Day 34--Wisconsin Dells, WI to Fond du Lac, WI

Day 34—July 22, 2006—Wisconsin Dells, WI to Fond du Lac, WI—84 miles—1740’ climb

Chris and Christine on my last day of this ride

This was a beautiful day through picturesque farmland and with two very nice SAG stops, the first at the little Swan Lake near a grocery and the second at a Submarine sandwich place. We always call this day “vegetable soup day” because the roads are a mix of letters from “GO” to “XX” to “ZZ” and all combinations in between. The route directions might read: “GO” to the Y and take “PP” to the T, etc. Christine and Christopher who rode together this morning took a photo of themselves near CR “CC.” Unfortunately it never got transferred to my computer so I cannot display it.

Rider at my last--and most scenic-- SAG stop

Since my bike was already boxed and ready to transport to the airport later in the afternoon, I could not ride today, but I did set up SS#2 at the Subway Sandwich shop. We ran the SS until Box took over. Then Christine and Chris and I headed for Appleton Airport. Had only an hour wait there before flying to Chicago where I had a four-hour wait. Twenty minutes before my flight was due to board at 8:30 pm, the flight was cancelled. Thus I presently sit in a hotel room in Chicago. Will try again to get out tonight (Sunday) at 8:30.

This is my final good-bye. I will miss every single rider and will also miss riding through my home state of New York. I will also really miss writing this journal! Bye for now. Hope many of you ride with us again. Ride safe; ride smart.                             Susan

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Below is the remainder of the route that riders undertook. I had set up the headings before the ride so that I needed only fill in the day’s events. At the very end are the completed ride stats.

Day 35—July 23, 2006—Fond du Lac, WI to Manitowoc, WI—57 miles—1300’ climb

Day 36—July 24, 2006—REST DAY Ludington, MI (Ferry Ride)—7 miles—3’ onto ferry
MICHIGAN, STATE NO. 7. THIS MUST BE THREE DAYS IN HEAVEN

Climb a mere 12,070 over this 7-day 597-mile leg.

Day 37—July 25, 2006—Ludington, MI to Mount Pleasant, MI—115 miles—2120’ climb

Day 38—July 26, 2006—Mount Pleasant, MI to Birch Run, MI—75 miles—700’ climb somewhere

Day 39—July 27, 2006—Birch Run, MI to Port Huron, MI—89 miles—470’ climb

Day 40—July 28, 2006—Port Huron, MI to London, Ontario, CAN—76 miles—1070’ climb

O’ CANADA! COUNTRY NO. 2

Day 41—July 29, 2006—London, Ontario to Brantford, Ontario—64 miles—1350’ climb

Day 42—July 30, 2006—Brantford, Ontario to Niagara Falls, NY—72 miles—1650’ climb

LET ME STATE THAT CYCLING STATE NO. 8--THE GREAT STATE OF NEW YORK--IS FIRST RATE!

Day 43—July 31, 2006—REST DAY Niagara Falls, NY

7,360 feet of elevation gain over the 6 days (491 miles) on this leg

Day 44—August 1, 2006—Niagara Falls, NY to Henrietta, NY—80 miles—2650’ climb

Day 45—August 2, 2006—Henrietta, NY to Syracuse, NY—83 miles—1650’ climb

Day 46—August 3, 2006—Syracuse, NY to Little Falls, NY—85 miles—1180’ climb

Day 47—August 4, 2006—Little Falls, NY to Troy, NY—70 miles—1350’ climb

Day 48—August 5, 2006—Troy, NY to Brattleboro, VT—81 miles—5180’ climb

THE GREEN SCENE IN VERMONT, STATE NO. 9, IS TRULY SUBLIME!

Day 49—August 6, 2006—Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH—86 miles—5800’ climb

NEW HAMPSHIRE, STATE NO. 10 IS WHERE OUR RIDE ENDS.

Day 50—August 7, 2006—Manchester, NH to Portsmouth, NH—60 miles—750’ climb
Climb 18,560 feet over 6 days (545 miles) on this leg

RIDE TOTALS:
[Here is the awesome comparison data re the total climbing and length of our cycle on this cross:

Across America North, Length = 3,700 miles

For comparison’s sake, each of the following is 3700 miles:

White Nile River in Africa

Mississippi-Missouri River system in the U.S.

Length of the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail

Riding across Montana 14 times

The span in Europe of a single super colony of Argentinian ants discovered in 2002.

Riders climbed 106,633 feet of elevation gain—the equivalent of 20 miles straight up!

Riders pedaled 3,700 miles x ca.234 pedal strokes per mile  = approximately 865,800 pedal strokes.

[Explanation from Internet: On level terrain, you're likely to be in a gear where your chain ring and cog combination is roughly 39x12 or 53x16. These combinations correspond to a measurement of ""gear-inches"" of 85.7 and 87.4.

     When in such a gear, you'll go approximately 270 (86 x pi) inches per pedal revolution. Knowing there are 63360 inches in a mile will tell us that you'll pedal about 234 rotations (strokes) in a mile.     One pedal stroke equals one wheel rotation when the chainring and cog are the same size (eg 24x24). This happens only in “granny gear” when climbing extremely steep hills. In this case, each pedal rotation will propel you approximately 84 inches forward.)

                                                                                                                           Susan Walker 2016]