Seg #21 Hiway 12 Trl & Badger State Trl 7_11-12_13

 

Start	Middleton WI	43.19591-89.58140	NS miles 46
End	Clarno WI	42.51851,-89.64794	Trl lgth 52/Ride 52

Ride Hrs 5:40

AVS 17.9

MXS20.2

KCAL 4173

Temp 82

Elev 820-1115

What perfect weather for Segment #21. Mark, Donna, Connie and I headed out from Dubuque, IA and drove to north of Middleton, WI to find a paved bike path at the junction of highways 12 and 19. The nice thing was that 75% of the trail was downhill---a good warm-up, without the stress from hills and headwind. It was one of my top ten biking days ever, as far as ease of ride. Scenery and traffic noise kept the Cam Rating (see Cam and Cush names below) down to seven on a ten point scale. Low humidity kept the sweat beads from forming and the body cool. After riding the Highway 12 trail to Middleton, we loaded up the bikes and drove to the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, part of the University of Wisconsin Campus. A wordless sign at the gate displayed the ubiquitous NO Way Jose, showing an encircled bicycle image with a diagonal line through it. I was bummed out about my latitudes until I checked my GPS. It was clear I did not need to ride from as far north as Frautschi’s Point through the preserve. I made a note of the change in coordinates and we headed south toward Madison in search of the Blue Moon Bar on University Avenue.

Mark outside the Blue Moon in

pursuit of the Slimy Curd Motor-

cycle Club but "No Cigar"

The joint was minimally habituated likely due to the university students being off on summer break.  Mark was in hopes of meeting members of the Slimy Cruds Motorcycle Club that regularly meet at this bar. The bartender didn’t know that much about the group, a surprising response and eliciting a negative Cam Rating from me. After a sandwich and beer, we headed south on Highland Avenue to connect with the Southwest Commuter Trail and then Badger State Trail. We needed to ride to Belleview, ten miles, to complete half the distance of our two day ride. As we rode south the trail changed from paved to crushed limestone. Mark thought we could ride a bit farther to New Glarus to meet the ladies so he hailed down a bicycler coming toward us. This cyclist looked like Mark but wasn’t as sharp as Mark when it came to directions, confirming Cush’s Theorem. Back in our college days at UNI, we had given each other biblical names. Mine was Cam and his was Cush. Cush’s Theorem states that no matter who you ask for directions, there will be significant details excluded, thus resulting in not arriving at the correct place at the expected time. This was the case with the world experienced bicycler that we happened upon. We wanted to know how we could short cut to New Glarus so the gentleman told us and even drew us a map. After he left Mark said that can’t be right. “There is a road off this trail that will take us straight to New Glarus.,” Mark growled. “That guy doesn’t know what he is talking about.” Sure enough on the next day’s Badger Trail ride, Cush's Theorem: "Directional information tends to be generally misleading",  was confirmed---County Road W was the best shortcut.

Mark's Look-look-alike explains how we can "shortcut"

to New Glarus. If we would have followed his map,

we would have gone miles out of our way 

Cush's Theorem confirmed !!!

Mister Mystery Cycler directions would have caused us to ride six or more miles out of our way, bypassing the County Road W short-cut. This has taught me to have a bit of suspicion of directions, especially from someone that acts tough, all knowing and condescending. Remember my experiences with the Great River Trail directions (see Segment 20)?

After staying overnight in the Swiss settlement of New Glarus and a dinner of Swiss meatballs and fresh baked peach turnovers, we loaded up the bikes and headed to Clarno. Clarno is just a few miles north of a the Illinois-Wisconsin border. A light south by southeast wind pushed us up the trail. With wind at our tailfeathers, the ride from Clarno to Belleview went very smoothly. I was delighted that Mark remembered that we needed flashlights to see our way through the Stewart Tunnel south of Belleview. The tunnel was dug in late 1800’s by laborers from the Chicago, Madison and Northern Central Railroad. Workers (120) earning $1.25 per day, split into two groups; one group dug from the north side and the other from the south. A friendly competition developed between the north and south side excavators. In one year the tunnels met in the center of the mountain, askew by only one inch---near perfection, especially given the era and equipment available. I wish my camera had not broken in California but this 1887 photograph tells the story. The tunnel center is a constant fifty to sixty degree temperature, which made for a pleasant walk through the quarter mile passage on an 80 degree day. My headlight allowed for me to see modern day cave paintings---mostly graffiti of names and hearts but one day perhaps Martian explorers will think of this trash as a significant work of art? With my long beam headlight, I could also see the bend in the tunnel, one of the few tunnels in the world built with a curve. The first pass through the tunnel was February, 1888.

Workers building the Stewart Tunnel in 1887. Blasting,   
steam shovels and steam drills were critical to the project.

 

 



 

 



It was time to head home. The girls brought home some finds including a new purse and shoes for Connie. Donna is turning my wife into a shopper junkie :-)