Back and Forth and a Bonus Ride

Creamery Street in McFarland. 10/7/23 dwm photo

 It was a cold start to the week.  Temperatures ranged between 39 and 43 for the first hour and a half of the ride.

I wore tights, a wool hat under my helmet, a long-sleeve jersey with a long-sleeve t-shirt over it, shorts, and gardening gloves.

 

The clothing was right for the conditions with the exception of the gloves, I forgot a pair of thinner gloves to wear underneath. Other than that, I was pretty comfortable.

 

The sun rose ten minutes into the trip but it took 30 minutes before it was high enough to make any impact.  It was breezy, so if it had been cloudy, I would have done a shorter trip or stayed home.

Holscher Road in McFarland. 10/7/23 dwm

 My goal for the day was 45 to 50 miles.  I knew the usual ride to McFarland is around 35 miles, so I needed to add miles to reach my goal.  Earlier I looked at a map and found a route that would fit with the ride and get me the miles I sought.

 The trail to McFarland is the safest way to get there by bike from the north or west.

 The Lower Yahara River trail boardwalk ends in McDaniel Park next to the Green Lantern bar and grill.  From there I went east on Sigglekow Road to begin my loop. After the second loop I got back on the trail and headed home, checking in with 45 miles.

The Field House was where I turned around. 10/8/23

The next morning was warmer than Saturday but with no sun, it still felt chilly even at 60 with a breeze.

After church, we had breakfast and I decided there was time, since the Packers didn't play until Monday night, to do another ride.

The Field House to my house ride is similar to one I did a couple months ago, taking the trail north from Verona to the U.W. Campus and turning around at the 10 mile mark, which happens to be across from Camp Randall and the Wisconsin Field House.

The Southwest Commuter trail took me into Madison, I followed it south to where it becomes the Badger State Trail and stayed with it until reaching the end of the paved portion of the trail where it crosses Purcell Road.

The paved part of the Badger ends here. dwm

 The breeze was out of the north, so I had close to equal sections riding with and against the wind.  

 It was warmer than Saturday but I was glad I added a couple pieces of clothing before riding.  Two stretchy gloves made a big difference under larger gloves and I wore a t-shirt under the long-sleeve bike jersey.  

 The biggest help was leaving at noon instead of 7am and it was in the mid-to-upper 40s when I left Sunday compared to the upper 30s to low 40s the day before.

 From the Field House to Purcell Road was 10.2 miles according to my bike computer, making it a round trip of 20.4.  The ride from home to the Southwest Commuter/Badger State Trail was 5.9 miles.

As I headed home I realized I wasn't going to all the miles I wanted, so I rode past the turn to home and did a loop which gave me 4 more miles, giving me 36 for the day.

That's a two day total of 81 miles, 846 miles for the year, 154 miles short of 1,000.  Let's Go Biking!