Riding in Wisconsin

[Epicus07]

My wife and I are considering moving from Seattle to Wisconsin to be closer to family. I accept that the mountain biking will be dramatically different but there should be good road and gravel biking.

Can anyone that lives out there share their perspective? Any good areas we should look at ?

[mbrtool]

I've ridden in the following areas and they are all very, very nice but not much gravel:
Mineral Point
Bayfield
Door County
Madison
Manitowish Waters
Green Lake

Ray

[kingpin75s]

The Driftless region in southwest WI has plenty of good riding I expect.

I generally ride the same region across the border in MN.

[earlfoss]

I live on the west side of Madison, and the riding is some of the best in the country. If you end up here, you'll have lots of great options.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by earlfoss

I live on the west side of Madison, and the riding is some of the best in the country. If you end up here, you'll have lots of great options.

Totally agree. Southwest and western Wisconsin have exceptional cycling. As good as any I’ve seen almost anywhere.

[Ken Robb]

Where does your family live? Wisco is pretty big.

[Epicus07]

Madison, Appleton and Milwaukee.

We are leaning towards Madison.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Totally agree. Southwest and western Wisconsin have exceptional cycling. As good as any I’ve seen almost anywhere.

Except for this white stuff for 4 mo of the year. And the icebox temps that come with it.

Out today, 44 F, a great day for February.

Yeah, anywhere in western WI has very good riding, with the 'driftless' area probably the most spectacular.

Unlike Iowa, though... not much gravel. Dairy industry needed to get the milk from the farm to the market, so even the remote, seldom traveled roads are usually paved.

[Ken Robb]

Do you have to travel to a job? Besides Madison itself I think there are quite a few small towns within 30 minutes of the city that you might like as well.
I grew up in Chicago but have always loved Wisconsin as the scene of many family vacation, Boy Scout Camping and quick drives over the state line to buy beer legally at 18 in my pre-21 days. Lake Geneva has always seemed like a neat place to me and it's an easy drive to Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by Epicus07

Madison, Appleton and Milwaukee.

We are leaning towards Madison.

Keep leaning. Hmmm... just a bit more to the left...

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by thwart

Except for this white stuff for 4 mo of the year. And the icebox temps that come with it.

Out today, 44 F, a great day for February.

That is the price for quiet roads and the land time forgot. I’ve ridden in many places and western and southwestern Wisconsin ranks very highly with any of them. Obviously, some places like Provence and Switzerland, both of which are places I’ve Logged a fair number of miles, are different and legendary in their own right, but that serenity that exists in the rolling and wooded areas west and northwest of Madison are special in their own right.

If my work didn’t have me in Chicago, I’d live in Madison with little hesitation. Yes, winters are a challenge, but the other 8 months kind of make it worth it. I grew up in Appleton, so Wisconsin is very familiar to me.

Over the past few years I spent time riding in River Falls, WI as well. Same stuff. Rolling, winding land with very low traffic.

[19wisconsin64]

You'll find great riding around Madison. If you choose to move there you'll find great people too! Yes, I'm biased.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by Epicus07

Madison, Appleton and Milwaukee.

We are leaning towards Madison.

Probably one of the most cycling friendly cities in this country.

Within the city, lots of roads with bike lanes; lost of generally lowly trafficked roads; generally courteous drivers. I'd say I see more people bike here than I did back when I was living in DC, except the region has 1/10 the population of the DC metro area

I do get a bit scared by the 55mph scenic roads though, but there are also three rail-to-trails that extend quite far from town (though it'll have to be out and back)

Originally Posted by thwart

Except for this white stuff for 4 mo of the year. And the icebox temps that come with it.

Out today, 44 F, a great day for February.

Yeah, anywhere in western WI has very good riding, with the 'driftless' area probably the most spectacular.

Unlike Iowa, though... not much gravel. Dairy industry needed to get the milk from the farm to the market, so even the remote, seldom traveled roads are usually paved.

Funny, I was just there today, albeit driving

I remarked to my wife how the Epic campus would make for a really fun circuit race course.

Also, would you consider the trails (Military Ridge, Badger State, etc) to be comparable to gravel riding?

-----------------------------------------

Lastly, anyone know of good riding (either MTB or road) further up north (say around Hayward)?

[thwart]

Originally Posted by echappist

Funny, I was just there today, albeit driving

I remarked to my wife how the Epic campus would make for a really fun circuit race course.

Yep, especially clockwise. 2+ miles of curvy, hilly and smooth roads with several hundred feet of elevation gain.

Originally Posted by echappist

Also, would you consider the trails (Military Ridge, Badger State, etc) to be comparable to gravel riding?

Given my location (Verona) I'm certainly no 'gravel' expert. However I suspect the very fine gravel, packed dirt and scattered sandy sections on those trails is not quite the same...

Interestingly Epic has a few miles of more traditional gravel stuff for their maintenance and construction vehicles.

[Plum Hill]

MTB big in Cable area.
Race series: http://wors.org/
Great state for riding.

From a FIBer (actually a FIBWB).