5-Day Weekend

We managed to take a five day weekend, and I sandwiched it between two business trips to the eastern U.S. We spent two days at the Gollmar B&B in Baraboo and two days at the Green Fountain Inn in Waupaca. The riding and such went like this...

September 26: Drive to Baraboo, check in and ride to Portage via Levee Road to the east and County W (primarily) when we returned to the west. It was flat going out and hilly heading back. 43 miles. Dinner was at the Little Village Cafe, which always rocks.

September 27: Today its the epic Baraboo-Prairie Du Sac-Leland-Baraboo ride, a ride that we have done several times before. The Gollmar House breakfasts are incredible. Ample food that is good, and good fuel for riding. The ride includes the Merrimac Ferry, one of our favorites. Then its Coffee at the Blue Spoon in Prairie du Sac, a beer at Sprecher's in Leland before rolling back to Baraboo. Unfortunately Junior, the owner of Sprecher's, wasn't in when we stopped. Its a 67 mile ride, which include a detour south of Prairie Du Sac.

September 28: Drive to Waupaca and we did 2 rides that were 30 miles each. While Mike and Linda were in transit, Kay and I rode down to the covered bridge near Saxeville. It was built in 1997 thanks to a number of volunteers. After Mike and Linda arrived the four of us did a 30 mile ride that went north and east of Waupaca. Diane and Jon arrives about 7:30 and we went to TW Martin's pub. Its a smoke-free eatery in downtown Waupaca with a deep menu with good food. Great beer and wine selection too.

September 29: The six of us ride to Amherst, where - to my horror - I learn that the Amherst Coffee Shop has closed. Bummed and hungry, we find the shortest path to the Little Norway Bar Scandinavia, where Jo-Jo serves bevies and bar food that is better than alright. Satisfied with our stop we roll on to Waupaca, where we eventually make our way back to TW Martin's for an encore dinner. We rode 50 miles today and saw 8 Sand Hill Cranes.

September 30: Last day here in the area that Kay and I grew up in. We did a 33 mile ride that went primarily north and east of Waupaca. We hustled over to Cronie's for brunch and espresso before they closed (1PM on Sunday). The drive home was fine, listened to the Packers beat the Vikings.