Tour 2015 – Day 33: Decorah to Winona

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Trout Run Trail, Decorah

On Tuesday morning, we got on the trail early, stopping for breakfast at Java John’s Coffee downtown, then riding out past the fish hatchery to milepost 6, where the Trout Run Trail begins to climb more steeply, making a fast return through the city for a 25.6km ride.

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Downhill is faster than uphill. This run of 25.7km/hr (16mph) raised the average speed to 17.4km/hr (11mph) for the 27.4km (16 mile) ride.

We left the campground after our ride and headed east to continue our tour of the Mississippi River Valley into Minnesota, where the nearly deserted two-lane scenic road turned into a 4-lane highway, US 61, connecting La Crosse, Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota, following the Mississippi to Minneapolis. We stopped at the Winona visitor center and were directed to the city campground, on Prairie Island. Unlike the well-groomed city tourist campground in Decorah, Prairie Island is a frequently-flooded riverfront camp with a fair complement of semi-permanent residents. Nevertheless, we had a pleasant evening, with the nearly-deserted tent camping area lit by a full moon.

Mississippi River, near the Iowa/Minnesota border.
Mississippi River, near the Iowa/Minnesota border.

Tour 2015 – Day 32: Madison to Decorah

DSCF0699Monday, we bid adieu to family and headed back toward Iowa.  We decided we needed a tour  of the Mississippi River on the way, so we drove to Dubuque, then north on the scenic route, including a stop at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam #10 to watch barges pass through the locks on the way upstream to be reloaded.

DSCF0698Arriving at Decorah, we grabbed lunch and then scouted out the city campground, which was conveniently located on a spur trail near the famous Trout Run Trail that we came to ride.

DSCF0697We decided that early  morning would be better, when we were fresh, and turned in early, our first tent camping adventure since August 2013.

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Tour 2015 – Day 31: Family Bike Ride, Madison

On the bike trails in Madison.
On the bike trails in Madison.

Sunday dawned clear and cool: Matt, CJ, and we oldsters drove down to Olin Park on Lake Monona to ride our bikes out through the UW Arboretum and then north and down the Southeast Trail back to the park, a total of 19.5 km, with 95 meters of climbing.  Most of the ride was on bike trails and the Arboretum roads, but in between were several residential streets with no bike lanes and a vague idea of the general direction to go.

Across Monona Bay.
Across Monona Bay.

We had ridden the Southeast Trail two years ago, so that was familiar, but the rest was new.  Matt’s bike was misadjusted so that he couldn’t shift into the large chainring, and CJ hasn’t yet been schooled in the art of distance cycling, so we were able to pull ahead often, then slow to a leisurely pace to wait for them to catch up.  This wasn’t a long ride, but did prove our hill-climbing ability, with long but not steep hills.

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“The guys,” playing with “sinky toys” in the pool.

After our ride, we lounged by the pool at Matt’s apartment complex, and Ashley and Travis joined us for a barbecue.  A long day in the sun, but most pleasant, surrounded by family.

Screenshot from 2015-06-01 18:30:23