Osceola to Prescott, WI

Thursday, September 11, 2003
Distance Cycled: 53 miles
Total elevation gain: 2,445 feet

Today was a very difficult day. First of all Mary Kay decided that she had poison ivy on her bottom instead of deer fly bites. Therefore she called a clinic and they told her to call her doctor in Pasco and have him call a prescription into Wal-Mart for us to pick up. We stopped at the clinic and they told us that it would be at least an hour before anyone could see us. We left the clinic and stopped at a pharmacy where the pharmacist gave Mary Kay two different over the counter medications that he said would be almost the same as the doctor's prescription when mixed in equal parts. Finally we started out of town climbing an 8 to 9 % grade. At the top of the climb we also encountered winds that were almost directly into our face. That was just the start of the hills that we would encounter during the day. Just before we reached Stillwater, MN, we came down an extremely steep hill after which we crossed the St. Croix River on a bridge without any shoulders.

We had traveled a distance of 28 miles and it was now 12:45 PM. In Stillwater we ate lunch and then everyone went their various ways looking in the Stillwater stores.

We left Stillwater and immediately began a climb that was up a grade from 5 to 9%. It was also about 6 blocks long. By the time we got to the top of the climb all 6 of us were pooped. We took a short rest and continued on our way. While we were in Stillwater, the wind speed increased so we were now riding our bicycles against a stronger wind. We continued south going up and down small hills until we got to Afton, MN. Getting into Afton we went down a long series of hills. We stopped at an ice cream parlor and had drinks and ice cream. The Ice Cream Parlor is the oldest continuous, ice cream parlor in the United States.

We spent a pleasurable interlude looking at the flowers and fish in their pond. Then we left and went up a hill that was 2 miles long and had a grade that was never less than 5%. In the next 11 miles we encountered 2 more major descents followed by major climbs. Just as we reached the bottom of the last climb we had to slow down for a school bus that was letting off a child. As a result, Mary Kay and I walked up the last climb.

After this the road was again small ups and downs with no grade greater than 5% and all quite short. We were still fighting that wind so our speed was not very good. Finally we came down one more hill and reached Hwy 10, which crossed the St Croix River back into Wisconsin and our motel for the night. Getting onto Hwy 10 was quite a chore. The traffic coming down the hill toward Wisconsin was almost continuous. We were finally able to get across the road and onto the shoulder heading for Wisconsin. We only had two rooms at the motel so Barbara, Scott, Mary Kay and I all stayed in the same room. Except for the problem of getting to the bicycles it was not a problem. However, we could not find a room in La Crosse, WI for the weekend. All the motels were full. Finally I got on the phone with my cards and found us a room at a Hampton Inn. The cost of the rooms was very high so in the morning, I got on the phone and was able to get rooms at a Comfort Inn for $30 less per night.

About 30 minutes after we arrived at the motel, the sky finally dumped all the water on us that it had been threatening to do for 4 days. We sat in our motel room where we were dry and watched the rain come down. It was a very hard rain. After about 30 minutes and 4 showers the rain had let up so we walked across the parking lot and ate supper in a bar.