In Wisconsin today I was a little homesick because it was a lot like home. We had a 90 mile ride through rolling dairy farms. The cooler and more humid weather felt familiar and some of the older homes and farms looked quaint, like New England. It was very different from the western states with their immense grand scenery that to me was hot and dry and a bit alien and impersonal, sort of like I imagine the moon to be, not green and intimate like New England. With this I am a bit homesick. I miss Sarah and the kids who are all together without me at home for the summer. It was a little bit bitter/sweet to think that after this weekend we only have 2 more weeks to go. I am looking forward to Sarah's opening and to being back in Stockbridge again.

That being said we had a lovely ride today. We passed through some really nice little towns. Making me feel homesick were the town centers with little coffee shops and local bakeries like we have in the Berkshires. Today for lunch I stopped with my friends Kevin and Randy from San Francisco for a delicious piece of home made rhubarb pie and a BLT with fresh juicy tomatoes and home made bread.

Some pictures before I close and a "rider profile" on my friend Kevin.

Almost half of today's ride was on this hard packed bike path. Lovely if not a bit jarring on the hands and wrists. .

The path began in Sparta, Wisconsin which claims to be the "bicycle capital of the world"

They have the first old rail bed to be converted to a bike path which features 3 tunnels.

The tunnels were carved from solid rock and one was almost a mile long. It was very cool with dripping water and dark inside. I led some yoga chants I once heard at Kripalu that were awsome.

 
This is Kevin McTighe from San Francisco. He is about my age and retired after working for the City Parks Department. Kevin is a strong and very experienced rider who I can almost keep up with on the climbs, but likes to hang onto my wheel on the flats and the long rolling hills especially into a headwind. Most of all he likes to have fun and pause and smell the flowers or to pet the animals, have lunch and a piece of pie, take a swim and can always sniff out a good pub. Though now in SF he is a Mainer, born and raised on a farm just up the Penobscot above Bangor. He tells stories about growing up on a dirt road drinking goats milk. He never tasted cows milk until he went to elementary school. He lost most of his hearing when young because as he says "I was a sickly child" with multiple bouts of fever. He is a lot of fun and a very smart guy; under rated by many, having a brother and sister who both went to Harvard. Most of the time we ride together at or near the back of the group.