Her Name

Today, the 920 rolled past 2500 miles on the odometer. It was actually sitting at 2499 last night. 1900 of those have been done since leaving Lincoln. And after doing that many miles, carrying me to Minneapolis, around the North Shore of Superior, through the UP, and now nearly to Madison, I think she has earned her name. It's not the one I originally planned to give her. I was planning to name her Artax, after Atreyu's horse from A Never-ending Story, because of the frame getting warrantied (sinking into the Swamp of Despair and later coming back), and because the name just sounds badass. But you spend a lot of time with a bike, and sometimes the name you thought would fit isn't actually the right one. This is why it takes time for a name to be earned (and seriously, we should do this with people too, not just assign them a name at birth with no knowledge of their character). Black Beauty was work to ride, especially hauling that blasted trailer. But this bike takes me everywhere with grace, and I feel like I'm just along for the ride. And so, after all these miles and a full month together away from home, she has earned the name Bree, after the horse from The Horse and His Boy. She has her name now, and Bree and I have many miles yet to go on this adventure.

Today was a fairly simple day. It was warm, clear skies, and while there was a wind against me (I'm going west in the westerlies after all) it wasn't too bad.

I woke up around 5, finished my blog entry for yesterday, and then got around quickly, not knowing how far I was going today, as I didn't have a stay set yet. John printed out a bunch of biking maps for me by county, pages upon pages, trying to help me figure out my route. It was a very nice gesture, but it just overcomplicates the simple process of using Google Maps and figuring the rest out as I go that has worked for me for well over 5000 total miles of touring now. I never quite know how to explain to people who don't have smart phones that the portable computer in my pocket makes maps just a waste of paper and ink. Maybe one day I should try touring without a smartphone, just to know what using paper maps was like in the old days.

Most of the day was biking through farmland, up and down short, but steep, hills. There was relatively little traffic, but also not much to see. Once I hit Lake Winnebago and highway 151, there was more to see...and more traffic to go with it. But it was still easy going. At some point during the day, a lady I had contacted in Fond Du Lac got back to me, and said that while she was gone for the holiday and wouldn't be back until late, the door to the house and garage were open and I was welcome to come in and make myself at home. It was less miles than I wanted to go, only a little over 50, leaving me an 80+ mile day to Madison tomorrow, when it's supposed to rain in the evening too. But I wasn't going to pass on a place to stay, and a little alone time at that. So Fond Du Lac it was. Which meant as soon as I reached the south end of Lake Winnebago, and rolled up to her house on the north side of town around 1:30, I was done.

The alone time has been nice. True time alone in the comfort of a house is a rare treat on the road. I got to call some people, do some reading, even watch a little TV...and of course make this blog entry before falling asleep. I expect my host will be home soon though, and it will be time to be social for a while before bed. I need to get out early tomorrow.