This summer I did a mini bicycle trip from coast to coast in Wisconsin, which means from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan. Well, mini may not be accurate, but everything compared to going around the world seems mini.
With more than 15,000 lakes and about 56,884 miles of rivers, it’s an interesting fact that Wisconsin has more coastline than most states, including California and Florida, but not Alaska. Wisconsin also has the largest bicycle industry, the first rails-to-trails conservation project and some of the nicest bike trails in the world, and I mean that literally. And lo and behold, I discovered another interesting fact: apparently, according to this sign pictured below, Kermit the Frog is an indigenous species of Wisconsin. Wow!
Watch my fun, fast-motion video of the trip.
One of my motivations for doing this was wondering: How does riding a bicycle across Wisconsin compare to riding a bicycle around the world? Have my world travels spoiled my appreciation for the little things? I’m still thinking about this…
Update: I wrote a story about what it is like to come home after traveling the world. Returning home as an essential part of travel. It embodies a lot of my hard-earned wisdom.
Outdoor Wisconsin
Before my bicycle trip across Wisconsin, I was doing a lot of day trips: Milwaukee, Door County, Madison, Sheboygan, Waukesha…
Watch my segment with Outdoor Wisconsin on Milwaukee Public Television. It begins at minute 9:00, and the crew did a great job filming, interviewing and editing. Thanks! I love the philosophical opening.
For the couple of minutes my interview lasted, the crew filmed me riding around Kohler-Andrae State Park for 3 hours. I started to get tired as I was still wearing my winter coat, and was running low on blood sugar. (A “winter coat” is what us Wisconsinites call those 10-20 extra pounds we gain over the holidays.) Still, I think I had some interesting things to say.
