Stage 6 - Close Encounters

My good friend Darin was camping in the beautiful Kettle Moraine State Forest and he was kind enough to offer his campsite as a base-camp for today's ride. For you non-geologists out there kettles and moraines are examples of what glaciers can do to a landscape. The cruel reality for cyclists is lots of hills. Up and down was the rule on todays' ride.

The first place of note that Darin and I rode through was Dundee, WI. Dundee is, and I'm not making this up, the UFO Capital of the World. Click HERE to view a video of real live UFOs. And then click HERE to see an interview with two people who saw the UFOs. Speaking of unidentified, the person on the right in the second video looks like a girl but sounds like a guy. What the heck is it? Scary! These are not videos produced by ElvisKennedy.com so we can neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the contents. They sure look real to me though.

If you'd like to learn more you can click HERE. This a group of, what, people I guess, who meet monthly at a local Goodwill store to discuss UFOs, aliens and the like. There's even a fascinating article on how to prevent yourself from being abducted by aliens. This is oh so important that I'll provide the link HERE. Read it, memorize it, apply it always. Save your families, for god's sake SAVE YOURSELVES!!!

How can you possibly top riding through Dundee? How about riding through Armstrong?

Which way to Dr. Ferrari's office?

One of the things I like about Darin is that not only does he refuse to avoid challenges, he's always on the look-out for the next one. We were at about mile 48, we had run out of water and we were trying to find the shortest route back to camp when we see in the distance a monster hill. I'm thinking to myself that it's a darn good thing that the hill is not on our route when all of a sudden Darin says, "Man, do you see that? We have to do it". Have to? Yes. Half way up a big dog named Buddy comes charging onto the road at us. Usually big, barking dogs put fear in your heart but with our hearts red-lining from the effort I think we both figured that if the dog bit us we could get off of our bikes and lay down. Unfortunately Buddy was a nice dog and just ran along side us all the way up the hill. It was funny listening to Buddy's owners voice fade away in the distance, "BUDDY, Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, Buddy...".

Darin also wanted to do 60 miles instead of 58 because, "Sixty just sounds so much farther than fifty-eight". Yea, and it feels like it too.

The evening was absolutely spectacular, as was the scenery. The views were of rolling farms littered with farmers bringing in the hay. Freshly cut hay. It smells so good. Ahhhhh! For you readers out there that consider this part of the world fly-over country, you really don't know what you're missing. Sure, mountains and oceans can take your breath away because they hit you over the head with their grand vistas but take a good look at the photo below and tell me that the scenery isn't worthy of a calendar. And it's 1,000 times better in real life.

Darin riding through the fields of dreams.

By now the water deficit was becoming a problem. There were no gas stations or grocery stores within miles of where we were. But there was a church. The Shepherd of something, or the something of the Shepherd. It's hard to concentrate when you're dehydrated. We did a quick spin around the fancy building until we found a water spigot. Filled our bottles and left. Is it OK to take water from a church? A catholic church no less. I've got the feeling that there's going to be some price to pay. On the other hand, isn't helping others a major tenant of Christianity? That seems to often get lost in the politics of religion.

We finally rolled in at mile 61 and Darin provided one great piece of advice regarding saddle sores, their treatment and their prevention; after a ride immediately wipe the offending areas with an anti-bacterial baby wipe. You know those pre-moistened towels that come in packs or boxes? With a two year old in his house and a future Tour de France champion on the way Darin is well versed in baby wipes.

Today's Mileage Goal: 57.04. Miles ridden: 61. That's 395 miles in the past 6 days. If only I had ridden 5 more. 400 sounds so much farther than 395.