A Dream Trip
Here I sit on the train taking the first steps of a journey of thousands of miles. A journey that will include trains, planes and automobiles and a bicycle. I am going back to Wisconsin to participate in the Great Adventure Bike Ride Along the Wisconsin River, GRABAAWR for short. The trip starts in Eagle River near the source of the Wisconsin River not far from the border between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin. I will ride with a group south and west along the river to where it flows into the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien. A journey of 500+ miles (about 800 km) and 7 days.

I have been dreaming about riding SAGBRAW, another long supported bike tour in Wisconsin. The dates didn’t work out for that trip but somehow I can squeeze in GRABAAWR. I made the reservation back in February. This trip is a more complex undertaking that any other trip I have taken up until now. Because of that I am a little anxious about getting the details right. The logistics of getting myself and a bike from Japan to the start of the event in Eagle River, WI are convoluted. I have always been something of a half-assed planner so preparing for a trip like this is a challenge for me.

No matter how I did the calculations getting my own Mad Max, the Surly Blue Beast, to Wisconsin for a relatively short trip is not practical. In the end, I am borrowing my dad’s long neglected mountain bike. He took it to the bike shop to have it tuned up for me. I will ride anything that is pedal-powered but the idea of riding a strange bike, sight unseen for so many days is a bit of a concern. Actually, I rode it one day many, many years ago and don’t recall any discomfort but that was only around the town of Sturgeon Bay where my parents live.

I spent a lot of brain cycles trying to figure out how to carry some gear on this bicycle that really isn’t designed for carrying gear without spending more money to get extra kit compatible with this bike. It is a good thing this trip is 100% supported.

Multi-modal Madness

One of the goals of this trip was to see if I could get around without relying too heavily on family and friends to get me around. I also wanted to take Amtrak. The last time I was on an Amtrak train was when my parents took me too Chicago when I was a wee lad. After living in Japan for so long I have come to understand the value of mass transit, particularly trains, and I want to experience the same in the U. S. 

My original plan was to fly into Chicago with all my gear and take mass transit to Eagle River. Right from the start this plan had many problems. First of all, I couldn’t find any mass transit of any kind that could get me to Eagle River where GRABAAWR starts. No trains, no city buses, no Greyhound, not even car rental agencies. The closest I could get was Green Bay which is still a long way from Eagle River.

What I discovered was that Amtrak was surprisingly reasonable. Unfortunately, the train itself could only get me as close as Milwaukee and the Chicago terminus is far from O’Hare airport. I considered Greyhound but the problem was the same as Amtrak. No service to Eagle River and the bus depot is far from O’Hare. So what I eventually worked out was that I could take a local commuter train from O’Hare Airport to the Amtrak Terminus. I can get the Amtrak from there to Milwaukee. From Milwaukee, Amtrak has bus service to Green Bay, WI. Unfortunately, by the time I would get to Milwaukee I wouldn’t be in time for the last bus to Green Bay. My sister lived close to the Amtrak station in Milwaukee. I say lived because she pulled a surprise rabbit out of the hat by moving to Sturtevant just a few weeks ago. That isn’t so bad for me but more about that later. I was going to take the city bus from the Milwaukee terminus to her house and stay there one night. The next day, bright and early, I would catch the Amtrak bus to Green Bay and from Green Bay my parents would pick me up and take me to Sturgeon Bay, about 30 minutes by car. Since I am borrowing my dad’s bike this is when I would get the bicycle. I had no other option but to ask my parents to give me a ride to Eagle River the following day.

Like I said that *was* the plan. But when my sister moved I had to modify my plan. Fortunately, she moved to Sturtevant, WI which just happens to be one of the few Amtrak stops between Chicago and Milwaukee. In fact, she moved to a house that is only a few minutes from the rail station. I could still take the train to Milwaukee the next day and the bus to Green Bay as planned.

My parents threw me a curve ball just a few hours before I left my house. They told me they would come down to Sturtevant to pick me up at my sister’s house. They claim that it is to see the new house. So that is where we stand now.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the transportation situation after the event is even more dismal. I couldn’t find any way at all to get back from Prairie du Chien where the tour ends. I finally swallowed my pride and asked my sister to come pick me ups.

I strongly believe that mass transit and bicycles are the answer to many of not just America’s problems, but the entire world’s problems. Many places outside the United States already understand the value of this approach but America is slow to reach this epiphany.

Bikes (and mass transit) are the Answer
While planning this trip I really began to understand how truly difficult life is in America is without a car. I really tried to find a way to get around without using a personal vehicle other than a bicycle. But I just couldn’t do it. I just don’t have enough time to fill the gaps between fast forwards by bicycle.  

It is said that 200 miles in Europe is a long way and 200 years in America is a long time. I mean to tell you, 200 miles anywhere in the world without decent transportation infrastructure is a long way.

Looking for America
This trip has brought to mind the Simon and Garfunkel song, Song for America. There is a line in the song, “And we all come to look for America.” I have a confession to make. I think that lately, I consume too much news media. Too much NPR, too much 

Facebook (fake news), too many news websites. I was more optimistic about the world when I was ignorant. I insulated myself from world events by living in Japan. Not being a resident of the U. S. it was easy to ignore events so far away and not able to really participate in local elections, Japanese politics were easy to ignore too. But lately, what I hear on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and in Europe disturbs me. Particularly what I hear about in the U.S. is frightening. It seems like everyone is against everyone else. There is no honesty, integrity or will to work together. It would be easy to blame Trump but he is just as much a symptom as he is a cause. I am not sure I can find a place for myself in America anymore. I have issues with both the Right and the Left, but mostly the Right. I am worried that I have changed too much to find a comfortable place in America. There is just so much stupidity. This trip, I hope, will renew my faith that there are still plenty of people who aren’t raging racists or fanatical anti-fascists. I hope that I will get a chance to have some serious conversations with different kinds of people. I am not generally an outgoing person but I am going to try to find a way to talk to people on a real level.

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