Riding in Wisconsin

[thunderworks]

Just thought I'd plug the nicest place (IMO) in the US to ride . . . Tremplealeau County, WI . . . gorgeous, lots of roads to ride, low traffic count. Other than riding in Tuscany, this really is the nicest place I've ever found to ride. I've come here every year for 7 or 8 years and love it every time. The locals have made a concerted effort to attract cyclist. We stay in Whitehall, WI (at the Oak Park Inn) and do loops from the Inn . . . hilly and challenging . . . worth the effort.

[saab2000]

Western Wisconsin is the greatest secret in cycling. Everything west of Madison is simply amazing. My uncle owns a home in Trempealeau and I try to get there for riding as often as possible. I’ll be in the Twin Cities in a couple weeks and plan to go riding with some friends in the River Falls area.

Best kept secret in US road riding. Endless winding, quiet paved roads.

[mt2u77]

The La Crosse area is a hidden gem with an underrated bike culture. You should check out the annual bike fest in early September: http://www.explorelacrosse.com/bikefest/. Tons of free rides and events, including a great little gravel ride/race crossing into MN-- if you are a gravel purist, the La Crosse Gravel Classic is the definition of low key, grass roots.

The bluffs in the area provide all the climbing you could want, and the rolling rural farms provide a beautiful backdrop. It's a great midwest destination for a long weekend+ of riding.

[saab2000]

The La Crosse area is a hidden gem with an underrated bike culture. You should check out the annual bike fest in early September: http://www.explorelacrosse.com/bikefest/. Tons of free rides and events, including a great little gravel ride/race crossing into MN-- if you are a gravel purist, the La Crosse Gravel Classic is the definition of low key, grass roots.

The bluffs in the area provide all the climbing you could want, and the rolling rural farms provide a beautiful backdrop. It's a great midwest destination for a long weekend+ of riding.

Totally agreed. More climbing than most people would think.

[Mikej]

Yeah, the driftless area around Viroqua is sweet.

[batman1425]

Lived in Madison for 6 years and have ridden all over the state. The blue mounds area west of Madison is awesome. Low traffic and beautiful roads with good climbing to be found. My favorite place to ride by far with 7 other states to compare it to. The winters limit the road bike time, but plenty of fat bike terrain for winter 2-wheel adventures.

[charliedid]

Quiet quiet....nothing to see here. Move along.

:-)

[dasein]

Beautiful bike course. It would be more enjoyable if didn't have to run a marathon after.

[jmoore]

We were in Door Co. last summer. The roads and scenery were great. Almost no traffic. Great riding for sure.

[earlfoss]

I don't take the riding here for granted. The Madison area is something special. I've spent a lot of time rolling around the Viroqua area, to the east and west, and it's easily the best area I've ever ridden in. In fact, I have plans to head back over there next week!

[gomango]

Yeah, the driftless area around Viroqua is sweet.

For biking, hiking and fly fishing.

It's a three time a year jaunt from the Twin Cities.

Probably stop after the Dairyland Dare as well.

[sg8357]

Did a week tour with this group a couple weeks ago.

Well organized, good riding, lots of small towns to stop
for breaks and lunches. Ride was west and south of Madison.


http://www.pedalacrosswisconsin.com/

[arimajol]

Just saw this today in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/2018/06/21/4-trails-and-100-miles-biking-bliss-western-wisconsin/709057002/

[mbrtool]

I ride the Door county spring and fall classic rides and try to get up there a third time. Yes, Door is so stinkin nice.

Ray

[thwart]

As someone who enjoyed riding somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 miles in the driftless area of Southwestern Wisconsin between 2006 and 2015, you guys are killing me here.

I really miss those beautiful (but narrow, with no shoulder :rolleyes: ) roads, however after being married for 36 years... important that she is able to sleep at night.

Not to worry; I can ride the Military Ridge Trail out to Blue Mounds or Mount Horeb and climb some pretty challenging hills. Yes, they’re in the city limits.

And my resting pulse is still hovering around 48. :banana:

[Louis]

Quite a while back I was driving back from a wedding in the Twin Cities to St Louis and took advantage of being in the area to swing by Frank Lloyd Wright's old house (Taliesin) in Spring Green. I was most impressed by the area between Prairie du Chien and Spring Green along the Wisconsin river.

