Day 21 - Ending at Juneau, WI - Wisconsin on the Kick-back

August 25, 2018

Day 21 - Ending at Juneau, WI

Rode on Wild Goose State Trail

No significant rain overnight, and I slept well until I woke up at 4:05am. Report-writing until 8:00am, then packing. Headed out at 9:23am under overcast skies. At least no rain was predicted.

Today's goal is to ride the Wild Goose Trail to Juneau, where there's camping. But first I had to get to the start of the trail in Fond du Lac, and taking US-151 south for about nine miles was the way. Much better pedaling south today. There was some wind, but it didn't slow me down.

At 10:33am, following my waypoints, I turned onto a trail, which is signed "Prairie Trail". Just across a road from the trailhead parking area is a place to eat: Eden Grill. I was there at 10:39am and sat at their counter for breakfast. Just before leaving (at 11:33am), I remembered to ask for ice for my Klean Kanteen.

I was done with the Prairie Trail at 11:41am, and onto the Fond Du Lac Loop Trail. That trail had me crossing US-151 right at noon, so I stopped to check today's mileage so far: 11.6 miles. I sort of got lost after that, and ended up making a loop around a park near the shore of Lake Winnebago. A bicyclist came up to me to ask about my bike/trip. He has an electric-assist bike he's looking forward to using on an organized ride this fall in Florida. We took pictures of each other before moving on.

I finally took off on the nearby street going west, and found the bike trail I should have been on. Later I was off-route again. Eventually, I made it to the southwest side of Fond du Lac (at 1:07pm), where the Wild Goose Trail starts.

Good riding on a flat trail. I turned on my radio and listened to WPKR-FM, 99.5MHz, which is country music. I don't usually listen to country, but on bike trips it's OK. Some of the songs have stories in them.

I passed through Oakfield at 2:08pm. At 2:40pm, I turned down the radio and called my wife for a fifteen minute talk-while-riding session. Everything is going fine without me at home. The radio station had faded away by the time I got back to listening, so I switched to mp3s.

At 3:15pm, I crossed WI-49, and also the county line (into Dodge County). At 4:51pm, I was in Burnett and following signs, since the trail goes through this town on roads and paths. I was getting low on energy, and kept shifting back to low gear when high gear would have worked. I took a break at Swan Road, and found on-line an ice cream place in Juneau. Earlier, the country radio announcer had said today is "Banana Split Day", so that was what I was thinking.

The break helped, and I passed Minnesota Junction at 5:40pm, and was at Wild Goose Park in Juneau at 6:04pm. It took me a while walking around to find where the campsites are, but I did, finally. Now, before setting up, I'm going to that ice cream place.

At 6:30pm, I was at City Service Ice Cream, located inside what used to be a Cities Service gas station. They serve hot dogs here also, so I ordered a Chicago-style one of those, plus a root beer, besides my banana split. Customers before me went outside to eat, but I stayed inside to cool off. I really enjoyed this supper, and it was also fun talking with the cook/server when she wasn't busy attending to customers. She's saving money to study dentistry. When I told her I was on a bike trip, she handed me a bottle of cold water.

Back at Wild Goose Park I met a couple who asked about my trip, and said they'd seen me at City Service Ice Cream. Another fun visit.

Between before-supper and after, a family showed up (in a car) to tent camp. They'd been to Door County, and were on their way back home in Missouri. It's good that we talked. They knew where the camping fee pay station is. I'd missed that.

As it got dark, I battled mosquitoes to get the tent up at site #4. All done and loaded by 8:19pm. A sort of ground fog haze is developing across the road on the soccer fields here, but it's not blocking my view of the orange full moon. It's been a good day.

Jeff

Spent: $16.53 plus $3.47 (breakfast) + $11.50 plus $1 (supper) + $10 (campsite) = $42.50.

Day 21 - Pipe, WI to Juneau, WI

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+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +