Boost Your Performance

 

With spare inner tubes wrapped around their bodies these cyclists from a 1920s Tour de France light up along the way. 

In the early 1900s, a smoke was thought to provide a jump-start to a race. 

The Tour has a long and illustrious history of doping - This was legal.

Who knew?

Balade à Vélo Nue

Milwaukee's first World Naked Bike Ride is set for this September.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11 starting at 11 a.m. Riders will start and conclude the event at Boone & Crockett, located Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward at 818 S. Water St.

Organizers say the bike ride will start off with yoga, vendors and body painting in the parking lot of Boone & Crockett. From there, attendees will bike through the Third Ward, Lakeshore State Park, downtown and then back to Boone & Crockett. 

Ride organizer John Jankowski explains the purpose of the ride is celebrate body positivity, cycling advocacy and sustainability - while also protesting oil conglomerates.  

Details - including how not to be arrested - here.

More Improvisational Genius

 

One of my neighbors dropped a baldy late in the gun season.  

His kids are all grown now and he has repurposed a bicycle bugger as an all-purpose gear, gun and deer hauler. 

Genius.  

Absolute genius.

Wisconsin Life

Only in Wisconsin.....

 

Peninsula Century Spring Classic

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The angry, yellow and orange radar image that you see above interrupted our annual participation in Door County's spring century ride.  It was a wash-out.  All kidding aside we heard from one cyclist about a lightning strike on the road that was so close he could smell the ozone afterwards.

Nevertheless, the monsoons did abate as the storms blew out over the big pond.  And even though the bicycling was truncated the sun eventually reappeared, we circled our wagons on the porch for a refreshing adult beverage, grilled delicious pork products to round-out a magnificent summer meal and celebrate many past and future years of friendship.

When it rains it pours and when the sun shines you cheer-up.





















Raising a toast to good weather, good food and good friends. 

Cheers!

Dutch Brunch Visits The Platz

Our bicycling friends recently returned from a trip to the Netherlands and brought with them a craving for poffertjes - mini Dutch pancakes.  They even went so far as to purchase cast iron poffertjes pans on Amazon.  

These baby pancake puffs are traditionally served with unsalted, sweet cream butter and sieved powdered sugar.   We included blueberries, sliced strawberries and vanilla ice cream.  After-all, what’s Sunday brunch without ice cream…

click on images for a better look

 

Tornado of Fire

On October 8, 1871, the most devastating forest fire in American history swept through northeast Wisconsin, claiming an estimated 1700 - 2500 lives.  Known as the Peshtigo Fire history doesn’t accord it the same measure of attention as another great fire that occurred simultaneously.  Likely a consequence of the other great fire remembered as the great Chicago Fire.   

Actually, three separate fires made-up the Peshtigo Fire which occurred on both sides of Green Bay and advanced quickly with the help of a low pressure system and a hot, dry wind.  It moved so fast the vortices of fire were described as a tornado of fire.  It burned 1.2 million acres with damages in excess of  $169 million - about the same as the Chicago Fire.

The wildfire that began south of New Franken spread north through the towns of Union, Brussels and Forestville.  In its path was the small settlement of Williamsonville.  Sixty residents perished in the conflagration and the settlement was burned to the ground.  Seven desperate men sought refuge in a well to escape the inferno with five surviving.  

 click on images for a better look

Last weekend’s bike ride took us near the memorial park that marks the location.  It’s a sobering experience to reread the story of the incredible tragedy of the Peshtigo fire.  If you like history you can learn more about this catastrophe from UW-Madison.

Karst

By definition this would be a landscape underlain by limestone - eroded by dissolution, producing ridges, towers, fissures, sinkholes, and other characteristic landforms. 

Although karst processes sculpt beautiful landscapes they are also vulnerable to ground water pollution due to the relatively rapid rate of water flow and the lack of a natural filtration system. This puts your drinking water supplies at risk of being contaminated.   

Someone once told me that the average soil depth on the Door Peninsula is eighteen inches.  That would mean that in some places you might enjoy the benefit of several to many feet of clay soil filled with glacial rocks.  And other locations the bedrock is right at - or quite close to - the surface.  Like these examples I photographed while bike riding last weekend:   

If you click on the second image for a better look you may note that the color of the vegetation in the farm field is mottled.  It happens to be greener where the cracks and fissures of the underlying rock formation are located.

