(Note this was from day 2 on 5/26 but couldn’t upload until 5/27)

There were a lot of things happening today. Some pretty typical for bike touring, some not. I started off early because the forecast was calling for an almost 90 degree heat index and some strong winds. I had wheels turning at 6:04am. That made my miles on the busy road nice because of the absence of cars and trucks.

After turning onto Hwy 52, the next 10 miles were a challenge due to the road. I didn’t see much of the countryside because there were so many potholes. I spent most of my time looking at the pavement and steering left and right to avoid hitting the cracks and ruts that could’ve easily caused damage to my tires or rims. In the middle of all the chaos on the road, there was one nice stretch. And I was thankful for the absence of potholes on that stretch because I was able to see a flock of white swans and an osprey soaring over a pond. Quite pretty.  

Overall, the first 20 miles were pretty easy, with beautiful scenery and not much wind. But all that changed when the trees and streams gave way to potato farms. There’s a section northeast of Antigo, Wisconsin that is very flat and has lots of potato farms. Unfortunately, without any trees or hills, I was experiencing the full force of the winds. They were pretty constant between 15 and 25 miles per hour straight in my face. To give you an idea of the impact, normally on a flat road with good pavement, I’d be doing 15 to 17 miles per hour easily. During this stretch, I was struggling to stay at 7 to 8 miles per hour and had to take frequent breaks. It was also really hot, as the dry fields were reflecting all that heat. It felt much more like being out in a desert area instead of northern Wisconsin. I will tell anyone who asks, winds are the thing that discourage me the most. I will happily ride in rain or up the biggest hills, even in a bit of snow, but winds just seem to be demoralizing because there’s no relief for all the extra work. In the midst of my crabbiness, I was still happy to be on my bike and thankful for the fun ride I’d had up to that point. I also knew that after lunch, I’d be coming back into the woods, streams and valleys.

I got to Antigo about 11am. Had lunch, stopped at a very cool museum. I recommend it if you’re in the area. Plan on spending a couple of hours there, I only had a chance to do about 30 minutes. The huge steam locomotive outside is what really drew me in. Something about seeing those big old beasts that makes you want to spend some time checking them out.

After Antigo, it was back into much nicer terrain and I was glad for the absence of the direct wind. I arrived at my camping area, The Dells of Eau Claire River, about 2:30pm. I had no idea this park existed or the natural beauty that’s here. So if you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth a side trip.

Based on the amount of mosquitoes that I faced in the  morning when I left camp, I was concerned about what it was going to be like here. I was, and still am, thankful for the absence of those nasty little critters. I was able to make dinner, relax and get my whole campsite set up without any of them pestering me. My shower for tonight was a quick dip in the Eau Claire River.

I knew I worked pretty hard today with that wind, because I ate the dinner I planned for tonight, AND the dinner I planned for tomorrow. Looks like I’ll be stopping to get some dinner food before I hit my campsite tomorrow.

It was pretty hot when I arrived at the campsite, so I wasn’t really looking forward to spending the night in a tent. Sometimes not very fun to lay there kind of sweaty because you don’t sleep well. However, out of the blue, literally, thunder started to rumble in the distance and I had a very nice thunderstorm and moderate rain that cooled everything down. It’s going to be a very pleasant night in the tent and I’m thankful for the absence of the heat that had been present all day.

Traffic, potholes, winds, heat, and mosquitoes can all be challenges that you don’t normally think of when you’re not on a bike tour. Each of them, in their own way, add to the difficulty above and beyond riding 60+ miles with about 50 pounds of gear on your bike. However, each of those things helps to build strength and determination in character similar to the very difficult situations you can find in everyday life. The absence of difficulties is when we should be thankful. But we should only be thankful after we have already experienced them and know that the hard things in life make us stronger and more capable to deal with other hard things.  

These were my musings in the midst of my crabbiness on a barren road in the heat and in the wind. Day two is in the books, looking forward to day three in which I will ride through two more counties.

The numbers:

61 miles

1711’ elevation climb

Roughly 130 ounces of water consumed

Two dinners eaten.