Tuesday, July 20, 2004 (Part 1)

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World's largest bicycle enthusiast

Sparta, Wisconsin, "Bicycling Capital of America," is allegedly the home of the World's Largest Bicycle. We visited the bicycle, and it is big, but can a fixed-position bicycle made of fiberglass honestly be called a bicycle? Well, I guess we let Collinsville slide by with the World's Largest Catsup Bottle claim, even though, to my knowledge, it never held catsup, so I guess we'll give Sparta a pass as well. Let the Guinness people be the sticklers. We're just trying to have fun.

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Tiananmen Square, Wisconsin

What roadside-oddity road trip would be complete without a visit to the birthplace of the oddities itself, F.A.S.T., Fiberglass Animals, Shapes & Trademarks, Corp.? If you've seen a big, probably tacky, fiberglass thingamajig, chances are it was made just outside of Sparta at F.A.S.T. Corp. Visitors are welcome to roam around the grounds, a graveyard to used molds, damaged titans, and a few newly-made, not-yet-shipped creations. Words cannot describe the splendor of the World's Most Awesome Junkyard, so we took a couple dozen pictures, each worth a thousand words. Here are some of the highlights:

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Skull in a fiberglass graveyard

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Lone Wolf

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Funky chicken

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Beam me up, E.T.

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Jana's house

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Mr. Tom's wild ride

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Got wood?

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Santa, I am your father

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Americana cow

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Mr. Escargot

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Dracula's cousin

Continue to Day 4, Part 2

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