I didn't have a bike with me, but like most cyclists, I tend to judge an area by how nice the riding would be, and if it weren't for the winter weather, I'd say that part of the US would be just about perfect.

[KVN]

15 posts and no one has mentioned the awesome driftless gravel and national forest roads in the Chequamegon and Nicolet?!

Oh yeah, shhhh!

[kppolich]

However, the other side of the state in Milwaukee has some of the worst roads I have ever seen. Probably big city problems and I am looking forward to some Door Co/ North Wisconsin riding soon.

[merlinmurph]

I didn't have a bike with me, but like most cyclists, I tend to judge an area by how nice the riding would be, and if it weren't for the winter weather, I'd say that part of the US would be just about perfect.

Funny you mention winter.

We were in our trailer staying north of Duluth in Two Harbors for a week. I hooked up with the local shop and did a group road ride and a gravel ride with them. Wonderful group of people. They were all very outdoors oriented, big into riding, hiking, and exploring Boundary Waters by canoe (on my ever-expanding list). When the subject of winter came up, everyone was very excited about winter, with xc skiing, snowmobiling, skiing, etc. OK, one guy went to AZ for the winter, but everyone else was psyched for the upcoming winter.

On our trip, we bypassed the area the OP mentioned. Too bad for us, sounds awesome. We also heard a lot about Door County from fellow RVers who rode.

[kurto]

Totally agreed. More climbing than most people would think.

Definitely. I used to live in Wausau (north-central WI), and one of my favorite events each year was the fondo starting in Menomonie that meandered through that western area, up and down and up and down. ~9000 feet of climbing in 100 miles: http://sadisticcentury.com

[Mikej]

Drift less means no glaciers btw - I think chequamagon is glacial?

[rccardr]

I fly out to Mineral Point/Dodgeville every year for The Dairyland Dare.
Highly recommended!

[metalheart]

Umm... My wife's family is from Wisconsin and she has a sister in Harshaw and a brother near Wausau (Pike Lake). The Wisconsin connection is strong, but, as we think about our aging years and the benefits of living near family, we get stuck on the winters and the summers. We have thought about moving there, but we have not felt a strong enough pull as yet. Next year we plan to do a Fall trip and rent something --- pet friendly - for a couple of weeks and I plan to ride as much as possible between pizza, Point Beer, Neuske's sausage, and Packer talk. The whole Driftless region sounds attractive, at least as a place for part of the year.

[paulh]

Yes! For sure great riding. So far this year was the HipBreaker ride out of Trempealeau, Arcadia Broiler Days Memorial Weekend Ride, June Dairy Days in West Salem. Still to come: Catfish Days ride in Trempealeau, Top of the World ride in Whitehall, and the Apple Affair ride in Galesville(worlds largest apple pie). Lots of small town festival stuff. My advice: stay at the Little Bluff Inn in Trempealeau(really nice people) for a couple days. Then you have a 5-10 miles of flats to warm up before you head east into the hills seeking out the 15-25% grade hills if you so desire. For farm to table style eat at the Trempealeau Hotel. For classic Wisconsin supper club eat at Sullivan's. There's a coffee/bike shop. Enjoy!

[Plum Hill]

My advice: stay at the Little Bluff Inn in Trempealeau(really nice people) for a couple days. Then you have a 5-10 miles of flats to warm up before you head east into the hills seeking out the 15-25% grade hills if you so desire. For farm to table style eat at the Trempealeau Hotel. For classic Wisconsin supper club eat at Sullivan's. There's a coffee/bike shop. Enjoy!

What he said.
Our small group did just that in years past.
Funny, no one has mentioned all the trains that pass through town with horns blaring.
Also enjoyed staying in the cabins at Waumandee House in...Waumandee.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nTl87fnf2fc

This guy must have a really big chainring: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-c3yh69YM .

[thwart]

https://wpr-podcast.streamguys1.com/wlf/wlf170823_HipbreakerHill_Gotcher.mp3

Hip Breaker hill... love it... although haven't ridden that one. Yet.

Lots of that kind of terrain in SW Wisco.

[Cicli]

I love southwest Wisconsin and my new home on northeast Iowa. The hills, greenery and lack of traffic are really nice to enjoy.
Winters are not too bad. Fat bikes, hiking, skiing and cross country are a really nice change.
The climb back home (Potters Hill rd.) is a mile. Its steep. Averages 7% with one section @ 19%

[charliedid]

Drift less means no glaciers btw - I think chequamagon is glacial?

