Stage 11 - Exploration

Four miles from home, riding easy to loosen up the legs, heading to Germantown to meet up with Darin for today's ride. A guy on a time trial bike, down in his lowest tuck position waves 'Hello' as he blows by me. The blow by is usually a challenge. But my body is tired and my legs are heavy and sluggish. Let him go says my head. Catch him says my legs. Before I realize what I'm doing I see the speed gauge on my computer go from 17 mph to 28 mph. This is clearly coming from some ancient 'fight or flight' response buried deep within my psyche. I didn't decide to do this - it just happened. Pulling alongside the other rider I ask him where he is riding from and soon we're chatting like old cycling pals. After a few miles we part ways with an agreement to get together for some long rides.

Within seconds I go from a new friend to an old one, Darin. Darin's been kind enough to share lots of the Tour miles this year. It's been great for two reasons; 1) long hours on the bike seem much shorter if you have someone to talk to, and 2) misery loves company.

The wind is back but at least it's changed direction which allowed us to try a new route. Instead of heading west into the hills we set out east and north towards Lake Michigan. This took us through the lovely port town of Port Washington. Our route took us directly along the harbor which looked spectacular with the sailboats slicing across the diaphanous blue water. The big waves and whitecaps were reminders of how windy it was (as if we needed reminding).

Propelled by the winds through Port Washington

Heading north and west out of town we chose roads that we had never ridden before and were rewarded with long tailwind rides along horse stables and wheat fields. The rolling hills provided vistas of Lake Michigan to the east and farmlands to the west. Exploring new routes is always a fun thing but every now and again you find yourself somewhere that you don't belong. Like an interstate highway. This was certainly a new experience for both Darin and I and we made it as short as we could.

An unauthorized non-motor vehicle

After the excitement of having semi-trailers and dump-trucks storm by three feet away at 75 mph we were treated with a peaceful spin along the Milwaukee River for a few miles before returning to roads that were familiar. 57 miles after we started out, we were home.

Today's Route