A Beautiful Trail

Capital City Trail
9/4/17 (dwm)

Madison is blessed with miles and miles of dedicated bike trails heading north, south, east, and west.

Just off the compass was a trail to go mostly east and a little south to the community of McFarland. 7,800 plus folks close to Madison, but inconvenient for bikers since a lake to the west was in the way and four lane highways to the north and east provided sketchy routes at best.

The Lower Yahara River Trail opened last month and it is a perfect fit for Dane County's trail system, which totals more than 150 miles.

The trail heads east from the Capital City Trail where it turns north at Lake Farm Park, heads through the park and wetlands a mile and a half before reaching an impressive boardwalk.

The east end of the Boardwalk.
9/2/17 dwm photo

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the 2 - 1/2 mile trail includes the longest dedicated bicycle bridge and boardwalk in the state, clocking a tick shy of a full mile.

Eventually, this trail will run 11 miles beyond McFarland to the picturesque city of Stoughton.

The boardwalk is gorgeous.  At least 10 feet across - there is room for bikers, walkers, and runners.  There are a couple cut-outs to gaze across the water and a couple places to fish.

Plenty of room on the trail next
to Lake Waubesa.   (dwm)

Instead of filling in land along the railroad tracks which cut between Upper Mud Lake and Lake Waubesa, the trail is elevated over the shoreline,  It gives Waubesa, likely the least known in Madison's chain of 5 lakes, a much deserved coming out party.

These developments don't come cheap.  This trail cost a reported $8 million.  It's not fair for me to say it is worth it, but I suspect over time it will prove its value to McFarland residents and their quality of life.  It will get a lot more bikers to McFarland too.

The ride required five seat
adjustments before I got it right.
(dwm)

The day of my ride, I put my bike into one of two crowded racks outside the Green Lantern in McFarland for a trail-side breakfast. I enjoyed a large fluffy Belgian waffle and headed west.

McDaniel Park on the east end of the boardwalk is the place for walkers to head along the lake.  Out and back is a two mile trip. Father and daughter; couples; and friends were among the groups I saw enjoying an early morning stroll.

The ride from home to McFarland and back is around 32 miles, all but 3 of them on trails.

A filtered sun over the Military Ridge
State Trail.  9/4/17  (dwm)

For some reason, on this ride, I couldn't get the bike seat into the right spot.

After a couple of miles, I realized it was too close keeping me from stretching my legs out on the down-pedal.

Not wanting to become brunch for pesky mosquitoes, I worked fast when I stopped.  Not very effectively, though, it turned out. The seat on a recumbent has a couple of anchor points and I wasn't hitting the sweet spot.  (The reason for all of this was my last ride involved carrying the bike on the car and it travels best without the seat.)

Once in place (I plan to mark the spot to avoid this in the future), everything fell into place for the rest of the ride.

It's September.  Who knows how long the weather will cooperate for weekend rides?  The first ride of my year was way back in February - I hope to still be riding in October, at least.

The ride to McFarland is likely to become a favorite.