In the morning, we reversed course back to Beloit to the parking lot where the Volae Expedition went on the car so I could begin stage two.
The lot was virtually empty. No other bikes, no sign of any ride. My wife gave me a kiss good luck and with a look at the map, I headed out of Riverside Park.
A left on White, a right on Woodward. Outside of town, I didn't see our green directional arrows on the pavement, so got out the map to be sure which way to go. A friendly man in a truck rolled down his window to tell me he saw some bikes on 67, so I might head that way.
His advice agreed with the map, and a quarter mile south I reached Wisconsin Highway 67 for the trek east. I was pretty sure I was the last RAW rider out of Beloit. The suggested start times were between 6:30 and 9. I left at 8:45, there was breakfast and the ride back from Kenosha took 2 hours, and felt pretty alone as I headed up the highway.
The second half of the course was mostly flat, according to organizers. There were hills, but not as high or as long as what I experienced on day one. I heard 80 riders originally signed up for the 2 day ride, it wasn't my intention, but here I was.
I found a bit of rhythm, clipped my shoes into place, and was clicking along at a pretty good pace. I hoped to see someone else out here, but it didn't look promising.
My spirits went up a bit around 45 minutes into my ride when a ride support vehicle approached from behind. I flashed a thumbs-up and had one returned. "Well, they know I'm out here," I thought, "even if I'm last."
Just twenty miles down the road, I came up on Sharon, Wisconsin and spied a rider. It seemed like he made an odd turn, and went I got down there discovered that rider wasn't one of "my people."
I kept going. Then, when I turned on to Town Hall Road in Walworth County, I saw another rider ahead. It looked like they were taking a nourishment break. I caught up just as they were taking off.
"I'm pretty sure we're the last ones. Do you mind if we ride together a while?" I asked. Todd, from Stoughton (not far from my home in Verona) agreed and we talked about riding and bikes and the prior day's ride.
As we approached the day's first rest stop, a support vehicle tagged along behind us as we brought up the rear. There were five riders at that stop, and the seven of us left together.
I can't really explain how much difference it made for me to reach other riders on the trip. For one, with people in view, I could see in advance what was ahead, and while in proximity it was an opportunity to share the experience and even share the work as we took turns creating a draft for others to follow.
It felt like my turn to take the lead, since those following don't have to work as hard to go fast, and I pulled up in front. Except the other six really didn't stick with me! I slowed a bit and figured the next low-rise hill would help them catch up, but it didn't happen.My spirits buoyed by not being last and alone, my pace was a bit faster now and space opened between us. Soon enough, I was coming around the south edge of Lake Geneva.
When I came up the east side of the Lake, Todd was ahead of me. I'm not sure how that happened, but I think he missed a turn, in any case, it was great to ride with him again.
Sunday was much different than the day before, although it started draped in fog, by the time I was on the road there were blue skies and plentiful sunshine.
Todd and I rode together most of the way to rest stop number two at Bohners Lake (pictured). There we caught up with another 5 riders. Thankfully, the stop had a sub sandwich left that filled me up and after topping off my bottles of water, I wished Todd well and headed out for Kenosha, now only 27 miles down the road.
Things were going great. I felt good. There wasn't much wind, and the hills were manageable.
I came across another 4 riders on the way into Kenosha County when I noticed a cluster of bikes coming up from behind.
A peloton, a group of riders sharing the work, were creeping closer and I figured they would catch up and I could tag along with them into town.
At their closest point, we were on the outskirts of Kenosha and coming up on road construction and traffic lights. I sailed through on green, but the trail group stopped for the red.
(This stretch made me very glad I didn't try to finish in one day. It would have been nuts for me, at night and with limited lights and no knowledge of local roads to find my way after sundown.)
Three and a half miles from the lake, I crested a small hill and felt the cool breezes of Lake Michigan. It truly is cooler by the lake, which gave me another shot of adrenaline.
One last group of 3 riders appeared a mile from the finish, and this time a stoplight put space between us and I road down the final street and made the turn to the welcome sound of volunteer workers ringing cowbells, stopping traffic and cheering as they pointed me to the finish (above right).
As I crossed the line, my eyes welled up and the effort the last two days felt worth every mile. It was exciting to realize I made it from Dubuque to Kenosha... 178.5 miles.
Really, though, I didn't make it alone.
Thanks be to God for good weather (the mist and fog kept things cool and easy to ride Saturday morning before granting the beautiful sun later and on Sunday) safe travel and no dogs in pursuit; to the volunteers along the ride; to my wife for making it possible for me to do this crazy ride and supporting me along the many miles.
There was enough water for my bike in Dubuque, so there was no baptism of the wheels in the Mississippi, but here it seemed felt right to finish in the waters of Lake Michigan.
Then, a shower (thanks to the Wisconsin Bike Fed who thought of many details to help us out) a hot slice of pizza and a cold beer in a finisher's goblet marking the occasion.
When I compare my notes to the original plan, it wasn't far off... only one 25 mile section took longer than 2 clock hours and none of them took that long in the saddle. And best of all, the fastest stretch was the ride to the shore, 27 miles in 1:45:55 (it wouldn't place in the Olympics, but it was a fun ride and a wonderful experience).
The whole thing makes me want to get back on the bike, happy trails!
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