Althouse: Meade and I bike through the darkest tunnel in Wisconsin.

August 22, 2011

Meade and I bike through the darkest tunnel in Wisconsin.

Don't ask how Meade shot that video under those conditions. He wants — doesn't have — one of these.

58 comments:

Tim said...: Did you happen upon Sen. Kerry's plan to end the Iraq War or the Dali-Obama's debt-ceiling/debt reduction plan?; 8/22/11, 9:24 AM
Sprezzatura said...: So that's what folks mean when they talk about the light at the end of the tunnel.

P.S. The captions are great.; 8/22/11, 9:27 AM
m stone said...: Maybe add the "metaphor" tag?; 8/22/11, 9:31 AM
Curious George said...: "What keeps him from hitting the wall? I have no idea."

You could ask. I am curious.; 8/22/11, 9:37 AM
Tim said...: i"How am I supposed to know I'm heading straight?"

Indeed. Once you lose bearings, how can you tell? That's gotta be a little nerve-wracking.

I bet the local kids race through it, though. I totally would have when I was twelve...

WV: querbuti - where's Titus?; 8/22/11, 9:37 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I think he was using echolocation.

He had some sense that he was going straight through.

And yet we KNOW the tunnel is curved. That's why you can't see the light at the end of it, why it's so damned dark.; 8/22/11, 9:41 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I bet the local kids race through it, though. I totally would have when I was twelve..."

Which is another thing to worry about: someone coming the other way being equally or more reckless.; 8/22/11, 9:42 AM
bagoh20 said...: Hundreds of trolls were siting along the walls of the tunnel, watching, waiting for a stumble, so they could pounce and quickly clean off the bones.

Kinda like this blog; 8/22/11, 9:42 AM
Sprezzatura said...: I don't personally use one of those video cameras, but I have just come back from a trip w/ someone who loved their Contour + camera.

Maybe Contour is better than GoPro.

I dunno.; 8/22/11, 9:43 AM
ndspinelli said...: A husband/father's duty is to push their wives/daughters to do physical things they don't think they can do. Your groom did good.; 8/22/11, 9:43 AM
Curious George said...: "Ann Althouse said...

He had some sense that he was going straight through.

And yet we KNOW the tunnel is curved. That's why you can't see the light at the end of it, why it's so damned dark."

The curve may have saved you; 8/22/11, 9:45 AM
hoyden said...: Very cool video! The captions were a nice touch. Good job navigating.

There are a couple of tunnels on the Elroy-Sparta trail, the longest being almost 3/4 mile. I can appreciate your riding challenge. I remember walking the bike through the tunnels.

OBTW, don't touch the tunnel walls; they are covered with soot.; 8/22/11, 9:55 AM
gerry said...: Full disclosure revealed why you voted for Obama: "I can't see!"; 8/22/11, 9:56 AM
rhhardin said...: I have the Knog Gekko3 red light permanently on the bike in case of darkness. Also the white version, which seems to be sold out.

Not much light but it's enough to avoid walls. Probably the alternative is okay too.

(First priority is a red light in the back; then white in the front. Unless you're in a tunnel.)

The hat cam is okay, just being a tripod mount on a cap brim. Pointing your head the right way without seeing in real time where you're pointing is a failing you have to work around.; 8/22/11, 9:58 AM
rhhardin said...: cont

A baseball cap fits under a bike helmet and provides very handy shelter from sun and rain.; 8/22/11, 10:00 AM
virgil xenophon said...: I see Meade has been taking his beta carotene pills--either that or he eats a helluva lot of carrots & Carrot-juice. Guess we'll just have to call him "Bugs" from now on, right? :); 8/22/11, 10:14 AM
Carol said...: I went through the 1.6 mi Taft Tunnel at the Hiawatha Trail (Id-MT border) three times, but it was some idiot coming out of one of the shorter tunnels without a light that caused me to crash onetime, with the DH right behind me.

Too many retards go on these rail-trail rides, because they're practically flat, they can take the shuttle back up, and the park cops don't police them well enough.; 8/22/11, 10:31 AM
Steve Koch said...: Spooky. Reminded me of "The Blair Witch Tunnel Project". I would want a lot more light than that to go through that tunnel.; 8/22/11, 10:31 AM
William said...: What kind of night vision do bears have?; 8/22/11, 10:31 AM
KCFleming said...: Curved shafts can be fixed surgically.; 8/22/11, 10:42 AM
Moose said...: Wow. She's kinda whiny...; 8/22/11, 10:43 AM
MikeinAppalachia said...: Carol-
That's quite a bike trail.
Just curious-why is there a "Hiawatha Trail" in Idaho-Montana? Different Indian?; 8/22/11, 10:46 AM
Heart_Collector said...: Watch out for that big brown truck.; 8/22/11, 10:48 AM
bagoh20 said...: "Wow. She's kinda whiny..."

I respect their decision to edit out the part where Meade smacks her upside the head and tells her to "GET IN THE TUNNEL, NOW!; 8/22/11, 10:49 AM
KCFleming said...: We see going in the tunnel, but where's the fountain and then the cigarette after?; 8/22/11, 10:56 AM
Pastafarian said...: This seems like a metaphor for the last two and a half years.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, in November 2012.; 8/22/11, 11:06 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Wow. She's kinda whiny..."

That's AFTER I edited it!; 8/22/11, 11:10 AM
edutcher said...: There's a Wile E Coyote feel to this.

"Don't look at the walls"

"How will I know when I ride into one?"

Hah! Sounds like The Blonde and me.

PS Ann, I think you're fetching in the long skirts, but you've also got great legs.

