onceatriathlet3 wrote:
I really love the riding out into Hill Country west of Austin. Is there riding like that in Madison? I used to live in Ann Arbor so I'm no stranger to the cold, but I don't know if I can go back to my trainer for winters!
Most everything south and east of Madison was flattened by glaciers in the last ice age. But the "quadrant" that's northwest of Madison is "Coulee Country," a series of small but steep valleys that are part of the watershed of the Wisconsin River and, to the far west, the Mississippi River. If you like a little elevation challenge on your ride, there are a lot of great roads that go up and down the ridges between valleys.
Take a look at the google earth pic of Madison and the surrounding area. You can easily see the difference between the glacier flattened lands east and south and Coulee Country to the northwest.
https://www.google.com/...02933m/data=!3m1!1e3 Also, there are some great rails-to-trails bike paths in Central Wisconsin. The 400 trail, Elroy-Sparta Trail, Lacrosse River Trail, and Great River Trail all connect. You can ride essentially a continuous trail from Reedsburg Wi (about an hour drive northwest of Madison) to Winona, MN, a little over a 100 miles. You won't find a lot of challenging climbing, but there are some pretty cool tunnels....some so long you have to walk your bike through. I think one of the tunnels on the Elroy/Sparta trail is 3/4 mile long.
http://www.bike4trails.com/Bike4Trailsmap.pdf
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