Trip 30 - Birthday Ride

A beaver took out a tree overnight. 9/21/24 dwm

I was almost three miles into Saturday's ride when I realized something was blocking the trail.

It was a birch tree from a small grove of trees next to a marsh. I pulled to a stop to investigate, thinking someone had cut it down.

When I got a look at the trunk, it wasn't a 'someone' but a "some thing," as in animal, namely, a beaver.

The industrious mammal hadn't finished the job, however, leaving the tree, its leaves, and branches blocking the Military Ridge trail.

I'd guess the tree was 15 - 10 feet tall. It was too heavy for me to pull off the trail, so I lifted the bike over the trunk and was on my way.

Road blocked! 9/21/24 dwm

 The first idea for this ride was to put the bike on the car, then drive over to the Glacial Drumlin trail. I might still do that, but after waking up decided it made more sense to just get pedaling.

 I took the Southwest commuter trail to the isthmus where it connects with the Capital City State trail on the shore of Lake Monona. I used the bike path and the lake loop for a counter-clockwise trip around the lake.

 The lake loop is one of my go-to routes but this year road construction shut down the usual streets for months. This was the first time I rode along Dempsey Street this year on a new road and bike-pedestrian trail.

 The loop eventually connects with the Capital City trail near John Nolen road, I headed south, then popped on a new favorite route, using both sections of the South Yahara River trail which took me through McFarland and into Lake Kegonsa State Park where the bike hit mile 32.

The path off Dempsey St. 9/21/24 dwm

When I retraced my route back to the long boardwalk on the west section of the Yahara trail, I was 16 miles from home. I needed five more miles to reach my goal, which I could get using the Badger trail for a 2-1/2 mile hop south, then turn around to hit five miles with just six miles to finish.

There is a short stretch of the Capital City trail where it runs on Glacier Valley road for a mile on a quiet suburban street and that's something unusual happen.

I caught up with a cyclist riding the same bike I have, a green Volae Expedition recumbent. It's unusual to see any kind of recumbent, many of those are trikes, so I tried to strike up a conversation but the rider wasn't in a talkative mood.

The ride started slow, but the second half of the ride was faster than the first. I pulled up to my garage with 3 hours, 58 minutes on the bike with miles to match my birthday, 61.

Now that it's fall, we should be done with the heat, I'm hoping to stay on the bike through most of October.