Jones makes Cornell pit stop, on bike across Wisconsin


Paul Jones, Madison, has biked since he was three or four years old, and his latest challenge is to bike self-supported across the state of Wisconsin. Jones started his trek May 23, near St. Croix Falls, stopped for lunch in Cornell the next day, and planned to finish in Green Bay, May 28. Photo by Julia Wolf
By Julia Wolf
Paul Jones has never been one to sit still. The Madison resident is an avid rock climber, and also enjoys sea kayaking, downhill mountain biking and hiking.
“Multi-sport guy, with a mad wife, who doesn’t have any space in the garage,” said Jones.
His latest challenge, is biking across Wisconsin, with a short stop in Cornell, to refuel.
“I just get bored easily,” said Jones, of why he does what he does. “I don’t find modern life super interesting.”
He also says he likes to do a birthday challenge every year, such as running 40 miles for his 40th birthday. With last year being a bust, because of COVID-19, he decided to do five challenges this year.
Jones started his bike trip May 23, along the St. Croix River, near Taylors Falls, Minn.
“I wanted to really, truly cross the state, so I put the bike in the river and I’m going to end up in Green Bay,” said Jones.
Jones says there is an official Adventure Cycling route across the state, from La Crosse to Milwaukee, which gave him the idea for the cross-state venture, but he decided that is not the route for him this time, as he wanted more adventure and to stay away from the bigger cities.
He says he wanted to do a route with a fair number of trails on it. With the route he chose, Jones started on two state trails from the St. Croix river area, then switched to ATV trails.
After that, he hopped on back roads on his way to Cornell.
“It was beautiful,” said Jones, adding the area is one of the few parts of the state he hasn’t spent much time in before.
He says he is planning to stay on roads for another day or two, after the stop in Cornell, before hooking up with the Mountain-Bay State Trail near Rib Mountain, and going to Green Bay.
Jones is doing the trip on a mountain bike and is aiming to complete 50-70 miles per day. He says the mountain bike is a little slower than a road bike, but was necessary when traveling along ATV trails.
“There were some sections of the ATV trail where there’s no way you could get a road bike through there,” said Jones. “You’d be walking it for a while.”
He is also making the trip self-supported.
“Which means, the only services I’m really taking along the way, are camping spots and food at gas stations,” said Jones. “Other than that, I’m not taking any help.”
Jones says he has eaten a lot, since he needs about 7,000 calories a day. He says he eats a lot of the “energy” foods, and says bananas or avocados from gas stations are a treat.
“I always bring a lot of chocolate with me,” said Jones, explaining the caffeine and magnesium in the dark chocolate helps him out.
Barring any unforeseen issues, Jones says he should be across the state by May 28, and able to spend the holiday weekend with family. His wife dropped him off at the beginning of the trip and will pick him up at the end.
He says he has always had great hospitality in Wisconsin, something he appreciates. Jones says traveling has afforded him the opportunity to meet a lot of new people, especially since his bike tends to be a conversation starter.
“I like that, for sure,” said Jones. “Especially after four or five hours staring at the asphalt, it’s nice to talk to somebody.”
Jones says he has done four-day trips before, but never with as long of days as the cross-state trip entails, or as many miles.
“To me, an adventure has its tough spots, otherwise, it’s just fun, it’s not really an adventure,” said Jones. “I like a mixture of fun and struggle.”