So, if you all could, please take a moment and bear with me. I would like to use my first blog posting to try to explain the 'why' of this trip. Many folks have asked, “Why would you ride your pedal bike around South Western Wisconsin visiting farms, creameries and different food producers?” People think I am crazy for vacationing on my bike and in my own backyard. Why don't you do it by car? Why don't you go see different parts of the world instead? These are the general questions I have gotten over the last few months, and if I they didn't ask me, I know they were thinking it. So, I figured it would be good to address them on the outset so that we are all on the same page.
Bikes and food**(see definition below). Simply put, these are my two loves. And you have to admit, the two go together pretty well. The more you bike, the more you can eat. It is a lovely (and tasty) marriage.
First off, I'd like to address this question: Why would you vacation on your bicycle rather than using a car or other mode of transit? There are a number of reasons, so I am going to make a quick list of them:
Reason #1: I can eat more food when vacationing on my bike. A major part of vacationing for me is about experiencing the food that is available in each different and unique place. To refine that thought even more: Vacationing is about eating. When you bike a lot, you burn a lot of calories. When I ride I always use the rough rule of thumb that for every mile I bike I burn about 35 calories (not sure how accurate it is, but let's just go with it). As an example on day one of our trip: we rode from Viroqua, WI to Muscoda, WI and put on about 52 miles. 52 miles x 35 calories = 1820 calories burned. 2000 calories (average american diet) + 1820 calories (number of calories burned) = 3820 calories. What this means to me is that on that Monday, I could eat 3820 calories worth of food and still not gain any weight! Holly cats! That is a lot of food! I can eat two times the amount of food in a day that I usually eat!
Reason #2: Travelling by bike is much less harmful to the environment than other modes of transit like cars and planes. I know I may be preaching to the choir on this one, but I wanted to mention it because it is important to me. I am one of those folks that you may characterize as a tree hugger. I am okay with that label. In fact, I like it. I personally believe that I am borrowing this planet from future generations, so I would like to leave as little of a mark as possible while I am here. One way I can do that is to make the decision to vacation on my bike rather than in a car or flying somewhere on a plane. It just makes sense to me.
Reason #3: You go slower and see more when travelling on a bike. In todays culture of highspeed everything, I know that most people would decide against using a mode of transit because it is slow. But in this case, I want to urge people to use bicycling because it takes longer. As you pedal down the county road on your bike, you are more apt to see wildlife on the side of the road or that small sign for an apple orchard that is a mile off the main highway. Seeing these little details gives you the opportunity to take in and contemplate more of what is around you. It gives you the chance to process everything that comes into your view. I know it is those little details like the wildlife we saw or the apple orchard we stopped at and picked apples at that make the trip. The unexpected suprises are often the best parts and I find that I have more unexpected surprises when travelling by bike.
Alright, so now I am going to move on to address another common question I have been asked: Why would you vacation in your own backyard visiting farms, creameries and breweries? Again, I think a quick list of reasons would be best. Here it is.
Reason #1: The abundance of food **(see definition below) in SW Wisconsin is downright ridiculous! Within a 50 mile radius of Viroqua, WI (where I currently call home and where we started our tour from) there is a higher density of organic farms than anywhere else in the United States! SW Wisconsin is also home to hundreds of world championship cheesemakers (I will elaborate much more on this in future blogs). Wisconsin in general is looked at as the artisan cheese capitol of the United States. Why would I go anywhere else to vacation than my own backyard if what I really love (good food) is already here?
Reason #2: Many of the most beautiful places are right in your backyard! So many folks live in a town for years knowing about all the tourist sites without ever visiting them. They say, “Oh, I live so close to that monument/cave/forest/state park. Eventually I will go and see it.” Then they spend thousands of dollar flying around the country or the world to see the most beautiful places in the world. What we always forget is that some of the most beautiful places we can see are so close. So, with that thought in mind, I started thinking about planning a bike tour of Wisconsin. I have lived in this state for the last six years and I am in awe of how little of it I have seen. I haven't been up to the Apostle Islands or to southern WI at all. This spring I visited Blue Mounds for the first time and I was amazed. I watched the sunset (or then end of it) from one of the towers in Blue Mound State Park, which is the highest point in SW Wisconsin. You can see for miles and miles in every direction. I said to myself, “I had no idea something this beautiful existed so close.” Since that realization, I have been on a mission to visit those sites that I have heard so much about that are right in my backyard. Once I see the entire state, I might venture out into Minnesota or Iowa or Michigan. Although, it might take me a really long time to see everything this beautiful state has to offer.
Reason #3: Vacationing close to home uses a ton less fossil fuels than flying to Europe or drivng to Florida.
I think it is a no brainer vacation on your bicycle in your local setting. I suppose I am hoping that this blog inspires others to get on the hog (my friends affectionate name for our bicycles) and go and see what is around them without fossil fuels.
Cheers to loving bicycles, food and life,
Bjorn
**Bjorn's definition of Food: When I say food I mean food that is local in origin; food that has a story. When I eat each and every meal, I want to know the who, what, where, when about it. I want to know the who makes my cheese and where the milk that was used to produce it comes from. I want to know who grows the delicious Charentais melon that I just ate for dessert and how it was grown (in an environmentally friendly way?). I want to know the story of where my meat comes from. I want to know the person who raised hog that provided the bacon for my breakfast. For me this type of food adds so much meaning and richness to my life. It provides me with a connection to those around me and assures that the money I spend on food is going to producers who have similar values (producing food with the health of the earth, animals and producers in mind). And I know many of you are saying, wow, this sounds like a high and mighty goal. But I will be the first person to say I am not perfect. Every now and again I slip up and eat some gummy worms from a Kwik Trip or eat a Mr. Freezie or two (I did that on this bike trip). I do the best I can do and I am getting better and better at it all the time.
