Planning of the 1st Long Tour

In early summer I plan on making a bicycle tour around the state of Wisconsin.  Why Wisconsin? Well seeing that I live in WI and I have never made a long tour, it may be advantageous to start with an area I am semi familiar with.  I never realized just how many miles it is around the perimeter of this state.  It has to be close to 1500 miles.  I have roughly mapped a route on a state map, have bicycle route maps of every county I will go through and am now finalizing a route on mapmyride.com.  I realize that with this route planned out...It WILL change when I am riding it, and that is a good thing. 

I have most everything I will need, but I do need to replace a couple items that have worn out over the years.  My booties/toe warmers ripped apart at the end of last year, so they will need replacing.  Also the rain gear I have is not adequate, so I would like to replace them also.  I have been thinking of going with a poncho from these guys http://www.catoregon.org/?page_id=26 If anyone has suggestions on these or anything else...feel free.  I am all ears. 

As some may know, I am working through a leg injury at the present time.  I had thought it was doing well, but I had a little set back.  I am back at it now, although it's indoors and every other day, things are going well so far.  This is were my riding is taking place for a while...my room in the basement.  It's nothing fancy and although I can see outdoors, it's not outdoors and it will have to do for now. 

I give thanks for having this forum to put this plan out here, because according to Napoleon Hill...Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.

Thanks for reading,

RL

 

Helping out

Our niece has entered some type of you tube contest.  I really don't know much about it, except they go by how many hits it has.  If you would like, give it a listen.  It's really cool.  This is made up of  900 photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlVcJ2LHlCo&sns=fb


Thanks

Unseasonably Excellent

With the temperature reaching above the +40F mark, I could not wait any longer.  I rode the studded up fixed gear on some roads near our home.  The fixie was probably not the best thing to ride on an injured leg, but it's the only one I have studs on, so that's what it had to be.  I iced the swelling when I got home. :-)   

 A wild Turkey trail heading off one of the rut roads.

The above picture is of one of the many snowmobile/ATV trails in our area.  Most years this would be packed hard with a good base.  We are having a very mild winter and I cannot remember a warmer one...so far.  We will get a good dose of winter before too long is my bet.  

And this is my track today.  If I have my way, one way or another, next year I will leave a bigger print...a fat track in fact.

The roads around here are now in excellent studded bicycle riding condition.  A person wouldn't want to be with out studs here.   When we got the last snow of about 4 inches, rain came first, so even though it looks like blacktop, a lot of it is covered with ice.  

    

 I was out for an hour and nine minutes today and saw zero vehicles.  Just me, some deer, some birds and the bike.  Living here has its disadvantages for certain, but IMO, it also has advantages such as this.  Some people wouldn't like such a thing, but that is what makes us people.  We can't all like the same things.

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

 We spent the last week at our family cabin which sets at the end of this driveway on a lake in Northwestern Wisconsin.  Even though it is only 25 miles from our home, it is still a nice getaway.   It is internet challenged here at the cabin, although with the recent advances of cell phone towers,  we now have limited cell service.  It is still many miles to buy a gallon of milk though.

 My Great Grandfather homesteaded this land many moons ago.  This was one of my Grandpas machines from back in the day.  Nice!!

 This was another.  They are our lawn ornaments as you make your way down the driveway towards the cabin.

 This area that used to be field is now a mixture of trees.  Some are nice and healthy, and others tip over easily from root rot, or at least that's the generic term we use.  It has something to do with what sometimes happen when trees take over farm field.

 This is a creek that enters the lake and makes a U turn right back out again.  The above picture is just after it leaves the lake.

  

 We were welcomed back home to a nice covering of fresh snow in the upper St.Croix River valley.

 We decided to go for a drive this afternoon.  Some virgin snow...lots of it.  

 These are some of my favorite biking roads.  I have used a cross bike here a few times, but the mountain bike is my favorite ride for these roads.  Miles and miles of wilderness riding here.  I am still nursing that !*%#^$! leg that I injured a month ago.  If not for that, I would have had a bicycle out today instead of the truck.

