Ride 30 - Another Century

Autumn leaves cover a bike path. 10/13/26 dwm

As the bike season quickly pedals into the sunset I'm trying to accumulate some more miles before it gets too cold (by my standards) to ride.

 

The day after we returned from our road trip to Iowa, I took to the roads and by-ways across Dane County with a goal of traveling at least 100 miles.

 

A route that was new to me this summer came to mind; Verona to Sun Prairie by way of the Capital City Trail and Madison Lake Loop then taking the trail looping around Sun Prairie before reversing course on the loop and heading home.

The loop clocks in around 22 miles, but because I had to leave the circle route to eat, it added a couple miles to my tally which was fitting after eating a slice of Rocky Rococo sausage pizza. 

 

Geese on a pond near the path. 10/13/26 dwm

 Properly fueled, I rode east on Main Street where I joined the loop near Angell Park and followed it counter-clockwise back to where I started the loop going clockwise almost 40 miles earlier when I started the Sun Prairie Loop. 

 

 I was just over 80 miles when I left the loop for the ride across Madison which made me feel good about reaching the day's goal. 

 

 It was a long day, bordering on 8 hours, which was more than I planned, but it got me closer to the goal.

 Tale of the Bike Computer:

  Distance: 111 miles

  Average Speed: 14.5 mph

                                                                                                      Time in the Saddle: 7 hours, 40 minutes.

Here's a couple more pictures from the ride:

 

On the trail through Lake Farm County Park. 10/13/2026 dwm

Inside city limits, corn waits for harvest. 10/13/2026 dwm

Part of the Lake Loop route in Monona, a beautiful tree-lined street. 10/13/2026 dwm