The Ends of the Earth

Spring Lake Inn to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Saturday June 26, 2021

Rained hard overnight, but no flooding in the immediate area. Thunderstorms all day today. Better stay put, or at least go no farther than Prairie du Chien; just 5 miles down the road was a Motel 6 with good WiFi.

Everybody pronounces it Prayer de Sheen, it bills itself as Wisconsin’s second oldest city, it’s where Marquette and Joliet became the first Europeans to see the upper Mississippi. Guess it means “dog meadow” in French, there are no prairie dogs around here. Right across the river is, I kid you not, Pikes Peak.

Lt. Zebulon Pike was commissioned to find the source of the Mississippi the same year as the Lewis and Clark expedition, 1805. He noted a high bluff at the confluence of the two rivers (Mississippi and Wisconsin) that he thought would make a good location for a fort. He proceeded to Cass lake, Minnesota and pronounced it the source, later determined by Schoolcraft to be Lake Itasca, as we have discussed.

So Zeb missed on the source, and the army decided not to build the fort, but they named the bluff in his honor and the next year sent him to Colorado where he named the more famous Pikes Peak, from where Katherine Bates would later be inspired to write America the Beautiful. Zeb himself got promoted to brigadier general, and was killed in the War of 1812.

I’ve toyed with climbing the Colorado Pikes Peak, but the road is closed to bicycles and the trail is 13 miles one way. This one seemed easier, just 500 feet above the river. You have to cross a series of bridges to get across the islands and channels of the Mississippi, and you get this view of the Peak, actually a shoulder of it called Point Ann, above a riverboat casino.

The road up was quite steep, and I was chagrined to have too walk part of it. Maybe don’t have a double hungry man breakfast right before. The guide at the viewing platform didn’t know much of the history, but he did have a spotting scope trained on a bald eagle nest. He said there were many more sand bars and mud flats exposed yesterday, before the big rains.

Old Zebulon may have died more than 200 years ago, but seeing what he saw back then made him very much alive to me.

I found this interesting sign on the way back

and I realized, hey, I’m in Iowa, whose politics is almost as whack as New Hampshire. First time I’d been here since an overnight drive-through in 1977. I’ll be seeing a lot more of it soon, but the storms were brewing, time to get back.

One bit of bike work to attend to. Time to rotate the tires. With more weight on it, the rear tire wears faster than the front.

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So now, after 3,000 miles, it makes sense to rotate them. This is much easier with a floor-style tire pump. There were no bike shops in town but one of those outdoor bike repair stands had one. Great!

Alas, after deflating and switching the tires, I discovered the new-looking floor pump didn’t work. I had to use my little frame-mounted pump after all. Took close to 300 strokes to get each of those big tires up to 85 psi. Oh well, I could use some upper body exercise.

Distance 27 miles, 3,147 total. Time 5 hours with stops. Elevation gain 878 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

La Crosse to Spring Lake Inn, Wisconsin. Friday, June 25, 2021

Today started with a bit of nostalgia: we ate breakfast at Fayze’s. This was the one place we had stopped in Wisconsin in our cross country trip in 2005, and for some reason I remembered the name. I saw why—breakfast was really good, and there was lots of Wisconsin memorabilia on the walls.

I’d been wrestling with my plans for the next week. The highpoint of Illinois, Charles Mound, would not be open until July 3, and it was only 150 miles away. How to fill the time? Over breakfast, I picked the brains of my buds, all Wisconsin veterans, and alums of the U in Madison. Madison seemed the place to be, they had lots of suggestions of things to see.

En route, I noticed, was Spring Green, home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate Taliesin. I decided to dodge the hills of the Driftless Region by heading down the Mississippi and up the Wisconsin, which would also give me a chance to see Pikes Peak. Huh? Isn’t that in Colorado? Stay tuned.

Figuring all this out took time, of course, and I didn’t get rolling till 2 PM. Had to stop by the post office to send a box home, I gotten a newer air mattress. Balancing the box on my handlebars while going down the steep hill from Darren’s place was comical.

