(forgot to post this yesterday): One day after riding a day of RAGBRAI and I’m feeling just fine – maybe a little creakier than usual but not aching at all. So maybe this weekend I’ll set out with the new Cycle Central Iowa map which has mapped out 17 loop rides around central Iowa on bike trails and county roads. They all look great – and the descriptions include handy info on things like where to stay and eat. My one reservation is that we’re somewhat reluctant to ride our bikes on country roads, given the bad reputation they’ve developed for being inhospitable to cyclists. There have been some bad accidents where cyclists were hit by vehicles. Still the loops look like fun – and i far prefer a loop to going back and forth on the same trail. I bought my map for $2.99 (I think) at a local bike store – and it was the last one available but with hope, there are more available. To order contact: info@dsmbikecollective.org
My first taste of Ragbrai – why haven’t I done this earlier???
I LOVED IT! Granted I only rode 37 of the 56 miles (from Slater to Altoona Iowa) on one of seven days of RAGBRAI – but I loved everything about it. The scenery – small towns with welcoming residents, from kids offering welcome sprays from water hoses to elderly people sitting in lawn chairs clapping, to farm families rooting by ringing a cowbell as we chugged up a steep hill; picture postcard perfect farmsteads, fields and fields of corn and beans; the scene – riders of every shape, size, complexion, age, attire on all kind of contraptions (a variety of bikes, upright, recombinant,old-fashioned, sleek and modern, tandems, triple-seat bikes, plus the occasional wheelchair), great food (pastafari’s pesto pasta/ariabiatta pasta with sautéed zucchini and grilled salmon outside of Alleman, terrific rhubarb/strawberry pie in Elkhart, a homemade citrus sorbet bar (which completely hit the spot when we arrived in Altoona in 94 degree heat/humidity completely dripping with sweat). Eating my sorbet bar and watching nine very cute kids do a pretty impressive musical performance where they all danced and played the drums was perfect! I met people from Brooklyn, Vancouver, Oak Park (Illinois); Oregon, all over really. I’d really love to go again tomorrow but not sure I’m physically up for it. Next year, maybe I’ll do more serious training and try to do more of the ride.
Filed under Agritourism, biking, Iowa
Day tripper – on Ragbrai in Iowa
We’re off tomorrow morning to Slater, Iowa about 35 miles north of Des Moines to tag along for a day on Ragbrai – not exactly sure what to expect but figure it’s a good way to get a brief taste of what it’s like to ride bikes alongside thousands of other people through Iowa’s countryside and small towns. We’re only riding 34 miles of the 56 mile route tomorrow but that’s a lot for my friend and I – and who knows, if we enjoy it, maybe we’ll do more next year. (My friend did the entire Ragbrai ride across Iowa last year.) In preparation, I’ve bought an inner tube in case I have any tire issues. Wish me luck.
Filed under bike trails, biking, Iowa
Vermont ideas…for hiking, dining, driving
NYTimes readers recently weighed in on where to go in Vermont – and since we hope to go there in September, I duly note them here:
– For hiking ideas, check out “The Walker’s Guide to Vermont” and “The Long Trail Gide”. In Burlington, hike around Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield. In the south, (where we’ll be, hike sections of the Long Trail with Stratton Pond as a destination) or near Killington. Also good hiking in the Green Mountain National Forest – Mount Moosalamoo near Lake Dunmore.
– for food in Burlington, try Bove’s on Pearl Street (Italian)
– in Waterbury – Alchemist for beer/pub grub and Hen of the Wood for fine dining.
– Drive south to north on Route 7.
Filed under Uncategorized
Odds and ends from West Central Wisconsin
In Sparta, we ate at Angelini’s – a nothing fancy but good old-fashioned Italian restaurant downtown that was packed on a Saturday night and makes a good tomato meat sauce and has good thin crust pizza. One minor quibble – among the photos of presumably Italian notables (Sopranos actors, Al Pacino, Sinatra et. al.) hanging on the wall was one Benicio del Toro, who is Puerto Rican (full name: Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez)
In Westby, we ate at a nothing fancy very Norwegian cafe, Borgen’s – motto is “Spis, drik, a ver gla!” (Eat, drink, and be glad! in Norwegian I’m guessing. We didn’t get too adventurous or Norwegian (we skipped the Meatballs & Gravy with Lefse and the “Feisty Norwegian Chicken Sandwich”) but they served a good BLT. We had bacon several times during our Wisconsin trip (each morning at our B&B) and it never disappointed. But then bacon rarely does. I also was intrigued by a replica of a Kransekake, Norway’s signature cake often served at weddings, birthdays and anniversary parties – a conical tower of thin layers of cake made out of almost paste, that narrows as it rises from bottom to top.
Canoeing via the Titanic on the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin
We inadvertently picked the best day to canoe on the Kickapoo River in southwest Wisconsin last week – a Monday. We were going to go on Sunday – when it would no doubt be crowded – but the weather wasn’t promising so we waited a day and had the river almost entirely to ourselves, which was a treat. We rented a boat from a rental place in Ontario called Titanic (and managed to stay afloat!) – good boat, fiberglass with molded seats so slightly more comfortable. We opted for the 3.25 hour trip, which was a little shorter than that, put in at the landing beside the rental place and were picked up right on time at Bridge #5 (helps that the canoe rental guy had few other customers.) The river itself is narrow and very curvy, with high grassy banks and forested stone bluffs. Really lovely. Must do again! There are several other canoe rental places next to Titanic but it suited us well.
