Tou :: Madison to Decorah

May 28 – June 1, 2014
Jeremy, Frosty and me.

• Wed. May 28 :: after work Maggie dropped us off in Madison, WI
• Thurs. May 29 :: Madison, WI to Wonewoc, WI (59 mi)
• Fri. May 30 :: Wonewoc, WI to LaCrosse, WI (69 mi)
• Sat. May 31 :: LaCrosse, WI to Preston, MN (63 mi)
• Sun. June 1 :: Preston, MN to Decorah, IA (41 mi)

Our route:
Day 0 :: Wed. May 28 :: after work Maggie drove us to Madison

Where we stayed overnight at Karen’s house.

Day 1 ::  Thurs. May 29 :: Madison, WI to Wonewoc, WI (59 mi)

Breakfast and ride out of Lodi, WI to Baraboo for lunch then onto the 400 trail at Reedsburg.  Even got to ride a free ferry at Merrimac! Lunch at Quint’s showed us that Baraboo-ians are fond of sitting around the bar and chatting with tights wearing cyclists, nice folks.   Route from Baraboo to Reedsburg was full of beautiful back roads.  Later that night we camped for free at Wonewoc at free campsite next to creepy pool full of dark water.  

Day 2 :: Fri. May 30 :: Wonewoc, WI to LaCrosse, WI (69 mi)

400 trail to Elroy, where we hooked up with the Elroy-Sparta trail and commenced with the tunnels!  Trail became the LaCrosse trail into…LaCrosse, where we overnighted at a campsite just across the Mississippi from downtown.  Enjoyed dinner and some beverages at Bodega Brew Pub.

Day 3 :: Sat. May 31 :: LaCrosse, WI to Preston, MN (63 mi)

Breakfast in LaCrosse at Fayze’s then a nice break from the seemingly constant 3% grade of all those limestone trails in WI on some small roads into Houston, MN where we joined the Root River Trail.  Failed attempt (my spares weren’t long enough) to fix Frosty’s broken spoke at Houston trailhead gave Jeremy time to procure the perfect 6 pack cooler for the top of my rack, which afforded us lots of excellent chances to stop for beverages at some of the excellent trail side stops on the Root River Trail.  We even timed perfectly a beer stop during a very brief heavy rain in a nice shelter with a roof.

Eventually made it to Lanesboro, which has a bike shop, that fixed Frosty’s spoke.  A nice dinner, conveniently waiting out another rain, at Riverside on the Root.  Finished up dinner, grabbed a 6 pack as an off-sale from at the last possible minute, and continued down the trail after dark, enjoying the open trail after dark.   Camped for free under a shelter at the fairgrounds in Preston, MN.

Day 4 :: Sun. June 1 :: Preston, MN to Decorah, IA (41 mi)

Jumped back onto the Iowa roads, and immediately noticed all the full lanes we were given by passing vehicles.  Meandered into Bluffton, getting rained on for the last couple of miles.  Holed up at Randy’s Bluffton Store to wait out the rain, and enjoy some excellent conversation with the very friendly locals.  We even had to turn down an invitation to stop for a beer at the top of the hill once we climbed out of the valley on our way into Decorah, but we had to meet Dad at 3pm.  Finished our ride out dry, and met Dad and Sandy with my car timed perfectly.  Had dinner, and all agreed that we wanted to head back to our various responsibilities Sunday evening before next week!

All in all, another excellent tour.