Ride 8 - Wauna-ride to Waunakee

Waunakee's train station. 5/18/24 dwm

 Saturday was the first time this year I was on the bike before 8 am. Coincidentally, it was the first time on a ride day it was in the mid-50s by 7, so I wasn't waiting for things to warm up, I was riding early to beat the heat.

 This ride was almost exclusively on surface streets because there aren't many trails connecting Verona and Waunakee.

 

 I headed out of town on Pleasant View Road, following it north all the way to Airport Road in Middleton, where I headed east through the community until I reached County Highway Q where I turned north for Waunakee.

 

 Fun fact if you haven't heard, but Waunakee, Wisconsin is the only town with that name in the world! I don't keep tabs on such things, but it is possible someone, somewhere has put that name on a town in the past ten years.

 

 It was calm, which helped me get up to speed, and because it was early there wasn't a lot of traffic on the roads. There was one guy (or gal, I don't know) who whizzed past me when a second lane to the left was wide-open, that was unnecessary and impolite.

 

Road work on Cty M is impacting bikes. 5/18/24

One of my favorite long-rides around Madison is circling Lake Mendota. This year, however, construction on county highway M is making it difficult while much-needed improvements are made.

My first goal with this ride was getting to Waunakee then turning around, but once there, I wanted to see how difficult it really was for bikes to get through road construction. 

The relatively early hour meant traffic was light enough to travel through it safely, so I rode down Woodland Road to where it meets M. Barricades shut down the boardwalk while the road is widened to four-lanes and bike and pedestrian paths are added.

I made it safely the approximately quarter-mile to a turn on a side road that connects to a path through Governor Nelson State Park and under the county highway before I rejoined the stretch of M heading back to Middleton that isn't under construction. Yet. That probably happens next year.

A map under a pedestrian-bike bridge. 5/18/24

 From there I retraced my route through Middleton and south on Pleasant View Road.  It's been under construction for parts of two years now and is nearly finished.

 

 The road is now four lanes and a steep hill isn't as steep as it was. At the top is a pedestrian-bike bridge that will soon connect the east side of the road with Pleasant View Golf course.

 

 Under the bridge, next to a sidewalk is a relief map showing your location and where the glaciers from the ice age bulldozed land and left the moraine behind.

 The maps are interesting to look at; it's too bad that they won't get much of an audience.  If you bike or walk through the area, I hope you'll find a safe way to take a look.

 After stopping to look at the map, it was a quick ride home, even with two extra miles to reach this ride's mileage goal. 

  Trip 8 - 40 miles, ave. 14.8 mph, 269 miles YTD