August 2, 2013 - Cumberland --> Hayward, WI - 50 miles
Highlight of the day - Our first "sweet potato fries" for dinner. While biking last summer I was introduced to sweet potato fries and became hooked. Upon my return to real life after the ride, I learned that sweet potato fries made a big impression upon those who followed the ride, Del Grosenheider being one of those. Seems like every time I would talk with Del after returning to Austin he would mention those sweet potato fries. Well, I am happy to report that these were really good sweet potato fries and the highlight of the day.
But back to the ride. We started the ride from Cumberland at approximately 9:00 am under clear blue skies. It was a cool but pleasant 60 degrees. Since we were starting to feel a little tired, we opted to go off the AC route and follow state highway 63 for the 50 miles directly to Hayward, WI. The road itself was good - nicely paved and good shoulders the whole way, although for a small portion we found ourselves on a 4 lane type highway. Passed through a number of small, very clean towns and stopped in Spooner, WI for a short break, where the downtown was closed off for a street fair where locals sold arts and crafts, as well as sale items. While I was waiting for Randy to return from a store, a man came up and starting chatting with me - "I saw you two way back in Cumberland, and passed you again a few miles back - you are really making good time!" I did my best to further impress the local by pointing out that we had even stopped a couple of times for snacks, including a stop at the local Veterans Park. He seemed suitably impressed and I left with my biker's ego bolstered.
Since the ride was on a state highway, rather than county roads, the quality of the scenery was not quite as spectacular, although still very pleasant. Seems that there are a lot of weekend visitors from Minneapolis / St Paul / Chicago who come and go down the rivers and streams in canoes and tubes. The road itself was essentially flat, with a few rolling hills thrown in, and we did encounter a few headwinds that gave us a little workout. But nothing too drastic. I would say the main detraction from the ride was the fairly heavy traffic. However, almost all drivers were courteous.
In Hayward, we found the Northern Pines Inn, another of those reasonably priced locally owned motels, and spent the remainder of the afternoon resting. There were pleasant chairs and tables outside, and the breeze was cool. I could almost sense a hint of fall in the air.
For dinner we biked a short distance to the Flat Iron Eatery, where we had a couple of delicious hamburgers and the aforementioned sweet potato fries. Made my day and Randy's, I think.
Tomorrow, we plan on a relatively short 33 mile ride to Clam Lake.
