Day 36: Oh Yes... There Will Be Blood

I'm recapping a little.... bear with me...

I woke up to the sound a rooster crowing, which was perfect because I had overslept anyways. After packing up, Keith came out and invited me in for some breakfast that his eldest daughter Rachel had made. The Saris family raises chicken and so the eggs were fresh. The two boys, Tim and Anthony are in the scouting program, and so we talked about Seabase, and Philmont, and I admitted that while I was an Eagle Scout, it took some bribery from my parents to get me to actually finish the requirements. It was a good time... Oh yeah... and it was the first day of school... so I'm a bit surprised that the Saris family were able to take so much time out of what I'm sure was already a hectic day, to play host to a lone touring cyclist. But man was I impressed with their hospitality. I'm not sure why I get so nervous about asking to camp in stranger's yards, when I end up meeting such nice people. Thanks Saris family... If you're ever in NYC and need anything, let me know...

And now that I've had a great morning... it all slowly gets worse as the day goes on.

So I head out about 7:00am and a large wall of black clouds hangs ominously above the Northern horizon. Instead of heading straight into it, I navigate West and then will cut up north later... its a longer route... but should save me from having to ride in the rain. After about 2 hours of riding west, i cut up North and the large wall of horrible weather, is still sitting there; waiting for me. I push forward and eventually into the middle of a rainstorm... I pull off into a driveway where a MASSIVE hollowed out barn sits, and ask a guy if I can hang out til the rain passes. He says: "I Don't Care". We make small talk and he's a cool guy who works the third shift at a retirement home. He would prefer to worsk first shift... but he can't find the work. The rain stops and I thank him, to which he responds.... "I don't care". About 20 minutes later, I have caught up with the rainstorm and so I hang out under the awning of a church eating pop tarts. I wait a good 30 minutes before pushing into Freeport... which is only 10 miles down the road, and large enough to have restaurants and wifi...

A lightning Storm rages, and a strong headwind keeps me traveling slow enough so that the terrible weather passes before I get into town. I am convinced that a Tornado is going to pop out of nowhere and I will be too weighted down to outrun it.

I catch up on my blogging at Higher Grounds Cafe. How many bad puns have been perpetrated in the name of coffee?

I call a couple from Warmshowers about camping out on their lawn. They do not answer, but I am confident they will return my call after 5pm. I decide that once i get into Wisconsin, I will head East a bit and just plan on crashing at their place.

I take the Jane Addams trail out of Freeeport, but to enter it, you must ride down a semi-steep hill that is gravel/dirt. I love control of the bike and go flying over the front, smashing my head and arm into the gravel and sending the bike landing on top of me. Wow... I have such a headache, and the contents of my handlebar bag are scattering. I am still lying on the ground. Luckily no one saw me. I look at my arm... Lotta blood. Nothing terrible though. Some Road Rash... My ribs are killing me.... hope I didn't brake them. Naw... probably just bruised. OK.... so THAT happened.

I had been listening to the new GO TEAM! record which had just leaked a day or two prior (Thanks Greg), but was feeling a bit fragile after the fall... I put on Grandaddy's Sophtware Slump and continues on the trail... Hopefully I'll get a chance to clean the wound tonight at that couple's house.

The trail is gorgeous... Absolutely stunning. Prarie Dogs, Deer, Rabbit all running about. A squirrel jumps out in front of me and almost sends me flying off my bike a second time... I eventually reach Wisconsin... my arm is stinging...but I feel OK...

Within 2 minutes of crossing into Wisconsin... I discover that there are TONS of MASSIVE hills in the section I am crossing. TONS... What I thought would only be an hours worth of peddling, is now looking like it will take 3; which will put me in Brodhead after dark. I am not happy... and my arm is starting to stiffen up. But the landscape is, without question, the prettiest I have yet seen on my entire trip. I wish I was in the right state of mind to enjoy it.

climb an ungodly amount of hills and make it to Brodhead about a half hour after the sun sets... although I never heard back from the couple, and they do not answer my second phone call. I get dinner at McDonalds where I am informed that they do not have a motel in the town... Now Im starting to worry. I eat with a sad/heart of gold expression so as to invite a random act of kindness from some stranger who decides he wants to put me up for the evening. That stranger never comes. I can ask a local to camp on their lawn but I really want to clean off my arm which has acquired nice layer of dirt over the dried blood.... like glitter on Elmer's Glue.

I ask a policewoman if i can camp in the local park... and she says absolutely not. I ask her what I should do, as their town doesnt have a hotel... she tells me there is a campground somewhere around here... I swear... the police have not ONCE been helpful to me on this trip. Not once... Only suspicious and belligerent. I miss the NYPD... they may seem lazy at times... but dammit... they're nice, and are genuinely helpful 75% of the time. I am done with asking permission from the police... at least until I hit Montana. I'll give them a fair shot.

I eventually track down this campground a mile or two outside of town. It is pitch black outside, but I catch the proprietor just as he is locking up for the night... Thank goodness. I overpay for a campsite, but am grateful for the shower and the internet connection. I clean out all my stuff and organize it all for tomorrow. I check my email... and it looks as though I will have a place to stay in Madison tomorrow. I'm gonna sleep in tomorrow... 105 miles is too long.