The 8th annual Midwestern Renewable Energy Fair fell on solstice
weekend in the tiny town of Amherst, WI. Rachel F. and Mitch went to
the fair to learn whatever we could and to spread the good word about
DR. We set out on the train with our bikes, panniers, and a hefty
stack of infopacks. Since Dancing Rabbit is committed to car-free
living, this travelogue is intended to give a sample of what
long-distance travel might be like. Bike touring takes more time and
requires more flexibility than driving, but we wouldn't give up its
rewards for anything.
Our car-free plan was to take Amtrak to Chicago and ride our bikes
the 200 miles or so to Amherst. Since both of us have done 100-mile
days before, and we had a good 3 days to get there, we figured the
trip would be a straightforward, scenic ride. However, the best-laid
plans of mice and rabbits....
GETTING THERE
Since the train was supposed to reach Chicago in the early
afternoon, we planned to do some city shopping (bike shop, camping
gear) when we arrived, then bike up to Evanston, stay overnight with
the members of Fiddler's Green, and leave at the crack of dawn.
However, the train arrived four hours late, after all the businesses
we needed had closed, and since none of the outdoor stores in Evanston
opened before 11 am, that meant a late start.
Illinois and Wisconsin have a great bike route along Lake
Michigan, part of the four-state Lake Michigan Circle tour route. Much
of it is actual bike path, separate from car roads. In Chicago and
greater Milwaukee it winds through parks on the lakeshore, and is
heavily used by cyclists, joggers, rollerbladers, etc. From Evanston
to Zion, IL it follows the train tracks and is mostly an old railroad
grade with a few discontinuities. From Zion north to the state line it
is a paved trail in Illinois Beach State Park, and we saw only one
other cyclist. Another railroad grade path runs through Racine, WI and
its metropolitan area. We guessed that we were on roads for less than
half of the 90 miles from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Because of our late start and some technical difficulties with our
bikes, we didn't get to Milwaukee til Wednesday evening (the second
day). We were supposed to be in Amherst, 150 miles away, by 6 pm the
following evening, and that sounded like a long ride. We had just
decided to try and hitch a ride part of the way when a young guy
pulled up in a car and, out of the blue, asked us if we needed a place
to stay. He was another bike fanatic and had noticed our touring gear.
We told him about our plans and our deadline, and that we didn't
really want to stay in the city. He replied that if we couldn't get a
ride, he'd be glad to give us a ride to a state park nearby where we
could camp.. Since we started sticking our thumbs out less than an
hour before dark, it wasn't a surprise that no one picked us up. So we
rode over to Steve's to take him up on his kind offer and hang out a
bit. To make a long story short, he ended up driving us over 100
miles. We realized that his burning 7 or 8 gallons of gas somewhat
compromised the sustainability of our trip, but it was a pretty
amazing kindness that he did us. We set up the tent on the lawn behind
a truck stop, got up at the crack of dawn and had an easy and pleasant
ride to the fair.
THE FAIR
As is often true of events like these, there was so much going on
that it's hard to know what to describe.
The organizations represented ranged from national environmental
groups such as the Green Party and the Union of Concerned Scientists,
to design professionals, to small businesses marketing a single
product. There was plenty of straightforward renewable energy stuff,
PVs and windmills and other things that generate electricity without
fossil fuel combustion. We gave more of our attention to the things
that help people to use less power: efficient homes, petroleum-free
transportation.
There was a lot of information, both exhibits and presentations,
on sustainable and energy-efficient home design. Rachel went to two
talks on earth-sheltered/underground homes and picked up a few books.
We watched a bit of a straw bale construction demo and got the earth
plaster recipe they were using. The demo was part of the "ecovillage
demonstration" part of the fair, put together by a nameless group of
friends from northwest Wisconsin. We think their recipe should work
for the Missouri climate, and hope to try it out in replastering
Sandhill's straw bale chicken house.
Several electric and alternative-fuel cars were on display, with
rides offered. One was an ethanol-powered van, while the other AFV ran
on an a mixture of gasoline and ethanol. More interesting to us were
the hybrid human-powered/electric vehicles (see "Velodiversity" in
this issue).
The networking connections we made were as valuable as the
technological knowledge we picked up. We met several folks interested
enough in DR that they asked detailed information about visiting, and
every one of them was someone we hope to see again. We also
encountered three different Wisconsin community-builders, all creating
their intentional communities around sustainable living and
community-supported agriculture (a farm, usually small, organic, and
diverse, which takes subscriptions rather than selling their produce,
such that subscribers buy a share at the beginning of the season and
get a share of the harvest each week)
And, Dancing Rabbit is now in the database of Back Home magazine,
which caters to ecologically minded homesteaders.
