(Wed, 6/11/25; 51 miles, 1463 feet of climb)
We rode FAST today. Now that we no longer have the young boys with us, the older boys really let loose. And we made it to the famous Sparta-Elroy Trail, and got to swim in a POOL!
Micah woke us up at 6am again, and we were on the road at 7:05. But first we had to say goodbye to the Scouts who would not be coming with us: Paxton, Ayden, and young Zach. They had never done a long trip before, and did a great job pedaling 172 miles over the first fours days, with their camping gear hauled in the troop trailer.
Older Zach also went home today, but he had already proved his mettle on the 438-mile self-contained DORCOBIRD last year.
The rest of us diehards took our last chance to toss our heavier gear onto the troop trailer, and set forth for the last three days of MADBIRD with only the gear we could carry on our bikes.
With this freedom, the older boys — Micah, Lucius, and Henry — took off like a shot this morning. I managed to keep up for those first five miles, but my heart rate seemed unsustainable for 50 miles. It reminded me of stories of people sprinting the first two miles of a marathon.
Mercifully, they slowed the pace a bit for the next nine miles. We stopped at a Kwik Trip in West Salem to eat breakfast sandwiches. Everyone seemed to like the practice of biking right after waking up and then stopping for breakfast in 14 miles, since we need a break anyway, so we’re going to try that again tomorrow.
Another 16 miles later we hit Sparta, the self-proclaimed “Bicycle Capital of America.” This is the start of the Sparta-Elroy Trail, built from old railroad tracks from a century ago. We walked our bikes through two tunnels today, one of which was very long, very dark, and dripping wet.
We took one more quick stop in Norwalk, then got to the campground in Wilton around 2pm. This afforded us time to set up our tents and soak in the public swimming pool for a while, which felt great when the temperature hit 80°.
This was the first time in years that we’ve gotten to use a pool on a bike trip — two years ago, on SWISBIRD, it was too cold to swim in Wilton or the Dells. And the Durand pool was not open yet. This year, the Durand pool is under construction and opening in one week.
My son Simon taught Lucius how to dive for the first time. I probably should mention Simon — he is a 25-year-old Eagle Scout who is the reason we can even do the trip this year. No other dads could bike on this trip, so Simon volunteered to save the trip by coming along. He has biked the entire Pacific Coast from Canada to Mexico, so he has a wealth of experience.
Then to put icing on the cake, my BROTHER, Jim, suddenly became available and joined us as well. Jim has ridden multiple bike trips of over 1000 miles, and has even done bike racing. And he is a great mechanic to boot. So he’s an MVP of MADBIRD.
Anyway, after swimming and washing our clothes in the sink, we walked over to the Hitching Post at 4:30 for an early supper. There are no grocery stores or other restaurants in Wilton, so we are grateful that this lone bar serves food.
The expected rain started falling at 7:45 pm, leading to the earliest bedtime ever. The forecast is for a miserable day of rain all day tomorrow, on top of rare headwinds from the east. It’s also our longest mileage day of the trip.
But I think we are ready to handle some adversity again after two very pleasant days.
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “MADBIRD” = Madison Bike Ride, my own nickname for a bike ride from our home in Chippewa Falls, WI, down the Chippewa River to Pepin, then down the Mississippi River to La Crosse, then over the Sparta-Elroy Trail to Devil’s Lake and Madison, WI. Nine Scouts and three adult leaders from Boy Scout Troop 72 started out the trip (http://www.troop72.com).
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):