The morning weather forecast showed rain showers to the west of Green Bay, so I left anticipating some wet riding. In order to get to the area where the Rustic Roads were I stayed on US 29, a 70 mile per hour four lane. At my first stop, in Shawano County, it looked pretty dark to the west. Checking the radar I only saw a few spots of rain and as I passed through Wausau the clouds cleared and the sun began to peek through.
My first goal was Rustic Road 73, which is located south of the little town of Curtiss. Following County E south, number 73 veers off the to west. It is a 2.5 ride over gravel through good old Wisconsin farm country. The most scenic part of the ride is an old bridge over a double set of railroad tracks. There is one intersection that is not marked, so it is important to study the map of the route or you could miss it.
Satisfied with grabbing my first Rustic Road of the day, I found a Kwik Trip and took a break. A Kona coffee and raspberry filled Danish was just enough to get me back on the trail. My plan was to go back east on 29 and north on Highway 13 out of Abbotsford. This would lead me to County D and Rustic Road 1.
By now the sun was shining brightly and the ride up 13 was as enjoyable as any ride this summer. The two lane is smooth as an opal and gently winds its way through woods and farmland. I passed through a couple of small towns before reaching Medford and crossing Highway 64. After another fifteen blissful miles I came to the small town of Westboro and the junction with County D. Turning right, the road winds through the little burg. Several miles past Westboro Rustic Road 1 leads off to the east.
This road is gravel and five miles long. It passes through woodlands and a small lake. The area is known for hiking trails and the National Ice Age Trail is nearby. It connects with other hiking trails in central Wisconsin, but there were no hikers around on the day I visited. Some of the Rustic Roads in this area are approved for ATVs and I saw several of those during my ride.
I was getting hungry for lunch, but I had one more Rustic Road on the list. A better map recon and a belief in the "bridge out" signs would have saved me some time, but I made it to RR 78 soon after midday. This road mixes blacktop with gravel over a course of four miles. This ride involves a couple of unmarked turns and I was tempted to stop a couple of young ATV riders for guidance. But following what seemed to be the natural curves proved correct and I ended up back a little north of County E, which I had departed to ride Rustic Road 78.
Having successfully ridden the three roads and documented my accomplishment, I was ready to find lunch. I rode back down to Highway 64 and rode east toward Merrill. I was pretty confident that I would locate a McDonald's, but it wasn't until I was on the east end of town that I spotted the golden arches. After a predictably tasty Big Mac meal I mounted the big boxer and headed for home.
I decided to eschew the big slab as long as I could and followed Highway 64 all the way to Mountain. To be completely honest, I had ridden my Harley Davidson up through Mountain a week or so earlier. On that ride I noticed an ice cream sign at the junction of Highways 32 and 64. As long as I had the opportunity to ride past again I was not going to miss the ice cream again. A double vanilla and chocolate twist from a disinterested waitress was just what I needed to complete the last 60 miles of my ride.
An hour or so later I was parking the GSA in my garage. I had a feeling of accomplishment while realizing that I have still ridden less than half of the state's Rustic Roads. It is all the more reason to keep my unstoppable BMW GSA and plan more rides.
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