On the Trail

Two entrepreneurs making $ on a warm day.

After I got home from church, I pulled out my Leinenkugel's bike jersey, made a quick adjustment to the seat and hit the road.

 

It's 1.5 miles to the nearest bike path, from there I spent most of the next two hours on a trail or bike route.  Before I got to my turn I saw a pair of turkeys and a deer cross the street in front of me.

The Military Ridge trail meets the Southwest Commuter path at a roundabout under a former railroad trestle bridge which now carries a bike path.  The new path follows a former rail line into Madison, passing close to the re-purposed train station.

As I rode that trail into Madison, I passed a father and two kids with a lemonade stand.  "If you're open when I come back, I'll get one then," I promised.

When the trail joined the Lake Loop I headed clockwise around Lake Monona mere feet from the lake, then joined lightly traveled tree-lined streets through several neighborhoods.  It wasn't long before I noticed something.  There was an 'off' smell that I couldn't identify but was definitely unpleasant.

Blue-green algae blooms are impacting the lake.

 The smell is a minor irritation of the algae, as it can be toxic to humans and animals that come in contact with it.  Adults can get nausea, rashes, and respiratory issues from the algae.  

 The trail and part of Atwood Avenue are under construction with traffic limited to one lane.  I had to go around the usual path down to Atwood, then into the Olbrich Garden parking lot to get to get back on the Capital City trail behind the Gardens.

 Where the trail intersects with Dempsey Street, I turned south through several Monona neighborhoods which are much better to ride than the primary surface streets.

A dock on Lake Monona near the Cap City trail

When we moved to Madison, the ride around Lake Monona became a favorite route.  Back then it wasn't well-marked, today it has arrows and signs pointing the way to bikers going either direction, clockwise or counter.

When I got back to where I started the Lake Loop (photo right), I rejoined the Southwest Commuter trail for the ride home wondering if the two young people were still selling lemonade.

I passed three kids hawking cold drinks but they weren't the right kids.  The right kids were on the other side of the next cross street.  I was happy to see them and thirsty for a cold glass of lemonade.  It was refreshing.

Stats for this trip: 36 miles, average speed 15.1 mph.  All photos by David Mossner 5/28/2023