Ride 9 - The Interurban

Track lies in front of the old station. 5/25/24 dwm

 We traveled to Cedarburg, Wisconsin for the first time in 2016 to see the historic covered bridge a few miles out of town.

 

 While in the area, we spent time downtown which was bustling with shoppers. 

 

 The Milwaukee River flows through the community, and several bridges link both sides, including an historic one that serves pedestrians and bikes on the Ozaukee Interurban trail.

 

We returned this past weekend. My wife dropped me off in Belgium, a town near the county line Ozaukee county shares with Sheboygan county. I rode 3.2 miles to the line, then took a picture before heading south. (photo at right)

The 30-mile trail is paved. There are a few bumps and holes along the way but its in reasonably good shape. For most of the route, modern railroad tracks run alongside.

The first-time on a bike trail is fun and full of anticipation because other than a few pictures you may have seen, everything is new and you don't know where to stop or when extra attention is required.

Part of the path in Port Washington. 5/25/24  dwm

 Most of the path is off-street but there are stretches in Port Washington and Grafton where you ride on city streets. A few times I wasn't sure where I was on the trail because the only signs were common green bike routes signs with an arrow. 

 The trail emptied us on a street downtown near the marina at the bottom of the bluff where the Port Washington Light Station stands (more on the station later this week).

 This was the only part of the trail with much of a climb, which makes sense when the bluffs over Lake Michigan are considered. It was a gradual climb from downtown through increasingly newer neighborhoods until I was surrounded by trees before coming into a clearing near Interstate 43 and another bridge.

 

Traffic speeds under a bridge. 5/25/24 dwm

Ten-feet wide to accommodate bikes in both directions and walkers, it's quite something to look through the fencing at trucks and cars going three-times what cyclists think is fast.

 

A couple miles later is a shorter bridge that replaced the original Milwaukee River Bridge while standing practically in its footprint. It was one of many river crossings for the Interurban Electric Railway that connected people living in rural communities with Milwaukee. (below photo)

The train was a connection both ways taking city folks to the country when they needed a break until the train blew its last whistle in 1951.

 

A two-span bridge just north of Grafton. 5/25/24

 Coming into Grafton there were two routes to choose from, a 'through' loop which follows streets away the center of town and a 'river' loop which, ironically, didn't follow the river but did take riders downtown within a block of stores and restaurants.

 I took the 'through' loop going south, on my return to Grafton I used the 'river' loop where I met my wife at a coffee shop.

 More on the finish in a few paragraphs. Grafton and Cedarburg are practically twin towns to the point it's tough to say where one ends and the next begins.

The Cedarburg bridge. dwm

On most summer Saturdays, downtown Cedarburg is bustling with hundreds of visitors and shoppers, so expect to roll slow on the downtown bridge and crossing the main street before riding through two parking lots until you reach a short street where the old Interurban station stands. It was my favorite shot of the day (top photo) as the connection between trains and bikes became clear.

 

I don't have a strong connection to this trail. My connection is the stories I heard from Dad about taking the interurban from Champagne, Illinois where he was a student at the University of Illinois (metallurgy engineering), home from college.

It's a shame most interurban trains were erased in the excitement over the open roads and a car culture. 80 years later it is the type of transportation many experts want to see.

From Cedarburg to the Milwaukee County line is 7 miles, rolling through parts of Thiensville and Mequon. When I reached County Line Road, I crossed it, turned around, and headed back to Grafton where I'd get something to eat and spend the night.

Along a rural stretch. 5/25/24 dwm

 It's a 30-mile ride through the county, an easy ride one way or a bit more work if you go from one end to the other and back.

 

 I didn't do a round trip, but I added miles, starting with 3 extra as I rode north from Belgium and back before an additional fourteen miles returning from the south county line and through Grafton to our hotel. 

 

Those last few miles didn't help my average speed, I ended up with a 14.8 mph average over 47 miles. 

 

 It was a great day to ride. I would like to return for a ride starting in Milwaukee County with a finish in Sheboygan or a trip from Sheboygan down to Grafton and back. You can see more about the trail and the communities it passes through by clicking this link. 

 After 9 rides my new total for the year is 316. Here are more pictures from Saturday's ride, all photos (except the first) are taken by me along the Ozaukee Interurban County Trail May 25, 2024.

Photo by rkm 5/25/24