Day 2 - Lake Mills to Sauk City

Route
Lake Mills, WI to Sauk City, WI - 56 miles

For details of today's route, click here.

Weather
Sky condition:  Clear
Temperature:  58 - 78
Visibility:  Unlimited
Precipitation:  None
Wind:  Light and variable

Significant Events
Hit 33.9 mph, but Ileana hit 34!

Today's Song(s)
"I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Weiner" - Advertisement
"Roadrunner" - Cartoon theme

Wildlife Observed
Very large turtle
Wild turkey
Rabbits
Chipmunks

Today's Ride

We stayed last night at the home of WarmShowers host's, Georgia and Phil.  They are very nice and friendly folks who are really into bikes. I went to put our bikes in their garage last night and it made me realize that I'm not as big a bike fanatic as some. Phil had at least 20 bikes, many vintage. At least one was from the 1930s.

Turns out Phil used to race back in the 60s and 70s. He was an avid cyclist and has climbed L'Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux several times, as well as ridden stages of the Tour De France, the Tour de Flanders, and the Paris-Roubaix (not as a racer though). He has also done numerous competitive cross country ski events.  Unfortunately, last year while cycling in France, he suffered a severe stroke which has left him partially paralyzed on his left side. Although he can't ride yet, he still loves to talk cycling and it was s great pleasure to talk about cycling with him.

We started the morning with breakfast and coffee. We got a slightly later start than we wanted, but not to worry. We got the Glacial-Drumlin trail and headed toward Madison. Yesterday, we had noticed that there were hundreds of holes in this trail, and they were from the literally thousands of chipmunks that populate the trail. Some would scurry away, some would escape down the holes, and a few just sat there bravely and watched us ride by mere feet away.

Chipmunk hole

We also saw the strangest turtle we've ever seen. We called it a "dragon turtle". He was huge, and had an interesting tail that looked like a dragon's tail. He watched us ride by, turning to keep us in his sight. I had to stop and get a photo...

The Dragon Turtle

We got to Sauk City at a decent time. We're averaging about 11.5 mph. I guess that's not too bad for loaded touring.

Los Dos Centavos de Ileana

So far, people in Wisconsin have been really friendly. They are so friendly that I'm apprehensive to stop for a break. Because people will just stop and ask (with a very foreign accent) where are we going and then proceed to tell us about their own adventures too. One guy rode next to us to tell us all about his riding in the past and the present!

Today we stopped for lunch at what is supposed to be an interesting place. It's called Ella's and the theme is "a carnival".  This place had dozens and dozens of carnival characters and other things hanging from the walls and the ceiling.  Each table was like a shadow box frame and they contained even more stuff!  Some of the characters were kind of creepy to me. It reminded me of the movie Chucky...see exhibit A!!!  This kind of thing probably gives some children nightmares!

Creepy!