Kugel's Cheese Mart in Lena Wisconsin

 Earlier this month I completed my quest to ride 100 of Wisconsin's 122 Rustic Roads. The others are still tempting, but I am putting that pursuit on hold for this summer. They are all more than a day's ride away and I have other plans for my overnight trips in the coming months. I was looking for another way to add some purpose to my day rides and much like Little Miss Muffet's spider, an idea appeared.

My wife and were on our way into Door County and stopped at the Visitor's Center just south of Sturgeon Bay. While my wife was asking the helpful young woman at the counter about where to find cherry blossoms I was perusing the rack full of travel information. I picked up some bicycling maps and travel brochures for Door County and Wisconsin. That evening I picked up the Wisconsin book and found just what I was looking for.

There was a page or two that highlighted small cheese factories around the state. At one time I worked in a big cheese factory and cheese manufacturing still holds a lot of interest for me. Although there were only a factories noted and a lot of others have closed, I knew that there were still a good number of them in operation. A new, and tasty, plan for the summer began to form. I would research cheese factories within a day's ride and try to get to them on the days they offered tours.

Kugel's in downtown Lena

 On a bright and warm Saturday morning I started north on US Highway 141. Since I was on my Harley Davidson Lowrider S and I planned to bring home some cheese, I had an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack in it stowed in my backpack. It also served to keep my apple and water cold. My plan was to ride north toward Iron Mountain and then stop at Springside Cheese Factory near Oconto Falls on the way home. It was one of the factories featured in the travel book.

One of the joys of motorcycling alone is the opportunity to change plans at a moment's notice and that is what happened on this ride. About 30 miles north of Green Bay I saw a sign for Kugel's Cheese Mart in Lena. I took the exit and found myself alone in downtown Lena and parked in front of Kugel's. 

According to their website, Kugel's has been a family owned business since 1952. They age and package locally made cheeses and also sell a variety of imported products. As I browsed around the shop I noted that they sell Wisconsin related gifts along with a few from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The hoodie with Kugel's Cheese emblazoned on the front was inviting, but how many hoodies do I need at my age? 

Marinette County Overlook

Once I got to examining the cheese case the friendly clerk asked if I needed any assistance. I felt like I wanted to try something besides the usual cheddar, so I bought about six ounces of hot pepper brick. The clerk cut a thin slice for me to taste and it had just the right amount of heat for me. It was creamy like a brick cheese should be and I knew I had made a good choice. As the young man was wrapping it up I told him that I had worked at Pauly Cheese in Green Bay at one time. He recognized the name and said that Kugel used to buy block cheese from Pauly and repackage it for sale in Lena. 

Trillium Time in the Forest

After a little more small talk I went out and took a few pictures before getting back on the highway and riding north. At this point I decided that I would save the visit to Springside for another day. About thirty miles north there is a turnout where visitors can learn about the local logging history and take in a beautiful vista. On this day the trilliums were in full bloom. 

I continued north to the intersection with US Highway 8 near Pembine. Here I turned west until I found a wayside to stop and enjoy a road snack. The facilities at the wayside were closed, but the driveway was open and it was a nice quiet place for a break. Delicious cheese, an apple and cold water were all I needed to feel refreshed and ready for more miles.

A Perfect Road Snack

Back on the road, I turned south at Laona onto State Highway 32. One thing I noticed on my ride was the number of ATV's on the trails adjacent to the highways. There have always been some, but there seem to be many more than several years ago. Most of the restaurant and bar parking lots have a good number of them and some have more ATV's than cars and trucks. 

ATVs Are a Popular Means of Transportation

The weather was perfect, in the seventies north of US Highway 64 and into the eighties when I got back to the south. I'm glad I soaked in the heat because the temperatures were in forties five days later. My first cheese factory ride was a success and I look forward to more.

Day Two in Northwest Wisconsin 2021

We were fortunate to avoid any rain in Wisconsin yesterday and our luck held today. Parts of the state were foggy and wet, but the area around Hudson and east to Eau Claire were warm and dry. After a Covid- style breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express in Hudson we rode north on US 35, the Great River Road, in search of our first Rustic Road of the day. There was a lot of poorly marked road construction in Hudson and I missed the turnoff. We ended up north of the road and turned back south. Once we found Rustic Road 13 we rode it both south and north to get back on track. It is a paved county road through farm an residential areas. 

Rustic Road 13 north of Hudson

The next target was Rustic Road 116 in Boardman and again I had mapping issues. After sorting them out we got that one in the hopper and rode east on County G to Glenwood City. This little town is fortunate enough to have both Rustic Roads 3 and 4 nearby. Rustic Road 4 included some gravel, but no stream crossings such as we experienced yesterday. After we finished riding them we stopped for refreshment at a local establishment in Downing. 

Rustic Road 116 in Boardman

My brother has a college friend living in Knapp, so we stopped in to visit while on our way to the next Rustic Road. We had a great visit and they fortified us with Girl Scout cookies and delicious coffee. After bidding our goodbyes, we rode east into Menomonie. Rustic Road 89 is south and west of Menomonie. It is an enjoyable ride along the Chippewa River and through the quaint little town of Irvington. We had plans to go east to Rustic Road 45 after 89, but there is not a good route so we ended up riding 89 both ways. US 29 led us to US Highway 12 and a route east to our last goal for the day. US 12 has been replaced by Interstate 94 for through traffic, but it is still a busy highway. We stopped at a Kwik Trip for a road lunch on our way through the Eau Claire area. 