There were several tours of energy-efficient and renewably-powered
homes in the area. Some tours went by bus and others by bike;
potential participants note that the bike tours require helmets, the
only reason we didn't go. There was also a bike race, the Raging
Rooster, which attracts a lot of avid cyclists to the fair each year.
A fair highlight was the "Rad Waste Disposal" crew, with the dual
purpose of collecting recyclables and landfillables, and educating
fairgoers about all kinds of waste in the world. We volunteered on
this crew and got a free sample of radioactive waste! We left the
fair with a stack of books for the DR library and all our new ideas.
Next year, look for the DR booth.
THE TRIP BACK
Chuck, the communitarian who drove us from Amherst to Madison,
also told us about a rails to trails conservancy bike trail from just
outside of Madison to just outside of Milwaukee. So we went by the
groovy Willy St. co-op, met some cool people and bought some organic
food for our light lunch and dinner that night.
The trail that Chuck had told us about was an old retired railroad
grade, so it was pretty smooth and straight, with very gentle grades,
that went on for miles and miles. Mostly it was surfaced with sand
mixed with pea gravel, well packed with only occasional loose spots
that made us sketch around a little. All in all the trails were pretty
easy riding for us which made the ride a lot nicer.
In the town of Lake Mills we stopped at a great walk in only
campground called Sandhill Station. (for the crane,not a sand hill)
All cars, RV.'s, motorcycles, etc..... were to be left outside of the
campground. Each site was just a mowed circle in the tall prairie
grasses, with a firepit, and a picnic table. There are recycling
bins,drinking water, and a pile of firewood between the two outhouses.
We were the only people there. The way that we kept the mosquitoes
away was by building a large smokey fire that kept smoldering all
night. We really enjoyed the clear sky and watching the stars come
out.
The next day was a long, hot, and muggy ride through Wisconsin's
dairylands. After about fifty miles we stopped in Waukesha, the end of
the trail, for an iced cappucino. Just as we left the cafe, it started
pouring down rain, so we ducked into a bar to wait it out. The TV in
the bar showed a big weather system moving in and a tornado warning in
Milwaukee and all of the surrounding counties until eight P.M. Being
from the west coast, we're pretty blase about earthquakes but scared
of tornadoes, so within ten minutes we decided to look for a cheap
motel room. The bartender told us to to keep riding east on highway
eighteen for about two miles to find one. It was a good thing that we
did start riding again because after a few minutes the rain mellowed
out and we found that it had mercifully cooled the air, and seemed to
be subsiding. When we stopped to ask a fire crew directions, they told
us that the warning was over. After a couple more miles the rain had
stopped completely, and by the time we got to Milwaukee, the storm was
over, and the air was hot and muggy again.
In downtown Milwaukee, Rachel's back wheel seized, and Steve very
kindly came to pick us up, but we wished that we wouldn't have needed
him to. When you're trying to demonstrate that bicycles are a viable
form of transportation it sucks to have to ask someone to come and
bail you out! (even another cyclopath).......
Steve tore down the back wheel and found shards of metal mixed
with the bearing grease. The freehub body axle had self destructed.
The next morning we went to a nearby bike shop, bought the parts, and
took the luxury of paying a pro to rebuild the hub. The next day took
us to Racine to visit Rachel's grandparents. A bike path winds along
the bluffs overlooking the lake for about 20 miles south of Milwaukee,
so we were out of traffic for half the trip. More kudos to
bike-friendly Wisconsin.
Grandpa Gene and Granny Mikey fed us a big cozy Midwestern dinner
and shared lots of family history. The next day we rode down to
Illinois Beach State Park, picking up a bike trail south of the state
line. Jacob Fiddler came up from Evanston and helped us skip rocks on
Lake Michigan and eat yummy vegetables roasted in our campfire. We
went swimming in Lake Michigan, which consisted of dashing in,
paddling around for a few seconds in the freezing cold water, and
dashing out again.
The next day we picked up another bike trail in Waukegan, IL,
though it was sort of tangled in this highway overpass and difficult
to find the right direction. The trail starts and stops a few times in
Chicago's northern suburbs, and sometimes routes you through a series
of parking lots along the light rail tracks. We got more and more
stressed about time as the afternoon departure of our train
approached, until it was clear we were going to miss it and we
relaxed.
We had an unstructured 2 days in Chicago, hung out with the
Fiddlers some more, did some errands and swam in the lake a few more
times. The urban beaches are surprisingly clean. On our final trip
through Chicago to Union Station, we caught the opening bustle of the
Pride Parade. Too bad we couldn't stay, but we had to get our bikes,
bags and butts on the train. We spent the night in Ottumwa in the
pouring rain and biked the 70 miles back to Rutledge.
Many thanks to Steve, Bill, Chuck, Budget Bicycles, the Fiddlers,
Gene and Mikey, and everyone else who helped us along the way.
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