Day 34. Fond du Lac, WI. 84 miles. 1,800 ft. climb

An easy ride of 84 miles.   It's amazing that everyone now feels that 84 miles is an easy day. The riders really have gotten stronger as the miles roll on.   Of course, it helps when there isn't much climbing and the weather is benign.  It was 68 at departure and 83 when they arrived. And by some miracle, they missed the torrential downpours that have pummeled the region. Excellent!   They're also all having more awareness that they trip is actually winding down, even though there's still many more miles to tackle.  Mike says that by this time in the ride everyone starts to drag a bit.    It's been such an intense experience that it is rather hard to imagine the end of the tour, but this is not a group to dwell on anything for too long.   Just one day at a time.

Leaving Fond du Lac, WI

The route away from the hotel this morning went through the heart of Wisconsin Dells, which looks like a major tourist trap. Arcades, mini golf courses, waterslides, an adventure park with a mini roller coaster, fudge shops, candy shops, trinket shops.  One of the riders commented that it looked like a beach town without the beach.  Too bad they never actually went through The Dells for which the town is named, which would have been very scenic.  The dells of the Wisconsin River is a glacially-formed gorge that features striking sandstone formation along the banks of the River.  Oh well, next time.

After that, the route rotated between beautiful country roads along the Wisconsin countryside in the morning to state road 23 for the final few miles to town.   Along the way, they passed "zillions of barns", according to Dan.  Leslie & Ann call it a great ride, with small towns and lakes along the route to hold your interest, and the rollers which are fun.  If you get enough downhill speed you can push up most of the way to the top of the next hill, and so on.

Fun Rollers

Zippy is now quite excited about how much he is eating.......at least I get a report of it all every day.   Half-way through today's ride brought them into Princeton (not the one in New Jersey, where we used to live) which just happened to be having a bratwurst festival. The cooking bratwurst smelled wonderful and riders stopped to have some.  Terry  really enjoyed it.   Everyone really seemed to enjoy the back roads of Wisconsin especially with the tailwind that pushed them along effortlessly through the farmland.

At SAG Stop. Granite From Here Was Used To Make Grant's Tomb

Destination today was Fond du Lac, which means foot of the lake.  They are staying at the foot of Lake Winnebago which,  at 28 miles long and 10 miles wide, is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the US.   After their arrival, Terry went for a soak in the hot tub, which he shared with some other guests from the hotel.  You know he's mellow when he can have a spirited theological discussion with someone in a hot tub and still feel relaxed when it's over!