My first attempts at bike touring were a combination of how far can you go? How fast can you go? How quickly can you cover the state? The first time I rode across the state of Wisconsin (from the Illinois border to the Michigan border) we averaged over 100 miles per day. That meant we had to ride as fast as we could and for as long as we could. The rest stops were as short as possible so we could get there before dark. Long days and lots of effort. 

I’ve learned that that’s not really the essence of the kind of bike touring I enjoy. At this point, I found that about a 10 mile per hour average for about 6 to 7 hours of riding is kind of a perfect day. You have plenty of other time during the day to do some sightseeing, meet new people, take small diversions and just really enjoy the ride.  

When I’m not on tour, I really do love to see how fast I can go up and down hills. Also how long I can fly on the flat ground and listen to the hum of the tires on the blacktop. It’s seriously a lot of fun. But that’s not my kind of touring.

As I was riding on the Mountain Bay State Trail, I passed some beautiful scenes. Beautiful enough, that I turned around, went back, looked at them again before going ahead. Now, those breaks were kind of short, because the mosquitoes were large and in large quantities.  The section of trail between Hatley and Thornton may be one of the most beautiful sections of rails to trail I’ve ever ridden. So going just fast enough that the mosquitoes couldn’t catch me and slow enough to enjoy the beautiful scenery was perfect. Imagine streams, swampy low lands with beautiful cedar and pine trees, deer, turkeys, eagles, and ducks, it was awesome.  

Speaking of mosquitoes, if you’re a numbers person, the ones I encountered today were not able to go any faster than 4 mph. I was glad I was not walking on the trail as I might not have made it due to a loss of blood.

The only time I pushed really hard to go as fast as I could was at the end of the trail, when I hopped on a country road and rode past the largest dairy operation I have ever seen. I would’ve enjoyed checking it out a little more as I rode past, however, there were probably 20 tanker trucks hauling liquefied manure from a slurry pond. The road was full of these trucks so you can imagine the smell that I was getting from that pond as it was getting pumped into the trucks. That was quite a contrast from the sweet smell of pine forest and meadows for the previous 45 miles.

I was also blessed to end the day at a very relaxing location. I camped at the Whispering Pines Retreat Center, overlooking Lake Shawano, surrounded by trees and serenaded by frogs and birds. I had the entire area to myself so the whole afternoon was just like the ride, slow speed with lots of time to relax. Riding and resting in God’s creation is awesome. 

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be up early, having first breakfast and riding to Keshna Falls in the Menominee Indian Reservation. From there, back to Shawano to get second breakfast at the place I had lunch today. Then to New London where I’ll spend the night.  

Oh, and here’s a random thing that probably has nothing to do with anything, two black cats crossed my path today as I was riding. Of course the middle ages myth was that if a black cat crossed your path, you were going to have some misfortune. That turned out to be false. The Scottish myth that black cats lead to good fortune seems to have been the true thing today. It was a wonderful day on the bike

The Numbers:

59 miles

568’ climbing

My Speed Numbers:

49.5 mph fastest downhill speed

44.9 mph fastest flat road speed (had a 30mph tail wind)

10-12 mph preferred touring speed

4 mph escape velocity for mosquitoes

2 mph slowest speed I can ride uphill with a loaded bike without falling over