Pedaling for Affordable Housing: A little bit o' Oregon, in Wisconsin

We woke early (4:15am), excited for the big cities at the end of the day. We have our morning routine down by now: bags in the trailer, breakfast, clean-up, route meeting, ride.

But today was a little different, throwing our routine out the window of that sketchy white van we drive around.

Waiting for the rain, it's too early to be awake... 6am!

There was thunder and lightning outside.

Before Bike & Build, I doubt I would have thought twice about going for a bike ride in a lightning storm. We have rubber tires, right?

But we have a saying on Bike & Build; heard at least a dozen times a day. "Safety is Sexy." Yup.

We waited for about an hour for the storm overhead to pass. I sat on a water cooler in the doorway, watching and counting the lightning strikes and listening for the thunder to dissipate into the distance.

Post-rain, climbing hills in the mist.

Still pouring outside, a group of us headed out. Like when driving a car, the rain (and oils lifted off the road) typically reduces the friction between your tires and the road.

We flew up and down hills, exhilarated by the cool air, the rain in our face and flying up from our wheels.

This was our last day in Wisconsin, and I was a little sad to say goodbye to the state. From Janesville, several days in Madison, Soldier's Grove, and Onalaska, Wisconsin treated us well. It felt like home to me, like my beloved Oregon. With the rolling hills, vast forests, and intertwined with farmland, and a liberal sweet bicycling city (Madison), I could have stayed here happily for a while. At least until the first sign of snow.

Just keeping warm at lunch.

The remainder of our rainy day ended up being lovely. We stopped for lunch under a covered picnic area, did some aerobic jazzersize-esque moves to stay warm, and then pedaled into the great state of Minnesota, ending the day in a cute neighborhood of the Twin Cities, close to the U of M St. Paul campus.