The day started a lot earlier than I intended. I woke up at 5 AM with a coughing fit. I tried to fall back asleep, but finally I needed to sit up for a few minutes. I turned on the light and read my book for about an hour. My coughing subsided enough that I was eventually able to go back to sleep.
About an hour after that, I woke up again. I decided that at this point I was probably up for good, so I got out of bed and got dressed. I packed everything and got ready to go. I was ready to leave the hotel by 8 AM, however I still had no idea where I was going to ride that day.
I sat down and spent about 25 minutes looking at a map and deciding on a route. Frankly, I didn't really feel like riding a whole lot. The creeping crud I was fighting seemed like it found some new life, and I really didn't feel well at all. The only thing that was making me want to get on the bike and ride was guilt. I was on a motorcycle trip, so I felt like I should ride no matter what.
After a bit of deliberating I decided to map out a short ride. I figured I could plan a ride during the morning, then at lunch time if I was feeling like riding some more I could always plan another route for the afternoon. But if not, I could call it a day with the satisfaction of knowing I at least put a few miles on.
I walked out to the bike and loaded up. I didn't need to bring a whole lot with me as I was planning on returning early. While I was getting ready the motel owner's wife came up and struck up a conversation. As it turns out, she's a chatter. Very nice, but not someone you want to run into if you're in a hurry. Thankfully I wasn't in a hurry this morning, so I engaged in the conversation.
After about 15 minutes I bid her farewell and headed out. I was a little hungry, so I planned to grab something on my way out of town. I was also craving doughnuts, so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. I thought some doughnuts and coffee would really hit the spot.
As it turns out, the people at the doughnut shop were moving really slow. I stood in line for quite a while (and the line wasn't all that long) before they took my order. Given the delay, I decided to skip the coffee so I wouldn't have to wait for it to cool down. Besides, the route I mapped out took my right by my favorite Kwik Trip down in Mt. Horeb, so I thought that would be a good excuse to stop.
I ordered a custard filled bismarck and an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. Which seems like it should be a pretty simple thing to throw in a bag, but once again I waited an unusually long amount of time to get it. Once it was ready I think it took less time to eat them.
Out on the bike I headed west out of the Dells, and immediately missed a turn. The road I was on didn't have any other intersections before it merged onto the freeway, so as a result of me missing my turn I found myself unintentionally on the interstate. Not a problem though, as I took the next exit and rerouted my path towards Reedsburg. One benefit to being somewhat familiar with the area is that a missed turn isn't cause for panic.
Reedsburg is about 12 miles from the Dells. My plan was to take highway 23 south out of Reedsburg. I rode through town and in the fog of my sickness things stopped looking familiar. I started to wonder if I'd missed the intersection with highway 23 so I began to pull over. No sooner did I do that when I saw the junction sign up ahead. And immediately things started to look familiar again.
As I rode south on highway 23 towards Spring Green I noticed that the leaves were really starting to change. I guessed I was about a week early to see all the trees in full glory, but there was an awful lot of pretty sights already.
As I rode I saw more Kestrels in the air. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of them.
Approaching the town of Plain, I could see an impressive building up on a hill, visible several miles from the town. When I got into down I decided to take a detour and find this building to get a picture. The town wasn't that big, so it was easy to find. As it turns out it was a Cathedral. There was something going on, so there were a lot of cars and people outside the church. I suspected perhaps a funeral? Whatever the reason, there were enough people watching me take the picture that I felt a little awkward. I snapped the shot and then rode off without much hesitation.
I continued south down to Spring Green and crossed the river. On the south side of the river I headed east on county road T. I had ridden the western portion of this road before back in 2010 but had come from the opposite direction. I remembered that it was a fun ride, which is why I decided to do it again.
The road was very scenic. Lots of twists, turns and hills which made for some fun riding. About halfway between Spring Green and Barneveld the highway took a small jog and then continued on. I discovered that the 2nd have of the road was in pretty rough shape, especially compared to some of the other roads I'd ridden in Wisconsin.
County road T came out in the town of Barneveld. From there I too county road ID east heading towards Mt. Horeb.
A few miles west of Mt. Horeb there is county road JG which loops north, then back down around Stewart Lake Park and back into town. I took this loop and was pleased to discover it was one of the most scenic parts of the whole trip. It really was nice.
At one point I looked back behind me and saw some extremely pretty trees. I pulled over so I could get a picture. I found that by the time I stopped I was a little too far down the road to get a good shot, so I got off the bike and walked back about 50 yards. I hadn't seen hardly any traffic on this loop. I snapped the picture (which didn't do justice as to how pretty the trees were) and then turned around to see a car come barreling around the corner. I scrambled across the road out of the way. It probably felt closer than it really was.