Filed under Uncategorized, Wisconsin
Another good option for eating out in Iowa City
It’s always hard to choose a place to eat in Iowa City because there are so many good options. Now there’s another – Short’s Burger and Shine. It’s an upscale burger joint on Clinton St. right across from campus – that touts its locally-produced meat and Iowa-produced beer (Millstream, Peace Tree) and cider (Sutliff). It’s also supposed to have good black bean veggie burgers. We stopped for a burger at 7 p.m. on a Friday and got a seat at the bar in the dark, narrow little exposed-brick restaurant. Burger oozing with real cheese accompanied by delicious hand-cut (or some such) fries came out shortly after. We were back on the road – as we needed to be – by 8 p.m. Bartender was a cute kid who did his job well. My only beef: I couldn’t get a rare burger. Closest I could get to rare was medium.
Fun Fact: the name comes from H.D. Short, who ran a shoe shine shop were the burgers now shine! “Expert Workman – best materials used – prompt service” was and remains the motto for both businesses.
When we return to west-central Wisconsin – what to do
I always seem to return home from a trip with things I didn’t do but want to remember to do during our next visit. So here’s some of those for West-Central Wisconsin:
– bike on the 25-mile Great River State Trail which goes through Trempealeau. We’re told we can get shuttle service for this too – which we loved having on the Elroy-Sparta trail (it meant we could ride one way and be picked up at the end, rather than having to doubleback on the trail)
– in Pepin – maybe stay at A Summer Place http://www.summerplace.net (looked nice. It’s open mid-March to mid-November); other options include Lake Pepin Beach House, Journey Inn (an eco-retreat) and Pepin Farm Pottery and Guest house; TansyHus in Stockholm
– Go to the Oct. 7-9 Fresh Art Fall tour – a self-guided tour of seventeen artists studios and galleries in Lake Pepin region. see http://www.freshart.org including Gail Pommerening’s studio in Plum City (we liked her store, Art & Soul in Alma)
– in Stockholm – win the lottery so I can afford to buy something at the wonderful gallery, Abode.
Filed under Wisconsin
How to find the best backroads in Wisconsin
For some reason, we could not get a Wisconsin map at any of the tourist offices we visited while there last weekend – and we tried several. Perhaps it’s part of some budget cutback? Anyway, it forced us to rely on partial maps we found at the tourism offices – most notably a multi-county map of good roads for bicyclists. The one we used was the West-Central Wisconsin State Bike Trails map, which includes “safe roads to ride,” “bike trails” and “Amish community.” With it, we found a pretty series of mostly letter-named roads that went diagonally from Sparta northwest to Alma on the Mississippi. I suppose cyclists wouldn’t appreciate me sending car drivers on these roads but the fact is, they were great for both. We took I-90 west to 108 north to Mindon, then VV (not to be confused with W, as I did) to Ettrick, then D, and T to Acadia, then 95 to E to Waumandee, then more E to 88 and my favorite named town – Cream, Wisconsin – and then E again to Alma. You do have to pay attention because these road names/numbers change pretty quickly.
Filed under On the road, Wisconsin
Exploring Wisconsin’s Mississippi Coast
Last Saturday, we drove along the Mississippi Coast of central Wisconsin, stopping in several towns well-appointed for tourists including Alma, Nelson, Pepin and Stockholm. The last stop was most surprising since it’s a tiny town but totally decked out for visitors with a lots of interesting shops and restaurants including a topnotch art gallery/crafts shop, Abode, that has Santa Fe quality work and the Bogus Cafe, which has a nice outdoor patio for dining.
In tiny Pepin across from the harbor we ate at the aptly named Harbor View Cafe. Inside the cheerful old building, we found a pretty dining room lined with books stacked in high built-in shelves and a lovely The food was sophisticated and a wee pricey – and a tad heavy for a hot July afternoon, especially since the restaurant’s air-conditioning was on the blink. Terrific homemade bread, caesar salad and gazpacho would have been enough. But the entrees were huge, heavy and hot – I had sautéed chicken with garlic, chipotle sauce atop linguine; D. had a pork shank in a too-sweet sauce. Would have been fine fare on a winter’s night.
In Alma we stopped at Fire and Ice for iced coffee and chanced upon a remarkable two-story garden in the back of the shop’s old building, beautifully landscaped with topiary, statues of near-naked men. Turns out the place is owned by a guy who is fixing up several adjacent buildings – as shops and a hotel. He gave us a little tour of the hotel which has almost rococo decor. His motto “It’s not done until it’s overdone” and his slogan “French without the attitude.) The place is called the Hotel de ville. (oui, oui.) We also visited a nice craft shop next to the cafe run by an artist who donates part of the proceeds to charity.
In Nelson, we stopped at the creamery – mostly because we were drawn to the big old brick building. Inside they served ice cream (no samples though, which seemed stingy) and light sandwiches (yes, we should have eaten dinner here) and had a wine bar in the back. Cool space. Lots of people.
Filed under Uncategorized
TakeBetsywithyou 