Dairyland

We tried to make it from Chicago to Milwaukee in a day. For some reason that didn't work out. We stayed in Racine, Wisconsin, on a trail in a nature preserve. It was our sketchiest spot yet, but we had no trouble.

We got to Milwaukee in the early afternoon and went to SummerFest, an 11-day cheap festival. George Clinton was ridiculous and awesome.



We stayed with a Warm Showers host—too bad we didn't get to hang out much after the concert.

Wisconsin is full of bike trails, so we rode one toward Madison. We stopped at a couple bike shops on the way. Trailside Bicycles (?) hooked me up with a double kickstand. The Bike Doctor (or his evil evil alter-ego Doktor Bike) fixed my headset real quick, fixed Mike's pedal, and offered us free beers at the shop bar.



What a beautiful morning at Indian Lake.



In Madison we also had a WS host, a nice guy with a young family. They treated us to beers and barbecue, and in the evening we went out to watch a huge fireworks show from across the lake.

We rode on along Wisconsin's bike trail system, stopping by a few farms. We couldn't buy any raw milk because it's illegal, but one farmer grudgingly gave us a bit of free milk, since her elderly mother said we could have it.

The trails were mainly hard-packed gravel. Our steel frames and 32c tires held up nicely, so we were barely slowed down. My chain just sounds like a dying whale now. One of the trails went through some pitch black train tunnels. I will post a video of one soon!

We just got off the trails today, saw the great river, and expect to be in the Twin Cities tomorrow.

Oh, and there's this: