Pedal On and On...: Day 33 - A Very Nice Day

La Crosse, WI to Wisconsin Dells, WI

Distance: 91 miles
Time: 7 hrs
Elevation Gain: 2,464 ft

Today was a great day. We started the ride with overcast skies, a few rain showers, and temps in the low 70's, by late morning the sun came out and warmed up to the high 80's. We road over rolling hills and on back country roads. At mile 27 we reached Sparta and entered one the first "Rails to Trails" bike path. The bike path was hard packed limestone, somewhat rough and bumpy, but it was well worth it to get off the main roads and out of traffic. We road the path for 34 miles through heavy wooded areas, fields, and through three tunnels. We had to walk the bikes through the tunnels and the first was 3/4 mile long and was cold, dripping with water and pitch black, we all had to bring flashlights. The other two were shorted but still required flashlights to see. The tunnels were carved through the mountains by hand back in the early 1800's for the railway. The Sparta Bike path was a great way to spend a few hours, but I think the hard packed limestone is more suited for mountain bike with wide tires then our road bikes and it was good to get back on the roads again. The county roads were nice to ride on and the green rolling hills and woodland were enjoyable to ride through. Tomorrow we ride 84 miles on more back country roads with little traffic.

Link to My GPS Route