Devil’s Lake to Madison (belated)

This day had us scheduled for about 50 miles, thanks to the epic nature of the previous day’s ride. We woke up and packed up as usual, leaving the park by the officially sanctioned route. If we had been more ambitious, we might have taken some liberties with the no-entry signs and found a more direct way out that would have resulted in less elevation gain, but we naturally started with a nice descent and then looped right back over ourselves in the middle of a very long and steep hill on County DL. You know the one if you’ve gone to Devil’s Lake the back way or driven between the southern and northern units of the park.

Once we had climbed to the top of the bluffs, we promptly lost all of that altitude and rolled into Merrimac for breakfast at Candy’s Merrimac Cafe. This was our first and only breakfast “out” on the trip, so the break from instant oatmeal was much appreciated. Yes, more coffee please.

From Merrimac we took the famous ferry:

Liz on the famous Merrimac Ferry over the Wisconsin River. How awesome is she?

and then we wound our way through old stompin’ grounds east of Lodi, past Gibraltar Rock, and eventually onto Springfield Lodi Road. I had mentioned to Liz that we’d be cresting on a ridge after crossing the river, but I suppose I could have been more explicit — it was a series of ridges, each higher than the last. Yet another day of climbing, but she did great!

It was during this section of the ride that the general atmosphere seemed to change to more cycling-friendly. We began seeing recreational riders (e.g. “Roadies”), some of whom did double-takes but most of the comments were along the lines of “Good for you, Honey!” It’s been awhile since I’ve been called that by other cyclists. After one last epic climb up to US Highway 12, and a well-situated break bench in a cemetery, we followed the new paved trail along the highway right into downtown Middleton. Honestly, our arrival in Middleton was such a great sense of relief and accomplishment — I’m not sure how to explain it. We were nearly home.

Navigating the roads in the Madison area was pretty straightforward, but I have to mention that we were completely out of water at the Mineral Point Road/Segoe Road intersection. At this time, Liz actually demanded that I find her water before we could finish the route home to the Arbor Hills area (15 minutes away, tops). I guess my constant nagging has finally paid off!

We rolled up that one final hill up Grandview Blvd, but it was honestly with a mixed sense of sadness and elation that this great trip was coming to an end. What a great journey we had taken, us two. Just as we pulled up, Linda (Liz’s mom) was walking around the side of her house and gave us our final double-take of the trip. Hooray, right on time!

After showering and resting up, we capped the trip off with a relaxed gathering hosted by Ed and Linda (cheap but good beer), which later moved over to the Great Dane in Fitchburg, for some great food (and a bit more expensive beer). Some of our most dedicated cheerleaders, Carmen and Troy, joined us for that, which was a lot of fun.

Thanks everyone, see you next time!