Uphill Days
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Day 9: Mankato to Madison Ride.
Some route-days are really hard biking.
The effort they take is quite striking.
Does that mean I"m done,
With biking for fun?
Of course not. It's still to my liking!
How to you handle uphill days?
Spring Green -> Mt Horeb, WI, 40 miles
Rain forecast for afternoon.
So, John and I started riding at 7am,
In order to get to Mt Horeb before rain.
Foggy when we started,
Soon we were riding in sunshine.
About six miles into ride,
Left turn onto Cty Hwy "Z.”
Recommendation for today:
Do Not include "Z" in your ride route.
First big incline was uphill at 8%.
A long hill, indicative of what was to come.
The down-swoops were as steep.
I don't like fast, swoopy downhills.
So it was pedal hard to go up,.
Brake hard to slow down.
Eventually we entered Military Ridge State Trail.
Dirt or crushed gravel surface.
On that end,
There is very little trail maintenance.
Basically two tracks of gravel.
Because there have been storms,
Trail was littered with broken sticks and twigs—
Requiring sharp eye to avoid,
Along with the gopher holes.
Left to Right: Hallway decor Spring Green motel, Today's unusual trail surface.
Further in, we began to encounter
Downed trees, fallen across trail.
Even farther, a tree removal crew,
Sawing off limbs, cutting trunks.
Zippy little bob cat machine was driven quickly to pick up
Downed stuff, and move it off the trail.
That spot opened, we rode on to encounter
More and more downed trees.
Last block we saw
Several very big trees
Across trail, and three of our riders
Creatively getting their bikes
Over/under and onto next section of trail.
Eventually, seven of we riders were in that spot,
Helping each other get to the other side.
If there had been a film crew,
You would have seen creative,
Crazy solutions that worked.
Knowing more down trees were further on trail,
Found a way out to a highway to get us to Mt Horab.
Final distance in town was uphill again.
I was pretty much "spent.”
Nearly depleted by the time we got to motel.
Left to Right: Break Spot on County Z, Two-track Trail
Some food,
Soak in the bathtub,
Quiet time.
I'm doing fine now.
Interesting day of lovely ride location
With hard work.
Whew!
I had moments in midst,
Thinking, "I'm Done."
Then I thought of the quote that is attributed to Henry Ford,
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't—
You're right."
My mind went to "I think can. I think I can.”
Worked.
Hugs,
Lin