 Here is a small branch of the St.Croix River.  

 St.Croix River 

More St.Croix.  Up until July 1st, one could take either fork of the river here.  Not any more.  We had a bad windstorm and you would play hell getting through that one now because of the downed trees.

This is a picture of the opposite side of the road.  The storm was a biggie.  It involved a very large area, although the wind damage was sporadic.    

This is on a road that dead ends in along the St.Croix...and my father was the dozer operator that made this road years ago when he first started his career in the the forestry field.   In fact, the last five pictures were from that road.  We had many family picnics here and we carried on the tradition with our children.

I am hoping the next post will involve some outside activity.  Going to give a go one of these days.

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Merry Christmas

 We would like to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

 One of the new members at Christmas this year was Gus.

 And this is Nitro.  Don't click for big on this pic.  The photographer did a crappy job on this one.

 Turkey this year was cooked in a grease less fryer.

 Our son Brian has cooked a few birds in this unit.  They seem to be the ultimate in cooking the turkey.  There is no oil, so the fire risk is drastically reduced and most important of all is a very tasty bird.

 I highly recommend these cookers...especially if you are blessed with a chef that comes with it, as we are.  :-)

 

 We also had a ham.  It is our traditional Christmas dinner...Ham, Turkey, Sweet Potatoes, White Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Cottage Cheese and a lot of desserts.  Now I like to eat and get presents as much as the next guy, but most important, is the family time we get...That is priceless!!  

Unless of course you were like me and homemade granola is one of your presents...just kidding.  Family is still on top.

Ready to Ride...but

 I have the fixed gear ready for the winter riding season.  I mounted up the studded tires, put on the lighting and put a rear rack on.  Thing is...I think it may be a while before I get out riding.  I was on a ride about 2 1/2 weeks ago riding along Lake Superior.  I stopped to walk down to the lake.  As I was climbing back up the clay bank from the lake, I thought it would be easier to run the bank and not slip much.  It worked well for a bit until I thought I felt something hit the back of my leg.  I stopped and turned around to see what it was.  Instant calf pain is what it was.  It was bad enough to where I had to crawl back up and to the bike.  I tried to walk it off and that wasn't happening, so it was a one legged pedal back to the truck.  I searched on line and have been trying to doctor it myself.  Although it has gotten much better, the leg is still very sore.  I understand it can take quite some time to heal.  That is one stupid move I would like to have do overs on.    

 Studded tires mounted up and ready...teasing me.  That's what they're doing.  

This has been my view the last two mornings as I have been trying to ease back into riding.  The dreaded trainer.  Starting with 30 minutes.  I think I might be pushing it a little because as I said earlier, it still is sore, but I hate not riding.  We will see how it goes.

Get outdoors and have some fun!!

It's Still Good Riding

 This morning's weather was 38F and light rain, which made for a nice quiet ride on the back roads.  I was thinking, which is always enhanced while bicycle riding, that it will soon be time to get the studded tires off the wall and mounted up.   

 AND...that patch of water near the island in the above picture will be dotted with several ice shacks.

 If there is one thing this retirement thing has brought to the forefront for me, it is that time just flies.  I have been retired five and a half months and it seriously does not seem like five days.  There were a lot of things I had good intentions of doing this summer, didn't get them in and whether I like it or not, summer is history.  That's alright though, because there are things I want to do this winter too.  We will see how that goes. 

 One good thing this summer brought was some relief from a drought that has plagued us these last few years...but it is only a start.  This little lake is one of many in our area.  We call them pothole's around this neck of the woods.   There was not much water left in here last year, and still isn't for that matter, but it is making a comeback.

 

I bought these last February for cold weather riding.  I used them some last year and this morning was the first time for this season.  They are the Sidi Diablo's and they seem to work well for me.  Last year I tested them to only 10F, but I am sure they will go lower.  In the morning rain and 38F, my feet were dry and toasty.

 

Get outdoors and have some Fun!!!