FLASHBACK TOUR: July 4, 2010 Wisconsin Connection; Raymer, CO

July 9, 2017 - Netherlands - Looking through some of my previous tour posts and found this gem from 2010.

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July 4, 2010 - RAYMER, CO - One of the most amazing things on this tour has been the Wisconsin connection - the number of people I've met who are from Wisconsin.

Bob in Bishop ran the Tree Motel. He was originally from Columbus, Wisconsin.

"I miss the change in seasons," he said, as a drop of sweat slid down the side of his nose and hung on his upper lip.

While bicycling in a state of confusion trying to get out of Greeley, another biker turned around and helped guide me in the right direction; it was Mike from Wauwatosa.

He returned to Colorado because he had graduated from college in Denver.

Just outside Briggsdale there was the small Crow Valley Diner. Helen made buttermilk pie and a customer ordered a hamburger with a clucker berry on top.

"It's an egg," said waitress Judy.

Within a half hour the owner of the cafe introduced herself - Ruth Harding from Green Bay. "I lived in Green Bay seven years and left when it was Lombardi's last year with the Packers," she said.

Up the street about 20 miles I found another Wisconsin connection, Doris Williams. "Most people will remember me as Doris Webster. Just tell them I was in parades in West Bend with Ernst Frankenberg," she said.

Doris, 81, was born in West Bend and lived there until her senior year in high school when her family then moved to Beaver Dam.

"My dad ran Decorah Farms Dairy and we lived at the bottom of the hill at Decorah and Main," said Doris, trying to recall stories from her past.

"The blacksmith shop - was it Schloemer Brothers.... I used to take my pony in to get shoes.

"I was five or six years old and always been into animals and my dad showed cattle at the Washington County Fair when the fair grounds were off Highway 33 up behind the West Bend Aluminum Company."

Doris currently lives on a 900-acre ranch with 15 horses, cows and about 30 farm cats.

She's a spitfire and says what's on her mind. A woman with an opinion, "I've been called a meddler," she said with conviction.

Doris is well known across Colorado having served on just about every state and county committee, school board, highway commission and council in the area.

Doris pulled down the Dorothy E. Williams book 'The Spirit of West Bend' and recalled familiar names including Barb Kenney, history teacher Edith Heidner, the Pick family, Reuben Schmahl, Eugene Wendleborn, Bob Yahr, Marilyn Laufer, and family friend B.C. Ziegler.

"Dad had the first home delivery of milk and he started Golden Guernsey for Ben Ziegler."

"I grew up with the dairy in the basement of the house and in the 1940s the dairy farm was built."

At 15, Doris went to work for Bob Rolfs and was a special sewer at Amity. "They used to come in with raw leather and they'd cut pieces for us. I really didn't like that job," she said.

Doris remembered the Dewey Drug Store and the Cooley Box Factory which "made round cheese boxes."

"One day at Sheldon Grocery there was a skunk on the landing and they came over and said 'could Mister Webster do something'."

"So dad left with a butter box and took it, closed in on the skunk and got it and put that box in the milk truck and brought it to the country."

Doris laughed about the old-time drama of West Bend.

The Geib Hotel, Merrimac Theatre, the Masonic building and McLane grade school were all mentioned as points of reference.

"There were more taverns in that town when I grew up," said Doris, recalling Gonrings tavern.

"I remember an ice cream shop and grocery by the south edge of downtown and east, across the bridge by Cooley’s and Enger Kress.

"There was a dance hall that was also a roller skating rink and Montgomery Wards - or was that Sears? Boldt's Drug Store... and they used to have a big Christmas tree downtown on that triangle with Santa," she said.

In 1996, Doris was named Colorado Cattlewoman of the year. In 1968 she lost her husband to a drunk driver.

With spunk, Doris told the story about how her horse saved her life. "We were in the field trying to get this heifer bull back home and he turned and charged the horse, pushing us backwards up a hill."

Doris was thrown when the horse fell and that's when the bull came at her. "His horns were spread wide enough they pierced the ground on either side of me and the bull pushed into me with his head."

Doris remembers little after that; she said her horse came around and kicked the bull, chasing it away. Her horse then stood over her, waiting to go back to the ranch.

That was 30 years ago, when Doris was 51. "I didn't break any bones - just got the wind knocked outta me and fuffed up this knee a bit," she said.

"If I would have had my gun I would have killed that animal."

Asked what she missed about West Bend, "The fish fries on Friday night. We'd go to Port Washington," she said.

GREELY, CO (CONT.)

CRABTREE BREWING...

Crabtree Brewery is an independent craft brewery in Greeley run by Jeff and Stephanie Crabtree. Jeff left the corporate world four years ago to follow his dream. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't start this sooner," he said

Some of his creations include Boxcar Brown, Jeff's Pale Ale, and a fantastic beer with a ginger base.

