Seg#27 Looking at the Next Decade on the Chippewa Trail

Segment #27: Chippewa River State Trail Durand to Eau Claire, WI 8/20/13

Start	Durand, WI	44.63452,-91.95663	NS miles 13.5
End	Eau Claire, WI	44.82893,-91.51429	Trllgth 30.3 Ride 32.2

Ride Hrs 3.0

AVS 10.6

MXS 22.5 mph

DST 32.2

Temp 86

Kcal 2635

 
This Wisconsin segment and the following one I am entitling, Looking at the Next Decade. August 2oth I clicked over my last year of the 6^th decade. It was a perfect birthday riding the Chippewa River Trail with Big Brother #6 (BB6), Don. 

Don and me at Durand prior to heading north.
Nice trail, nice day, nice ride.



The woodlands were lush as these ferns display
I forgot to take a picture of the wild cucumber!

The weather was great with a breeze at our back and the skies crystal blue. The dew point and temperature were heaven-like. What more could I ask for turning sixty-nine? It is a kick to ride with BB6 because he is a habitual cyclist, pumping sixteen or more miles every day, and, he is an accomplished naturalist.  Hearing the names of hundreds of plants, flowers and trees, some I had known but forgotten and others I never knew, made the ride fun and educational. One interesting plant which was new to me was the wild cucumber. This perennial vine was in full bloom on our ride. The star shaped flower gave a misty-like look to plant from afar. It is said another species of this plant found in the west can generate a hundred pound root, known as a man-root.  I guess I was intrigued by this plant because it spread out over trees and bushes somewhat like the ubiquitous kudzu plant that engulfs acres and acres of land in southeastern United States—150,000 additional acres each year.
Connie and Mary visited the Chippewa Valley Museum while Don and I peddled away. The trail was hard surface the whole way so I averaged nearly two miles per hour faster than my normal eight miles per hour. Even though we got a late start, we rode twenty eight miles quickly and, arrived in Eau Claire before five o’clock. While Don and I peddled our way up the trail, Connie and Mary visited the Chippewa Valley Museum.  Mary discovered that name Chippewa came from the white man’s mispronunciation of Ojibwe. This reminds me of Martinez, Georgia where the mispronunciation of Martinez (Mar-teen-ez) is spoken as Martin-ez.

After a shower and a Grinder (a sausage sandwich akin to a Philly) we all hit the hay early.

Over my sholder is the Chippewa River that runs clean and
clear to the Mississippi River. It is a beautiful body of water