1 0 Posts with the tag: Wisconsin
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Split rim, hotels and Iowa heat

Posted by on July 4th, 2011 11 Comments

We’re hanging out for a couple of days in Sioux Center, Iowa – the town where I spent a fair amount of my youth and where both Heidi and I went to college. With a number of days off we finally have a moment to reflect on our push from Madison, Wisconsin to this point. It has been an event-filled few weeks and we have really enjoyed watching the landscape evolve from the hilly glaciated terrain of Wisconsin’s driftless area to the rolling flats of Iowa farmland.

1000km 548x390 Split rim, hotels and Iowa heat

We hit 1,000km outside of Madison and are well on our way to 2,000 now.

Iowa farms 548x362 Split rim, hotels and Iowa heat

Iowa!

Before departing Madison, Wisconsin, we took a little side trip to Des Moines, Iowa for a quick weekend with my family. While hopping in a car for the five hour drive was a bit of a surreal experience after a month on bikes, we were grateful to have this additional time with brothers, sisters, parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents.

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Roller Coasters

Posted by on June 29th, 2011 11 Comments

Heidi down Hwy C 548x362 Roller Coasters

The hills of Wisconsin have not been the only things going up and down for us recently – our emotions have been too. Sometimes it seems like life on the road is an unending emotional and physical roller coaster.

For me, the high points of the roller coaster are great – where I realize that as I’m riding, playing with the kids, eating in a park, camping in a backyard somewhere or checking into a hotel – that my family’s lives are so free and relaxed right now.

But then there’s the parts of the roller coaster where things drop out from underneath me and I’m left questioning what I’m doing, whether I want to continue, wondering if I can make it through the mountains when we get to them or through another day of cold rain or strong headwinds.

The toughest part of this roller coaster ride is that it keeps going up and down every few days, and it’s difficult to predict where the lows or the highs will be. Fortunately, Reuben and I have been working to figure out a few of the triggers for the low points and are getting better at preventing them.

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Our time so far in Wisconsin

Posted by on June 13th, 2011 18 Comments
On the ferry 548x356 Our time so far in Wisconsin

On the deck of the high-speed ferry.

Since we last wrote, we have had a very pleasant four day break in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Time was well-spent with family: resting and relaxing completely off our bikes the entire time. A welcome break from 12 days straight of riding.

Nest1 300x224 Our time so far in Wisconsin

Enjoying time with cousins.

Following the break, we cycled our longest day yet from Grand Rapids to Muskegon (78 km, 48 miles), mostly on the Musketawa Trail – a paved bike trail. In Muskegon we had an enjoyable stay with our first WarmShowers.org hosts of the trip. Craig and Cathy treated us to delicious meals, showers, our own guest room, lots of toys (they are grandparents, afterall) and great conversation. Craig also road with us from the end of the Musketawa trail to their home – what a welcome!

We took the high speed ferry across Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Due to the air temperature interacting with the cold water of the lake, there was a constant fog during the whole journey with about 100 feet of visibility – felt like we were lost at sea for a while!

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