Waking up I could already feel the chill in the air. I knew I was lucky the first two days when I was riding in the sun with temps hovering around 75°. Today was a different story as I saw my first snowflakes of the year.
With 54 miles scheduled, and a lack of any real fitness base, I could feel it in my legs. I knew quickly that I should have brought warmer gloves as my hands had never warmed up from packing my gear. I stopped when I found the first store I could stop in hoping to find a pair of warmer gloves, no gloves but Kelly's Coffee was open so I splurged on a vanilla latte. Holding a hot cup of coffee is one way to warm up. It was just a little further down the way when I found the Cenex Market Place and they had everything you could need. I grabbed a pair of 1.99 stretchy gloves that could go over my riding gloves, a breakfast sandwich, another cup of coffee, filled the bottles up with a bit of Gatorade and ventured on
Around mile seven you'll see the route creates a short out and back. About 3/4 of a mile off the main course is Bathtub Springs, a natural spring that flows into an old bathtub just sitting off to the side of the road. I set up the tripod and camera and grabbed some pictures. There wasn't really a need for it but I topped off my bottles before getting back to the task at hand of riding. These little things are what make the experience even more fun.
There were also some challenging climbs. I almost had to hike a bike on the gravel climb at mile 22, the near 13 percent grade and loose gravel had me doing my best to keep the wheel down and the bike straight. A lack of concentration or trying to fiddle with your computer would certainly have you spinning out and then walking from there. I used the top as an opportunity to down my beef and cheese sticks as well as my packet of Nutter Butters (the best cookie in my book).
At about mile marker 27 you'll start venturing your way into Sidie Hollow. Sidie Hollow offers you several singletrack options though I opted to skip most of the mountain bike trails, staying closer to the lake for sake of making time. That said I did catch a little double track as I traversed right along the lakefront. If I had more time I could see stopping here to camp and then riding the mountain bike trails with less gear.
There is a decent climb out of Sidie Hollow but you are not far from Viroqua at this point and there is a bit more singletrack, that I did ride, as you come into town. The weather was again turning colder, and the skies were overcast but I still managed to sneak in a couple of tacos and a margarita at Pacifico Mexican grill.
From that point on it was a grind in the weather and wind. I just kept my head down and pushed on. I started to see a variety of lifestyles when I got passed by a Tesla and then as I battled a headwind I was passed by a horse and buggy. A lot of Amish/Mennonite homes dotted the route today, many of whom were out working their fields or cutting firewood.
Riding through lots of farmland I made it to La Farge for the night. The city campground has electrical for all the sites as well as paid showers, but I opted to rather setup camp and hustle into town only to find the one restaurant had closed early for the day. So, it was down the block to the gas station, which to their credit, did have fried chicken and to go beers so I grabbed what I could before venturing back to eat dinner at camp and settle into my tent for the night.
