Our ride to the touristy Dells began by winding over 27 miles of lightly 
traveled and generally quiet county roads (well chosen by BaA) to the town of Sparta. Here the well known Sparta to Elroy trail begins at a well preserved train station. The trail is built on a no longer used railroad bed and is 34 miles in length. The tunnel shown is the longest of three and is about 0.7 miles in length, is very dark and very wet and drippy.
Views from the trail are great. Although the terrain is very hilly, the low grade of the railroad bed makes the biking very easy. Of course it is easier when it is not raining like it was for us. We broke our 32 day string of dry days on the only section of our tour that has not been paved. Wow were we muddy and dirty. But the lunch and pie in Wilton were great!
Past the trail, our challenges did not end. A bridge had been removed and we carried our bikes through the mud over a plank over the stream. Then we spent time cleaning the mud from our cleats so we could clip in and push on.
The bike wash outside the motel was a busy place. Can you imagine the mess we made of the marble floors in the fancy Ramada Plaza hotel?
Like Illinois, Wisconsin has many formerly grand barn that arn now crumbling. It's sad to see them without enough use to justify their proper maintenance.
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