Day 24: Back Road Wisconsin

 

St Croix Falls to Chippewa Falls, 89 miles, 2800 feet of climbing.

We had a pretty great ride today, staying far off the beaten path by sticking to back roads (including some very, very back roads).  The cool morning temps and the green fields, green trees and green grasses (sound like a breath mint commercial?) was a welcome relief.  

We were a little more confident that the back roads would be paved (not dirt) here, so we felt emboldened to strike out into parts unknown (at least to us).  There are a lot more roads and combinations in this part of the country than there are in Montana and North Dakota, so we had quite a bit more choice in designing a route than we did further out west. In most cases, the roads were fine, although we did find ourselves on a dirt/gravel road or two and parts of the paved road we took on our final leg into Chippewa Falls was a real teeth rattler (lots of seams/creases in the road at regular - 30 feet or so - intervals). In Wisconsin, county roads are designated with letters (instead of numbers), so that would be parts of County Route N. We got some great last minute advice from Kelly, a cyclist out for her daily 35 mile loop, about where to stay in downtown Chip Falls. We took her advice and stayed at the Cobblestone Inn and had a nice evening walk through town.

A few things caught our attention on today’s ride compared to our recent rides in eastern Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. First, there was plenty of farm and grass lands, for sure, but visually they were broken up by hills and woods, so we felt more a part of the landscape than two dots in a vast open space.  Both experiences were pretty cool, but they are quite different feelings. Second, we were excited to see that the roads were dappled with sun and shade (from trees) - something that we haven’t seen in a long time and nearly forgot about. It was great to be able to get out of the sun as part of the ride, rather than searching out a single tree or, in a poignant way, seek out our old friend, the overpass. 

There was also a lot more climbing today than we expected.  Today’s ride was long hill after long hill.  It was fun, but it also took a bit of a toll.

We also continued our tour of convenience store food marts. This time, we discovered that, in some stores, refrigerated food is second in importance to refrigerated bait - so you have to be extra careful in making your selections. As you can see from the photo above, Mike is assessing whether, perhaps, his morning snack came from the wrong refrigerator.  

Onward to central Wisconsin tomorrow.