Northern Transcon Day 21 - La Crosse to Portage WI

The first 50 miles of this 134 mile day were pretty tough, with a couple of 2 mile climbs of 10%, and several rolling hills.  However, we had another day of excellent weather and some good tailwinds (when we weren't going north).

The reward of all that climbing was seeing some of southern Wisconsin's lovely rural landscape and enjoying the network of very lightly traveled back roads (Lon is intimately familiar with these rural roads in WI).

Lunch today featured one of the PAC Tour signature items - grilled cheese sandwiches with your choice of tomato, ham, or roast beef.  Susan ran the grill and took orders, telling each rider to keep an eye on his/her sandwich while it was cooking.  This was a little hard to do as they kept getting shifted around on the grill, but I eventually came away with one.

Meals (breakfast and lunch) are delicious and filling, but there is always this sense of urgency that seems to prevent relaxing and really enjoying the repast.  In the morning it is the feeling that one has to get on the road as close to the beginning start time as possible (starts are in a half hour window, for example 6:30 to 7:00), and at lunch you know there are 50 or 60 miles left in the day.  The crew is not pressing riders to get on the road; it is more that the riders themselves want to get going.  Dinner with friends at a place of mutual agreement (out of what is available) is when things are more relaxed.

Tomorrow we will take in more of Wisconsin's beauty as we ride 126 miles to Manitowoc WI, on the shore of Lake Michigan.