Started a day early because of the weather forecast. I had to be back in Minnesota yesterday and then back to Wausau, WI today so the trip started today with 200 miles in the wrong direction. Instead of going back home after getting done for the day, I headed straight south so not to be stuck in the snow tomorrow.
I purposely targeted Cedar Rapids, IA so that I'd branch West just before Madison, WI which would have been better had I managed to leave by 4 as planned instead of 6pm as required by the days duties.
But, like my group of motorcycle dorks from the 1990's always said, "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong." (Things often went wrong.)
About 10 miles off the freeway, the Google Maps voice in my head stopped talking. I still had "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo keeping me company but no guidance when the road forked. Luckily my 28 year old self had vivid memories of running these same alphabet roads from 25 years ago and I recognized where I was after taking a number of random roads for a bit trying to maintain a general Southwesterly direction.
It was eerie running through a gray/white/black washed-out landscape with bare branched trees and salt strewn pavement as the sun dimmed out behind a sky of solid clouds. While I could still see, memories superimposed the brilliant blue sky and bright green fields from the last romp through these same roads. 30 minutes latter and a fade to black had the world reduced to an illuminated 30 feet of pavement with no knowledge of what lay beyond. Not the right time of day for frequent turns with signs recommending sub-40mph.
I glimpsed taillights a few miles ahead and risked overrunning my lights for a bit to catch up. The next few hours gave me time to think up "4 wheeled rolling lanterns" as I took advantage of the 4 wheeled rolling lanterns illuminating my way through pitch black back roads and unlit Wisconsin county highways.
When I reached Dubuque, Iowa the winds were whipping up and snow felt imminent so I'm stopped for the night. Google Maps says 24 hours to go which is just 1 hour better than the estimate if I started from home in Woodbury MN. But from here I should have just wet roads in the morning vs. the miles wide band of 6 to 8 inch snow accumulation predicted for most of Southwest Minnesota.
I thoroughly enjoyed today's ride but did take too much risk in the dark. I'll be sticking to daylight rides the rest of the way, if possible.
Day 1: 435.2 miles
Later,
Kent Larson from Dubuque IA
