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07-14-08, 02:13 PM
So here goes.
Earlier this year I became interested in Road Biking in addition to MTB. I will spare the details because it is a random story and reminiscient of Forrest Gump's "I just felt like Running (biking)" Shortly after that I had the dream to cross Wisconsin from my college in River Falls to my family and friends in Green Bay. Although it was probably a poor decision, I insisted on the trip being almost entirely self contained (aside from a few friends along the way to stay over night) including avoiding Bike Forum advice of similar rides and entirely solo. I bought a Felt Z70 with a carbon fork and seatpost.
The plan was to spread the ride out over 4 days and three nights spent on couches along the way in Eau Claire, Steven's Point and Hortonville. Having more of a racing bike than a strict touring bike, I planned to travel very light with only 2 small bags suspened from the seat aswell as an offbrand camelback. The bags contined only the essentials: a tarp w/ light weight rope; bike tools; 2 white shirts and 1 shirt for reasonable society (not too smelly); and a rain coat. After a few weeks of planning and training, the date had arrived.
The first segment of the trip went as planned despite the weather forecasts predicting strong storms all week with the potential for large hail. Being a stubborn ass, I refused to reschedule the trip even though nothing would have prevented it. The storms held off and the humidity was high but bareable. I arrived in Eau Claire earleir than expected and had an afternoon/night to kill at a college friends house. Anyway.
I awoke early the next morning to prepare for the longest day of the trip (around 120 miles). My friends had told me to help myself to breakfast the night before so I helped myself to around 8 eggs and a pouch of tuna I had brought along. That was my first mistake, accepting food from a college party house. After around 30 miles from Eau Claire, I realized that I was in trouble. While I am an outdoorsman of sorts, I was still in dire need of a restroom. I had the decision to attempt to go 8 miles out of the way to the nearest city, poo in the woods (normally feasible, but not ideal for the situation at hand), or knock on a door and hope to survive. I chose the last and picked the home which appeared to be the most 'normal' (preferably not a trailer with a lifted truck infront). This actually turned out much better than expected beyond the initial surprise of the guy that answered the door. After doing my business, I realized the living room was scattered with bluegrass instruments (bluegrass is my current fav. genre), so we got to talking music for around an hour. Finally, I got back on the road with a long ride ahead of me through the middle of nowhere. Nearly 20 miles away from Marshfield and 70 miles into the journey, the storms began including a strong headwind and heavy rain. I pushed through with the intention of waiting out the storm in Marshfield if necessary. My plan was changed as the storm, hilly terrain, traffic and weather forecast broke my spirit. I checked into a sleazy motel for the night.
Disappointed with myself, I tried to decide my next move. Either fall behind my schedule or push through 110 miles the next morning to my brothers house in Hortonville. I chose the latter and awoke early the next morning. On the road by 5 in an attempt to outwit the dreary weather forecasts with a bag of crushed chips with tuna mixed in. An unexpected tailwind helped and I arrived in Stevens Point much earlier than I had expected. Back on the road after a brief 'lunch' in the ShopKo parking lot. The weather was beautiful...for a while. I rode the Tomorrow River Trail for a while but eventually was caught in a short but intense storm that I waited out/slept under a godsent overpass in Scandanavia. An hour later I was back on the road for a while until being hit by another storm. I pushed through for a while until seeking shelter in a cove of pine trees. The arrangement of trees was almost too perfect and I soon realized that the reason was that the owner was growing pot. Although I was slightly nervous that the owner was going to approach me with a shotgun for messing with this weed, I waited out the bulk of the strom before hitting the road again. Having no idea how far I had traveled so far (my bike computer had switched off and then to kilometers) my mental state remained positive and I pushed onward. After the conversion, this leg of the trip ended being 113 miles (a personal best by far). My first century was a success even if it was slowed by the storms. My bro and his wife welcomed me with a steak, beers and great accomodations.
The next day I started late having socialized with my bro over seveal pots of coffee because we hadn't seen each other in a while. As a side note, my trip may have converted him to the idea of road cycling. This part of the journey became my first dusk and nighttime ride which was both amazing because of the sunset and terrifying because I had little illumination having not planned on night rides. I arrived at Lambeau late that night.
The ride was a great experience in self relieance aswell as an introduction to light weight touring. My only regret is that I felt like the trip was over too quickly so I may need to go further next time, any suggestions? I just need to dictate my adventure to some people that may be interested. I posted my routes on mapmyride.com.
