September 2, 2021
Bike 4 - Part 2
No mention of Bike 4 would be complete without a nod to the city of Sparta, self proclaimed Bicycling Capitol of USA and its foremost representative Ben Bikin'. What a charmer!
As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, today began with a shuttle from Sparta to Wilton. Our goal for the morning was to ride this 17 mile section and "enjoy" the 2 tunnels that are a highlight of this section. After passing through the first tunnel, measuring 1600 feet, we rode another three miles approaching the second tunnel, measuring 3800 feet...yes siree...3/4 mile! You are not allowed to ride through the tunnels and a light is highly recommended unless you are a fan of the dark...really dark. With water dripping from the ceiling and running down the sides, off we went.
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We celebrated our success!
Emerging from the tunnel we had about 9 miles back to the truck. We had been so focused on the tunnels we were pleasantly surprised with just how peaceful the balance of this ride was. A real rural treat.
After returning to the truck, we headed for Elroy so I could ride the 400 Trail...the final 22 mile section of Bike 4 stretching from Elroy to Reedsburg. This was an unexpected treat. While the trail uses a dozen bridges and trestles to cross and recross the Baraboo River the true highlight was its peaceful rural character. There were a couple of points where the local sandstone revealed itself but what really underscored this section were overgrown pastures and wooded marshland.
Today's ride completes our time in the land of cheese curd...aka, Wisconsin. We headed for the highway and our now in the Land of Lincoln where the next trail promises to be a bit different than what we have seen so far.
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 616 miles (991 km)
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