Bike Trip

Bike Trip
During the summer of 2003 I went on a bike trip across Wisconsin. The bike trip is called SAGBRAW, which stands for Sprockets Annual Great Bike Ride Across Wisconsin. I went on the trip with DC, my violin teacher’s husband.
I started by asking DC in late April of that year, “Hey DC, I was wondering if you would be willing to go on a biking trip across Wisconsin with me, this August. It starts on August 3 and ends on August 9. I would like you to come with me, since my mom doesn’t want to come.”
He responded by saying, “I would really like to go. The only issue is that my wedding anniversary is that week.” But he was able to get away and go on the ride with me. (He also made up to his wife by sending her flowers while on the ride.) It was only April and I was already looking forward to going on the ride.
We finally got our registrations filled out in May. Once I had filled out my registration and got the liability waiver signed by my mom, I gave it to DC. He then sent in both our registrations together with a note attached that said “If there is not space available for both of us to go on the ride, then neither of us will be able to go.” The reason he threw this note on is because if he couldn’t go, I would not have anyone over 18 to go with. If I couldn’t go, he would not want to go, because he didn’t want to go on the ride by himself.
Towards the end of May we each got a postcard confirming our registration, and it also contained each of our rider numbers. The postcard also mentioned that we would receive more detailed information on the ride in the mail on July 1st.
Now started the planning. I had to decide what to bring, how to train, and what bike to bring. I had a bike that was on order from Benz in Whitefish Bay. It was a Specialized road bike that was in short supply in an extra large size. I finally received the bike in late June when Rick Benz’s sale representative found the bike up in a bike shop in Wausau. I was really excited to find this out since I had been waiting for that bike, which I had picked for this ride by myself.
In early June, before receiving the new bike, I did the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts with Jim, a friend of mine from school. I did the 75 mile route from downtown Milwaukee out to Port Washington with an old hybrid bike of mine that was not the best bike for the long ride.
During July I didn’t do too much training for the ride except for a few short rides. I did do a fair amount of buying of supplies. I had to buy a tent for camping outside school buildings along with a sleeping bag and sleeping pad. I also bought a big duffel bag to carry all of those supplies along with my clothes. I also acquired certain supplies for my bike such as a bag to carry little things and a computer. I even had to buy some bike shorts and clip-in shoes.
Now I was all ready to start the ride. I had been in contact with DC all along so we could plan everything to do while on the ride. We started on the trip in August first by going up to Port Washington. In Port Washington we received our rider packets with the maps and directions along with other important information. From Port Washington we took motor coaches up to Marinette, the city we stayed at the first night. We arrived there around 1:00 o’clock. Our bikes were shipped up in separate trucks, so for a while there were over 1000 bikers, hanging around a high school, without bikes. One of the first things we did when we arrived in Marinette was walk across the street to get some ice cream at Scoops. We sat there a while eating our ice cream and meeting other bikers from the ride eating ice cream, because they didn’t have anything else to do without their bikes. We finally went back to the high school around 3:00 o’clock. On arriving back at the high school we found the tent where they were selling tickets for the spaghetti meal later that day. The proceeds from the ticket sales went to benefit the Habitat for Humanity, a group that builds houses for the under-privileged folks. Around 5:00 we were also able to locate our bikes sitting out on the pavement.
At about 5:30, we decided it was time to eat and we got in line for our food. I still remember that line; it was so long it felt like we were standing and waiting for hours to get our food instead of the mere 20 minutes we really stood in line for. Once we stepped into the kitchen to finally pick up our food, it immediately felt as hot as a steam room. We almost started to sweat just waiting there.
Once I got up to the counter the chef asked “Would you like spaghetti with or without meatballs?” After glancing over my choices, I responded “meatballs please.” He then scooped some spaghetti with meatballs onto my plate. I responded by thanking him for the food and getting breadsticks and a drink from other servers.
Before retiring for the night I wandered around the school grounds and chatted with a few more people. The high school campus was huge, considering it covered such a large area. It had multiple, good quality, baseball and softball diamonds. Then I finally went to my tent for the night a little after 9:00.
