I know I blog too much about my biking adventures (even though that's what I do most in the summer) I decided to relate one more biking story so those who are new to my blog, esp. those who took this trip with me might enjoy it as well along with the few that read this on a regular basis. I might also gain more readership, which would be great even though like Jennifer (another blogger I read) doesn't know how many read her blog. ANYWAY, this trip was organized by an avid biker who also is an alumni of University of Wisconsin-Platteville from my husband's class. He organized a biking excursion starting at the University and running about 22 miles up and around the giant "M". The "M," by the way, stands for mining, in honor of UW's erstwhile mining school, which was very prestigious in the early 20th century. The students moved and cemented 400 tons of light-colored limestone to create the letter. The "M" is 241 feet high, 214 feet wide, and the legs are 25 feet across. The engineers who designed it used surveying techniques to ensure that the "M" appears symmetrical and visually appealing from all angles. ANYWAY, because there are not many bike trails in wooded areas around Platteville the travel was mostly on highways devoid of trees and surrounded by cornfields, etc. since I have been biking along trails here in the Twin Cities I figured I would be in shape. WRONG! The group left me in the dust except for a very kind lady close to my age who could have left me in the dust but decided to wait at the top of each ENORMOUS hill for me, took a shortcut that I wouldn't have known about and rested with me part way under the giant "M". Michael joined us for the shortcut. Not sure if it was a sympathy move or not but I appreciated the tired fellow Minnesotan not to mention husband. Much to my relief the halfway point welcomed us with a giant cooler of iced water bottles, apples, and donut holes. The sun and the hills really "killed" me not to mention when my chain fell off (by the way, sunscreen takes grease off your hands) but I hung in, made some wonderful new friends, and I may (I said "may") give it another try next year. All in all the most fun of course was winding my way back home with Michael through the small towns in Wisconsin and Minnesota and the exercise made me feel absolutely fantastic underneath all that sweat. All l can say is, GO WISCONSIN BIKERS!
2 comments:
Well christine i am not a hill rider or a windy day rider either but when they present them selves i do the best i can. I am not afraid to get off and walk up if i have too. I went for a ride a couple of days ago and wind was about 25mph from the west with gusts up to 40mph. It was nice on the down wind side but coming back home i could only make about 7 mph on the bike. We went and rode a nite ride over at Indy on Saturday nite and will say that it was a fun event for sure. The sign up cut off was at 2500 folks but am sure there was more like 5000 there. Was a band after the ride and food also but the line up for food was so long that we just left and stopped on the way home as it was almost time for breakfast as the ride statred at 11pm and we were done with the 20 miles at 1:30am or so. We had to get lights and all for the bike also to ride. Police had streets blocked off so we could ride. There were a lot of irate motorists out at that hour also but we had police protection all the way. I have a few photos on my photobucket site from the ride also.>http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll120/archerycharlie. Pedel on folks!!! charlie
Hey Christine 6 of us hauled our bikes from here to Chicago and rode the lake shore trail on saturday. We started at the north end went all the way to the south end as far as we could go and find a trail. We put in 41 miles and it was about as flat as you could get. I put up a bunch of photos on my photobucket site if you want to go and look at them. I posted 33 and the link is on the last post i made also. It was a beautiful day for riding as there was lots of sun and not much wind. Charlie
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