Friday, August 1st: Provo, UT or … a visit to BYU

Provo is home to the Brigham Young University. My woman always likes to stroll on the campuses of different Universities. The bookstores are her favorite places and she can spend a lot of time there. She notices that books have gotten very expensive – way expensive! There is some kind of activity going on because people are running all over the place. Once her book hunger is over, we jump back on Sweet Machine and cycle around town. Some drivers are not so friendly to us. Once back in the room my woman checks out the site of Geocaching. Tomorrow we will hunt down some caches! Without a GPS!

Meanwhile, you can see where we cycled in the month of July and what the numbers of the climbs mean:

To get a number a climb must at least be 500 m long and 3% climbing.

Thursday, July 31st: Provo, UT or … how many miles did you cycle?

We are finally leaving Salt Lake City today! Yesss… back on the road. My woman wonders how well she’ll be cycling after hanging out with CA – no luggage but more mileage! Sweet Machine feels comfortable, even with the panniers now. 

From the airport to the train station is not such a long way. Hey… what a great sign at the traffic lights. 

Make car people aware of bicyclists and walkers. The first climb over the railroad tracks make my woman already breath deeper… Allright… we’ll take the train to Provo. Just like last year. 

The Frontrunner (it runs the Wasatch front) has about four wagons and one of them is a bike friendly car. Now the railway in Belgium can take this as an example. At least 12 bicycles can be rolled on the car, while people can sit next to their bicycle or you can leave your dog guarding your bicycle (or some people just lock the bicycle). We ride for an hour on the train. In Provo my woman cycles around a bit. Later I see she’s busy with her laptop… probably trying to catch up with her blog. I’ll let her work! 

Wednesday, July 30th: Salt Lake City, UT or … getting ready now!

This morning my woman arranges her stuff again: what goes in the panniers and what will she send to St. George in the backpack. We have to go on the train again to the center with the backpack. Now, this time my woman doesn’t throw the ticket away. As a matter of fact – she uses it again to return to the hotel. We just make it: the deadline on the ticket was 3.15 pm and I guess it was 3.10. I see my woman already getting worried about there being police control again… 

Tuesday, July 29th: Salt Lake City, UT or … almost in prison?

Today we’ll be back on the saddle of Sweet Machine. My woman buys her train ticket at the hotel stop. We need to take two trains, getting off at 600 East. As a good person, my woman throws her used ticket in the trash can – we do not need it anymore. At the end of the train platform a police woman stops her. “Where’s your ticket?” “Euhhh I’ve just thrown it in the trash can”. She seems to have a hard time believing my woman and gets another police man. He asks my woman for her passport and tells her she’s just getting a warning this time… My woman does not agree with that! “But I had a ticket and I’ve just thrown it in the trash can up there!”, she keeps repeating. Finally the man walks towards the trash can. “Do you see it”, he asks my woman. She is getting desperate, because she doesn’t. But the police man has better eyes, puts his arm in the trash can, and picks up the ticket! “Woman, you have to keep this ticket. It’s is still good for another two hours! And you need to be able to show your ticket when you are on the platform”… My woman tells him, she will keep it now! So no warning… I can say my woman is glad she can cycle to the hotel and doesn’t need to ride the train in the city anymore. But before leaving the center, my woman buys some food to take to the hotel. When we get out, it is pouring. There goes our ride to Emigration Canyon. Some streets are flooding already and my woman hurries to the hotel. 

Monday, July 28th: Salt Lake City, UT or … a walk in the city.

This morning my boss will bring Sweet Machine to the bicycle shop. We have to take a taxi, because we are too far from the center. Once in town, my woman walks around – sightseeing and window shopping at City Creek. 

She likes the place but finds it sad that the shops in the Gateway mall are almost gone, making that neighborhood looking deserted now. We take the public transportation back to the hotel. Oh, wonderful Salt Lake City with your good public transport system!  

Sunday, July 27th: Salt Lake City, UT or … can you be any more lazy than this?

Hey boss – get us some breakfast, will you! We sleep in and rest a lot today. No need to go to the city center, since the bicycle shop will be closed today. It’s a lazy day in the hotel.

Saturday, July 26th: Manitowac Wi and Salt Lake City, UT or … Hello Kathy Wojta! Good-bye Cycle America!

We have an early morning since we want to ride with the picnic station van to Kathy’s house to surprise her! But my woman is a bit too early and we end up sitting on the curb of the road, waiting for the staff to take us along. The group has a 40 mile ride to Manitowac – they have to arrive by 1 pm since the ferry that will take them across Lake Michigan will leave at 2 pm. Following the arrows in the van is not so easy and we have to make a short detour because we missed a turn. Lake Michigan is still covered by clouds, but these will soon be blown away. When we finally reach Manitowac, my woman jumps out of the van and runs towards Kath’s house. I can tell my woman is happy to see her old friend again. I know this woman: she has been in Oostende a couple of years ago! Look at that table – all that food she made for the cyclists. 

This Kathy woman is still the fantastic caring person… even though my woman cannot stay for long, she feels happy to see her friend again. Who would have thought she would see her this summer? Meanwhile the first cyclists are arriving and my woman is now in a picture taking mood. Meet some of the people we have met this summer:

Kathy and Sue (the room mate!)

Staff Vicky who gave my woman an award for just keepin' rollin'

Kerry - the tornado aware woman!

