Flat defined?

It's ok, really. I mean, it's not that I don't do hills. I am signed up for the Mt. Diablo challenge when I get home. But I did spend a fair amount of time today wondering just what dictionary Adventure Cycling uses. The back of the map we are now on describes road conditions. Mostly flat, it says. It wasn't exactly Haleaka, true, but we started at about 600' elevation and are now at about 1400' and I figure we gained the difference several times. Flat was a very rare thing today. And really, it doesn't matter. I just like to know what to expect is all, especially when I head out for 80 or 90 miles.

We were at a very nice B&B last night. One where I wanted to be very careful where I put my well-used cycling gear. The canopy bed was so high I was glad to have fairly strong arms - no way I could have gotten up without them - and even more glad when Bruce found a little stool I could use to climb up there. Once there, I was very comfortable & enjoyed looking out at the St. Croix River. Of course, breakfast was not particularly early which was nice, but we got a latish start.

I think I mentioned yesterday that we had miscalculated the distance. No matter how many ways we tried, we came up with almost 90 miles. At dinner last night we found out about a new trail that appeared to take a few miles off, so we gave it a try. It worked out just fine. Not as fast as paved surfaces, but easily ridden. Our stretch was about 11 miles long. At the end was a little town with a bike shop where we figured we could get more route advice. The guy there was delighted we had used the trail. It is very new and apparently it was quite a struggle to limit its use to non-motorized vehicles. ATVs and snowmobiles are very big around here. However, he thought the rest of our route was as it should be.

We stopped for lunch. Although our mileage so far was only about 19, it was 11:30 and the next town was about 30 miles farther along. So we headed out after noon with more than 60 miles to go. 60 not-so-flat miles. 60 very pretty miles.

Wisconsin is another one. Very scenic, very welcoming. More pine trees, more hills, more dairies, but still a lot like Minnesota. The regional pronunciation is about the same. The lawns and gardens are colorful and tidy. There are more cars and less pick-up trucks than in Montana and North Dakota (I often thought that a regular car was almost a sure sign of a tourist in those states). Anyhow, mile after mile of greenery and lakes and ponds with occasional traditional barns thrown in, lots of cows (the ones here are not afraid of bicycles, unlike their wilder range-cattle relatives in Montana and North Dakota), lots of birds, lots of wildflowers. The bird songs are sounding very eastern: blue jays and cardinals and black-capped chickadees all over.

Although we had a few tired and hungry moments today, it was for me mostly a day that kept reminding me how glad I am to be here.

Tonight is supposed to be filled with thunderstorms. We are hoping they will have moved on by late morning. Only 50 miles tomorrow so a late start won't matter much.

So happy to be here, if only it weren't Willie's first birthday! Happy birthday, Willie!!! Let's celebrate together when wr get back!

Miles today: 82
Total miles so far: 2418