Ride 15 - Stoughton 2

I saw a lot of wildlife Saturday. 6/28/25 dwm

Saturday was a pretty nice day. 

The overnight low reached the mid-60s and humidity dropped to comfortable levels; when I rode out the driveway at 6:30, it was 65 and calm.

It didn't take long to notice the difference from the week before. 

There were more humans out, including a couple dozen runners doing a group effort on the Lower Yahara boardwalk coming from McFarland. There was also a steady stream of cyclists along the entire route.

There were four deer, three within 20-feet of me as a I rode. The deer in the above photo kept its eyes on me, but didn't run when I stopped the bike then pulled the camera out of the bag. 

Two crane in the photo, #2 is ahead of #1 at right. 6/28/25 dwm

 There were at a dozen cranes along the route, most barely beyond an arm's reach.

 The cutest scene was a family of cranes with two little ones, less than a foot tall, grazing under their parents' protective eyes.

 The funniest moment was after I caught another rider when two sandhill cranes landed on the path ahead. We were 50 yards away when the birds began to dance. 

We had to get their attention, and did, just before we passed within a few feet of the curious, and perhaps dating, couple. The pair in the above photo were eating. If they had little ones with them, they were hidden by the grass.

Breakfast at the Koffee Kup. 6/28/25 dwm

This was the same route used May 10 to reach Stoughton the first time with my recumbent. The only difference was an earlier departure meant I had breakfast instead of lunch at the Koffee Kup.

Talking about recumbent bikes, I saw a lot more than usual, maybe 10 or 12 along the way.

The round-trip ended four hours after leaving, including a half-hour break to eat, I finished 60 miles in 3 hours, 38 minutes. 

For the year my miles total is up to 720.