Volleybal partners: Hilary and my woman

Rob mechanic 1

Ann and Dave

 Cody mechanic 2

At a quarter to noon the shuttle van for Milwaukee airport arrives. I know my woman has a hard time saying goodbye to everyone. Thanks CA, for the support on AND off the route! There’s only three persons leaving the trip this weekend. The shuttle van driver gives us some interesting details about the region – like the largest flag pole in the world, build by an insurance company (where does our money go to?) Once at the airport my woman and I are traveling alone again. We first have to fly to Atlanta – stay there for a couple of hours – and then fly to Salt Lake City. It’s midnight when the plane arrives at the gate. About an hour later, we are in our hotel – happy to go to bed, but sad about leaving good friends. 

Friday, July 25th: Plymouth, WI or … our last cycling day with lots of zigs and zags!

My woman got caught at 5 a.m. hanging flags on bicycles of the group. At 6 a.m. a rumble in the sky makes my woman decide to take the tent down while it is still dry. As she is too early for breakfast now, she just takes a nap on the ground next to her bags in the hallway of the school. Yes – today is probably not going to be a very sunny day! The Eli-man tells her the weather is crying because we are leaving tomorrow… Breakfast fills our stomach and make us ready to go riding. The weather doesn’t know yet what it wants and soon my woman is taking out clothing pieces. A short detour brings us to the Horicon Marsh where we cycle around to watch birds in the wetlands. 

It is amazing how much poop those animals leave behind on the road! 

The grey sky is now opening up and more rain is coming down. I have to go in the plastic bag, while my woman keeps cycling in her t-shirt. She says the rain isn’t cold! The Breackneck road is a steep surprise to my woman, making her get off Sweet Machine and walk up the last part of the uphill. The windmills we saw in the distance are now close by. 

Also she spots other cyclists in the distance: it’s Ann and David and then the Danish/Dutch couple. We cycle a short while together, but when the van rides along, the women decide to hop in the van while the men just dust my boss. Staff man Rob is kind to offer his jacket to my woman, but she says she has one herself, but she wouldn’t mind an energy bar! She finally decides to put her own jacket on. About three miles down the road the jacket is taken off again. A woman runs out of her house: ”Do you want some water?”, she aks… How nice humans can be to each other! We are now on Hilltop Rd and yes – it’s on top of the hill. The next road is Scenic Rd: it goes steeply up and down for 4 times – one climb looks like a wall we have to cycle up. Too bad the rain is getting worse: we pass some nice lakes (Mud and Kettle Moraine), but my woman is now getting too wet in her t-shirt. The jacket comes out again. She is now looking forward to some hot soup (peas). It’s not that far anymore to the picnic station, where a Gumbo soup is waiting. We do not stay there too long – my woman is starting to cool down too much. And guess what – the sun soon drives away the clouds, making the ride on the Kettle – Moraine scenic byway nice. My woman almost cycles under one of those high-rise farming equipment. 

Hillcrest means the top of the last climb of the day. It’s now all downhill to Plymouth. The town buildings have many paintings on them, making it colorful.

At the school my woman has lots of work: rearranging all the stuff to travel to Salt Lake City tomorrow. No tenting tonight… sleeping in the gym. Our last night with CA!

Thursday, July 24th: Beaver Dam, WI or … Monsanto headquarters and a wonderful bike shop!

Oops, it’s chilly out this morning! My woman decides to make a short detour to the center of Baraboo. She wants to know what the deal is with this circus.  

Baraboo is the capitol of the circus – the first circus here! Back on the route we soon have to use our muscles to climb. We have to pass one of those weird looking extraterrestrial things and I hope no arms will jump out of it and grab us! 

 We get a great descent – this time into Devil’s Lake State Park. I feel so happy here: I can go for a swim! 

There are no other cyclists around anymore… too cold for them to swim. Even my boss doesn’t go into the water. I enjoy the ride along the lake – so early in the morning. I feel my woman is a bit nervous about being in the woods by herself… But I’m here to protect her. A short climb takes us out of the State Park – too bad! Just a little bit further we meet Shaun: he’s trying to figure out how he can cycle to Beaver Dam directly instead of along CA’s country roads. My woman doesn’t want to leave these roads – there is hardly any traffic! Hey look… the road ends… in the water! 

 Luckily there is a ferry which can bring us across Lake Wisconsin. It’s a short ride and it’s free. Once on the other side my woman reads the sign: 30 miles to Madison… Oh… we so close to old friend Augie! But will she be home? We stay on the CA-route and follow the arrows which take us on a great rollercoaster ride. Well, I see that my woman has to work to get to each top of the hill, so it’s not really rolling, this Richard Road. 

Just before US 51 my woman takes a right turn. And guess what she sees just across from the picnic station: a Monsanto headquarters.

 The town of Arlington is small and that’s why it’s so amazing they have this fully equipped bicycle shop. We are now cycling between the cornfields again. 

Way up ahead I see someone weaving from left to right and from right to left. “Hurry up woman, I want to see if you can catch this person and I’m curious who it is from our group”. Boy – the weaving is very bad… At last my woman reaches this person: it’s not someone from our group – it’s a young woman who is using a kind of “step-bike”. My woman is amazed at the pace the girl gets. It must be hard to stand all the time, never being able to sit once on a saddle! Well, here we have to make a left turn – nice talking to you! We are alone again and very soon my woman sees a nice grassy field where she’s going to take a nap! It takes a while before the Shuli-woman catches up with us. Now we’re going to stay together. There is no Kwik Trip around and they decide to keep on going. The detour brings us along an old schoolhouse – with graffiti on it! They have a dilemma: drink something at a gas station or go to the ice-cream shop in Beaver Dam? They decide to do both! At the ice cream shop they even get a free drink! The school in Beaver Dam is not that far now. My woman has vague memories of this town, but she cannot really place them. It was another nice day on the bicycle!