Day 28, Boscobel, WI to Madison, WI

Today I rode 88.39 miles in a little over 6 hours to reach Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland" because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers, particularly famous for cheese. Manufacturing and tourism are also major contributors to the state's economy.

Bill Knorr is from Boulder, Colorado. He is one of the stronger riders. I had a particularly strong day of riding and was able to keep up with him all day long. He too has a blog and you can read all about his journey here.

We had 30 miles of “Wisconsin Rollers”. These are hills with steep climbs of between 200 to 300 feet followed by equally steep descents. They made for some challenging riding for me.

 And then, we entered Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. Our hotel is on Lake Monona.

We were invited to dinner at the home of John Burke, President of Trek Bicycle Corporation and his wife Tania Burke, President of Trek Travel. Tania enjoys watching sunsets. They have a home on the shore of Lake Mendota. This is the sunset I got to enjoy from their back yard. It was a very pleasant evening. I got to meet some of the wonderful people that work at Trek Travel including Lindsay Juley and Kari Fischer. Lindsay and I shared a few laughs remembering my very first conversation with her over the phone. It related to my total ignorance about bicycling. And I probed Kari about her “dreams” for herself. I am hoping she will be able to fulfill all her “dreams” as I am living mine every day of my life.

I have been bringing stories of Lewis County with me to all the places around the world my travels take me. I tell people about our "Cream Cheese Festival" which I missed this year. Another organization doing a lot of good work is the Lewis County Historical Society. Learn more about all they do here.