Why hide them so much?; 8/22/11, 11:15 AM
ricpic said...: Wow, you guys have guts!..and I mean that.; 8/22/11, 11:19 AM
bagoh20 said...: Opportunity: In 2003 humans designed, built, stuck to a rocket and launched a machine. Today, on Mars, it's still trekking around and taking pictures. What if it never stops?

This is what success looks like, and what quality education can accomplish. Go sciences!

Opportunity; 8/22/11, 11:23 AM
Joe said...: (The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)

You lot are brave…I’d have bet dollars to donuts that there would be a pack of urchins in there waiting for you, with cricket bats….; 8/22/11, 11:24 AM
Widely Seen said...: I have to go with Meade using the vision aspect rather than acute hearing and echolocation.
When I worked in a darkroom doing wet [that's pre-digital for you youngsters] photographic processing, what seemed at first to be total darkness evolved over a few minutes to where I could see minute light sources and then shapes and then my hands.
The walls and ceiling were painted white, which helped.; 8/22/11, 11:31 AM
KCFleming said...: Meade was following bread crumbs.; 8/22/11, 11:39 AM
Carol_Herman said...: Oy, vey! Where are your parents! They let you out of the house without coal miner helmets on? What did they expect ... you'd hold up a candle to see the wall you could peddle into?

The state can't afford to string up some led lights? Or actually light that place up, somehow?

How do they make rescues? You can't tell me this zone has been free of accidents since 1887.; 8/22/11, 11:40 AM
bagoh20 said...: When it gets dark, have faith. There is light at the end of the tunnel:

Today is the 5 year anniversary of the liver transplant that saved me from certain demise at the hand of the evil cancer. A miracle. Thank God for the medical profession, health insurance, and for the incredibly thoughtful, anonymous woman who gave me her liver as a final gift to a stranger. Thank you all!

Today, I'm going hiking in the mountains with my dog Spirit, and a new puppy we rescued from the street a couple weeks ago. Life is good, pay attention. Woohoo!; 8/22/11, 11:50 AM
KCFleming said...: Congrats, bagoh.

Glad you're here.; 8/22/11, 11:53 AM
Triangle Man said...: Costco carries the Contour helmet cam. Do they have a blogger affiliate program?; 8/22/11, 11:59 AM
Palladian said...: Did you find any angry German shepherds or dead Japanese soldiers after you got out of there?; 8/22/11, 12:14 PM
Sharc said...: Rode through two similar tunnels last weekend on the C&O canal trail in Maryland, and walked through a third after a wipeout. Even when you can see the other end, it is very disorienting and plain scary if the tunnel is long and you have any claustrophobia at all. (And try sharing that same dark space with either an active train track or a stagnant canal...); 8/22/11, 12:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: Thanks Pogo. Doctors are freaking amazing, but you already knew that.; 8/22/11, 12:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: You could ask. I am curious.

Hence your name.; 8/22/11, 12:26 PM
caplight said...: The Lord is my light ...? Psalms 127:1; 8/22/11, 12:34 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm surprised no one said this yet, Meade is a bat.; 8/22/11, 12:43 PM
Phil 314 said...: re: following the light.

In Az when you find yourself driving in a haboob the advice is to ease of the road at least 10 feet AND TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS. If you leave your lights on others will follow the lights into your rear end.; 8/22/11, 12:44 PM
David said...: Imagine what it was like to dig that tunnel.; 8/22/11, 1:24 PM
Julie C said...: My husband has the Go Pro. Uses it while dirt bike riding and on the boat. Loves it. Seems quite sturdy.; 8/22/11, 1:48 PM
Godot said...: That's rather lovely. Good on the both of you!
_; 8/22/11, 2:01 PM
Trooper York said...: Hey I thought the darkest tunnel in Wisconsin has something to do with Tammy Baldwins buccieca.; 8/22/11, 2:35 PM
caplight said...: Meade sees the next phase of their marriage as survival training. Given the present state of affairs in Madison that may be prudent. If Walker gets recalled MeadeHouse may have to live in a cave.

wv: ingal-as in, "There's the tunnel. Now get in gal!"; 8/22/11, 2:50 PM
ndspinelli said...: Trooper, Tammy's buccieca is not only the darkest, it's the coldest!; 8/22/11, 4:05 PM
Henry said...: @Althouse -- I just wish Andy Warhol was here to enjoy this.

@bagoh20 -- Wonderful day. Glad you're here.; 8/22/11, 5:50 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: If I lived near there I'd be there all the time with a really bright light.

And a train whistle.; 8/22/11, 6:48 PM
The Elder said...: "What keeps him from hitting the wall? I have no idea."

I can tell you. Dumb luck.

I couldn't help but wonder, since the tunnel is not straight, whether it turns to the left or the right. Then I remembered: it is not far from Madison. So naturally, I concluded that the tunnel goes to the left in both directions!

As to the whining on display in this clip: I think we need to see the unbowdlerized version.; 8/22/11, 7:26 PM
rhhardin said...: Today's bike commute fawns video.; 8/22/11, 9:13 PM
el polacko said...: sometimes a tunnel is just a tunnel...; 8/22/11, 9:24 PM
Skippy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/11, 10:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: Meade may have a touch of Indian ancestry, and seeing the trail mentally in the dark comes naturally once he has been on it one time.

Did I hear Meade answer Ann, "what you mean we, blonde hair?" when she said we cannot see in the dark.

Amazing mental alertness is the factor that heightens the senses for decision making in the dark.

That makes me credit natural selection, because some have that natural talent and most do not. (Don't tell Revenent.)

Twain's Life on the Mississippi relates the pilot's developing inner mental maps of the river that they read while moving along on dark nights.; 8/22/11, 11:39 PM
nichole said...: I'm glad you posted this! We hit the Badger State Trail today and the tunnel would have taken us completely off guard otherwise. It's cool in there.; 8/27/11, 7:39 PM