PAW Day #1

Merrill to Rhinelander: 60.59 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 4 hours 32 minutes, average speed: 13.3



This is as beautiful as it can get—tree reflections in water smooth as glass!

Our day began at 6:00 a.m. with a full breakfast at our hotel. We put our luggage in Bubha’s hands for safe keeping, trusting it would show up at our next destination, the Quality Inn at Rhinelander.

We began pedaling towards Rhinelander at 7:00 a.m. experiencing temps in the low 60’s. Our first stop was 13 miles out at Camp New Wood Park. Janice was awaiting our arrival with tempting goodies and plenty of liquid to satisfy our needs as we biked north along the Wisconsin River. The route took us on WI 107 for 23miles of river-front viewing.

We passed the town of Tomahawk and arrived in Rhinelander at 11:30 a.m. where we found lunch at Bugsy’s Sports Bar and learned all about the mythical Hodag. We were still too early to check into our room so we went on a Hodag hunt and found 3 of these creatures to snap photos of. I will remember this route for its many views of the River and for its lack of hills. It was truly some of the best riding we’ve done in a while.

Following our Hodag hunt, we biked back towards Quality Inn. It was recommended that we stop for ice cream at the BP across from the inn but good fortune was not to be had—the ice cream freezer needed repairs and a cool treat could not be purchased at this time. Not to fret, plans for an excellent dinner were next on our list. We checked into our room and washed up to join the tour group at Wolff’s Log Cabin for supper. The Cabin was a log-style outdoor porch which accommodated our hungry group very nicely. New friends were introduced and the topic of biking was popular conversation as we all began to share our travels of day 1 into the Northwoods.

Pedal Across Wisconsin-Northwoods

Registration Day & Pre-Ride: 29.79 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 2 hours 14 minutes, average speed: 13.2

We are set to take off on another week-long bicycle tour. This time we will be biking the Northwoods of Wisconsin for 8 straight days. Our destination for the day is Merrill, WI where our overnight stay was at the AmericInn and Suites. Our tour director, Dr. J, and his staff greet us at the door and discuss the ride packet which included ride sheets for the Saturday pre-ride. We suit up and begin pedaling through the unfamiliar streets of Merrill which quickly lead us out into the countryside where the route map placed us on gently rolling hills—until we came to Shady Lane. As the bike topped one hill on Shady Lane, the road disappeared! Down we flew at a speed of 40.5 mph. This really got my ticker fluttering. The remainder of the route was very tame and we could not call it a tour if we didn’t get just a little wet. Light rain fell in our path just long enough to shower us down but then the sun returned to dry us off as we coasted back to the Inn to park the bike for the evening.

Following our ride, we gathered with other tour attendees for dinner at Three’s Company across from the hotel. We dined with Warren and Karen from Menomonee Falls, WI. This was their first bicycle tour and we enjoyed discussing the event we would be taking part in for the next 7 days. After supper, a ride meeting and ice cream social was planned. PAW excelled at helping strangers meet new friends. Sunday will be the official start of the tour and luggage must be on the truck no later than 8:00 a.m. We climb the stairs to room 207 and dash into bed to rest up for our journey into the Northwoods.

Inaugural Wrangler Ride

COWS Wrangler Ride—Laabs’ Lake Home: 39.66 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 2 hours 48 minutes, average speed: 14.1

Impressive average when we are not climbing mountains! This COWS Wrangler ride was held near Waupaca, WI and was hosted by John and Joan Laabs, our COWS presidents. It’s never too early to get going when you are promised a scenic bike ride through northern Wisconsin. We were in the van by 5:30 a.m. with the GPS set for Laabs’ lake home on Long Lake (Just south of Waupaca, WI). Five tandem teams planned to join us there at 10:00 a.m. to take part in this inaugural Wrangler ride. John planned a beautiful route through his neighborhood which included a stop for an ice cream treat at the 20-mile mark. We were able to sit on the deck of the shop and visit while we enjoyed our treats. Following our break, we continued along the route which took us over a covered bridge providing another beautiful photo opportunity. A Park was located just beyond the bridge called the Covered Bridge Park and was kept up by locals living near the bridge. I stopped to add a note to their visitor’s book and thanked them for dedicating their time to provide beauty for others to enjoy. On route again, we quickly rolled over hills and into valleys on the roads back to the lake home where Joan served us all a wonderful lunch. Once we were all fed, John took us on a pontoon trip around the lake. It was now getting late so we all said good-bye and thanked our gracious hosts for a wonderful day in the wilds of Wisconsin. This Wrangler ride was a huge success and we hope to see many more offered and possibly plan one in our neck of the woods in the near future.

