We're not in the Shire anymore, Frodo!

Yikes.  I can't believe that we made it home after such a crazy ride this Memorial Day Weekend.  We biked in two parts to Edgerton, WI from West Allis on Friday evening and Saturday morning, and then today, we rode 72 miles back in almost six hours.  Here's the map of the 125+ mile route that we took:

Friday evening, we biked through Waukesha and Wales to Ottawa Lake Campground at South Kettle Moraine State Forest.  We were going to stealth camp somewhere in the forest, but tried to see what bikers can get on a last minute basis.  Surprisingly, they save the crappiest campsites (the sites that are right at the entrance, closest to the garbage area) for bikers like us.  It turned out to be just fine for not having any reservations on Friday night of Memorial Day Weekend.

Saturday, we woke up and were on the road again by 8:30 AM, stopped LaGrange General Store for a delicious turkey sandwich, and rolled into my aunt's house just after noon. I couldn't even play a game of Scrabble that night with my cousins and aunt--that's how exhausted I was.  I went to bed at 8:30 that night.

Sunday was a great rest day, and a good thing, too, because our ride on Monday was epic.  We took a different route that consisted mostly of bike paths: Edgerton to Fort Atkinson, Glacial Drumlin trail into Waukesha, and the New Berlin bike path home.

'Stallis to Waukesha

We had a great ride this morning from our apartment past Calhoun Road along the New Berlin Trail.  It was our first time out with our bags on and almost fully loaded.  We did about 20 miles in under two hours and had a great time riding through puddles and saying hi to the on-lookers.  I think we look rather funny cruising around on our bikes.

The Fargo feels great, especially loaded down with weight.  At one point, I told Nate that I feel like I'm riding a tank.  I have a tendency to fall off mountain bikes, so I'm especially pleased with how sturdy I feel on this one. On the way back, right before we got onto Lapham, a deer jumped onto the trail about 20 feet in front of me, and I didn't fall off in the excitement, so that was reassuring. 

Four weeks until we depart and it'll be interesting to see how much riding we get in before we hit the trail.  We'll be biking to Edgerton, WI Memorial Day weekend, and that might end up being the longest trip we take.