Osseo to Lake Holcombe - 3 day ride - July 30 ... August 1, 2013

We set out from Larry's brother's house near Osseo to enjoy north west Wisconsin and the Chippewa River.

 Overcast day - a little cool to start.  Headed toward Fall Creek

We noticed this cow with her new born calf ...

  ... and got to see it take it's first wobbly steps

 The farmer invited us to see his other heifer calves - they all had names beginning with Ma... here I am visiting with Marilyn.

Stopped to enjoy a delicious breakfast at Grandma D's in Fall Creek.  It began raining while we were there so we rode in rain for about 20 minutes.  By the time we crossed the Eau Claire River the rain was stopping.

 Not far up the road we heard a loud whoosh of air as Larry got a puncture in his rear tire.

 After patching it we rode on back roads to Lake Wissota.

 We decided to ride around the Lake and head into Chippewa Falls from the north side.  Not much more than a mile down the road - the rear tire blew again!  Now we knew we needed to high tail it to a bicycle shop and get a new rear tire - it had a small rip in it - so back track and head for Chippewa Falls.

 On our way to the bicycle shop we passed the Leinie Lodge so took time out for a tour and to sample some beers.

 After the tour and beer we made our way to the bike shop to get a new tire.  Thankfully this was the last of our tire incidents for the trip.

 We visited Larry's Aunt Lila and stayed overnight - took her out to dine and she chose to go to the Main Street Cafe in Bloomer - good supper, but too full to eat their famous pie!

Day 2 - Lila cooked us a wonderful breakfast and then we were off on our trip again.

 We rode the Chippewa Trail to Jim Falls


This unusual trail bridge crosses the Chippewa River near Lake Wissota

 - before we reached Jim Falls we went to the boat landing and saw the cabin Larry's Dad built - Larry loved spending time there as a kid.  We got to visit with the people who have lived there for 20 - 30 years.


This mare and her colt were a treat to see - as we cycled on to Jim Falls.

At Jim Falls we pulled into the AMPI Dairy Cheese Store and got some cheese curds for later on.

Then we headed out to link up with the trail again
 
 Right near the bridge that crosses the Chippewa River some ospreys have a nest atop a very tall power post.  The young ones (although they look pretty big) were crying up a storm to be fed.
 
 The section of trail from Jim Falls to Cornell was resurfaced just last year - excellent riding and there was hardly anyone else on the trail.

 Larry was brave enough to cycle across the Cobban Bridge.  He remembers his Dad driving over it when he was a child.  At that time there was no filling between the two strips of planks - he recalls being able to see through the frame work to the water below.  Even now the planks bang as a car drives over the bridge.
 
  This sign tells the interesting story of the bridge.

 We saw some beautiful wildflowers growing beside the trail

 A notable land mark of Cornell is the stacker rigging - left from the time when timber and logging were the backbone of Cornell.  Larry recalls that the whole riverfront area of Cornell would be stacked high with logs and lumber.

 We had an ice cream treat at the Main Scoop - a few steps from the trail.

 Then we rode to nearby Brunet Island State Park - it is a beautiful spot
 

 
 Larry spotted this scarlet tanager in the park.

 This is the head of the Old Abe Trail

 We rode from the park over the bridge at Cornell to take HWY CC to Lake Holcombe.

One area we stopped at was jammed full of water lilies.  Right about this time the sun broke through the clouds - this was the first blue sky we had seen in our 2 days of cycling.

Near Lake Holcombe we rode into Pine Point County Park and made our way to the beach.  We had our suits along so Larry thought we should take a dip.  It was cold in there but we swam for some time - it felt refreshing - any locals who spotted us probably thought we were nuts!

After our swim we enjoyed snacking on the Jim Falls cheese curds
 
 Then back on the road to Holcombe - this is a beautiful area.  Larry found a sign he liked but it seems the Larry resort is no longer in business -at least we couldn't find it.
 
Holcombe itself was a very small community - no hotel - just the resorts along the lake.  We were looking for budget accommodation and found we would need to go back to Cornell to find it.  So, we had a beer at Cookie's Holcombe Inn tavern - it rained while we were in there - then we biked back to Cornell on the east side of the river this time.

We even saw a small rainbow after the shower.

 Passed by some scenic countryside

 


 I was impressed by this 'road art' - that is some skillful driving!

 
In Cornell we ate supper at Dylan's Dairy - such a heart-lifting story behind the store - you can read about it here http://www.dylansdairy.com/

The food was great - homemade blueberry pie and ice cream (hard time choosing, so had a scoop of vanilla and also caramel sea salt) - tasted delicious!

 
 Then we rode about 3 miles south of Cornell on Hwy 178 to reach our accommodation. The road runs right next to the Chippewa River and it is so beautiful.

 

 

 
 We reached the Edgewater in early evening - the motel is right across the road from the river.


 
 It was picture perfect!
 

 

 

 
Day 3 - began with a little mist on the river




The ride along Hwy 178 is so pretty - after a while they had a shoulder to ride on  which made it better.

 

 We passed the Cobban Bridge again - a much more beautiful day today - perfect cycling weather!

Went on the bridge at Jim Falls to take a few photos -

 - perfect timing, a Leinie's truck crossed over - we have been cruising Leinie country this whole time!

From Jim Falls we used the trail back to Chippewa Falls

 The Marina at what used to be the Water's Edge on Lake Wissota

 Ate breakfast at Brasina's on Grand in Chippewa Falls - egg benedict - delicious!  Then headed down the hill and out of town - saw this Leinie's mural for Vets on the way.

 On the trail thru to Eau Claire - Presto where Larry's Dad worked for many years.

 Crossing the bridge in Eau Claire where the Eau Claire River (on the left) merges with the Chippewa River

 South of Eau Claire we had to work harder now we were off the trail - more hills!

 Farm land near Cleghorn - beautiful area.  We rode HH and it was very pretty.

 Just climbed what should be the last of the big hills on Robin Road as we are near the end of our journey - looking forward to the treat of flying down the hill after working hard to climb it.

Destination reached!  Mission Accomplished!  Really fun 3 days seeing the sites and catching up with relatives and friends.  165.55 miles this trip