The next morning, Monday August 4, I woke up at around 5:30 with the sun glaring in through the thin material of the tent. This was one of the easiest mornings of the trip, due to the fact that we didn’t have to pack up any stuff, except for what we needed to ride with, since we were just doing a loop from Marinette up into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and then back down to Marinette for another overnight. After getting up we went to have some breakfast, which they also sold at the High School. We finally got off riding around 7:30. Our route that day took is into Menominee, Michigan and then back to Marinette, Wisconsin for the overnight. On the way, I stopped at a stand set up and bought some bison sticks, which are still sitting in my refrigerator, fourteen months later. I ended up riding 79.47 miles that day, with an average speed of 13.1 miles per hour in six hours, four minutes fifteen seconds that day. This was my longest day, which I think is a good thing because my body ached a lot more the other days.
After returning to the high school, one of the first things I did was take a shower. Unfortunately the cold water coming from the shower felt like ice. Then I tried one of the Segway scooters as a fund raiser for a club at Marinette High School. That was a very interesting experience. I thought when I leaned forward on the scooter I would fall over, but instead I just keep on going a little faster.
It was almost 4:30, which is dinner time. For dinner we decided to get out and go the Rail House, a brewery company in Marinnete. To get there, we had to take a shuttle van. When we got there we sat down and got a good meal. I had a noodle dish with chicken and pesto, which to my taste buds was a bit bland. After finishing up we went back outside to wait for the van to come back which seemed to take forever, since we had to wait outside while feeling a light drizzle coming down. Once the van came to take us back to the high school, we quickly jumped in, trying to stay warm. Later that night, around 7:00, DC and I went back over to Scoops for some ice cream to finish the day. Scoops also aired the first preseason game of the 2003 Green Bay Packers season, which the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. The packers played the Kansas City Chief’s. I left about half way through in order to get back to my tent for some well- deserved sleep.
On day two I woke up a little after five in the morning with the sun glaring in my tent. I started out by getting dressed into my biking apparel and then packed up all my other clothes. I also cleaned up everything else in the tent so all that was left out was my pillow, sleeping pad and sleeping bag. DC and I went for breakfast around 6:20. The breakfast was again provided by a community group. After having a big breakfast and a coke I went back to my tent to finish packing up. I first had to roll up by sleeping pad, and then my sleeping bag. After packing up everything else, I had to pack up my tent, and then finally stuff it back into my duffel bag.
Finally around 7:30 we started on our way to Green Bay. Our route took us along the shore of Lake Michigan to Green Bay. We also took a few stops on the way in. When we got into town we stopped at an A&W. I got a grilled chicken value meal and a root beer. It felt good to finally get some lunch into my body. While sitting at the counter, DC mentioned to some ladies that his anniversary was coming up and he was going to be away from his wife Katie then. The ladies kindly suggested to him to get some flowers which he did later that night.
After eating at A&W I went next door to a gas station. That is where I found out that the Packers had lost to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Hall of Fame game. I also found out from the newspaper there that Schwarzenegger had officially announced on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno the night before that he was going to run for governor of California. Then we continued biking towards the High School. The traffic started to get heavier since it was rush hour and the only roads we could bike on were busy ones. We finally made it in to Ashwaubenon High School early in the afternoon. I ended up riding 68.00 miles that day, with an average speed of 13.8 miles per hour in four hours, fifty-four minutes and eleven seconds that day.
When DC and I arrived at the high school I noticed that the ground felt moist to the touch. I tried to pitch my tent on a higher level, but that didn’t exactly work out well. After setting up my tent and taking a shower, we went to see a planetarium show at four. The high school was about half a block away from UW-Fox Valley’s planetarium. While seeing the show we started to hear a pitter-patter on the roof that started to get faster and faster. We then realized that our stuff was getting wet and DC learned that he left his tent door open. Thankfully after leaving the plush seats in the planetarium we arrived back to his tent to learn that someone kindly closed his tent door, but my tent was turning into a waterbed since it was pitched on top of a big puddle. I ended up having to move my tent and discovering a huge puddle underneath. We then bought a meal at the High School that was provided by the Howard-Suamico Optimist volunteers. The meal there was one of the best meals provided at a school during the whole week. It was a boneless loin of pork with all the fixings. We then walked down the road to see Lambeau Field. For me this was the first time. After that DC and I stopped at Dairy Queen for some more ice cream. After that I wandered around the high school before returning to my tent for a good night’s rest.
