Chetek to Eau Claire

The term “one of those days” is usually in reference to a difficult/overwhelming day. It’s most often a negative term. Day 4 of our ride, our final day, was the opposite. Everything was unexpectedly great – so many blessings.  Here is the backstory…

The night before, the weather people promised it was going to start raining about midnight and would rain all day with temps in the low to mid 50’s.  Not just one weather service, but all of them…. it was getting cloudy so it made sense this would be happening overnight. So, as we got ready for the ride, I laid out my cool weather gear, rainwear, prepped the bikes for wet riding and changed the route a bit to reduce some of the time in the rain.  Wasn’t looking forward to driving home after being soaked for 45 miles. But such is what you do when on a bike tour – you deal with the weather and press onward.

Here is what happened. Woke up at 5am, checked radar and there was no rain. Never rained at night either. It all went way north. How all the weather services missed this is a mystery but no complaints. So we hopped on the bikes at 8 and found the roads were quiet, slightly downhill, and very smooth.

We had a slight tailwind too, so we flew for the first 30 miles. It was like zero effort as we rolled through the countryside and little towns.  Temps were great for riding, not too hot or cold. Saw the outside of the historic Leinenkugel’s plant in Chippewa Falls and read their history.

Made it to Eau Claire at about noon and the new end location in downtown took us past their “Food Truck Friday” area. The smells coming from that almost ended the ride immediately – it was noon, we had ridden 45 miles and we were hungry. Everyone would have understood. But, we pushed on across the river and met Kelly at the SAG vehicle. We took pictures, loaded up bikes and drove to the mini food festival.   It was a great way to celebrate the end of RAW 7.

Honestly, the day could not have gone better. It was a total blessing to finish the ride with Josh and Mel and meet Kelly at the finish. It was “one of those GREAT days” on 2 wheels.

The numbers:

224 miles over 4 days 

2 rails to trails routes completed

1 muddy fire road

Many smooth and beautiful roads

One light house

One rain day

One hot day

Many critters seen

No bike issues

Great food during the entire trip

Great time with friends

Great food celebration at the end (tacos, fry bread, pierogies, BBQ burrito, & ice cream)

Many good memories