Although Crabtree Brewing has grown 40 percent over the last four years, Jeff's biggest challenge is nudging further into a market dominated by Colorado brewing giants Coors and Budweiser.

TALL BIKES IN GREELEY...

Headed out of Greeley around 8 a.m. during the July 4th weekend and caught up to Darin who was riding a tall bike.

"I know how to weld, so over the last three days I built this bike for today's parade," said the 24-year-old dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and reddish-brown Vans tennis shoes.

Darin had a full Paul Bunyan beard, plugs in his ears the size of spools of thread and big sunglasses that screamed 1976.

His 5-and-a-half-foot-tall bicycle featured a red Volkcycle on top of his mom's green bike. He had a cloth Rolling Stone bag with a photo of Sean Penn hanging from the handlebars, and about a dozen medium-size flags he was taking to sell at the parade.

Darin also had his Jamaican tunes on board with 6-inch speakers mounted to the front stem; he was jamming to Toots and the Mayfals.

"It's amazing and one of the free-ist feelings," he said about riding two-stories tall in traffic.

"I just really like riding and seeing how happy people are to see it."

TIDBITS...

- The train depot in Greeley serves as headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Sterling was on the clock and so was Bella, a 5-year-old English bulldog. "She's the director of greeting," said Sterling. Bella was a beast - about 80 pounds packaged into a 2-foot-long frame, she reminded me of a sack of potatoes with deep brown eyes and an extremely sad underbite. Bella would have been the last kid picked on the playground, so it was a good thing she was adopted by Greeley.

DAY 8 July 2, 2010 "RATTLESNAKE KATE" ~ GREELY, CO

GREELEY - One of the gems of Greeley, Colorado is the Greeley Museum. Located off 8th Street, the museum features a tremendous collection of history, including a fragment of a noose from 1888 used in the city's only lynching, a three-foot-tall silver trophy from 1912 awarded to Sidney and Harley Dickey for "The Best Sugar Beets Grown in the United States." There is also a photo of Joseph "Toots" Mondt, a farm boy from Eaton who beat a carnival wrestler in record time in 1912, took his job, and later cofounded the World Wide Wrestling Foundation.

The best exhibit is Katherine McHale Slaughterback, who made a name for herself in 1925. The 31-year-old nurse and mother found herself and 3-year-old son surrounded by snakes.

Kate and Ernie had been out looking for ducks left behind by hunters, but soon were surrounded by a spaghetti-plate full of hundreds of rattlesnakes.

Using her .22 Remington rifle, Kate unloaded on the pool of snakes, but quickly ran out of ammo.

With glycerin madness in her eyes, Kate pulled a 'No Hunting' sign out of the ground and went Chuck Norris on the snakes, clubbing the rest of them to death. Two hours later the score was "Kate 140; snakes, 0."

Rattlesnake Kate gained fame across the country. She also made fashion history using over 40 snakeskins and her best Betsy Ross skill set to build herself a dress. It was flapper-fashion with Crocodile-Hunter flare; accessorized by snake-skin-covered shoes, a rattlesnake "rattle" necklace, earrings and a headband that contained 37 rattles.

Kate pioneered a work-from-home business hunting snakes, collecting venom for a research lab and crafting and selling snakeskin souvenirs.

According to researchers at the museum, Kate was a handful; married six times and possibly into prostitution. Questioned whether she was ever bit by a snake, all signs point to 'no'; however, Kate was struck by lightning... and lived to tell about it.

Another historical treat in Greeley is the Centennial Village; a 5.5-acre museum with 26 buildings.

The village is an up-close Home and Garden experience where you can examine the living quarters of immigrants and families from 1860 - 1930. The wood-frame farmhouse of Rattlesnake Kate is one of the buildings on site along with a board-and-batten one-room structure popular during the dry land homesteading era. The inside may seem roomy, but that's because only the essentials were needed for survival, that being a bed, stove, table and chairs and a few tools and cooking utensils. Newspapers were used as wallpaper, insulation and caulking; survival depended upon resourcefulness and creativity.

Day 7, July 2, 2010 Greeley, Colorado

GREELEY, COLORADO - Pulled into Denver via Greyhound at 6:30 a.m. Had my bike unboxed and put together and was on the road within a half hour.

Found the fabulous South Platte River Trail; a wonderful paved trail just outside Denver that parallels the river as it ribbons north. Known for birds and wildlife, the Platte River puddled along in brown fashion to the east of the trail. If the water didn't provide enough direction, the aroma (read "smell") of the river let you know it was still right there.

On the other side of the trail is a five-foot-high wire fence. The fence is woven thinly enough that small white butterflies could easily pass through the webbing, yet feathery seeds of cottonwood could be caught in flight and delayed a day.

