Riding 12

My ride since 2015.  6/17/2023 dwm photo

Over the years, I've developed several routes to ride when I want to hit a certain distance and return home within 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

 

The "ride up 12" is one of those routes.  From Verona it's basically riding north with minor course adjustments as the streets and roads make them necessary.

The city streets along this route don't have a lot of pot holes but the seams in the poured asphalt are surprisingly bumpy and occasionally jarring.  I don't have a solution but it's very uncomfortable.

There are a couple gradual climbs in the first 10 miles, nothing steep but enough grade to slow me down. 

The trail takes off from a city trail that connects the business district anchored by Costco west of U.S. 12 to the Pheasant Branch Conservancy.  Eventually this trail will take bikers from Madison to Sauk City, 17 miles north.  There is a gap of approximately 7 miles between where the paved trail ends and the community on the north shore of the Wisconsin River.

Trail climbs a rolling hill on the trail. 6/17/23

 I've seen reports about that section potentially being finished in the next few years; and another web site suggesting bikers can use the shoulder of U.S. Highway 12 to ride into Sauk City.  That last idea is a bad idea.  It might be OK for a mile or two but I wouldn't ride that shoulder any farther.

 So far I've not tried to navigate the local roads to a point where a paved path extends a mile or two south of the city; I turn around at Rauls Road where the current path ends.

 

 It's a nice trail but more utilitarian than most state bike trails.  Because it falls within the right of way for the highway, it is scenic but not as peaceful. Cars and trucks traveling north and south on the four lane road creates a sound that washes out any bird songs and almost any conversation you might want to have with a fellow rider.  

However, a safe link for bikes and ambitious runners or walkers would be worth the exchange for only half of the usual sensory experience when riding other state bike trails.