June 13, 2007

What sort of a tour do you organize for a group of 28 women whose average age is 61 and whose intent is to travel along the Mississippi from New Orleans to Itasca State Park, the headwaters of the Mississippi? Maybe a nice, leisurely motor coach trip? That might be a good choice for some, but for the group of women who passed through the area June 5 and 6, think a 40-day bicycle trip.

The group of 28 women, plus a cook and tour leader, started in New Orleans May 10, and following the Mississippi as closely as possible, averaged about 57 miles a day, with a rest and sightseeing break every fifth day. The longest day, said tour leader Laurie Collins, was 107 miles. They expect to arrive at the headwaters of the Mississippi June 16, then fly home from Minneapolis. They estimate they will have ridden approximately 2,000 miles.

They ride in all kinds of weather, except for very high winds or lightning, and range in age from 30 to 68, although the 30-year old is the exception. They joke that she skews their average, since the next youngest woman is in her 50s. They come from 13 different states and Canada. Most started out as strangers, but have formed a strong bond over the miles.

Riding experience and ability vary. Most of the women have had experience with other bike trips, but one woman, Linda Ricketts from Virginia, had never ridden more than 20 miles in one day. "I had some brain damage," she joked, to explain why she attempted the trip, but said that she had always wanted to do something like this: "I've never been away from my family before." She said the first day she thought she was in deep trouble, but the rest of the women helped and encouraged her, and now, "I know I can do it," she concluded. "She's not a novice anymore," said one of the other women.

They didn't encounter much in the way of hill in the earlier part of the trip. Said one, "In Louisiana, the bridges on the freeway were the highest hills." However, then they hit Iowa. They all agreed that the stretch between Guttenberg and McGregor was the most difficult, "and we had to do it in the wind," one added.

Their reasons for taking the trip are many: challenge, camaraderie, doing something independent, biking in the company of others, losing weight and, of course, wanting to travel the length of the Mississippi.

The rewards, they say, are fantastic. Said one woman, "I'm glad I did it now. So much of small town America seems to be disappearing." The people along the way have been incredibly friendly, they agreed. They have been invited to people's homes, offered rides and even invited to a barbecue. The man who invited them to the barbecue packaged up food to take with them. They didn't have the same thing to say about some of the dogs they encountered. "Tennessee had the meanest dogs," said one.

They noted that people became more reserved as they traveled north. "People waved at us until we hit Illinois," they said. Nevertheless, they remarked on the friendliness of people in this area. They raved about the service they received at their motel and at areas restaurants and businesses.

Their tour was arranged by WomanTours, based in Rochester, New York, which offers about 20 bike trips a year of varying length. Groups stay overnight in hotels or motels, and most of their meals are cooked by a chef who accompanies them in a specially adapted cooking van. A 15 passenger support van also travels along so that anyone having difficulty can take a break from biking for a while.

The old saying that appearances are often deceiving is certainly true of the house that Scott Sheckler purchased at the corner of Washington and Main Streets in Prairie du Chien.

Sheckler, who has restored other houses on Main Street, purchased the house when he heard it was going to be condemned by the city. He knew it was old, but had no idea that underneath„in some cases way underneath„all the lath and plaster, paint and wallpaper was a genuine log house. Now he, Jim Wagner, Pat Timler, son Scott and Scott's friend Chase Clausen are in the process of stripping that house down to its bare bones.

It will not be an easy task. The house is, at present, a mess. At the back of the house, daylight pours in through a hole left by a fallen tree. Fortunately, said Sheckler, that was not part of the original house, and he can rip it off and repair it. There are chunks of plaster, old boards and linoleum, the shambles of a kitchen and piles of odds and ends left by previous occupants. Anything of value, he said, had already been removed.

Although the logs were by far the biggest surprise, there was a lesser and more humorous surprise. Upstairs, through a hole cut carefully into one of the floorboards, they discovered a secret compartment stashed full of old liquor bottles. The story behind that, said Sheckler, could be interesting.

At present, he knows little about the house's history.It was owned by a Sherman family who, he believes, lived there for 40 or 50 years. If anyone else can provide more information, he would like to hear it. The Historical Society is also doing research on the house, which, it is estimated, was built in the early 1800s.

Sheckler hopes to finish the restoration by the end of the summer. On the exterior, he plans to strip the house down to wood siding. He does not plan to expose the logs themselves for fear of rot. Inside, he plans to apply varnish or some other preservative to the logs. There is a large attic, and he is considering turning that into a third floor.

At this point, Sheckler doesn't know what he'll do with the house once restoration is completed. One possibility is to open it to the public for display.