Bad thunderstorms were predicted by nightfall, so I wanted to get as far as I could. Aided in the beginning by a gentle tailwind, it was delightful to cruise down the flat terrain on the banks of the Mississippi, sometimes the road got so close if felt I was floating down the river itself. The high bluffs on my left, the river on my right, I was so ebullient I couldn’t resist belting out Old Man River at the top of my lungs. Good thing the cars had the windows rolled up on this hot day.

Sorry again for no pictures. The landscape was just too broad to be captured well. The river was a couple of miles wide in places, enhanced by dams downstream, and filled with many islands and mudflats. Barges were totin’ their bales through the channels. It was hard to know how wide it would’ve been if left untouched. We weren’t really that far down from the source, and it seemed wider than I remembered in New Orleans.

It was all too perfect to last. At Ferryville the wind shifted and I could see the storms ahead, arriving early. Shoot. I’d hoped to make the confluence with the Wisconsin at Prairie de Chien, 25 miles ahead. Better find something closer, but it was Friday night. Everything was booked. Helpful motel keepers would recommend other places, but those wouldn’t answer their phone. Finally I got through to the Spring Lake Inn, 18 miles away, and the idyllic cruise became a grim race through headwinds, intermittent rain, and crummy shoulders. Made it just in time before the storm hit.

The Spring Lake Inn was a noisy tavern with a few rooms attached, the one they gave me wasn’t made up, the next one had no towels or soap; there was a lot of back-and-forth in the storm, and I rushed to get in a shower before they stopped serving. It was all good, they had a cod special that was out of this world. No WiFi, and minimal cell service, that’s why this post is late. Flash floods were predicted overnight, I was gratified to see we were a little bit up from the river.

Distance 55 miles, 3,130 total. Time 7 hours with stops. Elevation gain 819 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

La Crosse, Wisconsin. Thursday, June 24, 2021

Today was a day to relax with friends. I slept the best I had in weeks. Darren got in late last night after his evening shift in the hospital, but was still up before me. The weather was warm but not too hot, perfect for showing off this lovely town on the Mississippi. We posed for pictures on the porch,

went up to Grandad Bluff for a sweeping view of the city,

ran some errands in town and got a tour of the highlights, along with the charming loft apartment that Darren and Anna just moved out of, and capped it off with a fine meal at the Driftless Café in Viroqua.

We all relaxed and went to bed early while Darren started his night shift in the hospital! Ah, to be young and strong.

No stats for today, didn’t do nothin’!

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Buffalo City to La Crosse, Wisconsin Wednesday, June 23, 2021

I was so excited today. For the first time in over a month, I’d be seeing familiar faces. Darren Knox was in my residency firm, one of our superstars, now working as a hospitalist in his hometown of La Crosse. He and his girlfriend Anna, now his fiancé, had been to our house a number of times for firm dinners, at the last one the group gave me a touching gift, a map of all the state highpoints that was instrumental in planning this trip. Just this week they moved into a new house, with lots of room for me and and another resident, Shawn Wayne and his family, their first houseguests since moving here. Shawn had been chief resident at UVM last year, and was starting his Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship. Seeing them all would be a balm for my homesickness, a little taste of my beloved Vermont.

It was hot today, and I welcomed the headwind. 25 miles of the route was on the dirt Great River Park State Trail, reminiscent of the Erie Canalway, beautiful but slow. So I made it in to La Crosse just in time to reach the bike shop before it closed. The staff there was so helpful in showing me good rides through the Driftless Region, to keep me occupied for the next few days.

Darren recommended a great local bar, the Recovery Room. Alas they were out of their trademark cheese curds, but I had wings to die for before scaling the hill to the house. I was such a sweaty mess I called a “cool-down buddy” (Annie Reading, actually, my last familiar face) to talk with while I rested in the shade to become presentable before availing myself of their hospitality.

Distance 56 miles, 3,075 total. Time 8 hours with stops. Elevation gain 637 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Hager City to Buffalo City, Wisconsin. Tuesday, June 22, 2021

OK, let me say at the outset that it’s not my fault. I didn’t finish today’s ride until 10 PM, so wound up staying in a motel when I had hoped to camp.

It’s not my fault because my tent was soaking with dew and condensation, it was 46° when I woke up. I had pitched it in the shadow of the lodge, so I had to wait until the sun rose high enough to dry it out.