Bon Appetit!

As rain clouds gathered overhead we rode south and east toward our last goal of the day. Highway 12 east leads out of Eau Claire into some pleasant farmland and good habitat for birds. We saw a ratty looking bald eagle in the ditch along the road and numerous mating sandhill cranes. Rustic Road 45 is just southeast of Augusta and is a gravel track near a state park. The skies continued to threaten to open up, but we went ahead and enjoyed the ride. Rustic Road 45 ends on County Road H and we rode that back to County Road M and US Highway 12. Our ride back to our accommodations was uneventful and we were happy to have had two days which resulted in riding nine of Wisconsin's beautiful Rustic Roads.

Rustic Road 45 near Augusta

On the last day of our trip we had a bit of a post Covid family reunion. Our sisters came from the west and north to spend a night in Eau Claire catching up on the past year. We met them for lunch at the Acoustic Cafe in beautiful downtown Eau Claire before riding home. 

Acoustic Cafe in Eau Claire

Rustic Roads in Northwest Wisconsin

It has been well over a year since I have taken a proper motorcycle trip, so this weekend I combined a visit to the Red Mouse for the Slimey Crud Run with a quest to ride some of Wisconsin's Rustic Roads. I left Green Bay with my brother on Saturday afternoon and spent the night on Madison's west side. We found a local establishment for a bite to eat and map out our plans for the next day. As anyone who has traveled recently knows, the hotel breakfast routine is to put it in a bag and bring it back to your room. I made a few selections, bagged them up, and enjoyed a solitary breakfast. At 0830 we mounted up and rode west to Pine Bluff. We arrived thirty minutes later and it was not too busy, but within the next hour it was way to crowded and maskless for us. But the opportunity to see the variety of bikes that show up and the willingness of their owners to talk about them is a motorcyclist's dream. Everyone seems to know that the whole purpose is to show and talk about bikes. The crowd kept me away from getting too close for pictures, but it was an enjoyable experience. 

The scene at the Red Mouse in Pine Bluff

We left Pine Bluff on County P, and had a great ride through south central Wisconsin. The area around the Wisconsin River and the Baraboo Bluffs is enchanting. Riding past the old Badger Army Ammunition Plant brought back memories of Viet Nam War protests and the furtive bombing attempt by the Armstrong brothers, Karleton and Dwight, during the height of the antiwar movement. After a few more roads and couple of more hours we were in Mondovi for a Subway lunch. We were nearing the Wisconsin Rustic Roads in the Northwest quadrant and I had plans to ride a few in the next couple of days.

Lunch in Mondovi

The first was Rustic Road 122,north of US Highway 10 and the newest Rustie, was an uneventful ride through typical Wisconsin scenery. Each of the roads is unique in its own way, but after riding over 90 of them they tend to run together in my mind. After all, they are all in Wisconsin. But the second one, Rustic Road 51, was definitely different. I knew from the state issued brochure that it was gravel and we decided that if it was too rough we would not ride all of it. Riding from the east it was a nice, well groomed gravel track. It is a four mile road and after about a mile it offered an opportunity to go straight or left. I chose the left option, labeled as a "winding trail". Another thing noted in the brochure was that the road sometimes crosses a trout stream. The omitted information was that those crossings do not include bridges. We came to the first water crossing and I assumed we would turn around. My brother, four years younger at 64, figured we could make it across. We have the same motorcycles and I invited him to go first. He made it with no problems. I was still skeptical about my ability to do it, but made it across safely. We took a few pictures and congratulated each other.

Unexpected Adventure Riding

But about a quarter mile later, here was another one. We went across that one and one more before I hesitated at number four. That morning I had no plans to be riding my motorcycle through a trout stream and I was not sure I wanted to do it again. This one was wider and appeared deeper. I was already wet from the earlier crossings, and although that was not a big concern, the apparent depth spooked me. I shut off the bike and walked up to the edge of the crossing. The left side looked better than the right. Also, there were some buildings on the other side, which indicated that this had to be the last water crossing. I got back on the big beast, started it up, and went forward. I was elated to come up on the other side, however ungraceful my riding style may have been. The end of Rustic Road 51 was not far off and we stopped to contemplate our accomplishment and clean our windshields and helmet shields. If that marks the end of my riding through streams I will not be disappointed.

Made it through!

After that we rode northwest to ride Rustic Road 92. It was a beautiful ride through cattle country and farmland. The residents were taking advantage of the lower wind speeds to get some needed burning done. It reminded me of the smells at my favorite fishing camp in Ontario, Canada. We finished our riding with a cruise through the streets of River Falls, which on this Sunday afternoon were full scented with the unmistakable smell of pizza. I don't know if it's because it's a college town or not, but they love their pizza. 

The last few miles to Hudson went quickly and soon we were in the Holiday Inn Express for the night. After stowing our gear we enjoyed an excellent Mexican dinner in Hudson in anticipation of more Rustic Road riding the next day.