Cambridge, MN to Amery, WI

Wednesday, July 9, 2003

Westbound: Long Prairie to Cambridge Eastbound: Amery to Chippewa Falls

Having ridden late to get from Long Prairie to Cambridge and having gotten a package from home, I did not get to sleep early. The combination of a longer ride and later night brought a later morning start. For breakfast, I enjoyed the Inn’s buffet. I also took advantage of the Inn’s guest laundry machines, though that led to more delay. With only about 60 miles to cover this day, I couldn’t summon any urgency to combat lassitude. Call it a rest day.

Once out of the Inn, the first stop was the nearby Subway for an early lunch, if 11:30 is early. Having had my meal, I had no further excuses and headed east. Through the city of Cambridge the road was nice. Between the cities, it continued to have a very narrow shoulder, usually not even two feet outside the fog line. Traffic, however, was neither heavy nor hostile and I made steady progress. There was a nice hill down toward the St. Croix river but conditions really didn’t allow me to let the bike roll.

In Wisconsin, the corresponding hill up the other bank was daunting. Halfway up, taking the left turn into St. Croix Falls seemed like a really good idea. I then rode through the small downtown until I found a nice sandwich shop where I had a second lunch, it now being around 3:30. Again, I was indulged with unlimited beverages. After resting, reading, and a quick call home, I started off again. I still had to climb the hill but was able to find a side street that led to my route. It was steep and I seriously doubt I could have crested the hill four weeks earlier. I also suspect that I should not have risked injury in letting pride push me up the last half block. It was purely muscle at about 3.5 mph. Regardless of the wisdom, I reached the top, went by the fairgrounds, saw the start of one of Wisconsin’s unpaved rail trails, and continued east, more or less.

As it happens, I missed one of my turns but having expended all my pride getting up the hill, I didn’t hesitate to ask directions when what I saw didn’t match what I expected. I had been tempted to continue on U.S. 8, but when I crossed it, I found a highway with no shoulder and much traffic. I stayed with the recommended county roads from the state highway department.

The route across North Dakota was easy to plan. The route across Wisconsin was more challenging. For North Dakota, once I decided to use I94, it was only a matter of locating cities with assured lodging. For Wisconsin, where I 94 was unavailable for lawful riding, all I knew was that I needed to get to Manitowoc to catch the ferry to Michigan. I could have followed the ACA route but it seemed to go pretty far north before diving back down to Manitowoc.

A Phred from Wisconsin mailed me a set of the state’s bicycle maps. The maps show the roads the state recommends for and against use with some information about shoulders. I can’t count the hours I spent tracing routes, checking for lodging, entering routes in DeLorme’s Street Atlas mapping software, and generally trying to get into the back roads mood. Eventually, I had my route across Wisconsin and now I was on its first leg. Between the St. Croix River and Amery, the first stop, one covers at most forty miles, probably less. I missed at least three of the intricate turns from one County Road to another. Because the differences among the roads are usually minor, none of the missed turns cost me anything but momentary confusion. Each road was quiet, reasonably smooth, and decent for riding. Maybe the signs could be more extensive.

In any event, even with a few stops to double check the route, I reached Amery right around the end of the work day. I had a reservation awaiting me and only needed to find the motel. Shortly before reaching the center of town, a fellow in a pickup slowed down, asked if I belonged to the ACA, and despite my denial—understanding the question seemed to suffice—welcomed me as touring cyclist and invited me home for dinner and to spend the night. Caught by surprise, loyal to my reservation, and trained by Mom decades ago to beware strangers, I declined with thanks. My adventures getting dinner later induced real regrets.

I found my motel and checked in. This was not an optimal location for Verizon so I asked my wife to call me back after I had time for a shower. It then took her several tries to get the call though to me. The office insisted that I was out while I was sitting quietly, getting more and more hungry. In retrospect, the most likely explanation is that the the person at the desk could see the space in front of my room, could see it lacked a motor vehicle, and, based upon experience, could conclude that I was out and about. Who would imagine that the vehicle would have only two wheels and be safely inside the room.

Eventually her call got through and then I went for dinner. By then, my first choice had closed. Rats. I ended up getting some odds and pieces from a Dairy Queen across the street but not without waiting outside for my order to avoid the pervasive tobacco smoke inside the establishment. Double Rats. The milkshake was good; the chicken thingees not so terrible; the sauce, pretty bad.

A trip to the grocery store obtained juice and I retired for the evening.

57.33 miles in 5:32 on the bike for an average of 10.3 mph.

Back up to Cambridge to Manitowoc

Westbound: Long Prairie to Cambridge Eastbound: Amery to Chippewa Falls