Tour de Last Week

I did a nice long ride last Friday, but haven't gotten around to blogging it until now. Not busy, just plain lazy.

Took off work and left the house at about 8 in the morning on a perfect summer's day, with the temperature at about 66 degrees. Headed south past the Sheraton, under the Beltline and past Madison's lovely sewage treatment plant. Then further south on Lake Farm Park Road past lake Waubesa, onto Lalor Road (one of Wisconsin's Rustic Roads a mere 6 miles from the Capitol Square), then County B to Sand Hill Road, where I spotted these pretties:


It's a tough job, but somebody's got to ride these roads.

Of course, you never know what you're going to come across. The next time the missus and I need a holder for the mailbox, I reckon we're going to follow the rough outlines of this example here:


or similar.

Then the ride turned west onto the Rutland-Dunn Town Line Road and into the beautiful village of Oregon, Wisconsin. When I was a young lad, before I was allowed to participate in the public educational system, my folks both worked. I started out staying with a relative for a while, but as she was a bit nervous and as I had gained a reputation as a choker (while eating, that is, and still do) that arrangement didn't so much work out. I thus became the sole charge of an in-home daycare populated by 4 young Italian sisters and their parents. This might go some ways toward explaining my irrational affection for Spirograph and Pringles. All of this took place in Oregon, so I thought I'd swing by to see whether the house was still standing. It is.

After finding my bearings again (who knew Oregon's Main Street would end in a barricade?) I picked up Union Road to the south and eventually turned west on Bellbrook:



Be sure to click on this one, because it's the architypical southern Wisconsin summertime landscape. It was about 10 o'clock at this point and maybe 75 degrees, with no wind. We're looking west here, but I'm on the wrong side of the road because there was a really nice patch of pitstop greenery there.

The ride turned north from here onto County D. Out here, you never know what you're going to come across:


I was lucky to have gotten this shot without being abducted and probed.

West again onto Frenchtown road, then north onto the Badger State Trail I wrote about last month. I got off the trail at the Sun Valley Parkway bridge using sort of an unofficial path over to a farmer's lane which connected with the Parkway. Then West to Paoli for a bit of a rest in the picturesque towne square:


Here's a shot of this ride's wheels. It's a 1985-ish Trek 400 with no original parts. Lugged True Temper 60 cm frame, with a 57 cm top tube (worthy of mention because it's just about the most comfortable bike I own.)


North on Range Trail, so named because it was once home to a rifle range. I stopped at a couple of garage sales in Verona and returned to Madison around 1 pm. 54 miles.