Thursday, July 29, 2010

PAW Day #5



Eagle River to Land O’ Lakes and into Michigan: 62.76 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 4 hours 30 minutes, average speed: 13.8

It was a chilly 56° when we began biking towards Land O’ Lakes. After 30 minutes of shivering, I had to stop to put on my jacket. Warren biked out with us today as Karen took the day off to shop. Our first food stop was near the Michigan/Wisconsin border where we parked the bike and hiked in search of the source of the Wisconsin River. This season we biked to the beginning and the end of the Wisconsin River as it emptied into the Mississippi at Prarie du Chen during our Tri-State Bike Ride.

We biked past the WI/MI BP store where the border line runs right through the middle of the business. I fear this must be a tax nightmare for their accountant. We were then routed onto a beautiful bicycle path that directed us to an authentic country store back in Wisconsin. The shop keeper was expecting our group and took time out of his busy day to chat with us. This was also a great stop for an ice cream treat.


The Country Store marked the half way point of our ride today. We biked back towards Eagle River on County Road S. We had a blast on this road as we saw many PAW riders taking the out-and-back route to the Country Store. With a tailwind to support us, we were able to bike 17+ mph for the 20 miles we were on County Road S giving us a great total average speed for today’s ride.




We encountered many trees downed by the high winds received the night before. It was amazing how quickly the cleaning crew was able to open the roads to traffic. We are still enjoying daily sunshine with temperatures ranging from mid 50’s at ride’s start to high 80’s by ride’s end. After a return visit to Sweetwater in Eagle River for lunch, we lounged in the hotel pool to watch for returning cyclists. Days Inn had one of the best hotel pools—water was kept to the temperature of lukewarm bath water and many appreciated that making the pool a spot for more social time prior to happy hour.


Supper was served at Riverstone again this evening and it was my best meal of the week—prime rib, carrots, pasta, salad, potatoes and carrot cake for dessert. We sat with new friends, Jane and James with Warren and Karen bringing our dinner guests to six. Tomorrow we would leave this haven in the woods and return to Rhinelander as our tour begins to wind down.

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