To see the day's Map and Elevation Graph look here: Cycling map and data link (hover on 'Map' button in the upper left corner and click on Terrain).
We start riding at 8:50am after the rain stops (bit of a Deja vu from yesterday). Surprisingly the streets are not as wet as they were yesterday. Perhaps this is due to the strong east wind. This is a ride with lots of hills and headwinds. We are in the 'driftless' area of Wisconsin. This area was never glaciated and thus has many steep hills.
We head south through La Crosse on WI 35 (a bit bumpy) about 8 miles until we come to County Road K. This is where the climbing begins. The climbing never stops as there is always another hill all day long (see the map). I'm glad I have a granny gear. We ride through Pleasant Valley as we climb about 450 vertical feet for 5 or 6 miles. Then we go down K to Chaseburg and see the Organic Valley plant.
Organic Valley Plant
Here we get a bit concerned about rain as our phones show some rain headed our way. We ride on anyway and fortunately it fades out before reaching us. Our eye wear is affected by the leftover mist hanging in the air. This is a beautiful wooded area. It's very steep and not good for farming.
Windmill covered with vines
After County Roads O, Y and B, we arrive in Viroqua and have lunch at the Coop.
Cool Mural in Viroqua
After lunch we take County Road SS and WI 56 to Viola. The headwind is quite noticeable near the top of hills but less so in the valleys,
Our Favorite Bar in Viola
We've seen this bar a few times before and you can see our favorite encouter here.
We check for more rain on our phones and notice that a large ugly-looking storm is headed our way and will arrive around 6:00pm. This motivates us to ride without taking any long breaks. This is a very isolated area with low traffic and no towns. We just ride up the hills and into the headwinds and hope we can beat the rain. As we ride the clouds are getting thicker and darker - increasing our anxiety.
We do stop for a picture of contour farming near Richland Center
The nasty looking storm headed toward us is on our minds.
Storm bearing down on us as we arrive in Richland Center
We make it to Richland Center by 6:00pm just before the rain starts.