 The river takes time out in Lake Pepin before moving on  Another great mode of transport |
 Eagles enjoying thermals Maiden Rock  Scenery and music made these babies pleasurable. |
Prescott to Pepin 80km, 4 hrs perfect weather total1785km
I arose from the nest and brewed a coffee , early morning rain dampened things, just enough to be painful.
Once packed I headed back to town and parked my bum in the Hit-n-Run Bar and Grill. The usual was ordered and I spent about 3 hrs there chatting between tap tap tapping with my forefingers. Highly recommended.
The owner Rob was kind enough to give me an old face towel he didn’t want, mine must have blown off the bars.
I headed off down highway 35 towards La Crosse on the Wisconsin side of the river.
The first serious hills were encountered.There’s always payback for busting your guts up a hill and that is the cruise down, a max speed so far was reached today, that being 61km. Great stuff, some declined for a couple of kilometers.
Leaving Prescott I spotted a fawn that must have been run over not a minute before I turned up. It looked asleep except for a still fresh pool of blood on the road near its mouth and the fact that deer don"t sleep on roads in broad daylight.
I dont mean to be crass with the photo enclosed but this is a white tailed deer, they are like flies on a dead sheep here. St Paul have a problem with them in the city. They are big time shop lifters!!
The riding was superb and then it even got better when Lake Pepin was in view for the last half of the journey to Pepin. I met 3 guys from New York on the road, we stopped and yarned for a while. They were doing the northern tier. An invite to join them for a coffee at a place nearby was declined as I still had breakfast on board and was coffeed out at the time.
To say that this ride along the shores of Lake Pepin was a scenic delight is an understatment. An inscribed plaque explaining its creation, glaciers etc. went on to say this road is one of the most scenic in the US. There were bluffs on one side and this ocean like lake (part of the MR) on the other, complete with yachts and motor cruisers. It was very simmilar to the road from Cairns to Port Douglas.
The vertical cliff faces fell down into lush deciduous trees. Small towns, up to 200 pop’n were encountered on the way. Stopping at Stockholm I drank 4 7ups while chatting with the bar maid she was an artist and her husband was in Oz south of Perth on a Sculptoring commission. He had phoned and commented on how expenxsive things were there.
I’m a bit of a woose, but cruising along the shores of the lake, shirt off, music playing, all bathed in crystal clear sunlight, with little on my mind other than my surroundings, a neat bit of emotion kicked in. This part of the United States is just so beautiful and the presece of this river evokes an easy invitation to this kind of emotional romanticism.
Arriving at Pepin I checked into the local Park,$12/night, wifi, great showers and camped beneath a group of Black Oaks (Quercus velutina). A fellow camper, Scott and his wife offered me a couple of beers, they were fishing here.
I am finding that riding late in the day is better as the light really enhances the scenery.
A few more things that have been streamlined and tuned better are:
· The use of carabiners to clip stuff to occy straps at rear, I lost bunch of fruit the other day.
· Always put bike seat cover on before putting bike cover on
· Bought a small MSR stainless bowl just for boiling coffee and tea water
· Washing dries perfectly strapped to back of bike on the road.
· Watch things dont bounce out of bar bag, it tends to flick up over bumps, my camera has been tossed on two occasions.
· Use milk powder instead of other options for coffee etc. stored in empty coffee jar (plastic), bought plastic glass to makerequired amount.
· Pack up air bed etc before getting out of the tent in the morn, its hard work crawling back into do this stuff.
· Dont book ahead, anything can happen.
Though this journal is taking time to write, I am finding it adds a bit more purpose to this journey, It's also a pleasure to express myself this way. Whilst hoping it will inspire others, no matter what mode of travel they choose, to have a look at this part of the US, and the ever so friendly, generous people that live and recreate here. The mere presence of this river of dreams transcends all manner of inspiration and goodwill as I journey with it to the gulf.
I arose from the nest and brewed a coffee , early morning rain dampened things, just enough to be painful.
Once packed I headed back to town and parked my bum in the Hit-n-Run Bar and Grill. The usual was ordered and I spent about 3 hrs there chatting between tap tap tapping with my forefingers. Highly recommended.
The owner Rob was kind enough to give me an old face towel he didn’t want, mine must have blown off the bars.
I headed off down highway 35 towards La Crosse on the Wisconsin side of the river.
The first serious hills were encountered.There’s always payback for busting your guts up a hill and that is the cruise down, a max speed so far was reached today, that being 61km. Great stuff, some declined for a couple of kilometers.
Leaving Prescott I spotted a fawn that must have been run over not a minute before I turned up. It looked asleep except for a still fresh pool of blood on the road near its mouth and the fact that deer don"t sleep on roads in broad daylight.
I dont mean to be crass with the photo enclosed but this is a white tailed deer, they are like flies on a dead sheep here. St Paul have a problem with them in the city. They are big time shop lifters!!
The riding was superb and then it even got better when Lake Pepin was in view for the last half of the journey to Pepin. I met 3 guys from New York on the road, we stopped and yarned for a while. They were doing the northern tier. An invite to join them for a coffee at a place nearby was declined as I still had breakfast on board and was coffeed out at the time.
To say that this ride along the shores of Lake Pepin was a scenic delight is an understatment. An inscribed plaque explaining its creation, glaciers etc. went on to say this road is one of the most scenic in the US. There were bluffs on one side and this ocean like lake (part of the MR) on the other, complete with yachts and motor cruisers. It was very simmilar to the road from Cairns to Port Douglas.
The vertical cliff faces fell down into lush deciduous trees. Small towns, up to 200 pop’n were encountered on the way. Stopping at Stockholm I drank 4 7ups while chatting with the bar maid she was an artist and her husband was in Oz south of Perth on a Sculptoring commission. He had phoned and commented on how expenxsive things were there.
I’m a bit of a woose, but cruising along the shores of the lake, shirt off, music playing, all bathed in crystal clear sunlight, with little on my mind other than my surroundings, a neat bit of emotion kicked in. This part of the United States is just so beautiful and the presece of this river evokes an easy invitation to this kind of emotional romanticism.
Arriving at Pepin I checked into the local Park,$12/night, wifi, great showers and camped beneath a group of Black Oaks (Quercus velutina). A fellow camper, Scott and his wife offered me a couple of beers, they were fishing here.
I am finding that riding late in the day is better as the light really enhances the scenery.
A few more things that have been streamlined and tuned better are:
· The use of carabiners to clip stuff to occy straps at rear, I lost bunch of fruit the other day.
· Always put bike seat cover on before putting bike cover on
· Bought a small MSR stainless bowl just for boiling coffee and tea water
· Washing dries perfectly strapped to back of bike on the road.
· Watch things dont bounce out of bar bag, it tends to flick up over bumps, my camera has been tossed on two occasions.
· Use milk powder instead of other options for coffee etc. stored in empty coffee jar (plastic), bought plastic glass to makerequired amount.
· Pack up air bed etc before getting out of the tent in the morn, its hard work crawling back into do this stuff.
· Dont book ahead, anything can happen.
Though this journal is taking time to write, I am finding it adds a bit more purpose to this journey, It's also a pleasure to express myself this way. Whilst hoping it will inspire others, no matter what mode of travel they choose, to have a look at this part of the US, and the ever so friendly, generous people that live and recreate here. The mere presence of this river of dreams transcends all manner of inspiration and goodwill as I journey with it to the gulf.
 Her mum had yet to teach her the rules of the road. |
 Camp Pepin |
Proud as hell, vets flag below
