Last Ride of the Year

Looking at the Badger from Purcell Rd

 I woke up Sunday morning 28 miles from reaching 1,000 cycling miles, most of it in Dane County.

 There was a frost advisory overnight, and there was church, so I didn't get on the recumbent until after the service.

 The abundant sunshine and calm winds made it more comfortable than the 45 degrees shown on the bike computer sounded.

 For this distance I had a pick of ways to get the miles, choosing a route I rode a few weeks ago using the Military Ridge, Southwest Commuter and Badger State trails.

 After getting out of Verona, I rode south on the Badger to where it's pavement ends, then up to the University of Wisconsin Field house.  I knew from prior rides it's ten miles from where I live to the Field House, 

 By going that way, I'd know my final mileage before finishing.

 There were a number of hardy souls taking in the sunshine, fall colors, and nice conditions to get outside despite the chill.

The advantage of doing more miles the day before was having a short distance to cover to reach the goal.

Five miles north of the turn-around point.

It was satisfying to reach the goal, in part, because I didn't know how far away it was until after my ride September 16 when I was 301 miles short.

I didn't chop the next six rides into 50-mile chunks, but that's the average for the final rides.  

It's great to reach 1,000 each of the last two years, although the two-day, 235 mile Ride Across Wisconsin was a key reason I made the distance.  There was no planned long-distance ride this year.

Weather will decide if I ride any more this season and it will be nice to return to our regular Saturday morning routine with my patient spouse.  It's been a fun and interesting year to ride.

Photos by David Mossner, 10/22/2023