now it was 10:00 PM so we called it a night.

This was probably the best day of the ride so far mainly because of the company of Brian Hill and Doris and Jeff Lionberger.

Doris and Jeff Lionberger at Snake Alley

June 20 - Pleasant Hill to Quincy, IL (48 mi.)

It did thunder storm last night in Pleasant Hill so choosing the cheap motel was a reasonable choice.

Following breakfast at Pam's Cafe, we were out of town around 7:00 AM.

Interesting piece of yard art in Rockport.

Classic early morning bike shadow selfie.

Peaceful river road scenery.

Very nice and quiet riding all morning until the last few miles into Quincy on the Gardner Expressway. Because of the earlier start, the temperature and humidity were a little lower to begin with. I stopped in New Canton for a cool beverage. Eric was long gone but stopped to wait for me in Kinderhook.

Crossing over I72 at Hull.

We made it to Quincy a little after 11:00 AM and had lunch before calling our Warm Showers host Brian Hill. He said to come on over. Brian is a retired teacher/coach and very avid bicycle rider. He met us with beer in hand. It doesn't get any better than that. Brian said he has been to Winchester many times for the annual basketball tournament. He coached for 11 schools including Central of Camp Point and Virden. He knew some of the coaches and players I remember. Great host. We're headed to the local tavern for dinner. Should be a great time.