The trip out of the Twin Cities was uneventful but sentimental, since I passed a lot of landmarks I remembered from five years ago when Victoria took me along on her Urban Geography assignment.

Today was very cool -- 50s F -- and cloudy, but thankfully the rain held off all day. I'm expecting rain tonight. I was comfortable in a T-shirt as long as I was moving but got very chilly whenever I stopped.

The route through Minnesota was almost entirely bike path, and through Wisconsin it was all marked "BIKE ROUTE." I didn't think much of this bike route when it first started, because it led me up a hill steeper than any I'd hoped to climb... with no shoulder! But after that it was fine.

Willow River State Park is very nice, clean and quiet. I had sweet corn from a farm stand with my dinner, and it was so sweet it tasted like dessert.

Total distance: 38.65 mi. See map

This morning my left knee still hurt from yesterday's ride, enough that I was tempted to rest a day before continuing on. I paused at the exit of the state park to consider this, but finally I decided that if I was going to rest a day, Menomonie would be a better place to do it. Fortunately my knee stopped hurting after a few miles.



The rain that started last night continued as drizzle all day, but little more than that. It looks like I won't be able to see the Perseids tonight, but I'm just glad the rain wasn't more intense.



Many of the county and state highways I rode on today were marked with the "BIKE ROUTE" signs I saw yesterday, but if there's a comprehensive guide to where these routes go I haven't found it.



Anyway, the road into Menomonie was very nice, following a stream bed. When I reached town, the head of the trail I'll take tomorrow was very easy to find, and it connected up with a city bike trail that went exactly where I wanted to go: the library. :-)



Unfortunately the road from the library to the campgrounds north of town was longer and hillier than I had expected. By the time I got to the closer campground I had decided to stay here even though the farther one was probably nicer, because the farther one was 1.5 miles farther and I didn't feel that I could make it. So I paid more than I expected for a not-so-nice place, but it'll do.

Total distance: 44.6 mi

I realized while making camp last night that I wouldn't have enough water for breakfast, so I decided to ride into Alma first thing in the morning and get a hot breakfast.  What a luxury!



I followed WI 35, which is part of the Great River Road, down the Mississippi for most of the day.  Although it carries a lot of traffic, it has nice wide, clean shoulders to ride on.  Just past the enormous Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, I entered Perrot State Park near the trailhead of the Great River State Trail.  I had to decide whether to stay at the park (even though it wasn't yet 4 PM) or continue down the trail to Onalaska and La Crosse and hope for other campgrounds there.



After talking with a ranger, I decided to stay at the park for a number of reasons: the campground nearest La Crosse is currently cut off by road construction; all the errands I need to run can be done in Onalaska, which is closer to the trail, so that I could do both Great River and La Crosse River trails in one day, saving on trail passes; and an early afternoon meant that I could thoroughly dry out the camping gear for a change.



Perrot State Park is enormous!  The campground alone is bigger than a lot of state parks in Minnesota, say, along the north shore of Lake Superior.  And like Willow River, it's very well maintained.  I'm beginning to like Wisconsin...



Speaking of which, I bought a ripe muskmelon along the roadside this afternoon along with the fourth straight day of sweet corn.  Mmmm.

Total distance: 34.87 mi

This morning  I left Perrot state park and followed the Great River State Trail into Onalaska, just north of La Crosse. The ranger told me a Target there was my best bet for 1-hour photo developing.  I wasn't ready for the experience of re-entering "civilization" (essentially suburbia).  It was a nightmare!  After getting only half my errands done in over 2 hours I gave up and headed east on the La Crosse River State Trail.



Just east of La Crosse I found a little town where I thought I could stop and find a phone line suitable for my modem, and I found one in a little computer store that just opened last week.  I talked shop with the proprietor and she let me send the e-mail I'd been storing up on my Visor.



The La Crosse River State Trail is about as flat as it could be, except that it follows the river, so I was going slightly uphill all afternoon.  Very tiring on an essentially dirt road.  I got a personal recommendation from another cyclist for a campground where I'd been planning on heading tonight anyway, but instead I decided to check out the "walk-in" campground east of Sparta.  It's for cyclists and pedestrians only (being on the trail), it's totally unstaffed, and tonight it's totally empty except for me and the critters.  I had to scare off a pair of eyes from my tent while I type this -- probably a raccoon, I'm guessing.  This is much more special than any private campground.



There was a bunch of firewood collected at my site, so I tried my best to start a fire, first using just matches and kindling, then using my bike lube as lighter fluid, but no luck.

Total distance: 41.86 mi