Today I originally planned on going with a friend on his planned route around Lake Poygan; however, they weren’t planning on heading out until a bit later and I really wanted to get in an earlier start which included some good miles since I didn’t ride at all the previous weekend. So, I asked Kevin if he was up for an earlier and bit longer ride and he was.
I planned a route heading up to Waupaca area which included some roads we, at least I hadn’t been on before. Especially around the Waupaca area and boy were some of them really nice; winding around some of the local lakes and we even found a new covered bridge on our way home in Springwater.
Anyway back to the beginning, we took back roads to eventually connect with Cty M north of Pickett and up through Waukau and Eureka, some back roads from there up to Poy Sippi and even more back roads up to Waupaca where we stopped at Little Fat Gretchen’s for lunch/breakfast. I had their special of the day, Bacon Beer Cheese Curd Burger and it was excellent. However, apparently a bit too rich as I had stomach issues later on after I got home, and that most certainly couldn’t have been from the ice cream I had after that.
As mentioned we took a bunch of back roads west and south of Waupaca, including some county roads before hitting Hwy 21 to Hwy 49 south into Berlin where we took Cty F to Cty V and eventually connecting onto Cty E south into Ripon. I had forgotten how much fun Cty V is with swooping curves, my favorite.
I looked for a place in Ripon for ice cream before heading there and much to my surprise there is a place right downtown, Sweet N’ Saulty, which serves my favorite, Cedar Crest. Three of Ripon’s finest drove by while we were there and then it occurred to me there was a guy on a red bike with black helmet they were chasing through Ripon last weekend before calling off the chase. I don’t think I fit that description? Well, obviously not entirely. Tee hee!
From there we took Olden Road to Cty N, Cty I and Hwy 23 back to town. Not 200 miles, but pretty close. It was a perfect day weather wise and it felt so good, I didn’t really want it to end. So, we already decided before the ride was over to head to the Menominee Reservation/Hwy 55 for tomorrow with an even earlier start.
