A Return to Form

With Monday being a rest day with external transportation due to rain and other issues, Tuesday was our first day on bikes since our relatively easy day on Saturday. This day would be a repeat, in many ways, of a similar day we had on last year’s trip. This picture might be familiar, but of course Liz is rockin’ her sweet new(ish) Twin Six jersey.

Liz on the Merrimac Ferry

The ride took us on a pretty big climb on the north side of Lake Wisconsin, coming out of the Devil’s Lake State Park campground, but then we got to descend and enjoy the beautiful morning on the historic Merrimac Ferry.

For those who don’t know, it’s a free ferry that is run by the State (of Wisconsin) which bridges two sides of the state highway. For a long time there was a push to build a bridge, but criminy we have plenty of bridges over the WI river and they are all treacherous on bicycle. We’re floating in style here.

Once crossed, we begin the slow ascent up to an old (geologically speaking) ridge to the north of Madison. The roads were fantastic, weather perfect, and, since Liz knew the climb would end eventually, we were both in a pretty good mood.

This good mood was tempered slightly when we arrived in Middleton, however, where we began our urban assault to get to the Jesse homestead in Arbor Hills (the south side of town). Madison has great trails and bike lanes on most major corridors, but it still wasn’t enough to keep Liz from getting just a bit grumpy. Eventually we pulled into our stop for the day with 55 miles, and renewed smiles.

More smiles, when we joined Tim, Marjorie, Ed and Linda (aka 2/3 of our parents) for dinner at the Great Dane in Fitchburg.