BACK ROADS TO BOSCOBEL

 With all the road closings, it has been a real challenge planning routes over in Wisconsin this year.  The goal for the Wednesday ride was Boscobel, but with the promise to cross the Black Hawk Bridge as many times as possible yet, getting there was going to be a challenge.  Hopefully some of the roads I had taken long ago were still open!

We had eight riders roam into Casey's on Wednesday for our new 4 o'clock departure time.  Mike, Chuckles, Lois, and Bill arrived on bikes, while the other four, Dave, Wayne, Terry, and Bob rode trikes.

EARLY ARRIVALS

MIKE SPEEDS IN

BILL JOINS IN

AND HERE'S DAVE

The bank clock temp read 80 degrees as we rolled past it and out of town on HWY 9.  We motored on into Lansing, and made sure we crossed the bridge for one of the last times.  After arriving in Wisconsin, we took HWY 35 south through Ferryville and arrived at it's detour.  (HWY 35 from just outside of Ferryville to Prarie du Chien has been closed all summer for repair).  Since we couldn't continue south on 35, we took the detour up HWY 171, and climbed the mountain into Mt. Sterling.

We continued on 171 through Mt. Sterling to N Halls Branch Road, a strip of unmarked blacktop that I had taken quite a while back.  It was still open, so we maneuvered along the narrow winding strip (We don't need no stinkin' yellow lines!) until we arrived at CR S.  A scenic cruise on S took us to HWY 131 (also a closed highway) at Petersburg.  We were able to cross 131 and stay on S all the way east to HWY 61 also called the Blues Highway.

Fortunately we were all still together, so we continued our journey south on 61, a really good riding highway.  We followed 61 on into Boscobel for a short break at the Kwik Trip.  Usually when we venture into Boscobel, we stop at the Udder Brothers Creamery for ice cream, but with the shorter daylight hours, time was against us.

After leaving Boscobel, we picked up HWY 60, and cruised along side of the Wisconsin River and through Wauzeka.  Continuing on 60 we arrived at HWY 18 near Bridgeport and turned northward into Prarie du Chien.  We skirted around PDC on 18 and over the bridge into Marquette where we picked up HWY 76 north.  While viewing a beautiful sunset, we motored up 76 into Waukon where 6 of us stopped for eats at Uptown.  118 miles showed up on the Gold Wing's clock in Waukon.  We were able to put that many miles on, make it to Boscobel on backroads, and get back before dark.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Sunday, the 5th of October (I'm still trying to figure out what happened to June!) is our last scheduled RTE (Ride To Eat).  It's the "Run, Chicken, Run" Run up to the Rockton Bar for their nearly world famous barbeque chicken.  They serve other food, but if you want the chicken, it's a good idea to have reservations.  You can tell Bob to make your reservations if you let him know before Sunday morning.  We plan to depart Casey's at 10:15 (note time change). We usually try to stop at one of the orchards on the way back to load up on cider donuts. Figuring out a route up to Rockton and then back through the orchards is going to be a real challenge, but it promises to be a scenic adventure.  Everyone is welcome!