Chris Nadovich's 2009 Transamerica Bike Tour.

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Kaukauna, WI -- Northeast of Appleton

The North West wind of the last few days advanced a little more to the North, bringing us continued easy riding and cool weather. Our 85 miles from Stevens point into the Appleton area was relatively easy. We checked into our Motel at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Tomorrow we ride to Manitowoc and take the ferry across Lake Michigan.

I remember Appleton from my bike racing "Superweek" days. They held the "Houdini Classic" race. Appleton is the claimed birthplace of Harry Houdini and the real birthplace of Joseph McCarthy, although the false claim is more trumpeted regarding the Magician than the true claim for the Senator.

Wisconsin roads improved as we moved east. Not so many dirt roads. Housing developments are now paved and we saw signs for blacktop contractors. We were detoured a couple times and navigated without difficulty. Hills are diminishing, although we did have one short climb through a quiet road covered with a tree canopy. It reminded me of Irish Meetinghouse Road back in Bucks County.

The corn has peaked. I was noticing the corn getting taller and taller as we rode across Minnesota into Wisconsin. Back 200 miles or so the corn was nearly 4 feet high. Here near the east edge of Wisconsin, the corn isn't yet a foot high.

We had dinner at a sports bar situated in the middle of a failed business campus. The building was isolated in a big open field. An unmarked road led in. The only visible sign was a for-sale billboard. The staff at the sports bar was friendly and the food was good, but it was clear that someone was taking a financial bath on the whole facility.

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