Brian Richardson
On a typical morning when our alarms go off we lay in silence for a while before starting to pack up. This “snooze” period gives us time to relax and mentally prepare for a busy day, and it ends not with another alarm but with the sound of the first sleeping pad deflating.
Today, however, was not a typical morning, and within two seconds of my alarm going off I heard a chorus of Happy Birthday outside my tent. I unzipped my rainfly to see Michael, Friend, and Usher singing and holding a blueberry muffin complete with lit birthday candles. They had apparently also woken up in the middle of the night to gift-wrap my bike.
After I opened my present and had a wonderful breakfast of blueberry muffins and donut holes, Friend clipped his speaker to my bike and turned on a playlist of mostly explicit birthday-related songs. We weaved along the shore of Lake Chetac and watched morning sun peak through retreating clouds to burn last night’s rain drops off of maidenhair ferns while 2 Chainz sang about what exactly he wanted for his birthday. I can’t think of a better way to start my 25th year—thanks Michael and Jacobs!
Brian wakes up to his first day of being 25
The roads in Wisconsin so far have reminded me a lot of those around Carrboro, NC, where I live and bike often. Both have forests of oak, maple, pine, beech, and poplar punctuated by corn fields and dairy farms and just enough hills to keep you honest. Several spots on today’s ride brought to mind my favorite Carrboro segments: Borland, Morrow Mill, and Damascus Church. Reminding us that we were not in fact in the NC piedmont were the Tamaracks and Aspens and Wisconsin’s myriad lakes. June is peak season for northern Wisconsin’s wildflowers, and most of our route today was lined with bluebonnets, daisies, and wood lilies.
Some northern Wisconsin flora
For lunch we stopped at the Farmstead Creamery and Cafe. Here we supplemented our usual tortillas with freshly picked salad greens and Wisconsin pepper jack cheese, and followed this with homemade sheep’s milk gelato. The owners of this family farm taught us the Swedish word “fika,” meaning a break for a treat.
Fika at the Farmstead Creamery and Cafe
Wisconsin gave me one last birthday present today: the town of Glidden. It includes the Chippewa River, where we could wash off the day’s sweat and sunscreen, and free camping at the Marion Park fairgrounds. Here in Marion Park, we have swing sets and seesaws for some post-ride fun, a spooky out-of-commission merry-go-round, and a covered pavilion to (hopefully) protect us from the forecasted thunderstorms tonight.
Marion Park: home for the night in Glidden, WI