Bicycling in Wisconsin with Scouts

Troop 7
Core Bike Trip, Wisconsin
July 19-28, 2005
Journal by Gary Hochgraf

July 19
In 5 vehicles, seven adults and fifteen scouts departed from Ann Arbor on Tuesday afternoon. The drive was uneventful, and we arrived at the campground in Ludington around 8:30

July 20, Wednesday
We got up with the sun, and the tents were down and packed quite quickly. After a short drive we arrived at the ferry landing, re-packed, and rolled our bikes onto the USS Badger. The Badger is an old railroad car ferry, rebuilt with space for lots of cars and even busses or trucks, and with cabins, deck chairs, snack bar, movies, etc on the upper levels.
We had breakfast of bagels & juice boxes, then brought everyone together for a core meeting and a venture meeting. We (Core) figured out our meal system, leadership, then everyone got to plan a section of the route.
About 4 hours on the ferry and we arrived in Manitowoc, WI. Once all the bikes and both mini-vans were off, and everyone had collected bike helmets, changed clothes, etc, and we found directions to a grocery store, we were off! The Core group consists of four adults, Joan, Nancy, Rob, and myself, and eight Scouts, Mike, Mike, Alan, Jeff, Andy, Luke, Matthias, and Eric.
We had a few mistakes at making left turns, but no accidents on the way out of Manitowoc. Lunch was at a park adjacent to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Then we settled into a ride along the Lake Michigan shore north to Point Beach State Park. Once we were past the town of Two Rivers, the road was very quiet and pleasant.
We’re in the group camp area at Point Beach. It’s a small opening in the woods, but harbors lots of mosquitoes and deer flies.
Once the tents were up we headed to the lake. We got split up, and entered from two beach heads. One had a sign declaring an e-coli hazard. But those of us who entered at the other didn’t know that and went swimming. So that gave everyone a good excuse to take a shower.
I had volunteered to do the first day’s menu and cooking (for the adults; Scouts do their own). Dinner was burgers, salad, chips and brownies. The boys had canned stew.
After dinner the boys played capture the flag, then all were in bed about sun-down.

Thursday July 21
The deer flies are still here this morning. But once I got a fire going we had a small bug-free zone. Blueberry muffin ring for breakfast, then north again.
It was good to get moving and out-distance the insects. Our route took us through farmlands of corn, oats, soy, wheat, and occasional cows. But the smell of cows was often with us.
Just before lunch we got a phone call from Tom P. back home. He had noticed a big storm just to the west of us on his computer. So we stopped at a drive-in for shelter, then moved to a nearby park with a picnic shelter. But the rains never came. Too bad, because this area looks very very dry. There was a group of kids (looked like a summer day-camp) hanging out there too. So some of us joined them in a game of dodge-ball. And Joan coached the next day’s menu planners for cooking merit badge. Then we found the next grocery store, and departed Kewanee, WI.
We climbed a long hill north of town and encountered headwinds the rest of the way.
From Algoma we picked up a bike trail for about 2 miles right to our campground. The path’s surface is crushed limestone, and not as firm as it could be, as it hasn’t rained here for months. Its also a multi-use trail, so there are hoof prints. I prefer the roads, which are also much faster.
Venture was at this campground last night, and we heard they had enjoyed the swimming pool. So once the tents were up, in we went!
Dinner (Nancy’s) was curried chicken and rice, pound cake with berries for dessert.
Nice sunset.

