Northern Tier Day #26 Monona, IA to La Crosse, WI
Northern Tier Day #26
June 15, 2019
Monona, IA to La Crosse, WI 81 Miles
Ride Time 6:25
Tour Total 2080 Miles
I slept ok in my tent on the concrete slab under the pavilion at the closed and under renovation Veterans Memorial Park in Monona. I set up under the pavilion last night instead of on the grass because rain had been forecast. It never rained.
As I’d learned beforehand, the park and pavilion were being reconstructed. I had to drag my bike across a big rut to reach the pavilion. I didn’t notice the Park Closed sign until this morning. The park was near the highway, and there was a lot of traffic and noise. As usual, the birds started chirping early. I was startled when I got up to use the porta-potty and saw a soldier approaching. I then realized it was a realistically painted sculpture commemorating a veteran. All of these small towns have veterans memorials. Wouldn’t it be better and easier instead to have no more wars?
I didn’t shower last night and I’m wearing the same clothing as yesterday. I’m no longer at cleanliness level 1. Also, there was nowhere for me to recharge my devices. Last night after dinner, on my way to the park, my odometer flipped to 2000. I’m getting close to the halfway mark.
First thing, after packing up this morning, I stopped at the Casey’s right across the street from the park. I had an egg and sausage biscuit, a Starbucks Frappuccino, and an orange juice. There were Air Force recruiting cards at my table and I thought about those sculptures. Then I thought about all the current brouhaha in Iran. No more wars.
The air was cool and it was a little hazy. There were no clouds in the sky. I had seen stars last night when I went to use the porta-potty. The countryside smelled like animal poo. Winds were from the southwest. Showers were forecast for the afternoon.
The black birds sitting on the telephone wires were making clicking noises. They didn’t know I was listening. As usual my cycling gloves were wet and disgusting. The landscape curves weren’t as sexy as yesterday.
The bartender at J&R’s last night had grown up and spent her entire life in Monona. She worked just 5 miles down the road from her home. She had been to the Spook Cave and the Field of Dreams, but she had never been to Dyersville to see the Basilica, which struck me as odd.
Abdullah Zeinab is halfway across Kentucky at mile marker 3446 in the Trans Am self-supported race across America. He’s averaging 260 miles a day, and remarkably won’t break the record.
I passed a lot of dead raccoons that have been hit by cars, one of them quite recent. I’ve only seen dead raccoons on the tour. I haven’t seen a live one since the night of my launch party when I was taking out the trash on my street in Brooklyn.
It’s really tricky to stop because of the bugs. If I want to take a photo or remove my sweater, I will be devoured by thousands of gnats. I came to a sign with a truck on a triangle ramp, which could only mean one thing! I rode down the hill off the ridge and down into the Mississippi valley. The first town was Marquette. Across the river was Prairie du Chien which is pronounced Prairie du Sheen. I thought that I saw a prairie dog yesterday but didn’t think they lived this far east.
I pedaled down around and under the bridge leading to Wisconsin. I continued riding north along the Mississippi River. There were majestic limestone bluffs to my left and to my right was a small shoulder with a steep drop down to a train track and then the river. There was a flashing sign that warned Falling Rocks Ahead. The river was definitely swollen. I could see submerged trees.
My reptile expert on Crazy Guy identified yesterday's roadkill as a rat snake. It truly is a team effort. I appreciate all the help.
Whenever I'm cycling long stretches with a rock face on one side of the road and a steep drop to the other, I always prefer to be on the rock face side. Today I wasn’t so lucky. I stopped to talk to a man about a historical marker. He told me a story about a couple of cyclists who camped near the marker a couple of years ago. One of them left his marijuana and wallet behind. The man tracked the guy down and sent him his wallet. There was just enough money in the wallet to cover the $6 postage. Aside from leaving my phone at the Hamburg Inn, I’ve been pretty good about keeping track of all my things.
I stopped at the Effigy Mounds National Monument visitor Center but it wasn’t yet open. So I continued down the road. I pedaled up a nice long steep hill out of Marquette. There was a rumble strip in the shoulder. I’d rather have a hill than a headwind any day of the week. I was pedaling 4.7 miles an hour and the gnats could keep up with me. One flew in my mouth and I swallowed it. Everybody was towing boats today, ostensibly down to the river to go fishing.
I climbed back up out of the valley and onto the ridge again, only to take a right on County Road X52 and back down to the river. That uphill was a work out! I kept seeing signs that I was on the bicycle MRT, the Mississippi River Trail. I’m also on the National Scenic Great River Road. On the way down the hill the gnats all went splat into my face.
