Cycling Resources in Wisconsin

Late last year it looked like I was going to attend a business meeting in the spring of 2010 in the great city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (only 81 miles south of Manitowoc and the North Lakes Bicycle Route). Though I knew the weather might not be optimal in March, I started planning a way to get myself on a bike for a day or two while there.

I started by visiting the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's bicycling web page with links to maps as well as the Department of Tourism's cycling page. Next I looked at the maps provided online by the City of Milwaukee and wrote to ask for specific recommendations of what to see while in town for a short visit. I received an email in return rich with details: restaurants, breweries, parks and lakefront bike paths that I should not miss. I even set myself up with a meeting-related warm showers host. Then I got the news, the meeting was not to be for me in old Milwaukee. The location had been moved.

Fortunately, it was relocated to another cyclist friendly Wisconsin city, Madison. The planning began again. I've already got my accommodations settled (she's a cyclist, too!). I'll be downloading the map Madison provides on its website so I can plot a day of carefree cycling in between meetings. On a whim, I also checked mapmyride.com and found that there are 630 routes posted in the 0 to 20 mile category. Now all that's left to do is see about borrowing or renting a bike and hope for the best in the weather department.

In many other states I'm not sure I could have made this planning transition quite so easily. Thanks Wisconsin!

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GEOPOINTS BULLETIN is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures and persons from Adventure Cycling's Route Network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure.