Ride Day Ten: Near Neillsville to near Plover - 67.3 Miles

There's some good news out of Florida. Things weren't as bad as many expected, except in the Keys. Miami's Mayor said they hadn't dodged a bullet, they'd dodged a cannon. Our friend Mitchell Kaplan, who has several Books & Books stores in the Miami area reports that he and his booksellers are safe, but that the stores are without power. Some other stores in Florida were, according to the leading book industry news source, Shelf Awareness, able to open with or without power. That said, many booksellers will be out of work until power comes back on, and that will certainly cause a financial strain for some. In the Houston area some booksellers lost homes, vehicles, and possessions, and others were rendered homeless by Harvey. You can help Binc help booksellers in need by donating here.

The ride today was nearly entirely on the shoulder of Wisconsin route 73. Interestingly, the first 15 miles entailed as much climbing as the next 35 miles, and neither was a great elevation gain — 456 feet. While the wind was not in my favor, it wasn't very strong today. A couple of days ago I posted a photo of a beautiful red tree as evidence of the beginning of fall. This photo provides much stronger testimony.

Other than trees and farms there wasn't a lot to see along the ride today. One exception were several places like this.

They say there are only two seasons in the Midwest — winter and road construction. There were a few rough sections to ride through, a one-lane area monitored by a stoplight, and a section with a pilot car. In all cases it only put a slight damper on forward progress.

Though I saw no evidence of fruit farming I did come across two very large cold storage plants, the first of which had a sign indicating it was a fruit growers coop. This is a photo of the second one, less than two miles from the first. I suspect it may be tree fruit rather than the berry crops we see in our home area.

My sound track for today began with two iconic mid-sixties albums — Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. As you may know, there's a very strong tie between the two albums. Brian Wilson, inspired by the Beatles album Rubber Soul, wrote Pet Sounds, and according to Beatles producer George Martin, ""Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened ... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." It was a great way to begin the day.

I then moved on to listen to the group Nickle Creek, who were recommended to us by our friend Art Carson. Art lived in Nashville for years, working for the Ingram Book Co. and loved bluegrass music. Creedence Clearwater Revival came next, a group I never saw play, but did fly with once. I rounded out the day with the Doors.

The last part of today's ride was the most scenic, along the Wisconsin River.

In several spots there were vacation homes and cabins, and some permanent homes.

I've always like the clever names some folks give to their cabins and vacation homes — "crazy acres," "point of view," and one of my favorites today, "shore enuf." The other sign I really liked was one that said "The Johnsons; One more thing Dick 'needed.'"

Much of the day today I was being passed by log trucks, who gave me a wide berth (unlike some recreational trailer folks) and I wondered where they were going. Mid-afternoon I came across the Brion Mill, owned by Catalyst, a large paper producing company. Outside the mill there were stacks and stacks of logs like those I'd been seeing pass me on trucks. Here's a photo of just one of those stacks.