It’s not my fault because the brake repair turned out to be damaged brake pads, which took about an hour and a half to exchange. Luckily, I had brought some spares.

It’s not my fault because my weekly therapist session was right before a huge hill, I can talk while riding but not while huffing and puffing. I did most of the session at a rest stop.

It’s not my fault because the route along the Wisconsin Bluffs was so achingly beautiful that I had to stop at every scenic overlook and historical marker. The one at Maiden Rock in particular caught my eye, especially because, well, I’ll let them tell it.

The story is remarkable for a number of reasons. It features our old friend, Henry Schoolcraft, the same dude that 12 years later “discovered” the source of the Mississippi River. The story has shades of the old Montague/Capulet thing, although in this case Romeo appears to have gotten off Scott-free. What especially struck me is that she died, apparently, of precipitation.

In our callow youth, my buds and I would often “honor” a precipice by precipissing over the side. I guess this maiden took a different approach.

It’s not my fault because I had to slow down to a crawl to watch the odometer roll over to 3,000.

OK, maybe this one is partly my fault. I had a microwave burger at my lunch stop. Burgers appear to have a soporific effect on me. At one of the scenic overlooks, I couldn’t resist lying down on the picnic table, wound up sleeping for almost an hour.

Now way behind schedule, I had to race to catch the North End Café in Cochrane before they closed. This had been recommended by Mary, the docent at the Mesabi Iron Range visitor center, her daughter Marie worked there. Marie was off that night, but I did talk to her husband Nick. I was so animated that I knocked my tacos off the table and onto the floor below. Nick was very gracious, and brought out some new ones. I was chagrined to leave quite a mess.

Even at 10 PM, there were traces of the sunset over the Mississippi, across from the lovely Great River Lodge.

Indeed, the Mississippi moon, almost full, was just rising. There was a fire ring out front, and I chatted for quite a while with Leah and Leanne, two sisters from Antigo, Wisconsin. Leanne had retired, Leah was an accountant who had decided to enter nursing school at age 50. When I got to my room, I found that some of the taco was still in my cycling sandal. Charming.

The next morning, I saw that a Viking had been presiding over the scene.

Distance 53 miles, 3,019 total. Time 8 hours with stops. Elevation gain 1,391 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

St. Paul Minnesota to Hager City, Wisconsin Monday, June 21, 2021

Weird to think that I’ve been out for more than two months, and that now I am in a new season, summer. The sun set at 8:54 (also weird, because it set as late as 9:15 when I was further north and west from here), and from now on, the days will be getting shorter. I will definitely have to do something about my late starts.

The Swansons were all up relatively early, Renée served me a great breakfast, and I was able to get out at nine for a change. Matt picked out a terrific route for me to re-join the Adventure Cycling route, and it took me right into downtown St. Paul again, so I got a picture of the Fitzgerald Theater after all. So here is where most of those great Prairie Home Companions were performed. A historical marker said it was built in 1910. Right now, it appears to be still shuttered for Covid.

It was still 30 miles to get to the confluence of the Mississippi and the St. Croix, which up until now had served as the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and rejoin the ACA route, which continued downstream for another 20 miles. This is the so-called “driftless region”: spared by the Ice Age glaciers, it’s crazy hilly, such a change after so many weeks of flat. The scenery was spectacular but hard to photograph, and capture the beauty of the rolling fields and forests—you had to be there to feel it. I did pass a cliff called Diamond Bluff, where they say eagles nest. Looks like they chain-sawed a view up there.

The hills were steep and frequent, but I was happy to see that after all these miles I can handle them without having to walk. Coming down, though, my rear brake suddenly failed. Luckily it’s the front brake that has most of the stopping power, since your weight tends to lurch forward when braking, so I did not have to stop right there to repair it, but I will definitely have to deal with it tomorrow morning.

My campsite for the night was a cute marina and campground called Mr. Sippy, and I met both Mr. and Mrs.

I recorded my fourth podcast session with Steve Shepard, I will let you know when it posts. Funny, on the first day of summer, it is going down to 46 tonight. Good thing I did not send my 20° topquilt back yet.