This dolostone composition of the Door Peninsula explains why the peninsula exists in the first place.  As I have blogged-about previously - even the mighty glaciers thousands of years ago could not scour this rock formation from the face of the earth.  It’s tough stuff – but full of cracks, fissures, sinkholes and caves that allow surface contaminants introduced at a great distance to travel quickly and efficiently and show-up in your own water supply.   

This is a big deal with the expansion of large dairy operations.  When you have thousands of cows you are producing waste on the scale of a mid-sized town.  And if your only mechanism for dealing with millions of gallons of liquefied manure is to spread it on local farm fields you might just create problems for someone else.  Fecal contamination has already found its way into sixty percent of the wells sampled in Kewaunee County to the south.  Yup, 60%.  And the governor and legislature really haven't shown a great deal of concern over this.  You'd think that after the political fallout from the Flint Michigan water contamination fiasco this might just get their attention.  It is frustrating to know that most days government seems more intent on continuing to deregulate these operations and hold them harmless from ground water contamination.  Maybe some day a humongous class action lawsuit will turn a few heads.

In any event - if you enjoy geology you can learn more about the science of karst formations and groundwater here.

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers

From last weekend's Peninsula Century Spring Classic bike ride these native roadside gems...

Cypripedium calceolus ( Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchid)

Castillega coccinea (Indian Paintbrush)

Iris versicolor (Blue Flag Iris) 

 click on imagesfor better viewing

While some of my pals like to ride like the wind ignoring all the wonder of nature around them - sometimes it pays to slow down and take time to smell the flowers.

Peninsula Century Spring Classic

Another fun weekend of bike riding under the saddle.

Pre-ride festivities.

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Ride.

Post ride festivities - showered and rehydrating with margaritas before the venison taco bar..

Everyone was in bed by 9:30 PM.  Short hitters we have become...

Tour de Tom - Good Eats

A handful of photos documenting the weekend's festivities which included A LOT OF FOOD.

Kicking things-of with Limburger cheese and sulze from Marchant's...

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It wasn't planned for this to happen but south of the border food was featured prominently.  Best to enjoy it now before The Wall goes up.

Handmade yummy tamales...

Venison fajitas...

Mennonite made crepes for breakfast this morning...

Somehow the recycling bin in the garage is full of empty wine bottles.  Bow hunting is on tap a couple of days from now.

Tour de Tom

Second Annual Tour de Tom is now settled history.  No flat tires, no breakdowns and no arrests.  Yesterday brought near-perfect cycling conditions.  No route map, no agenda = no worries.

Ready to roll...

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Support vehicle...

Porch setting in the late afternoon sun with a frosty Oktoberfest beer... 

Peninsula Centuries Spring Classic

Going back almost two decades we've been riding the Ridge Ride for Nature - an organized bicycle ride supporting The Ridges Sanctuary - a Door County nature preserve.  

A couple of years ago responsibilities for the ride were assumed by a professional race/ride organization and today the Door County Community Foundation’s Give Door County program is the official charity partner of the Peninsula Century Spring Classic.


Last year's cold and storms resulting in returning home to fire-up the wood stove to chase the chill out of everyone's bones.  This year was optimal cycling weather - temps in the 80s, sun and partial clouds and hardly any wind.

Here are some pictures from the 2016 ride held last weekend.

click on images to enlarge

A gift to charity in Door County is not only a contribution, it’s also an investment in the peninsula's economic development. You can learn more about supporting worthy peninsula causes here. 

Door County Beer Festival

Rather a fun weekend here at The Platz.  The First Mate and Mennonite along with their Frau and Fraulein joined us for a weekend of bicycling, relaxation, terrific food and adult beverages.

After participating in the Peninsula Centuries Spring Classic yesterday the ride concluded where it began - Baileys Harbor.  Which is coincidentally the same location of the Door County Annual Beer Festival.

The sunny and 80-degree weather was perfect for bike riding and beer drinking....

click on images to enlarge

 

Tour de Tom

This past weekend featured the inaugural Tour de Tom.  A 28 mile bicycle tour from The Platz to Algoma, WI and back.  

Six of us participated in a ride with no planned route, little support, no registration fees or agenda and completely ad-hoc.  Some photos from the ride:

Pre-ride pizza

Team Swill

 

On the Ahnapee Trail

 

Algoma group pic

 

Road art in Kolberg

 

Lake Michigan grilled trout and garden veggies for dinner

 

Mennonite makes crepes for breakfast following church on Sunday

click on images to enlarge

I have a feeling that ride participation is going to grow...