Friday july 22
Went for a morning walk before most were up, and found enough wild red raspberries to fill a sierra cup. Delicious.
Rice with fruit, honey and cinnamon for breakfast. The boys had yogurt & donuts. Today’s plan was to ride about 25 miles to Potowatami Park, northwest of Sturgeon Bay, and return. But there is dissent, so the options of riding the full 50, staying in camp all day, or riding a shorter route followed by half a day in camp were put to a vote. It was almost a 3-way tie, but Mike Bogen is leader for the day, and got a deciding vote. So we will ride about 15 miles and return, which will also give us time to work on merit badges.
The ride was perhaps the prettiest yet, along the lake on local roads. Very little traffic, some hills to climb & descend, views of the lake, forest, farm, gardens, etc. And the weather was bright and sunny (several of us ended the day with mild sunburn) (yesterday was high overcast.) We found a lovely park just 1 mile before our turnaround point, so most of the group stopped there for a bit. The park marks a spot where LaSalle (René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle) and his men stopped on their voyage of discovery along the western shore of Lake Michigan in 1679. Their journey later brought them past land that would someday become Chicago, then overland, and down the Huron River past the site which would eventually become Ann Arbor.
Andy, Mike, Nancy and I continued a bit farther. But we were drawn on another mile or so after our declared turnaround was met, made a loop out of it, passed a cherry orchard, and a very large old log barn, the largest I’ve ever seen. The roof had fallen in, but the walls were quite impressive. We picked wild raspberries there, then re-joined the others and rode back to camp.
After lunch at camp, two scouts went with Joan for groceries, and the rest went swimming. Other camping families began arriving for the weekend and at times there were up to 15 people in the pool, rather crowded. I held a class in bicycle maintenance for the merit badge in the afternoon.
Rob did dinner - welsh rarebit and salad. The boys had hot dogs, and made a fire to cook them over.

Saturday July 23
Another beautiful morning with heavy dew on everything. Today is Michael's route, so he gets to lead, and he likes to lead. The original plan was to follow the crushed limestone bike path, but we all agreed that these paths are not good for long distance riding. So an alternate was made, out along the county roads. The ride was typical Wisconsin; farms, woods, more farms. There were wind farms too and plenty of wind to turn them. We have headwinds, tailwinds and crosswinds. Nobody likes the headwinds.
Lunch at a Little League ball field, then in toward Green Bay. Suddenly Alan couldn’t pedal. One of the gears stripped right off the freewheel. I rode back and took a look. The cluster of gears had come apart. I thought the bike was dead, but we managed to get one or two gears to work, and sent him off again. This slowed him down, but he made it all the way. I expected heavy traffic approaching the city, but it really wasn’t too bad. About 5 miles from Green Bay we got warnings of an approaching storm; which hit us with about 3 miles to go. Fortunately it was all downhill, so we flew through the rain to the Isaac Walton League land south of town.
It’s a welcome place at a moment like this. A 25’ building with a similar size picnic pavilion offering welcome shelter to wet and weary travelers. We were met there by Don J. of the I. W. League and of a local scout troop. Then Joan and I took off in the van, after calling a bike shop and asking them to stay open an extra half hour. We brought Alan’s wheel, Luke’s pedal, and Jeff’s pedal with us. We bought a new cluster for Alan and toe clips for Jeff, Luke, and Nancy. Then to Gander Mtn, and a pharmacy, then we picked up a stack of pizzas for all. What a surprise when we showed up with pizza! And they disappeared very quickly. We got the bikes repaired, then to bed.

Sunday July 24
Hot and muggy. The forecast is for more hot and muggy with west winds.
Cycling through Green Bay showed how the group has advanced their cycling abilities and traffic skills. Once we were out in the country we noticed the wind more than the traffic (which is light, it is Sunday.) Today’s route is to the west. And the wind is from the west at 10-20 mph. After a long (15 mile) pull into the wind we got a few miles reprieve when we turned south. Then straight into the wind again. Instead of taking breaks at intersections and re-grouping, we took breaks at any place we found shade, which wasn’t very often in the farmlands. We struggled on. It was hot and slow. We drank lots of water and Gatorade, and ate vast quantities of bananas and granola bars. And more scouts took rides in the van. We finally decided to sag everyone in to camp, about four at a time. So Nancy and three scouts left us, found camp and began set-up, and Joan came back for the next batch. We managed to fit five in, leaving Andy L. (who really wanted to complete the ride) and myself. It was very different riding with just one other, and not having to worry about those left behind. We just kept up a steady pace, negotiated a construction zone, took a detour (due to the construction) with a great downhill, rode into town, stopped for groceries, and continued on to the campground. We arrived about 8pm.
Wolf river campground is on the Wolf River near New London, WI, and caters to tubing trips on the slow river. It draws a partying crowd. Our site is in their ‘rustic camping’ area, which on a Sunday evening was deserted except for us and the bugs. But the partyers had been there before us, and the litter was quite bad. We didn’t bother picking up much, as the effort probably wouldn’t have been noticed.
Brats and cole slaw for dinner, then we shuttled to the main campsite for showers, and Andy, Eric and I made blueberry pie for breakfast tomorrow.

