30 DOB - Days 17 & 18

Day 17 of 30 Days of Biking ended with an early evening ride around a couple of lakes, including Lake Namakagon, as the sun was getting close to setting. Day time temperatures had been in the low 70s so the evening air was still pleasantly warm and the golden light was beautiful.

Lake Namakagon, north of Cable, is one of the few lakes in the area that has a road along at least part of its shoreline, allowing for a ride with a view of the lake.

Before the ride, I put more bicycle film festival posters up around Cable, including one at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival (CFTF) office, one of the sponsors.

A collection of old bikes adorns the walls of the CFTF building.

Day 18 of 30 Days of Biking began with an early morning search for Sandhill Cranes as part of the annual crane count in April. Iras and I managed to see three cranes, two in the photo below.

Today's bike ride was mostly on a gravel road, beginning near Nelson Lake, with friends, Iras and Tysa. But before the ride began, we had a few false starts. First, we had a tire low on air but no working pump. We drove back into town to retrieve a pump that fixed the problem. Then, we had a set of shoes with the wrong type of cleats for the clipless pedals on the mountain bike Tysa was riding. That was quickly solved by Iras having an extra set of bike shoes that fit Tysa and with the correct cleats. Then, I discovered that the cycling shoes I was wearing also had the wrong cleats for the pedals on the Peugeot I was riding. Argh! Once again, I had to drive back to town to get a pair of shoes that were usable. Finally, with all problems solved, we were ready to ride!

About halfway through the ride we stopped to see a friend of Tysa's who was working on a building project. The owner of the building just happens to be passionate about collecting and restoring vintage Fords of a certain era, 1957 to be exact.

One of the buildings on the property that houses restored vehicles.

A 1957 Ford that is not yet restored but that had less than 4,000 miles on it when acquired.

Inside this building are the restored vehicles in the above photos.

I rode my 1963 Peugeot with 650B wheels on today's ride, a wheel size that is a bit smaller than 700c and that allows for a wider tire to be used, a tire that is very cushy and comfortable on pavement and that is wide enough to negotiate dirt/gravel roads.

The 1963 Peugeot with the 1957 Ford.

A "display" of vintage Fords along the road to the property.

Besides seeing vintage Fords, we also saw a bunch of wolf scat and some wolf tracks on the gravel road we were traveling.

Grateful for another great day for a ride, especially because rain and possibly snow are in the forecast for the next few days.