Tri-State Ride Day #5

Day 5—Dyersville, IA to McGregor, IA: 52.90 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 4 hours 39 minutes, average speed: 11.3

This was to be our last ride day ending the Tri-State Tour for this year. We started out around 6:30 a.m. and stopped for breakfast at the Groovy Grounds before leaving Dyersville. We were thankful for the many miles before hitting the challenging hills around Guttenberg and Pike’s Peak State Park. We stopped for lunch in Guttenberg at the Riverview Café and had a very healthy meal of chicken, steamed vegetables and fruit as we watched a barge go down the river.

We had a long, mountainous hill to climb out of Guttenberg but the encouraging words along the pavement kept us cranking forward and upward. We stopped at the top to enjoy the view, take pictures and watch other riders sweat up the hill. It was on our minds that we now had only one more hill to climb to finish and it was a few miles away so we popped back on the bike to enjoy riding the ridge for the time being. The views are always so amazing from above rewarding each rider making it to the top.

We now have less than 15 miles left of this journey and try to prolong the end by stopping at Pike’s Peak State Park—as John Johnson would say, “WOW, WOW, WOW!” This stop was definitely a highlight to the tour. We stopped to take many pictures and say some good-byes to tour riders enjoying the view.

We were quickly back to McGregor where our van awaited to take us home after 5 days on tour. Rick and crew were there to greet us with clean towels and a shower before we all travelled for home.



The trip was a challenge with many new experiences—some good and some not so good. The hills were not only hard on us but also on our bike. On our way home, we paid Kevin a visit at the Blue Heron Bike Shop. The rear free-wheel hub will need to be rebuilt so no biking for a least a week but the rest will be good as we also need to rejuvenate our bodies.

Tri-State Ride Day #4

Day 4—Galena, IL to Dyersville, IA: 53.10 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 4 hours 56 minutes, average speed: 10.7

Not sure we’re up for more hills today but we were on the seat of the bike by 7:00 a.m. heading towards Dubuque, IA where we stopped for breakfast at a wonderful café called Café Manna Java. We were free to explore the town as the attendant at the Visitor’s Center invited us to bring our bike inside where she would keep an eye on it. We rode up the Fenelon Elevator and then took the free Trolley Tour around town. After spending a few hours in Dubuque, we got back on the bike to take on what ended up being a gruesome ride towards Dyersville. The sun was becoming very hot and we biked a long way before we saw a rest stop set up for us at a church along the route. We downed some Gatorade and water and pedaled on towards Dyersville.

Just outside of Dyersville was the 1980’s Movie Set, Field of Dreams. We pedaled into the park and got a few pictures then back on the bike to seek our camp site for the night at the Catholic High School in Dyersville. Before we packed the bike away for the night, we biked into town to find a pub to have a drink and discuss the route for the day. The rain has finally moved out of the area and the forecast looks good for the next few days. The tour staff shuttled all interested riders into town for supper and music at the Groovy Grounds. We really enjoyed this place—very good food. Dennis and I then walked back to our tent site where we visited with other riders and then crawled into the tent where we enjoyed our first cool, rainless night of sleep since the tour began. We were awed by the fact that we biked in three different states today but we are looking forward to seeing our van again tomorrow.

Tri-State Ride Day #3

Day 3—Layover in Galena, IL

We took a rest day from biking the hills and walked into Galena to enjoy more of the city. The rain is still with us so we decided a visit to the Galena Library would be a nice way to spend some time. After checking in on life outside of our tour via the free library internet, we spent some time reading. Other riders thought this was a nice way to spend the day and we chatted with each as they filtered in and out of the library. The Victory Café fed us breakfast and we lunched at Boone’s with Gloria and Marshall. Pizza at Cannova’s was so good on Tuesday that we decided to dine there again while in town. The tour group had a cheese and wine tasting party going on at Turner Hall (where the inside campers were staying) and we joined them for a bit and then walked back to our camp site at the City Park. I was resting in our tent—keeping away from the mosquitoes, actually—when the local police approached and informed us of heavy rains expected around 11:00 p.m. After making a call to Tym, our Shuttleguy tour guide, it was decided that we should all evacuate to Turner Hall. So, the Tour staff began dismantling our camp site and we took all supplies needed for the night and joined the other campers at Turner Hall for a new experience of sleeping with 50 other campers in one room. Lights went out at 11:00 p.m.