Day 27: West Union to Boscobel WI

After yesterday's fast finish, I pulled back on the throttle for the relatively short 80 ride to Boscobel.  It was a perfect day to cruise through the beautiful rolling countryside of northeast Iowa. Probably because of it's very hilly topography this area has retained the look of the rural Iowa that I grew up with and has avoided the "industrialized agricultural look" that has robbed much of the Iowa landscape that we pedaled through of it's character and natural beauty.

 

The 48 miles of riding before lunch under blue skys, light winds, and cool temperatures was some of most relaxing and enjoyable of the trip - of course knowing there are "only" 32 miles remaining after lunch also helps boost the spirits.

We stopped for lunch in Marquette IA on the west bank of the Mississippi River - our lunch spot was actually under the bridge that spans the river.  After lunch we pedaled across the bridge leaving Iowa and heading into Wisconsin - our 9th state of the trip.  Then things got even better.  County Road C isn't a very glamorous name for a road, but the 13 miles of pedaling on this road, much of which was along side the Wisconsin River, was wonderful.  All-in-all it was a great day of cycling.  And we really lucked out on the weather.  Yesterday's rain had moved on and the rain forecast for this evening through the overnight had yet to arrive.  

Boscobel doesn't appear to be much of a town. It's known for having a state prison and calls itself the wild turkey hunting capital of Wisconsin - we didn't see any turkeys or convicts on the way into town.

Tomorrow we head 96 miles to Madison, the state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin.  The route is supposed to be very nice and the weather forecast looks good. Hopefully the roads won't be clogged with fans heading to the Badgers home football game against the mighty Troy Trojans - one of those early season mismatch games that provide the big school with a win and the small school with money.

Trek Bicycle and Trek Travel are headquartered in Madison and tomorrow night our group is having dinner at the home of Tania & John Burke - John is the President of Trek Bicycle and Tania is President of Trek Travel. It will be a special occasion worthy of my best dress up clothes - blue jeans, running shoes and, yes, even a collared shirt.  

Because of tomorrow evening's activities, I will not plan to post to the blog.  I'll catch up on Sunday - our third rest day of the trip - with a Day 28 post and a rest day recap.

Steve