Addendum: that latest podcast episode just posted, here is the link. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-natural-curiosity-project/id1443160082?i=1000526482435

Distance 56 miles, 2,966 total. Time 9 hours with stops. Elevation gain 2,636 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sunday, June 20, 2021

Today I visited one of the darkest chapters in American history, at a shrine on the street in front of Cup Foods in Minneapolis, the site of George Floyd‘s murder on May 25, 2020. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard that part of the commemoration had been removed, that traffic was flowing through once again, and that Cup Foods had re-opened. All true, although significant installation remained, and there were maybe 50-60 people slowly walking around and paying their respects. It is hard to put what I felt into words, I will just let the photographs tell the story.

I was there for an hour, reading every tribute, listening to the soft music, paying my respects. I went into the store and bought a snack, so simple, so unremarkable with my white skin. Such a tragedy, this father of five, this Father’s Day.

The day was brightened by sweet calls from all my children, and by the statue of Mary Tyler Moore, whose jubilant hat-toss has been preserved forever. No Scary Mary, thank heavens (although now that I look at it, the hat makes a chilling face from this angle).

Two great meals with the incandescent Swanson family, a bike tour around the city and its Chain of Lakes, two drenching thunderstorms (the rain much needed), and the stunning campus of the University of Minnesota rounded out a vivid day. Luckily, Matt talked me out of the Mall of America.

Distance 29 miles, 2,911 total. Time 5 hours with stops. Elevation gain 812 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Somerset, Wisconsin to Saint Paul, Minnesota Saturday, June 19, 2021

Kind of a head-slap moment. If I’m trying to see all the states, and their highpoints, how about the state capitals? I had to memorize them as a kid, and they’re all kind of grand. Looking back, I realized I was only 10 miles away from Albany, and not that far from Columbus, Indianapolis, and Madison. OK, Harrisburg, Lansing and Springfield would have been a stretch.

Whatever, I was excited to see the Twin Cities, and St. Paul. The capitol did not disappoint.

It even sits on a Capitol Hill. I had to grunt up Cedar Street to get to the dome. My next must-see was the Fitzgerald Theatre, where Garrison Keillor recorded most of the episodes of The Prairie Home Companion, but that was down the hill, and I didn’t want to climb it again. Instead I settled for the Cathedral of St. Paul, pretty iconic in its own right (the third largest cathedral in North America), giving St. Paul’s in London a run for its money.

It was up an even higher hill, but that meant Summit Street was all downhill to my Warmshowers hosts for the next two nights, Rene and Matthew Swanson. Their house was so ideal, renovated with so many modern touches (Matt is a contractor) and so artfully landscaped.

Matt and Renee are ardent bikers, as are their children Adam and Claire, and their garage was packed with bicycles. We talked about our respective adventures over homemade bruschetta and BLTs deep into the night. The family has crossed the country and taken many trips to Europe. I was amazed that they could get away so much in the middle of their careers. Renee is a biology teacher for a charter school focusing on hip-hop artists, and Matt is self-employed, so they make it a priority to take long vacations in the summer. What a great gift to give your children.

The Twin Cities area is famous for its bike-friendliness, and that was apparent thirty miles away. I crossed back into Minnesota at Stillwater, which has repurposed an old lift bridge for pedestrians and bikers only; the scene was very festive on this lovely Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t get the crowd shots to download, but I did catch the lift bridge in action.

I’d dealt with the steep bluffs of the St. Croix yesterday and was dreading the climb now. Not to worry. The Brown’s Creek State Trail managed to lift me so gradually I barely noticed the climb, and the Gateway State Trail took me almost all the way to the Capitol while avoiding the busy streets. A biker’s paradise indeed.

Distance 40 miles, 2,882 total. Time 5 hours with stops. Elevation gain 1,541 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Cambridge, Minnesota to Somerset, Wisconsin Friday, June 18, 2021

I knew I had a long way to go today, so I hustled and got out “early”, meaning at 9:45. Pretty pathetic, actually.

The Adventure Cycling route is meandering back-and-forth across the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, so today I reentered the Badger State after more than three weeks. Crossing the state line was spectacular, the St. Croix River Valley, although the surrounding bluffs meant a steep descent and then ascent. In trying to maintain momentum, I was unable to snap a picture. Too bad, the Saint Croix is a National Scenic River Area.

