Sights, people, and beers from my big bike tour across the country
Yep, you saw that right. I’m in Canada! Tonight will actually be the first overnight I’ve ever spent in Ontario, and today marked my first-ever visits to Ontario breweries. (To be sure, this trip also included my first-ever visits to Wisconsin breweries, but somehow that seems less impressive.)
Today was sure jam packed. When I thought back to this morning to organize this post, it already seemed like a distant memory.
Surprise, surprise, I had trouble getting up this morning. Hit the road at 7:40 under 100% humidity. How do I know it was 100% humidity? Because the Kalamazoo area was engulfed in fog.
Continue reading “Day 24: Kalamazoo, MI to Ann Arbor, MI”
This is probably my last off day for a while. Assuming my body holds up and I have a favorable wind, my plan is to get to Rochester by Saturday night.
So for those of you who aren’t aware, part of the reason I come to Kalamazoo— besides the craft beer scene, of course— is that I bought a couple of investment properties here 6 years ago and need to check on them at least annually. Honestly, it’s a pretty good deal. The properties are paying for themselves, and I can take a tax-deductible beer vacation in Kalamazoo once a year. (No, I don’t deduct the beer from my taxes. Sheesh.)
Continue reading “Interlude: More Kalamazoo breweries, and some Kalamazoo properties”
Yes, Virginia, there really is a Kalamazoo, and I am there. It also happens to be the beer capital of the Midwest, in terms of most breweries per capita. (By this measure, Portland, ME is the beer capital of the Northeast; Asheville, NC is the beer capital of the South; Bend, OR is the beer capital of the West Coast; and Boulder, CO is the beer capital of the Mountain West.) But enough with the beer for the moment. I should start with the biking.
After nearly a week, we finally have a new state!
I got up around 8, said goodbye to Katie just after 9, and hit the road to bike the 25 miles into southern Milwaukee to catch the ferry. The first dozen miles were on a combination of local roads and bike paths through Waukesha County. At about 12 miles, I got on US-18 for a couple of miles. This is noteworthy only because Google was going to extreme lengths to try to keep me off US-18, but in fact there was a bus-and-bike-only lane, so it’s quite a good road to bike on despite being major. (And there wasn’t exactly much traffic on a Saturday morning.)
I have a dilemma for what to blog about: Since I haven’t been on my bike for the last two days, how much do I focus on the beers, and how much do I talk about exploring greater Milwaukee in general? Either way, I have a lot of photos to make up for the lack of photos in my last post.
Continue reading “Interlude: Breweries and more in Greater Milwaukee”It’s a good thing I’m taking a couple of days off in the Milwaukee area, because I’ve been having a more and more difficult time getting going with each passing day. Today I didn’t hit the road until 9:15. Fortunately I also knew it would be a short day.
Today started inauspiciously. Once again I snoozed my alarm, which I’d originally set for 6, and I woke up feeling a bit sore. Wound up getting up at 6:20 and hitting the road at 7:50. I really need to get better about early starts so I can take more advantage of the cool morning weather.
Continue reading “Day 20: Richland Center, WI to Madison, WI”
This is probably going to be one of my shorter entries. I woke up at 6 feeling totally wiped. I reset my alarm for 6:15 and was still totally wiped. It probably had something to do with really pushing myself yesterday.
Continue reading “Day 19: La Crosse, WI to Richland Center, WI”
Aaand we have a new state and my 4th century ride of this trip!
Given the storm-shortened ride yesterday, I knew I was in for a long ride today because I really wanted to make it as far as La Crosse. So turning over a new leaf, I dragged myself out of bed before 6, ate a couple of bowls of cereal at the hotel’s free breakfast, and managed to hit the road at 7:15. Baby steps. A short ride brought me into downtown Red Wing, and from there I got on the US-63 bridge to Wisconsin.
Ben's Adventures Across America (and a bit of Canada too!)