SAGBRAW 2007 – Day 2

Up at 6:30, we staggered in to breakfast among the last people to arrive. The tour required people to be on the road by 9am, but it seemed that most people started at 6 or 7, just to be safe.

At breakfast, we noticed some people decked out in floral shirts, our only reminder that todays “theme day” was Hawaiian Shirt Day.

I felt like it took me 30 minutes or so to get loosened up, which became the norm for the rest of the trip.

The first couple of hours we were along the lake shore, and then we headed inland.

The first rest stop was in Algoma. The tour would organize one or two major rest stops each day, with local organizations selling food and often other stuff going on, and in addition there would be water available every 10 miles or so.

At the top of a long hill (cause it’s windy up there), we stopped to check out an operating wind farm. Those windmills are really big!

There was a photographer traveling with us (by car). Every day he would stake out a spot along the route and take pictures of everyone passing through, then every evening he would have his laptop out for viewing. Reid and I passed him shortly after the wind farm, but the photos were... less than flattering? It would had helped if Reid hadn’t mooned him, but as it was Hawaiian Shirt Day, at least we were stylin’.

It felt really nice to get to the school at 12:30. The night before, Kathy had asked us to not ask the staff questions before noon, so they could have time to set up the schools first. There must have been people arriving awfully early in the day (e.g. if you left at 6:00 and it took you three hours to do the route, which was perfectly feasible, you’d be done by 9!).

There was a very cheery woman from the chamber of commerce handing out flyers about the town, showing us menus for the restaurant, and handing out ice cream! I love Wisconsin.

We showered off and walked into town. Reid was starving. It’s a very small town without a lot of tourism, but we found a bar with good sandwiches and then walked up the hill to see the world’s biggest grandfather clock.

It was outside a decaying clock factory. Apparently at one time there used to be a showroom that was open to the public, but now there’s just a sad building and a clock that always reads 2:58.

Reid was getting tired. My legs felt OK, but my bottom was a little sore from sitting on the saddle so long, so we headed back. Reid thought it was a really long walk. The bank thermometer we passed read 91 degress — oof.

We both camped out in the air-conditioned cafeteria and read until supper. We signed up for the meal plan, which turned out to be a good idea. It was reasonably priced, $88 for breakfast and dinner each day for the whole week, provided by a catering company that traveled with us. It would have been a bit tough as a vegetarian, since the claimed veggie option was often nothing more than “don’t eat the main dish”.

Our rider meeting was short tonight, and led by Eric — was Kathy busy, or was she realizing how terrible her speeches were? Eric participated in the other meetings. Apparently he’s in charge of bike-related things like route planning, and he always gave us a nice explanation of the next day’s ride and some things to watch for.

We also had a man from Mishicot (tomorrow’s rest stop) come to talk with us — he promised a museum with Norman Rockwell displays and a living history-type performance featuring him, and also pie. He foretold lots and lots of pie at the rest stop. It was very sweet how excited he was about his town’s participation in the ride.

I realized that I was enjoying some of the same things that I do backpacking — being outside, using my body hard, and spending time with Reid.

Please continue reading on Day 3.