Day One: Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I headed out at 4:55 a.m. and I was treated to a beautiful sunrise on the DenRock Trail.   And as I headed down the path, I was led by an Indigo Bunting.  I have noticed that some birds and animals will go with me while others cross the path.  I imagine that some are entertaining themselves, matching my speed while they attempt to figure out what I am and what I am doing there.

I saw many of the animals one would expect.  The turtle was a surprise.  That was on the Fox River Trail at about mile 28.  By then I was getting a little tired and I reasoned that at least I was going faster than he was.  

This cool bike sculpture was on the Fox River Trail in memory of a judge who died a couple years ago.  What a beautiful setting!

All in all the first day was a positive one.  I was surprised 31.7 miles from my house to have a paved trail!  The Fox River Trail was paved heading into Green Bay.

I just used google maps to plan my route.  I ended up going through an industrial section of Green Bay.  When I crossed a railroad track too fast, my basket dumped a bunch of my gear all over the ground.  Fortunately, nothing was seriously damaged.  With all the weight on my bike, I can’t just hop off as I could normally.  

I squirreled around and had a little trouble finding the trail head for the Mountain Bay Trail.  I have my own system for rating hills.  I give them a score based on how fast I can go up them.  A bad hill is a 7 as in 7mph.  Well, leading to the trail head I had a 6.  

Once I got on the trail it was okay traveling.  Good conditions.  It was quite rustic but there were places to stop every now and then.  I appreciated the water spots and the shaded picnic tables.  There were even a few porta potties along the way.

As I biked on I got rather weary.  I had wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew.  I went 44 miles in the first four hours, that was including a few short breaks.  I ended up averaging just under eleven mph.  For pulling 70 pounds and being on a softer trail, it thought that was about right.  

About 6 or 7 miles from Shawano I was wondering if I would have enough fluid to get there.  All of a sudden there was a bar and it was open.  This trail doubles as a snowmobile trail.  I went in, the only customer for a lonely bartender.  We talked while I drank lemonade and she kindly filled one of my water bottles with more lemonade.  That helped me with the last leg.

My intention was to find a campground but I talked myself into soaking my muscles in a tub and I ended up zeroing in on the Super 8.  I was a mess.  I had little black bugs caked on my arms.  I must have looked a fright.  It was 92 degrees when I pulled in exactly 10 hours from when I left.