At Waukon Junction I rejoined the railroad track and the river. There were massive bluffs along the river. All the houses and mobile homes that I passed were on stilts. None of them had been flooded.
I stopped at Barry’s Mini Mart in Harpers Ferry where I purchased powdered donuts and a Gatorade. Where I was sitting out front, I realized there were thousands of dead winged insects everywhere on the pavement. They were a little smaller than dragonflies, and definitely reminded me of the Mormon Crickets from last summer in western Idaho.
Since I was on the MBT bike trail there was a nice shoulder on County Road X52 coming out of Harpers Ferry. I had another big hill to climb and the gnats were catching me. I was on the Driftless Area Scenic Byway.
There wasn’t much cell phone service today. Whenever the route cut away from the river, it meant uphills and downhills. Suddenly the bike lane ended and there was no shoulder. I’ve primarily had a concrete surface today, combed crossways. The hills are really beautiful here. They remind me of Vermont or Kentucky. It’s definitely not stereotypical Iowa.
On Great River Road I passed dozens of motorcyclists going the other way. There was a massive coal-fired power plant just outside of Lansing. Lansing was a nice little town with bed-and-breakfasts and cafés. There was a bridge that went to Wisconsin, and there were marinas and lots of fishermen.
I heard a loud strange noise behind me that didn’t quite sound like a truck. Then I realized a freight train was coming on the track I had been paralleling. I hadn’t been sure if it was an active track or not. I saw a lot of flat cars that were carrying massive amounts of steel. I couldn’t help but think of the sculptor Richard Serra. The thick steel pieces were as long and wide as the cars.
The train and I shared the ride for a couple of minutes. It must’ve been 2 miles long, and then it was gone. A posse of Corvettes then passed me on the road. There were about a dozen of every color. I stopped to apply more sunscreen.
Coming into New Albin I crossed over the Upper Iowa River, and it seemed like a nice valley. At the bridge three mischievous teenage boys in swimming suits hopped over a jersey barrier and screeched as their bare feet hit the scorching pavement. They glanced for motorized traffic and then quickly ran out onto the middle of the bridge. I wonder what they were doing.
Many town welcome signs post their high school baseball team standings. New Albin won the state championship many times. I stopped at City Meat Market and Grocery where I ordered a smoked ham and Swiss cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, along with a Gatorade. I told the person making my sandwich that it was my last meal in Iowa. People at the grocery store were talking about the rain forecast for this afternoon. My goal was to get to my destination before it started.
Just a mile out of town I crossed the border. The Minnesota sign was the most handsome I’d experienced so far. It was a large wooden sign hanging from a stone column surrounded by a terraced stone pedestal. There was a pull-in area for motor vehicles and an information kiosk. Kudos Minnesota!
I entered the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. So far Minnesota wins the award for least manicured grass to the side of the road. It doesn’t appear to have been trimmed all season. To be honest I prefer this over the severe trims of Ohio and Indiana. There were wonderful large hills to the left that I didn’t have to climb and the swollen Mississippi to my right, with a train track in between.
I got the sense that the thing to do here on Saturday is to drive your fancy car down the highway. Whether it’s a sports car or a classic, people are out for a drive and showing off. The gorgeous limestone bluffs were incredible. Minnesota offers a lot of scenic overlooks and wildlife viewing stations.
The campground in Brownsville looked a little sketchy to me. It was right down on the river, and filled with campers and trailers. It was probably buggy. The food and bar options in town didn’t look stellar, so I decided to go 10 more miles and head over the bridge to La Crosse Wisconsin. There I could get a hotel where I could clean up and return to level one. I was trying to beat the rain, and it was going to be close.
I was on Minnesota State Highway 26 and at County Road 7 I started noticing hand painted cyclist pavement markings. This meant that I was on active cyclist route. Coming into La Crescent I noticed a freight train approaching from the north. There was only one track, and it seemed like the same engines as earlier. This train was was much shorter and without the steel.
La Crescent is the apple capital of Minnesota. I passed several apple stands but, it being out of season, didn’t see any offerings.
I rode over the bridge across the Mississippi, and the Wisconsin border sign eclipsed Minnesota's. I did a quick circuit around LaCrosse, which is a college town. I made it to my hotel about 30 minutes before the rain started. I showered, shaved, lubed my chain, and did laundry. I’m back at cleanliness level #1.
I ended up at the Bodega Brew Pub, which billed itself as cyclist friendly. I ordered several Totally Naked lagers by New Glarus Brewing Company, along with numerous fish tacos and a Cuban sandwich.
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