The East Coast of Dairyland

The second leg leaving the UW campus hugged the lake shore closely - sometimes within 25 feet of the water.

From Manitowoc we rode ten miles to the first stop in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

The night before we ate dinner there at the Lighthouse Inn overlooking the lake and enjoyed an ice cream sundae, a product "invented" in this Wisconsin community.

The story is that a man asked the clerk behind the soda fountain counter for some chocolate syrup drizzled over some ice cream back in 1881.  The clerk/owner did and started selling them, only on Sundays, for a nickel.  Eventually, they sold every day.

There is some debate over the treat's origin, but it makes sense to me that we would have figured this out in American's Dairyland.

North of Two Rivers we rode through sections of the Point Beach State Forest.   The comfortable chill in the air was a great tonic to our spirit and made the second day of the ride as fun as the first.  The continuing south wind didn't hurt either.

If you remember your Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat - you may recall Thing 1 and Thing 2.

I met them.  And their brothers (or at least cousins) Thing 3 and Thing 4.  It's a group of four riders out of Milwaukee.

We rode together for more than half the ride on Sunday - sharing stories about biking adventures and bikes we'd like to get someday.  The group has been part of this ride for several years and were a strong group that was fun to ride alongside.

Lunch came around 10:30 again - on schedule at mile 50 in Algoma - and this time we would have only 25 to the finish after we ate.

It was a good lunch right on the lake overlooking a harbor/marina.  The volunteers and staff who organized the ride did an outstanding job with all the rest stops and made lunch real special for all of us.  I found some Sun Chips to munch with my sandwich for lunch and later discovered some Double Stuff Oreo cookies for the sugar rush to get to the finish.

The last 25 miles went fast.  It was a surprise to see strawberries still being picked in the fields - a long and cold winter gets the credit for that - and I saw a couple orchards loaded with abundant cherries hanging on every limb.

The last of the hills behind us, it was time to glide into Sturgeon Bay and the finish line in Sunset Park.

Waiting for us was a welcoming crowd of folks cheering and celebrating the riders who took part, but most important, those fighting the diseases of Leukemia and Lymphoma.

184 miles in two days - I felt good and ready to hit the showers.  It was a great two day ride.  There are a lot of moving parts (pun intended) in pulling together an event like this, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Wisconsin did a fantastic job and made me feel welcome in anticipating all the things a bicyclist could need.

Thanks to Art Saffran - he was a captain of the Lymphomaniacs (the team jersey is what I'm wearing in the picture) who recruited me to this effort.  He organized training rides where several of us got to know each other in advance of this past weekend and he embodies the sincere effort I felt from each volunteer.  Rick, Mike, Debbie, Denise, and Vonda were all part of the 50 member Lymphomaniac team that I was glad to be part of - thanks to each of you for the encouragement.

I had a blast on both day 1 and day 2 and felt pretty good.  Day 2's final statistics:  17.0 miles per hour average; 4 hours 13 minutes on the bike; and 75.9 miles registered by the bike computer.

The personal accomplishment was nice to reach and thanks to all of you who provided financial support for this great cause.