Up North

Every year Dave and I head north to Lake Superior and Madeline Island where Dave's parents have a cabin. It's always nice to travel up there and see how beautiful northern Wisconsin is. We left on Thursday afternoon and stopped near Stevens Point to mountain bike at Standing Rocks County Park. Now I sort of have a fickle relationship with mountain biking - I love to be out in the woods riding trails but I hate getting overwhelmed with technical sections. Standing Rocks was awesome - about 17 miles of continuous single track that flowed really well. There were some roots and rocks but it was manageable and we had a blast. We had a nice visit with Dave's grandma afterward before we stayed with his parents in Marshfield for the night.

The next day we finished off the beautiful drive and saw lots of color in the trees already. We took the ferry over to the island and had a relaxing afternoon and a nice walk.



Cider enjoyed the windy ferry ride



We got some sailing in the next day with some strong winds. Waves were 6-8 feet and we were rocking and rolling.
Captain Dave
Dave's parents

I got a wee bit sea sick and we called it a day after a couple of hours on the water.


The town park on the island has a beautiful lagoon and we had a nice sunset stroll on the beach


See how big the waves are! You'd get sea sick too :)
We had a nice smooth sail on Sunday which I enjoyed much more and Dave and I also rode our bikes around the island. On our way back home on Monday we stopped in Wausau for some more mountain biking at Nine Mile Forest. I again had a ton of fun riding the bike off road although I had a hard time keeping up with Dave. Hmmm - maybe I'll have to do a MTB race or two next season?




We're just a few days from the big race and I can't wait. The competition coming into town will be top notch and I'm looking forward to racing and watching some races. My teammate Jonathan is hot off of a win in Chequamegon and the two UCI races in MI and he'll be looking for two more against the likes of Tim Johnson and the Wells bros. Weather looks to be spectacular. If you're anywhere even close to Wisconsin you should make the trip and support this awesome event. Big, EQUAL prize money for men and women. See you there!