Biking, Day 25: August 10, 2009

Day 25: La Crosse, WI to Madison, WI
Distance: 125 miles
Route: 14East
Lodging: Concourse Hotel, downtown Madison, $50 via priceline. Awesome hotel.

I woke up at 6am and went to the motel lobby. The owner of the motel, who utilized my services to bike to Walmart to get him a new router, agreed to let me come in and make coffee at 6am as opposed to the 7:30 that he usually comes out to make it. I started making coffee and he came out to chat with me. We talked a bit about owning a motel. He seemed about my age and hadn't owned the motel long. He thinks it's a pretty great business in a nice city - he plans on staying for his entire life. Basically, he bought the motel and got a residential mortgage because there is a house attached and he lives there. He draws a salary and uses revenues to pay the salary and the mortgage. he cleans all the rooms. That's it. He thinks it's such a great deal because the motel will eventually be paid off and then he will sell it or just run the business.

He was a nice guy. He failed somewhat miserably in setting up the internet last night, but he tried his best. Before I left, he was excited to tell me about his moon flowers - they come out at night, then they go away during the day. Interesting.

I started my ride around 7:30am. It was humid. Wisconsin is really quite beautiful. About 5 miles into the ride I hit a huge hill. I mean, it was like a mountain. I thought I was done with mountains. I rode up that mountain and it took forever. I was exhausted. What goes up, must come down. Then, another mountain. WTF. After that mountain, which dropped me in Coon Valley, there weren't any mountains as big as the first two.

I forged on. I was really tired. It was hot and humid and I had ridden really far yesterday. I stopped in Varoqua, WI and had another coffee. When I started again, I felt more motivated. I had also popped three advil.

Wisconsin is really beautiful. It's extremely green, lush, and there are little mountains. I like that there are more cities than in the cities in the mountain region. As the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter. I couldn't wear my sunglasses for a while because they steamed up so much from the sweat and heat. It was brutal.

I stopped again for another break about 45 miles from Madison in Lone Rock, WI. 125 miles is a long day. I've started listening only to podcasts, I don't really even listen to music anymore. I usually download all the daily podcasts from MSNBC: Rachel Maddow, nightly News, Morning news, Hardball and Countdown. once a week I get Meet the Press and some NPR shows like Wait, Wait Don't tell me. Today I got Meet the Press and my NPR shows. It made for a pleasant ride. Drivers must think I'm crazy when they pass and I'm laughing.

which brings me to what I've learned during this ride - to not care at all what people think. I mean, of course I care what people think, but I just randomly start conversations, ask for strange things, am not embarassed that i smell or am sweating profusely, go into wherever to use the bathroom, etc. I ask for what I want without shying away at all.

I got to Madison around 6pm. I checked into my awesome hotel and showered. Then i went out to see the city I lived in when I was 22. i walked over to my old apartment. i remembered the life I lived there. I walked all the way down State street. I got mexican food. I also got some cheese curds. Because I'm in Wisconsin.

I came back and planned tomorrow - Chicago. I stay with Shri tomorrow in Hoffman Estates. It's another long day, but on Wednesday I take a short day to hang out with my friend, melissa, in another part of Chicago 30 miles from Shri.