Earlier this year I became interested in Road Biking in addition to MTB. I will spare the details because it is a random story and reminiscient of Forrest Gump's "I just felt like Running (biking)" Shortly after that I had the dream to cross Wisconsin from my college in River Falls to my family and friends in Green Bay. Although it was probably a poor decision, I insisted on the trip being almost entirely self contained (aside from a few friends along the way to stay over night) including avoiding Bike Forum advice of similar rides and entirely solo. I bought a Felt Z70 with a carbon fork and seatpost.
The plan was to spread the ride out over 4 days and three nights spent on couches along the way in Eau Claire, Steven's Point and Hortonville. Having more of a racing bike than a strict touring bike, I planned to travel very light with only 2 small bags suspened from the seat aswell as an offbrand camelback. The bags contined only the essentials: a tarp w/ light weight rope; bike tools; 2 white shirts and 1 shirt for reasonable society (not too smelly); and a rain coat. After a few weeks of planning and training, the date had arrived.
The first segment of the trip went as planned despite the weather forecasts predicting strong storms all week with the potential for large hail. Being a stubborn ass, I refused to reschedule the trip even though nothing would have prevented it. The storms held off and the humidity was high but bareable. I arrived in Eau Claire earleir than expected and had an afternoon/night to kill at a college friends house. Anyway.
I awoke early the next morning to prepare for the longest day of the trip (around 120 miles). My friends had told me to help myself to breakfast the night before so I helped myself to around 8 eggs and a pouch of tuna I had brought along. That was my first mistake, accepting food from a college party house. After around 30 miles from Eau Claire, I realized that I was in trouble. While I am an outdoorsman of sorts, I was still in dire need of a restroom. I had the decision to attempt to go 8 miles out of the way to the nearest city, poo in the woods (normally feasible, but not ideal for the situation at hand), or knock on a door and hope to survive. I chose the last and picked the home which appeared to be the most 'normal' (preferably not a trailer with a lifted truck infront). This actually turned out much better than expected beyond the initial surprise of the guy that answered the door. After doing my business, I realized the living room was scattered with bluegrass instruments (bluegrass is my current fav. genre), so we got to talking music for around an hour. Finally, I got back on the road with a long ride ahead of me through the middle of nowhere. Nearly 20 miles away from Marshfield and 70 miles into the journey, the storms began including a strong headwind and heavy rain. I pushed through with the intention of waiting out the storm in Marshfield if necessary. My plan was changed as the storm, hilly terrain, traffic and weather forecast broke my spirit. I checked into a sleazy motel for the night.
Disappointed with myself, I tried to decide my next move. Either fall behind my schedule or push through 110 miles the next morning to my brothers house in Hortonville. I chose the latter and awoke early the next morning. On the road by 5 in an attempt to outwit the dreary weather forecasts with a bag of crushed chips with tuna mixed in. An unexpected tailwind helped and I arrived in Stevens Point much earlier than I had expected. Back on the road after a brief 'lunch' in the ShopKo parking lot. The weather was beautiful...for a while. I rode the Tomorrow River Trail for a while but eventually was caught in a short but intense storm that I waited out/slept under a godsent overpass in Scandanavia. An hour later I was back on the road for a while until being hit by another storm. I pushed through for a while until seeking shelter in a cove of pine trees. The arrangement of trees was almost too perfect and I soon realized that the reason was that the owner was growing pot. Although I was slightly nervous that the owner was going to approach me with a shotgun for messing with this weed, I waited out the bulk of the strom before hitting the road again. Having no idea how far I had traveled so far (my bike computer had switched off and then to kilometers) my mental state remained positive and I pushed onward. After the conversion, this leg of the trip ended being 113 miles (a personal best by far). My first century was a success even if it was slowed by the storms. My bro and his wife welcomed me with a steak, beers and great accomodations.
The next day I started late having socialized with my bro over seveal pots of coffee because we hadn't seen each other in a while. As a side note, my trip may have converted him to the idea of road cycling. This part of the journey became my first dusk and nighttime ride which was both amazing because of the sunset and terrifying because I had little illumination having not planned on night rides. I arrived at Lambeau late that night.
The ride was a great experience in self relieance aswell as an introduction to light weight touring. My only regret is that I felt like the trip was over too quickly so I may need to go further next time, any suggestions? I just need to dictate my adventure to some people that may be interested. I posted my routes on mapmyride.com.