Day 27

Blue sky. A sight for sore eyes.

Had a strange dream last night. Dreamt that in order to get to Hayward I had to take another ferry. Somehow I took the ferry and when I got off, found myself in a very remote location. Had to ford a raging river, climb up a trail on a slope with deep mud, and decend down a jagged scree slope on the other side. When I found the road again I was met by a current classmate (who will not be named here) but no one I've been thinking about lately.  We rode together down the road which they seemed to know well, past towns which had been completely abandoned and overgrown. The weeds, as tall as men, sprung up in straight lines along the cracks in the pavement. Perhaps a premonition for things to come on my journey....

Dan and Jeanne serve me up a breakfast of Kings. Pancakes and sausage.  Filled to my gills for the second time in but 12 hours, I hopped on the bike once again and said farewell.

Back to Butternut and Beyond! (The title of my next book...) I cruised through Glidden and arrived in Clam Lake before long. Sitting on a stoop and chewing on dried fruit there in the shade, two fellows rolled in looking like cross country tourists (we're not too hard to pick out).  Turns out they're doing pretty much the same route as I, but in the opposite direction. They had left May 15th, and they were very tan. We exchanged cards, and the instant bond of fellow bicycle tourists was cemented. As it happened they were off to stay with my previous hosts that very night.

Another very long stretch of straight and well paved CCC Highway through the Northlands of Wisconsin.

Excellently pink and purple flowers along the way. If anyone knows what these are, do tell.

Riding on those long roads its amazing how little things can occupy your mind for what seems like ages. Excellent for meditation and deep thinking but it can drive you a bit mad.

The trees of gotten smaller but the bugs have gotten bigger. Some of them look like they belong in Jurassic Park. They like to do loops around me as I ride. Twice today one of the big ones smacked me somewhere on the face. Feels like someone threw an eraser at you, and they make the sound of a small plane dive-bombing straight for you before they hit. Kinda hurt, but was more shocking than anything.

Stopped for a break along the Chippewa River. Read a historical plaque which said that the spot was host to a bloody Indian ambush in the fall of 1790. A force of 700 Sioux traveling up river in 200 canoes was ambushed by the Chippewa for invading their lands. Not half of the Sioux escaped alive. They never went that far north again.

Finally around 4:30, I pulled into Hayward, my goal for the day, and home to legendary birkebeiner, an infamous 50k xc-ski race.

Downtown I found a bike store as I was looking for a fender. After the rains the other day and expecting more tomorrow, I figured it might reduce some of the up-spray and crud build-up on Breezey's gears. They didn't have the fender but the local kid working there knew of a place I might be able to camp for the night (something I always ask when I go into a store).  Luckily the bike and ski store on the other end of town had the fender, and I went and grabbed it before they closed. Might save me some grief in the future.

The tip from the kid was good. I didn't find a fire ring like he thought might be there, but sure enough, right below the dam on the river was a canoe Portage. God love these Northern people and their canoes.

It was well enough out of sight, and with water right there I had little to complain about. I set up camp quick, readying for tomorrow's forecasted storm (though you wouldn't know it with the fine evening weather).

Whipped up the first asian-inspired meal of the trip- that meaning it involved white rice and two packets of soy sauce. A bell pepper in the last of the sausage provided the oomf.

Here's to another day in the bag!