Trip Preparations

How much preparation is enough for a bike tour? We've been reviewing routes, assembling a tool kit, tuning up the trikes, selecting quick-drying clothes, and doing some test rides. We still have more than a month to get everything ready, but previous rides have taught us that a little extra planning can save a lot of trouble on the road. (Having the right size inner tubes, for instance.)

Today's project was to hitch everything up, load the luggage, and make sure it all fits, and that nothing interferes with turning. So far, so good. The Igloo cooler holds three luggage organizers, a large bag for tools and spare tires, and a small packet for electronics. A Velo-Case and a Lone Peak seat-back bag will both fit on the rear trike, while the front trike can carry a Radical Design large seat-back bag.

There was time for some photos by Lake Harriet. I just hope the weather is this nice during the ride!

More about biking Wisconsin

Bike route 65811 - powered by Bikemap 

The first day of our trip to Wisconsin started with the ride from Minneapolis to Stillwater that is seen in the previous post. We stopped for a picnic lunch beside the Stillwater lift bridge, which had just come back into service a couple days earlier. After a long wait for a boat to pass under the bridge, we crossed in slow and heavy traffic. Most of the cars went up the main road, but we took the very steep route up County Road E and then continued quite straight across St. Croix County. After the first big hill, there were a few moderate hills, but nothing really difficult. We would have continued much further east before turning south, but a detour on County Road E led us to change our plans. A small but intense thunderstorm had overtaken us, and we didn't want to explore a detour of unknown length going away from our planned direction of travel, so we changed course. We didn't know where to stay in the little towns north of Interstate 94, but a friendly local cyclist directed us to a pleasant little motel in Woodville, where we could lock the trikes under an overhang directly outside our door. A disadvantage of traveling the quiet country roads in Wisconsin is that there are very few places to eat or sleep along the way. We had packed enough food and drinks, so we didn't go hungry, but we had some worried moments before we located a room for the night.

Trike trains

We were out riding around Minneapolis on Veteran's Day with two "delta" recumbent trikes (one wheel in front and two in back) hitched together, when we encountered two different folks with trikes that could hitch on to make a 3-trike train. Both of them enjoyed the fastest trike ride of their life, and we had fun making new friends.

We rode the two linked trikes on the St. Paul Classic ride on September 9 this year, going just over 50 miles (80 km). I rode the rest of my 100 miles (160 km) for the day on a two-wheeled recumbent to complete my fourth "9/11 Century" ride.



In the still photo above, the front trike is a prototype of the Greenspeed Anura, the second one is an older-model Kettwiesel from Hase, and the third one is a SUN EZ-3. In the video, the third trike is a newer model aluminum Kettwiesel. Linking trikes like this is a great way to let people with visual or mobility impairments enjoy cycling. As many as a half-dozen blind riders can ride with a sighted leader this way. People whose strokes have left them with one-sided weakness and poor peripheral vision can safely ride in groups or traffic. Other delta trikes that can be linked in this way include those from Lightfoot and the Sinner Comfort. Hase in Germany, which introduced trike trains, has taken it to greater lengths than anyone else, with its 2007 chain of 93 trikes. (Trike train videos on YouTube)