Usually around this time of year, Wisconsin has temps somewhere between 20 and 40F. For the past week, we've been experiencing something a lot closer to Alabama weather (minus the tornadoes). Daytime highs have been in the mid 70s, and the past two days we've had some 80-degree weather. As such, all of Madison decided that it's time to get outside and enjoy the crazy weather. Flowers are up, trees are blooming, mosquitoes are feasting, and I think almost everybody here realizes that this signifies that the weather gods are going to send blizzards from April-August. Ali and I figured that bike camping would be an appropriate celebration of our brief summer.
We got out of lab a bit early Friday and headed out past the apple farm to Blue Mounds State Park. The first bit is mostly back roads along the drumlins, which while hilly, is also thankfully traffic light.
Eventually we transitioned on to a small county road (some traffic, no shoulder, lots of foolish honking), then a larger county road (more traffic, more wind, a reasonable shoulder, polite drivers), and eventually a state highway into Mt Horeb (
the best suburb ever! - at least that's what they claim on their signs).
The 10 miles of rollers on the back roads and honking on the county roads got me a little low on energy/patience by the time we hit the larger roads (and wind), so by the time we hit Mt. Horeb (also the self-proclaimed Troll Capital of the World), I was dragging. We stopped by a really nice bike-pavilion that's adjacent to the Military Ridge State Trail to load our bikes with water (campground's water wasn't running yet) and ourselves with cookies (tasty, tasty cookies). Then it was off for the last 10 miles on relatively flat/gently rolling county roads to the campground.
Thought of my big sister (we saw the llamas and alpacas on a different/nearby road the next day).
We got to the park just in time to see the sun falling behind the mound which Blue Mounds is on.
Indian food, fire-warmed naan, spicy cheez-its, and more cookies made for a lovely dinner. Star-gazing and bedtime came pretty soon afterwards.
Sleep was pretty broken-up for both Ali and I. I kept waking up to odd noises and, of course, coming up with the weirdest explanations for them. In the early AM, a lightening storm with a little rain rolled in (and cast a passing raccoon's shadow on the fly of the tent).
I was pretty certain that the raccoon would take off with our spicy cheez-its since they were stored in a pannier on the picnic table, but everything was in one piece the next morning.
Speaking of the next morning, it was gorgeous. Blue skies, few clouds, a light breeze, and the camping breakfast of champions (oatmeal and hot chocolate) started us out.
We took our time getting out of camp, and it might have been a good thing. Just under a mile into our ride, we turned on to this awesome back road (runs through a hollow, virtually no traffic, lots of trees/fields/etc) and found an unconscious lady. We called 911, flagged down a truck, and did everything else we could think of, and though she was breathing ok and had a strong pulse, it took her a good long time to regain consciousness. Once she was up, she declined the first responders via phone and had some guy drive her to a doctor. Apparently she's passed out before like this, but with a history of blood clots and a knack for smoking when she can barely stand up, it sounded like some medical attention might be a good thing. Any how... after everything was cleared up, we headed back down the road (adrenaline now pumping, and sirens now coming into range). What a lovely road it was.
And at the end of that road, we turned onto an equally lovely road, and then another.
Tons more fields, gullies, and woods, and this is clearly not unknown to other Madison cyclists. We passed what looked like 2-3 clubs, and a whole lot of independent bikers. The terrain was also reasonably kind (especially since we had been headed downhill since the beginning of the day).
Rolling hills were close together and not too steep (unlike the day before), and though our legs were tired, the scenery helped keep us going.
Eventually we had to do a couple miles on one of the busier county roads, but after that we took a side road by some kind of "watershed area" thing (read as: lake by a busy road that allows duck hunting during the season) and then a less-trafficked road back into Madison.
All in all, a lovely trip.
I now have my first sunburn of the season, though.