I think it means shallow or low water, or something to that effect.

[paulh]

Funny, no one has mentioned all the trains that pass through town with horns blaring.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-c3yh69YM .

Yes, there are lots of trains. For the most part it looks like oil cars going up and back to the Bakken fracking fields in North Dakota. I've been there so many times, I've gotten used to it. At the Little Bluff Inn there are some rooms on the far side that are probably quieter. The coffee/bike shop is Driftless Bike & Bean with a soon to open deli in an old caboose.

[paulh]

For you young people, a caboose was a railroad car at the end of the train that provided shelter for the crews and staff that kept and eye on things for safety. Well, we don't need no stinking safety anymore :rolleyes: and now I guess there is some sort of electronic doohickey that can tell the engineer when the end of the train passes a certain point.

[arimajol]

However, the other side of the state in Milwaukee has some of the worst roads I have ever seen. Probably big city problems and I am looking forward to some Door Co/ North Wisconsin riding soon.

You're right. Streets here are horrible. Potholes that could swallow a raccoon.

[Clydesdale]

Just did the Horribly Hilly Hundred and can confirm beautiful scenery and tough climbs. Great cycling area.

[thwart]

I think it means shallow or low water, or something to that effect.
'Driftless' means there is no glacial drift (boulders, gravel, sand, and other deposits that glaciers leave in their wake).

Very few unglaciated areas around... the 'driftless' area of SW Wisconsin, NW Illinois, SW minnesota and NE Iowa is one of them. Basically it means this area hasn't been flattened and scoured by glaciation.

So the topography is quite unlike the rest of the surrounding territory.

https://www.acceity.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/DriftlessArea.jpg

[charliedid]

'Driftless' means there is no glacial drift (boulders, gravel, sand, and other deposits that glaciers leave in their wake).

Very few unglaciated areas around... the 'driftless' area of SW Wisconsin, NW Illinois, SW minnesota and NE Iowa is one of them. Basically it means this area hasn't been flattened and scoured by glaciation.

So the topography is quite unlike the rest of the surrounding territory.

https://www.acceity.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/DriftlessArea.jpg

:-) Yes Tom I am very familiar with The Driftless.

The reply was in regard to the definition of Chequamegon. Seems I was wrong about that part too...

The name Chequamegon is of Ojibwe origin. It is derived from chagaouamigoung, a French transliteration of the Ojibwe Zhaagawaamikong or jagawamikiong, meaning a "sand bar place; at the sand bar; strip of land running into a body of water".[3][4]

[Plum Hill]

Did a week tour with this group a couple weeks ago.

Well organized, good riding, lots of small towns to stop
for breaks and lunches. Ride was west and south of Madison.


http://www.pedalacrosswisconsin.com/

Very good introduction to riding in south/southwest Wisconsin. It takes in everything from city riding in Madison to Spring Green area to Driftless and Kettle Moraine areas.

GRABAAWR follows the Wisconsin River and is quite nice for showcasing varied topography and small towns.

Wisconsinites refer to Illinois residents like me as a FIBBER (F****** Illinois Bastard) or FIBWAB (same but With A Boat).
I chuckle as I pay for lodging, food, cheese curds, and Point beer and root beer.

[thunderworks]

https://wpr-podcast.streamguys1.com/wlf/wlf170823_HipbreakerHill_Gotcher.mp3

Hip Breaker hill... love it... although haven't ridden that one. Yet.

Lots of that kind of terrain in SW Wisco.

We rode (rather we ascended and ultimately ended up at the top) up Hip Breaker Hill. It was a killer for old guys. We're all in our upper 60's and lower 70's . . . only two of our group actually rode to the top. Markings on the road indicate that it touches 20% for short bits . . . approximately .8 miles long, 435 feet of gain.

While Hip Breaker was the hardest (steepest) climb we did, much of the area has serious rolly polly hills, many longer than the Hip Breaker, but not as steep. We really prefer the area around Whitehall to the Trempealeau area, but it's all nice. Continues to be my favorite place to ride short of Tuscany.

[thwart]

Wisconsinites refer to Illinois residents like me as a FIBBER (F****** Illinois Bastard) or FIBWAB (same but With A Boat).

Haven't heard those. :D

I prefer 'flat-landers'... ;)