A bit of rain, humidity, and lots of grit=2 tired bikers

Despite some cloudy skies and predictions of scattered showers, we took off for the Military Ridge Bike Trail. The last time we had ridden this trail was four years ago after Vanessa's wedding and after today, I think I will be happy if we don't ride it again for another four or more years.
Here I am at the trailhead in Verona still dry and clean. We had the picnic lunch we packed, sprayed down with mosquito spray, and took off toward Mt. Horeb.
There are three "tunnels" along this trail, but John says they are actually culverts which run under the road. They were damp and wet, but still no rain. The sky did not look very threatening and I actually was not thinking rain until we felt the first few drops.

As we looked behind us from whence we had come, the sky did look threatening and we heard some distant thunder, no turning back now, so we press onward.

It never rained really hard, but let me be the first to tell you what a little rain does to a gravel trail... it makes it very wet and as you ride along the spray from your tires goes all up your back and all over your legs, arms, and well, just everywhere. So, actually it wasn't the rain that did us in, but the dirty grit all over our bodies.

As we rolled into Mt. Horeb, we stopped at a park which turned out to be like a breath of fresh air in our dirty, gritty world.

Here's how John's backside looked when we arrived at the park. It is hard to tell, but it looked like an inside job with a bad case of diarreah.

I wasn't much better, but my legs and arms were covered with dried on dirt.

Well, you know how park bathrooms are usually gross with wet floors, litter everywhere, and no soap or towels? Well, this bathroom was brand spanking new with varnished wood going up to the ceiling and floors so clean you could eat off of them. The water came out of the sink in a spray like a shower, there was soap, and a full paper towel dispenser. I practically took an entire shower right there in that bathroom.

Being clean and having a Diet Dr. Pepper from the dispenser at the park made it my favorite place on earth! Waltz Park, Mt. Horeb, I love you.

Mt. Horeb is known as Troll Alley, so we had to take a photo of the biking troll along the path.

By now the rain had stopped and we were on our way to Blue Mounds. I took these photos of some of the beautiful flowers along the way.

Five hours later, we arrived back in Verona after 34.5 miles. I was just about as happy to see the car and get a Diet Coke out of the cooler as I was to see that beautiful bathroom.

Tonight after long showers, both John and I are very tired and a wee bit sore!