La Crosse to Richland Center – Wednesday 1 September

Distance: 75 miles

It’s now September and we’re into our second month! Woohoo. And onwards we went along Highway 14 on a lovely day for cycling. The terrain was hilly at times but we kept a good pace throughout. One disruption was a ten-mile stretch of roadworks where the top layer of road was completely stripped away. This made a very bumpy downhill ride.

Today we passed through the raccoon-orientated town of Coon Valley, and some Amish areas that meant we weren’t the only people on bikes. One funny moment was when we stopped at a gas station for a break about 20 miles outside Richland and asked some locals how far it was to Richland (a good way of getting to talk to people). We were told it was about 50miles to Richland – that lad mustn’t have been too local!

When we arrived into Richland, we piled into the car for the drive to Littledale Farm – our accommodation for the night that was a few miles outside the town. The lovely farm is owned by formerly Manchester-based Margaret and Graham. The farmhouse is also used to breed sheep but acts as a B&B too. It was great to be up in the hills in the peaceful surrounds and we all had a good night’s sleep. For dinner Margaret kindly arranged the local Irish bar O’Finleys to donate some food which was a welcome surprise.