Forty-two miles up the road I spent the night in Brighton. A bit rundown from being on vacation a week, I needed some motel therapy and a chance to regroup.

The next morning, I made my way north on Hwy 83 to Alba; took a break in Greeley and stayed.

Don Eckhardt at George's Bike Shop on 7th Street was a much-needed distraction. Don was third generation owner of the store. "My Grandpa George opened this in 1937 with P.C. Mann," said Don. P.C. had a gun shop and sporting goods store in the front and Don's grandfather ran the bike shop in back. In 1937, George bought the whole building. The shop featured well-worn hardwood floors and high 30-foot ceiling. In the 1950's, George's Bike Shop was all about bicycles, but in the 1980's there was some diversification with lawnmowers and chainsaws - then locksmith work and gun-smithing.

"My grandfather drilled all the safety deposit boxes in town and taught himself how to temper metal," said Don, as he worked in the repair shop at the back of the building with a lathe to fix a shim on a seat post. Don was 58-years-old and had a simple salt-and-pepper taste in fashion. His short-cropped white hair, mustache, and goatee were set off by a black Diamondback t-shirt, black knee-length shorts, black bicycling socks and SixSixOne bicycling shoes.

"Been working here going on 41 years now," he said, pointing to newspaper photos of his father, who had been in the business 50 years. His grandfather - famous for riding unicycles - worked until he was 72.

The workshop in the rear of the store was an organized mess of busted bikes, piles of parts and years of family memories. "Up there on the wall is the first skateboard my dad tried to kill me with," said Don, pointing to the relic from 1959. The skateboard consisted of nothing but a slab of wood and wheels from an old roller skate. "The skate was cut in half and I could really make that baby turn," said Don. "My dad showed me how to go down the driveway. He ended up falling and chipping his elbow," said Don, with a little laugh. "He didn't show me anything after that."

Other interesting items littering the workshop included a green banana bicycle seat, a pile of inner tubes that completely rendered a chair useless, and a line shaft with a three-phase motor. "My grandfather bought that line shaft from a feed store across the street in 1925," said Don. "I can use it to run an air compressor, drill press, lathe, grinder, anything a belt will run - I can even run an old key duplicator off it." Don said the line shaft helped him keep his bills down. "Uses a dollars' worth of electricity a month," he said.

Overall, George's Bike Shop was making it in the down economy. "If you fix stuff, they find you," said Don. "If you repair stuff, they dig you out of the woodwork."

Don just finished fixing a bunch of bikes for the local daycare. "It was a pile of junk is what it was," he said.

"If I depended on sales, I might have to do something different. That's why I got this all, because I can repair stuff."

Remembering back to his first bike, Don said his dad gave him a Royce Union sidewalk bike with large rubber tires. "It was hard rubber, like on a tricycle - difficult to ride." Don described the bike as "ugly red" and guessed it was already 10 years old by the time he got it.

"My dad actually built a 12-foot unicycle with a 12-inch wheel so he could show the 'carnie' guys how to ride." Don's dad grew up a block from the railroad track in Greeley. In the 1930's, when the train came through town, it would stop and a carnival would set up. A framed yellowed newspaper clipping showed Don's dad on a unicycle, riding down the aisle at the store.

Don, however, didn't live for bikes; his real passion was dirt bikes. "Bikes are alright, but I'm more into throttles," he said. "You like to ride around the world - I'd like to race around the world."

Piled up in the back of the shop were a couple of weary Kawasaki motorcycles and a Honda or two. "Part of the fun... is getting hurt," said Don, as he walked to the back of the shop and took a long swig from a can of Dr. Pepper. "I got 30-years-worth of injuries." "Broke my neck, my ribs, my legs, my sternum," he said, pulling his t-shirt tight against his chest to show me the disfigurement.

"Tore my bicep and got this elbow all cut up. I broke my toes; matter of fact I can hold a pool stick between my toes now." And he showed me... Taking off his shoe and putting his sock foot up on the counter Don put his pointer finger to the right of his big toe. "Ya see," he said, with proof.

I actually never had any doubt, but now I was lucky enough to see Don's toe trauma and I was convinced he was held together by an array of pins and titanium plates, and may be able to perform a solid break should we be teamed in a pool game later that evening.

TIDBITS...

- The train depot in Greeley serves as headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Sterling was on the clock and so was Bella, a 5-year-old English bulldog. "She's the director of greeting," said Sterling. Bella was a beast - about 80 pounds packaged into a 2-foot-long frame. She reminded me of a sack of potatoes with deep brown eyes and an extremely sad under-bite. Bella would have been the last kid picked on the playground, so it was a good thing she was adopted by Greeley.

- Greeley has a population of 90,000 and last week country star Keith Urban was in town at the 88th Annual Greeley Stampede. Tickets for the show topped out at $69 apiece. Cinderella and Warrant headline at the Stampede Arena tonight.