Lake Michigan 2023 – Day 28: Sleep Inn, Madison, WI

Part of the ride today not on a bike path.

• Thursday, August 31, 2023
• Madison, WI
• Lodging: Sleep Inn
• Miles: 41.8 @ 9.9 mph
• Total  Miles: 1,025.8
• Vertical (from Strava): 946′
• Start: 9:07am. 58°, sunny blue sky.
• End: 3:48pm. Mid-70s, sunny.
• Elapsed time: 6:41 (includes long break on bridge & lunch)

Today was another wonderful day, with perfect cool sunny weather and the majority of the day spent on bike paths. The wind was not dominant, but was mostly at my back.

Ready to ride in the morning.

The highlight of the day was the smooth dirt Glacial Drumlin State Trail, which I rode for 23 miles. (I get to ride that same trail in the opposite direction, even further, when I go from Madison back to the Lake.)

The Glacial Drumlin State Trail.

The GDST is an unpaved rail trail which goes arrow-straight through forest and wetlands, with perfect dirt & gravel and numerous bridges. At least four of the bridges were labeled with the same creek name. I asked a local jogger about that, and he said it was the same creek. It meandered. The straight rail trail passed over it many times. I think that meandering may be a consequence of the drumlins, a geological artifact left over from the glaciers.

One of several bridges over the Koshkonong Creek.

As with the day before, I had a long snack break on a bridge, this time over the Crawfish River. The scenery was amazing, with long-legged birds (both white and greyish blue), fish leaping out of the water (I saw one at least a foot long totally out of the water), and a doe with fawn walking the shore. During my 30 minutes on the bridge, four people (2 couples) and three kayakers (1 group) passed by or underneath.

Downstream at the Crawfish River.

Upstream at the Crawfish River.

PB tortilla snack, before rolling, on the Crawfish River.

The real lunch of the day was a delish meatball sub at the Quilted Oak in Deerfield, WI, followed by a SMALL cup of ice cream. Hit the spot!

Lunch stop in Deerfield, WI.

Meatball sub at the Quilted Oak.

Although I feel fine as I ride these days, I am definitely feeling fatigued. Each day on its own is not bad, but I need a break. I realized today that I have ridden 11 days in a row since crossing over into the Upper Peninsula, averaging 41.5 miles per day during that stretch. (Fortunately, it has been flat.)

I arrived at a Sleep Inn here in Madison today, late afternoon. I will stay here two nights. Tomorrow, I will take a break from riding and tour Madison on foot (and Uber). On Saturday, I will ride back on the GDST towards Milwaukee, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and down to Chicago.

Stay tuned.