The 40 miles before the crossing was flat and fairly featureless, although I find the verdant farms quite beautiful. There was no place to stop for lunch for 36 miles, but a saloon in Shafer served a great meal, and across the street was a real gem, the Maklin Bike Shop. The owners, Steve and Lynn Hamlin, decided to quit their professional careers and the “rat race” at a young age and opened up a first class bike store in this tiny town, surrounded by beautiful bike routes. I love stories like that. I bought a pair of high-end (to cover my lower end) bike shorts there at a better price that I could find in the city. They were both very busy, as all bike stores are in this post-pandemic time, but they still made time to chat with me, and give me advice about the best roads to take.

I was dismayed to see that the Adventure Cycling route put me on a road that had loose gravel, so I jumped onto a fairly busy state highway to take me the last 5 miles into Somerset, where there was a delightful campground on the Apple River. This is a popular tubing area, but with the drought the river is so low that it’s not happening. Sure was a scenic place to camp, though.

That building across the way is a venue used for weddings, and there was one there tonight. Sort of weird to be roughing it across from people dressed to kill; the schmaltzy wedding music ended before it got too late, and I was lulled to sleep by the babbling river.

Distance 62 miles, 2,842 total. Time 8 hours with stops. Elevation gain 1,292 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria

Milaca to Cambridge, Minnesota. Thursday, June 17, 2021

Well we weren’t Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, but the conversation was just as riveting. Dr. Donald Deye turns out to be as charming in person as he on digital media, and we talked nonstop for 2 1/2 hours. I thought for sure he would need to get back to get ready for his trip to Louisiana, but his wife was working that evening and he was happy to have dinner with me. I was happier. It was great to hear his origin story, how his career path somewhat paralleled mine, how the MKSAP Audio Companion was entirely his idea, and our many shared experiences. Two examples: we are both married to nurse practitioners, and we both spent time at MIT.

As we left the restaurant, we chatted with two lovely couples outside, and I took their picture.

It was only then I realized I was so wrapped up in our conversation that I never got a picture of Don himself. Fortunately, he also realized the omission and texted me, and we exchanged photos. Still, I was hoping for that “money shot” of the two of us together. Maybe I can get one of my children to Photoshop us together.

Also outside the restaurant was a street concert, they had barricaded Main Street and a number of bands were playing lovely music. Such a wonderful evening I don’t think my wheels touched the pavement as I biked back to the hotel.

Compared to that experience the earlier part of the day was rather prosaic. I had to rush a bit, but was helped by the terrain and the wind. Troy, the “trail angel” that had helped me last night, came back again to let me into the locked bathroom, and I was able to get his picture.

I stopped for a Coke at a bar about halfway there, and chatted with Rob and Leslie, on their way up to Mille Lacs to spend time with a group of friends that get together every year to go fishing. Their story made me nostalgic for the annual get-together I had just missed, with my buds on that driving/hiking junket we call PHSIDARUTT.

All these pleasant people, made the tiny scrap of unpleasantness stand out. Somebody yelled at me from a passing truck on the county highway I was on. At least I think he was yelling at me. All I heard was “The road!” and saw some guy in the open passenger window. Remarkable because this was the first bit of attitude I’d gotten in over 2,700 miles. Also because at that spot I was over to the right as far as I could go, and signaling for a right hand turn. I wasn’t impeding traffic at all. And this was on the “official” Adventure Cycling route, so I imagine lots of bikers use it. Of course, it would be perfectly legal to take the entire lane if conditions merited; bicycles are legal street vehicles in all 50 states.

People often ask if I feel safe on the road, with all that traffic. As I mentioned quite a few posts back, I have always felt perfectly safe, never had a close call, and continue to follow the teachings of the seminal book on the subject, Effective Cycling. This little incident, if it even was an incident, doesn’t change that.

Well, now it’s been two full months. I miss my family and friends desperately, but I’m still having a wonderful time. We’ll see if we can keep this up, with the heat, drought and wildfires raging in the west.

Distance 35 miles, 2,780 total. Time 4 hours with stops. Elevation gain 508 feet.

©️ 2021 Scott Luria