There are lots of things that excite me about the Whatcom Community Foundation, but there's very little that is more exciting than Project Neighborly. In the 2017 program WCF granted more than $100,000 to projects that brought people of diverse backgrounds and experience together. Take a look at this list of projects. And, if you or a group you work with wants to be part of the 2018 round, here is the grant application page. Of course, you can also donate to the Foundation for Project Neighborly or the wide range of other community projects in which WCF is involved. I'm proud to work with the Whatcom Community Foundation, and was once again proud to wear the WCF jersey today (it got a little sweaty at 80 degrees).
I also want to give a big shout out to our friend, Garth Stein, who matched my donation of one dollar per mile to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Garth, as most will recognize, is the author of A Sudden Light, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and a number of other books. Thanks Garth!! I just hope I don't have to learn the art of riding in the rain.
The first six miles or so of this morning's ride was on quiet county roads. The morning was cool with a heavy layer of dew. Here's a photo I took a short distance from our campground, with morning dew heavy on roadside weeds.
I decided that today would be an "all day, all Beatles" playlist. Yes, I have plenty of Beatles music to last for an 80+ mile ride...and some to spare. I began with two of the Anthologies (2 & 3). I like them a lot because there are cuts of the group in rehearsal being very playful. I then listened to "Love," the album that accompanies the Cirque de Soleil show from Las Vegas — our favorite Cirque show (and we're sort of groupies), and ended with "With the Beatles." It's hard to get too much of the Beatles, even with the repeats between the albums.
A short distance into Plover I began a 30-mile ride on the Tomorrow River Trail. Here's a shot of one of the trail signs.
The trail is primarily crushed limestone. At some points it is fairly smooth and at others a bit rough. In shaded areas there is often grass growing, but a couple of tire paths usually find their way through. The ride was pleasant, but the loose pieces of gravel on top of the trail tended to slow the pace a bit. I did think sacrificing time for the solitude of the trail was worth it. Later in the day I decided not to ride on another similar trail. It paralleled the highway so there was not view or solitude advantage, so I stuck to the highway shoulder and made much better time.
There was a point along the trail when I saw this sign and became discouraged. I couldn't believe someone was trying to slow me down.
Truth is, of course, these signs are posted for snowmobiles, the only motorized vehicles allowed on these state trails.
For much of the day I was in relatively flat, Wisconsin farm country with lots of corn and beans. There is very sandy soil here and heavy irrigation is needed, as explained in this sign. The second photo is of an irrigation system at work.
I had to speed up to avoid one of the rotating sprays that was going out across much of the trail. Here's a pretty typical Wisconsin farm.
Most of the wildlife I saw today were repeats of previous days — ground squirrels, snakes, frogs, grasshoppers, crickets, birds. But just after lunch in Manawa a white tail deer leapt (and I mean leapt) across the road about half a block ahead of me. I didn't have time to get my camera out.
I mentioned crickets. Many of you know that you can tell the temperature by listening to cricket chirps and doing some math. Here's the formula: count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get the temperature in Celsius. If you want to know the temperature in Fahrenheit multiply the temperature in Celsius by 9/5 and add 32 degrees. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to stop and listen to the crickets today, so I just had to trust the Weather Channel.
There were some beautiful purple flowers along the trail, sometimes in small clumps and sometimes in fairly expansive display. Maybe one of you know the name of these. I don't.
I had one (almost) encounter with a dog along the trail today. There was a home off to my left through the trees along the trail. I spotted a large Rottweiler racing along the same direction I was going, without making a sound. I couldn't tell if there was a fence so I dismounted and pulled out my water bottle. Then I saw the tall fence. The Rottweiler stopped on the other side of a gate and began barking at me. I just stood for a while (likely waiting for my pulse to return to normal). Finally the dog just stopped barking and stared at me. Maybe he just wanted to play.
There are many rivers in Wisconsin, as you may have gathered from the names of the trails. I've seen the Black, the Yellow, of course, the Tomorrow, and the Wisconsin. Perhaps the most interesting name was the Embarrass River. It was named by French explorers who often found their passage blocked by fallen logs. Embarrass is French for obstruction. Because of the rivers there are many swampy areas and wetlands so cattails are prevalent.
This area was heavily glaciated and large rocks, left by the receding glaciers are ubiquitous. Here are two pictures. The first is one where rocks have been moved to form a border on a property. The second is one of many places I saw along the trail today.
I didn't realize before setting out on this bike trip that I would be in Scandinavia for a second time this year. In this case it was the town of Scandinavia. The trail crossed a bridge that bisected the village's main street. I got this shot of the Scandinavia Co.
For several miles after the trail the ride was along highway 54. While it was very busy and the shoulder was not extremely wide, it was smooth and the speed picked up quite a bit. The last 20+ miles was along quiet country roads, mostly smooth. The wind today was fairly calm. The breeze was in my face, but with little speed it was quite pleasant. You know that it's bikers who understand why dogs stick their heads out the car windows.
One of the last towns I went through today was Freedom. Just to think, some folks search for freedom all of their lives, and here it was in Wisconsin all this time. I do think there's an important political statement under the name of the town.
Tomorrow is a short ride day, only about 40 miles to the ferry at Manitowoc. Then a four-hour cruise to Ludington, Michigan, where I'll meet our long-time friend Lori Tucker-Sullivan, a member of the Binc board. She'll ride with me the next day to Reed City.
Day Eleven by the numbers:
82.6 - miles ridden
1742.1 - feet in elevation gain
8262.49 - calories burned
0 - falls
1 - dog (see above)
Hi Chuck! I'm so enjoying your blog. I love your descriptions of towns and interesting historical sights. I've gotten some new music thanks to you as well as "Bored and Brilliant. Glad to hear you continue to ride without incident with dogs or inclement weather. Safe Travels!
JoAnn Johnson
Posted by: joann johnson | 09/15/2017 at 09:45 PM