Lake Michigan 2023 – Day 30: Baymont Inn, Whitewater, WI

Once again on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, east of Madison.

• Saturday, September 2, 2023
• Whitewater, WI
• Lodging: Baymont Inn
• Miles: 54.5 @ 10.0 mph (as measured by RideWithGPS; my bike computer battery died)
• Total  Miles: 1,080.3
• Vertical (from Strava): 1,171 (No wonder I was tired!)
• Start: 8:59am. 69°, partly sunny.
• End: 4:49pm. Hot (~90°), sunny.
• Elapsed time: 6:50 (includes breakfast with rider Trent, lunch again on bridge over Crawfish River, ice cream stop)

Today was a long, hot day. Very long, and very hot. Not only that, it was by far the hilliest day I’ve had since crossing over into the Upper Peninsula two weeks ago.

Aside from the heat, it was another beautiful day. I got an early start, for me, and the first 10 miles were on the road getting back to the dirt path I rode on two days ago, the Glacial Drumlin State Trail (GDST).

The next 28 miles on the GDST were just lovely! Just like 2 days ago, the path was perfect dirt, mostly in the shade, with a quartering tailwind, and incredibly beautiful. It was more crowded than the other day, but still pretty empty.

Trent, a cyclist I met on the GDST, who was riding 100 miles on his gravel bike to meet up with his wife at the Milwaukee Brewers game.

Two bike tourists also met on the GDST. They were on a 5-day ride.

Then I turned right, off the dirt trail, onto County Road D, and everything changed. Most significantly, the quartering tailwind became a quartering headwind. The flat rail trail was replaced with hilly paved roads with OK shoulders but with no shade. Most dispiriting, I thought I would have 7 miles to the motel from that point, but it turned out to be 17 miles, a big difference at that point of the day.

One of several huge grain elevators I passed.

The last 5 miles were interminable, with several short steep hills, especially as the route wound through the campus of University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. However, I never walked nor put my foot down in the middle of a climb.

I did wonder at what point you drop over from exhaustion. This is a question I have often pondered, most notably while pushing my bike up to the top of Loveland Pass in Colorado four years ago. Since I have never collapsed, I don’t know the answer. Today was pushing it. I hope to have no more long days like this for the rest of the trip.

Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter than today. However, I think it’s only going to be a 35 mile day. Getting close!