Day 66: Mercer, WI to Phelps, WI

Aug 7 blog

63 miles

2,660 miles

Today’s route took us on beautifully manicured bike paths and quiet roads over the hills, through the woods, and around the lakes….but not to grandmother’s house. Instead we were destined for the Phelps Lakeview Lodge overlooking North Twin Lake.

We learned that when one of the bike trails was approved, billionaire, Liz Uihlein, co-founder of packaging and office supplies company ULine, committed to fund the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the trail. We certainly saw evidence of her commitment. The “rail trail” looked like a park with manicured trailside lawns, flowers and well-trimmed trees. In fact, we passed several crews working on the landscaping, including blowing the trails clean!

We stopped in Boulder Junction at a coffee shop for lunch. Outside we met a nice couple from nearby Rhineland, WI. They had been riding the trails as well, and asked us where we were coming from and where we were going. They told us about the wonderful self-guided bike tours they had done in Austria when their son was stationed there for seven years with the U.S. State Department.

We passed through several more very nice lakeside towns today and stopped to rest alongside one of the lakes at Edgerton Lodge where we had tried to find a room for the night.

As the afternoon set in, the skies darkened and we heard the rumble of thunder. We decided to pull off at a bar and grill along the road and spent some time talking to two older couples who had been riding UTVs and were also stopping to avoid the looming storm. After chatting for awhile, the consensus was that the storm appeared to be moving away from us, so we continued on our way. We seemed to be riding right toward the dark clouds, and “Lewis” was wishing she had never joined Clark”an expedition! Finally, as we turned slightly north, the skies cleared and we saw blue skies!

We arrived in Phelps at Phelps Lakeview Lodge where we took quick showers and got right back on our bikes and raced to dinner at Escape Bar and Grill on the lake before it closed at 8pm.

We decided to take a rest day and rent a UTV for tomorrow so that we could run errands and get around without having to ride our bikes.

We had a blast riding the UTV on the dirt and gravel trails as well as certain roads up to Land o Lakes just on the border of Michigan. It also allowed us to do some shopping, visit the library to do some route planning and lodging reservations, and to stop at the ice cream shop on the way back. We also got to see some wildlife on the dirt trails. As we turned one corner, I saw the backside of a black bear we had startled as it was fleeing into the woods.

Beautiful bike trails and lakeside roads