One of the tasks for planning a multi-day bike trip is finding the route. It’s not as simple as plugging in a destination in google maps and following that. For cycling, things like shoulder width on the road, traffic, and road surface are all important, along with seeking a scenic route if possible. All that while trying to make sure you end up in a place that has food for lunch and a place that has camping or a hotel when you end.  It’s several factors that all need to work together. I use a variety of tools like google maps, the published state bike maps, the state road construction/detour info, the US Bike Route maps, and software that shows where other local riders ride. After I get that pulled together, I use software to develop a route and then transfer the map to my Garmin bike computer that provides my turn directions along the way.

Our Day 4 route had a section of road that was recommended to avoid because of high car/truck traffic and very small shoulders.  So you jump off the main route (which is flat) and make some very long and steep climbs up country roads to the top of the bluffs to ride the detour and then go back to the main road to continue on. Obviously, doing too many detours saps your strength, especially with 70 miles to ride for the day. The route I planned had one steep climb for the detour around the bad section of highway.

The night before, I carefully re-checked the route, made some changes to the routing through La Crosse and then loaded up the GPS. As we started to ride, I got frustrated right away as the GPS was not initially following the route I planned in the city so I had to improvise. Fortunately I had studied the city maps the night before. Eventually, it got us across town and then on the main route. When it had us turn off the main route, it said that was the first of two climbs which was odd, but we followed.   (Side note, it was a beautiful climb up the bluff with fog in the valleys and awesome scenery). At the top, I checked the map and could tell GPS was really messed up. We were not where we planned to be and it was routing us back down a different hill and then we had the original climb after that.  It was frustrating. I checked the maps and we self routed on some unscouted country roads.  Oh boy…. these were some of the most beautiful places I have ever ridden in the Midwest. Hard to even describe!

Still frustrated and concerned about adding extra miles and hills to an already difficult day, we continued to find roads that would get us back on course. This led to a MONSTER climb up a beautiful valley. The grade hit 17% at parts of the hill and lasted for about a mile. This was certainly not part of the planned route. Normally, I’d love a good 17%er, but with bikes loaded with gear, not so much. So at the top, yeah, I’m pretty grumpy at the software, the Garmin, and myself. I even checked and could see the route I planned on my phone was the same as what was in the bike computer, but they were not right. This had never happened before and there was no reason for it. Fortunately at the top we connected to the original planned route.  To the right was the road we were supposed to have been riding up. To the left continued on the right route.

While we were catching our breath at the top and getting food/water, a guy pulled up in car and says,  “Did you know the road is closed to the right?, you can’t go that way.”….

This is where my frustration turned into realization.   The original route that was planned would have led us to the dangerous part of the road. It would have been five miles of very bad/sketchy riding. I realized God had superseded all the different tools that I had at my disposal, took us on a beautiful side trip to see His creation, bypassed danger, and brought us right to where we needed to be to continue on.  I even learned I could do a severe climb if needed with the fully loaded bike.  

I had time to reflect on how He often does correct our plans, even good, well thought out plans, because He has something better for us.  Frustration turned to gratitude. Grumpiness to joy.  Thankfulness to a living God who cares for goofballs on bikes heading across the country .  

We ended up in Prairie du Chien after a warm day on the saddle, had dinner, and enjoyed the company of our friends.  God is Great and biking is fun.

The numbers were, 70 miles ridden, 2,316’ of climbing, and a good day finished.