Today I rode the Sparta-Elroy bike trail.  This trail was created in the mid-60s and is supposed to be the first rail-trail ever made.  It is 32 miles long and has three really creepy railroad tunnels, all created in 1873.  

I think the longest is over 3000 feet long.  I’m glad I had a headlamp with me, as it was dark in those tunnels. 

It is Saturday and there were numerous groups of bike-packers out riding this trail.  This really surprised me since Bismarck I had only seen one possible bike-packer and I didn’t get a chance to talk to that fellow, so I’m not sure he was actually bike-packing.  Today, I talked to one group that came up the Minnesota side of the Mississippi from Dubuque, Iowa and crossed over at LaCross to get to these trails.

At Elroy I took a break, had some lunch and bought a jersey at the small shop there.  I also talked to people from several groups, all who were doing shorter excursions of a day or two.  

I still occasionally get choked up a bit with emotion when telling the story of my journey.  At one point, I thought I was over that little issue.  I still don’t understand why sharing this story with people sometimes affects me that way.

One gal had a leak in a tubeless tire on her mountain bike.  She said she could sometimes see sealant coming out around the rim.  She said her husband set it up for 30 PSI.  I looked at it and suggested that if she finds a bike shop, she have them put a tube in there.

I didn’t say anything about the ridiculous nature of such low pressure in a tubeless tire on a trail that is smoother than many paved roads that I been on.  After I rode on,  I realized that it was possible that the bead hadn’t seated with such low pressure.  All she might need to do to fix it would be to pump it up to 40 or 50 pounds, which it might as well be at on these trails.

From there, the “400” bike trail took me another 22 miles to Reedsburg.   At Reedsburg, I asked the man in the information/old railroad station/chamber of commerce about the best way to reach Devil’s Lake State Park.  He gave me a map and directions out of town.  Of course on the way out of town anther dog came out of his yard to harass me.

I decided on Devils Lake because the Wisconsin DNR has a policy of not turning away hikers and bikers and I knew that it being a holiday weekend in this area, it was going to be difficult to find a safe place to stay at reasonable cost.  I did a quick look at motel rates and they ranged up to 250$ for one night for a Motel 6 type place. Once at Devils Lake, I got a minor amount of resistance but, plead my case and got one of their emergency sites.

Internet is not working here, so I will have to post tomorrow.  Mileage is 32+22+21 =75.  Total mileage is 75+2252=2327.