Saturday July 25
To Osh Kosh! We shortened today’s route to go more directly. The original plan avoided busy roads, but our skills have advanced so that we can handle these. Part of our route is on a rails to trails path, but this one is smooth and hard packed, not like the one out of Algoma. Joan found us a park along the trail for lunch, quite pleasant. Once we entered the city we sent the sag wagon on ahead to the campsite. Traffic around the airport was crazy. But getting through the town of Osh Kosh wasn’t bad, even though it was rush hour.
Just after turning onto the airport road we stopped to re-group, looked back, and saw a string of cyclists in yellow jerseys. The venture crew had caught up with us! The last few miles along the frontage road we did together.
The campsite is a huge open field full of tents, RVs, trailers, etc. our (V & C) site is on the outer edge near the noisy highway. But we have lots of space. Closer in they’re packed like sardines.
The tents went up, and since we could see thunderstorms on the horizon, we set a dining fly off the side of the van. The storm hit, but we continued to cook. After that storm finished pounding us, a second came, then a third. Dinner was done and mostly cleaned up. I went with Nancy and Joan to get more water. On the way back the fourth storm hit. Heavy horizontal driving rain. Wild winds. A young man gave me a ride most of the way back and the car was sliding around the muddy track. We had taken the fly down once we finished meals, which was fortunate otherwise it would’ve been torn to shreds. The wind was fierce. Most scouts were in their tents. I was at the open (downwind) back of the van. Soon wet scouts came running over “My tent collapsed!” Other tents were straining. Soon about five boys had elected to spend the night in the car. The wind let up a bit but the rain continued. I retired to my tent.

Sunday July 26
No cycling today. We’re here for the airshow. Everything is wet, three tents are broken. We have one spare tent with some missing pieces. It donated parts to make the others complete. Mr. Squires took a run to a Laundromat with wet sleeping bags.
Once things settled, we walked off to the airshow. We tried to keep together as two scouts to an adult, but were not always successful. Looking at all the planes was fun. There were lots of restored WWII planes, new planes and stuff for sale, and certain prize pieces, such as Glacier Girl and Spaceship One, plus reproductions of historic planes, ultra lights, rotorcraft, etc. In the afternoon were the aerial shows - amazing performances at the edge of control. One scout got lost in the evening when he went back to check out the lost and found, but he eventually found his way back.

Monday July 27
On the road again. Bright blue skies, tailwind, many planes in the air. We cycled to FonDuLac and stopped at their lighthouse, then continued east with a light crosswind, eventually reaching Kiel, where we stopped for lemonade then at a DQ and a Piggly Wiggly. For the last 5 miles I told the boys they could go at their own pace - no stops unless they wanted to. They all made it. Just as we entered the parking lot of the scout camp, we had our first accident - a scout skidded on loose gravel, fell and skinned his knees and one hand. A little first aid, check-in, tents, dinner, and soon we were all asleep.

Tuesday July 28
We (adults) were nearly finished with breakfast and all packed up before the boys were up. That gave us some time to check out the camp. This BSA camp is used for Cub Scout Overnight camp, and has four themed areas each with amazing architecture. One is a castle, built of pigmented concrete blocks with crenellated walls, turrets, and a drawbridge. Then there is a railroad station, which really looks like an old station. They have a space station, a concrete octagonal building, with huge galvanized steel corrugated tunnels (drain pipes) as entrance tubes. They also have a western town which I didn’t see. Each camp is extremely well done, an amazing piece of work.
Soon we were on the road, heading east with a light tail wind to the lake. We turned north at the lake. The sag wagon for Venture passed us, saying that Venture was only a mile behind. That really prompted some of the Core guys to pour on the steam. We pedaled hard all the way into Manitowoc and to the ferry. About 5 minutes later Venture rolled in, and other parts of the Core group drifted in.. We had lunch there near the harbor, and soon enough the SS Badger steamed in. We boarded, and four hours later were back in Michigan, then we drove home.

The end.