Suggestions for bike trip base in Midwest

[metalheart]

I have made a couple of trips to the Driftless Area this summer, most in the area east and south of La Crosse. If you stay in or around a town like Viroqua, there are some decent restaurants, but you can quickly exhaust the options for food and non-riding entertainment. Also, there are a lot of hills to climb, but you can find flatish routes. My last trip we stayed in the Timber Coulee area which is a lovely valley, but rides involved climbing out of the valley onto the ridges and then back.

If you based in La Crosse, there are more food and entertainment options and rides to the west and east can offer more flat rides. For a group that wants food and entertainment options La Crosse might be a good option. If you are satisfied with riding being the entertainment, then places like Viroqua or Whitehall farther north are nice.

[StressStrain]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

TIL that 'midwest' is a truly massive section of the country.

Yeah, 'midwest' is apparently everything but the east and west coasts. Strange.

[tv_vt]

Originally Posted by snah

Southern Indiana has some really nice places to ride. If you stay close to Bloomington, you have everything around Indiana University, Lake Monroe and Nashville.

Bloomington was home to a two day bike rally years ago - called The Hilly 100. Not sure it’s what OP has in mind. Are Finger Lakes too hilly?

[thwart]

Originally Posted by metalheart

If you based in La Crosse, there are more food and entertainment options and rides to the west and east can offer more flat rides. For a group that wants food and entertainment options La Crosse might be a good option.

This… especially if you’ve done Madison already and want something new.

Lovely area with a wide variety of rides available.

https://ridewithgps.com/ambassadors/...ftless-cycling

[fiamme red]

Have you considered Quebec?

https://www.routeverte.com/en/

[mstateglfr]

The Driftless area of WI is awesome, and everything is paved because of Big Dairy, so its a ton of quiet road riding.
...but its almost as hilly as it gets in the Midwest due to the name of the area.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

The Driftless area of WI is awesome, and everything is paved because of Big Dairy, so its a ton of quiet road riding.
...but its almost as hilly as it gets in the Midwest due to the name of the area.

Not that I’m disagreeing with you, but just to clarify… those back roads were paved well before huge dairy farms (CAFO’s) were a thing.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

The Driftless area of WI is awesome, and everything is paved because of Big Dairy, so its a ton of quiet road riding.
...but its almost as hilly as it gets in the Midwest due to the name of the area.

Originally Posted by thwart

Not that I’m disagreeing with you, but just to clarify… those back roads were paved well before huge dairy farms (CAFO’s) were a thing.

It's been said that the dairy industry way back when glass bottles and jugs were the common transport method was the driving force to pave the roads.

I've never found any definitive info on this just many sites online and people repeating this over the years. I heard it first on a tour through the drift less in 1977

[alexihnen]

Bentonville, AR would be a fun place. The bicycle infrastructure they've built there is pretty amazing. There is pretty tame gravel, nice roads, lots of easy bike paths to get around town and out of town. Good coffee, good restaurants, a nice art museum...

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by thwart

Not that I’m disagreeing with you, but just to clarify… those back roads were paved well before huge dairy farms (CAFO’s) were a thing.

Sorry, I was sorta joking when I said 'big dairy', but I can see why that would create confusion since there actually is big dairy now.
I was just saying the roads were paved long ago to accommodate glass milk jugs.

The exact same terrain in Driftless NE IA has gravel roads. Like identical terrain but on gravel. Most of Driftless SE MN is the same- identical type roads are gravel.