Cycling Advocates Ride to Pro Walk Pro Bike 2006

from Vancouver B.C. to Madison, Wisconsin

The climb out of the Mississippi River valley wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We started out along a nice paved shoulder on a foggy morning. The first part was very gradual. Then we rode on flat terrain for several km. The last 1km was quite steep and then we were up on the plains, with beautiful rolling hills. We passed through several small towns and stopped at Fenimore for a little lunch. They advertised several small museums, including the remnants of a small scale railroad system that used to serve the area. We stopped at the first cheese factory we saw and bought some cheddar cheese curds. The last part of the ride was more of a struggle for me. Truck traffic was heavy and it was getting hot again. We also had to battle a 15km/h head wind. It was a welcome rest at the Super 8. Then we walked around for an hour. We were about 4 km from downtown, so there wasn’t much too see or many food choices. We finally settled on a fast food chain called Culver’s. There was the usual lack of sidewalks to get around the area.