My sanity gets questioned frequently by my coworkers when they hear about my cycling or running. This past Monday I had a meeting to attend at the union hall on the east side of Madison so why not go by bike and make it clear that yeah I might be.
The choice to ride was easy but which bike? I wasn't sure if I wanted to ride the rail trail into Madison or tackle more hills by taking the roads. The weather forecast mentioned a possibility of fog which helped me choose my Specialized Tricross for the rail trail. The fog wouldn't be an issue on the trail plus no cars except when crossing roads.
It turned out there was no fog and was rather cool when I dropped the boys at school. Once home it was a quick change into a jersey, arm warmers and shorts. Bike prep took a few minutes and I felt late when I hit the road. I really had no idea if I was late since I had not bothered to see just how far my ride was going to be. The rail trail was uneventful except for the flooded underpass, only 6 inches or so deep, I coasted and pumped the pedals to keep my feet dry. Once in Madison I headed downtown on a city path crossing by UW Madison and looping around to a new to me trail section. I think it was a portion of the Cap City Trail, very industrial area gave way to homes and local businesses. In my rush to be on time I missed seeing a lot but caught more on the way back later. I missed a path access at an intersection and just took the roads for the last few miles arriving 5 minutes late. 30 minutes of meeting and I was headed back home, found the trail section I had missed earlier. The trail from Fair Oaks Avenue to the Yahara river will need to be visited again. Lots to see and of course I had no good camera and my phone was tucked in a baggie in my jersey pocket. I got off track on a road section of the trail and suddenly was on Mifflin street headed to the Capital square.
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One minor sign miss lead to a short block of riding the wrong way on a one way street. Crossing one side of the square got me on State street, no cars allowed and lots of food choices. Well since I carry no lock for the bike I kept riding back through campus and onto the SW commuter bike path. My growing need of food had me off the trail to find coffee and a snack. Coffee shop found with bike rack and outdoor seating perfect.
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Well caffeinated I headed home via the most direct route of busy roads which means boring so that's all for this trip.
My inbound route from Google bicycle directions and the outbound route more or less. My bike was a Specialized Tricross Singlecross running a 42x16 gear and I used m y Garmin 305 to record the trip instead of a standalone bike computer.
Schools out after today so I hope to have some trips with the boys to write about soon.
