St Croix Falls to Chetek

So, the way it worked out, one of our longest days also had the most hills, and ended up being the sunniest. Fortunately, we had a tailwind for nearly all of the 63 miles. It was also a beautiful day to ride and see the sights. This was the morning after camping out so our start was a little slower than normal and began with a 200’ climb from the campsite to the start of the route for the day. This was a good way to wake up the legs lol. The rest of the day had so many different aspects.  I’ll just list them – 

Rode… a closed service road to avoid traffic, past a ski lodge, 14 miles on Stower Seven Lakes Trail – where we saw 7 different lakes, read about the origin of the Soo Line Railroad, hilly country roads, saw lots of horses and a cool old church, dipped into Amish country, scared deer off the road (so I didn’t run into them), met a friendly dog, saw a huge maple syrup farm, had an AMAZING lunch (prepared by the AMAZING Chef Kelly) at mile 41 along the side of the road and arrived in Chetek about 5:15 pm.

There were so many sights, sounds, and encounters it seemed like multiple trips and not just a single days ride.

A note about dogs and bikes…. I was a bit worried going through farm country where few people ride.  Sometimes the farm dogs like to chase (and sometimes bite) riders. It’s an all too common occurrence and hard to deal with without crashing or getting bit. I really like dogs, but when one comes out barking viciously and goes to bite… I no longer like that dog – so I carry some pepper spray meant to deter them. I had mine ready for the two dog encounters today. The first encounter was with 4 very well fed (round) labs who ran towards the road and all gave a “come back and pet us kind of bark”.

The second was one I spotted in the shade of a farm yard. When I saw him, I started talking to him nicely and grabbed my spray.  He got up and ran towards me, but with a wagging tail and a big dog smile. I put the spray away and he met me on the road for some petting and licking and then trotted to Mel for some of the same.  Nice pup – and friendly just like all the people we saw today.

The Numbers:

63 miles

2,720’ climbing

Animals of note – sandhill cranes, turkeys, deer, turtle, a gazillion birds, and 5 nice dogs.