I was in need of a break when I arrived at the Kwik Trip in Mt. Horeb. I bought some coffee and a pretzel, then sat outside at a picnic table and enjoyed my snack as I rested. There was another motorcycle rider sitting at another table doing the exact same thing. We engaged in a little small talk until our break was over, and then went on our separate ways.
Back on the road I headed north on highway 78 towards Sauk City. I was following a semi for a good chunk of this stretch. At one point a car pulled out in front of the truck causing the semi driver to slam on the brakes. I was able to easily stop in time. Thankfully the truck didn't hit the car, but that was a very close call.
Sauk City and Prarie Du Sac are connected. I continued on highway 78 through them both and continued north until I reached highway 113 near Merrimac.
As I approached the town of Baraboo, I saw county road DL branch off to the east. On a whim I turned onto it with the intention of doing some exploration. Well, after about three miles I realized how rotten I was feeling, so I just turned around and headed back to highway 113. On my way back a car came around a corner well into my lane. By God's grace I was able to slow down and swerve out of the way so it wasn't even really a close call.
As I passed through Baraboo I stopped and took a couple pictures of the Circus World museum. I have memories of visiting this museum as a child. The Ringling Brothers circus hosted its final performance just a few months prior. At this point the museum was still open, but it will be interesting to see for how long.
By 12:45 I was back in the Dells. I decided to grab some lunch but didn't need anything too extensive as I'd had a snack in Mt. Horeb. I decided to try the Brat House in Lake Delton. There was a whole row of motorcycles parked on one side of the building. When I walked in there were a bunch of "bikers" drinking beer in the bar area who gave me a look, then continued with their spirited conversation.
I was feeling lousy and didn't feel like being around loud people. A sign said to "seat yourself" so I found a back room that was completely empty where I could quietly sit and read my book while I ate. I ordered a brat with fries. It was OK, but a bit expensive for what I got.
After lunch I decided I didn't have it in me to try and do an afternoon ride. I went back to my hotel and laid down on the bed at about 1:40. At one point I dozed off a bit but didn't really fall asleep. Then my phone rang, and it turned out to be my brother.
We chatted for a few minutes. After the call was over I decided that even though I was feeling rotten, I wasn't tired enough to sleep and I wasn't interested in just sitting in the motel room. I decided to go downtown and walk around a little. The edge of the downtown area was only about six blocks from the motel. I strongly considered just walking there, but then had second thoughts and hopped on the bike. I found a spot to park and proceeded to explore.
The city was getting ready for some big beer festival. Tents were going up and vendors were coming in. Thankfully it wasn't supposed to get into full swing until the next evening, by when I would be long gone. I'm not a big fan of crowds.
I walked down one side of the street, browsing through a couple of shops but not finding anything particularly of interest. Down by the river I crossed to the north side, and noticed there was a little walking path that followed the river's edge. I decided to see where it went.
The day was getting warmer. I was walking slow, but started to get a little bit hot and the sweat was building. The path ended only about a half mile down, so I turned around and walked back.
As I reached the end of the path back at main street, my cousin Joel called. I sat down and rested on a bench as we spoke. We were in the process of getting our 1924 model T fixed and things weren't going as smooth as we had hoped with the guy doing the work.
Around 4 PM I headed back to the motel room and relaxed some more. I read my book until about 5:30 when I started to get hungry. There is a local place in the Dells I really like called Pizza Pub. I decided to go there for some supper.
I was getting on the motorcycle when the motel owner’s wife cornered me once again. We had another pleasant conversation, and then I rode down to the restaurant.
During lunch and a couple nights per week Pizza Pub has a buffet. Unfortunately, this night was not one of them. I thought about getting a small pizza, but then saw the special of the day was lasagna. I ordered that, along with the salad bar. I went and got a large plate full of salad and was eating it when the lasagna arrived. Seriously, this was enough lasagna for two people. But because there was only one of me I ate it all. Then I felt uncomfortably full. You would think I would eventually learn.
On the way back to the hotel I gassed up so I would be ready to hit the road in the morning with no delays. When I got back to the hotel, there were some people doing maintenance a couple rooms down. From their conversation I could tell it was a plumbing issue and they had resolved themselves to the fact that it wouldn't be fixed until the next day when the hardware store opened.
One of the maintenance guys walked over to me and struck up a conversation about my motorcycle. We chatted for a while until I excused myself to go inside and rest. People at this motel sure are friendly!
I called my wife and touched base with things back home. I read some more, then I watched a football game on TV and kept tabs on the Twins game via the live stats update on the computer. The Twins won against Toronto 3-2 with a walk-off homer by Byron Buxton in the 10th inning.
Happy the Twins won and were playing well, I called it a night. Continue on to day four...
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This page last updated on 05/15/2023