Pedaling Pilgrim Blog Home

Miles to date: 2,369.4

Today was planned to be another vacation day… 55 miles to a simple campsite in Norwalk. Instead, we rode nearly 88 miles to reach tomorrow night’s destination a day early. We’re staying at Dutch Hollow Lake just outside of LaValle, hosted by our wonderful friend Jon Rachiele.

Jon Rachiele used to host our annual Broomball gathering at the Dutch Hollow lake until somebody knocked over the vat of peanut oil on the patio that was used to fry chicken wings. His father-in-law who owns this property banished us; today is the first time I’ve been back here since then – that was 20 years ago. I have lots of memories from distant years at this property; my ringtone for Jon Rachiele is “Ring of Fire” because we used to prepare the Broomball ice the night before our competition by lighting a big ring of kerosene on fire on the frozen lake. We added to this over the years with pyrotechnics displays, dancing in the flaming ring, and breathing fire. It’s probably good that we were banished after the peanut oil spill as someone was surely due to catch fire in the Broomball opening ceremonies.

Tonight’s blog will be light on words and heavy on photo and video content. To recap the the: We were on the road around 8am. After 10 or so miles of state/county highway travel, we connected to the LaCrosse River Trail, then the Sparta-Elroy Trail, then the 400 trail. In the 88 miles today, we were on trails for at least 70 miles. It was a wonderful journey that did not feel like an 88 mile ride. The day also included three lengthy tunnels (the first 3/4 of a mile long) and lots of riding through woodlands that sheltered us from the opposing winds.

Riding through the tunnels was a little stressful as the road conditions were rough (almost too rough for video).

Outside the tunnels, the trails were pretty idyllic. riding through a lot of woodland and quiet farmland.

We arrived at the lake house at nearly the same time Jon Racine; Jon immediately went into action to prepare his “signature dish”… spaghetti and meatballs, with bruschetta appetizer and a side salad. Our family and friends hosts have outdone themselves in feeding us. Ayers house with the brisket and noodles; Realis and Jerdees with the steaks and wonderful side dishes; and Beiswangers for the delicious home-grilled burgers. Jon’s “signature dish” of spaghetti and meatballs may have topped them all.

With the advent of our 88 mile accomplishment, we’ll likely take the whole day off tomorrow. I’m nearly asleep at the blog wheel now, so I’m going to leave you with this meager offering. I’m packing up; shacking up’s all I want to do.

No map tonight as I don’t expect we’ll ride tomorrow. For playlist additions, I’m offering two:

The tunnels were a unique and amazing part of our journey; one of the scenic highlights that we’ll long remember. So: Tunnel of Love

Jon Rachiele has been riding a scooter for years. I was secretly hoping he would ride with us some today, despite the “no motorized” engine warnings on the 400 trail. I’m glad for Jon’s scootering passion; I might think about getting a scooter myself, but the garage is overflowing with bikes and other outdoor gear. so, to Jon: Scooter Blues

Hopefully enough for tonight without too many right thumb typos (I type the blog into my phone every night with only my right thumb; I feel that makes me a little more prone to errors.)