Before starting the day I got packed up and most everything that was exposed to the night air was wet with a heavy dew. I hate putting kit away wet but I needed to get on my way. I made a horrible error in packing as well. Can you guess what I left in Windsor?
My 1st stop of the day was at the Sidetrack Cafe in Windsor. It is a typical small town cafe with news on a TV and a group of old fellows hashing local and national happenings. It is also incredibly clean.
For breakfast I ordered eggs, biscuits and gravy, and locally made sausage. The eggs were done perfectly. The biscuits were probably as tender as mine but quite small and the gravy was bland. The sausage was awesome enough to bring the overall impression up a bit.
Today would find me riding over the highest elevation on the trail at 955 feet above sea level.
From there the ride made a gradual 35 mile descent to Pilot Grove. It didn't feel like a nice easy downhill glide though. The trail condition wasn't nearly as nice as what I experienced the first day. It was generally much softer, and somewhat rutted. In addition there were sporadic miles of trail a bit more like roadway gravel that the typical trailway screenings.
Along the way I encountered a very bold squirrel. He wasn't about to give up his spot to a lowly biker. As I leaned my bike against his perch it became evident why he wanted it so badly. He is slowly gnawing the whole thing to bits!
Along the way there is a variety of designs for bridges. I've admired bridges since I was very young and these old girls have interesting character. Some by design.
My destination for today is the City Park in Pilot Grove. It is kind of a dump. The swimming pool is filled with stagnant water. The showers are closed and the bathroom doors are missing. To add to the ambience of the spot, there is a feed mill a block away and the corn harvest and drying season are here. That means 24 hours of drying fans running. The icing on the cake for this spot is that after I got set up, a group of 16 troubled teens and they're 5 counselors showed up. Thank goodness for industrial ear plugs!
OH! Did you guess what I left in Windsor?