The next morning, Wednesday August 6, I woke up later than usual (a little after six) and ate breakfast and packed up. I then started my journey to Menasha. On the route we stopped at High Cliff State Park. In order get up to the top of the hill we had to bike up it which was grueling and I really started sweating. After viewing the great views from the highest hill in the area and learning that one of DC’s friends got married there I got to go back down the hill at exhilarating speeds. Going down this hill I went almost as fast as I had ever gone on that road bike. After going down the hill we stopped at the Cliffhanger Snack Shop and while there we met aperson who claimed that Kansas is as flat as a pancake. We then headed to Maplewood Middle School, our next overnight. I ended up riding 50.12 miles that day, with an average speed of 11.9 miles per hour in four hours, nine minutes and twelve seconds that day. The Middle School was one of my least favorite stops, partly because it didn’t have very nice facilities, kind of typical of middle schools, I thought.. On arriving I pitched my tent and got cleaned up.
That afternoon around 4:30 we went down the street to a restaurant to get some food. I ordered a steak that night. We took our time at that restaurant, wanting to relax as much as possible before going back to the school. We enjoyed our meal and then went back to the middle school to discover our stuff was wet. DC’s sleeping bag was so wet that we ended up having to go to the Laundromat to get the sleeping bag dried off. After getting the sleeping bag dried up we went back to our tents for the night.
On day four I woke up a little bit before six. After waking up I started packing up everything. Then we went and had breakfast at the Middle School which was provided by the MHS Athletic Club. After taking down my tent and packing my big bag up we headed off for another day of riding to Waupun, one of the nicest of the trip. After about 24 miles into the day we stopped at an American Legion post. We were able to purchase beverages and some food such as muffins and sandwiches. This stop took a while since the line was so long in there. I ended up riding 72.01 miles that day, with an average speed of 14.1 miles per hour in five hours, six minutes and forty seconds that day.
Once arriving in Waupun we were greeted by hospitality greeters that opened their doors for us upon arriving. After getting my tent pitched, showing up for the group picture and bathing, we decided to go on an adventure. We went for a walk by the prisons in Waupun. That was interesting to see all the houses right across the street from the big brick walls of the prison. We also got some good dinner from various groups at the high school. Then we sat around and listened to the entertainment of Gary Cross, a Waupun resident. Then I got some sleep that I really needed before getting up the next morning, Friday August 8 around quarter to six.
In the morning, after packing up some of my items, I had a hearty breakfast provided by many high school groups. I took down my tent before starting to ride, headed to Hartford. This was one of the nicest rides since we got to pass right by the Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area. We also stopped by the Horicon Marsh Wildlife Refugee Headquarters. The marsh is part state property and part national property. The marsh provided some nice scenery to bike by. I ended up riding 49.81 miles that day, with an average speed of 12.5 miles per hour in three hours, fifty-seven minutes and forty seconds that day.
After ending our riding at Hartford Union High School I got my stuff out and my tent pitched and then I took a shower. Since there was no dinner provided at the high school there was a shuttle provided into town. We took that to the Mineshaft Restaurant, the biggest restaurant in the state of Wisconsin. DC had their Friday Fish Fry which was very good. I had their steak which was OK, but I now wish that I had gotten the fish fry. We then walked around downtown Hartford and saw various shops. I tried to enjoy this last night of the ride as much possible. After finishing up there and taking the shuttle back to the High School I went to my tent to get a good night of sleep before leaving for home.
I woke up early on the last day, day six, so I could get going as early as possible. This last morning is the morning people usually get started as early as possible (before 5). DC and I finally got under way around 6:30. We stopped at Mineshaft Restaurant for breakfast the next morning also. I found the steak and eggs I ordered to be very good along with a coke. I also got my water bottle filled up for free too. We then started our ride out by seeing a hot air balloon rally going on at the local airport. I then kept on riding to Port Washington.
I eventually got separated from DC, and ended up arriving about a half an hour earlier than him. I ended up riding 55.05 miles that day, with an average speed of 13.2 miles per hour in four hours, seven minutes and fourteen seconds that day. When I arrived into Port Washington I called my mom to let her know I had arrived so she could call Katie, DC’s wife, and they came to pick us up. After that I enjoyed a brat that was offered by the Saukville Lion’s Club. After DC arrived and our rides arrived, we headed on home.
This ride was important to me because it was a week of my life on a trip that I enjoyed. It was also a significant accomplishment for me because it was my first long, major bike ride. After six days I had biked a total of 374.46 miles, with an average speed of 13.1 miles per hour in twenty-eight hours, nineteen minutes and forty-three seconds. I also learned something about trucks on this ride: semis will slow down for bikes, but dump trucks and corn trucks will just continue on speeding by pedalers. This puts a little fear in the hearts of those on two wheels that they’ll end up getting skimmed by them.