Capital City Trail + SW Commuter Path loop

 I have been trying to get more bike rides in since the weather has been so nice. I did a 19 mile round trip ride earlier this month, going from Olbrich park to the start of the Badger State Trail back to the park again. This was a fun ride and I got to see the city in a new way. After this ride, I looked online to see what other bike paths I could go on. I saw a nice possible loop using the Capital city trail that met up with the SW Commuter path. I noticed that a portion of the path I wanted to use required a trail pass. No problem I just needed to grab some cash and I would be set.

It was a fun ride and I took a lot of pictures as I went. Other cyclists thought I was in need of assistance since I was pulled over trying to take pictures haha. Photos of the route can be found here. I took to many pictures to just throw up on the blog here. The distance I covered was 25 miles and it went through the city, the suburbs, a hunting ground area and some farmland. I will eventually add the Badger State trail to this route although I can only go so far on it due to some of that path being dirt. I don't feel comfortable riding my 700 x 23 tires on dirt.

Me on a part of the path.

Madtown Maidens Alleycat Race

Madtown Maidens Alleycat.

On Cinco De Mayo I set out to ride my bike in an alleycat race, the Madtown Maidens Alleycat race to be exact! I signed up earlier in the month and paid a $5 entry fee. I'm always down for doing things that will get me out on my bike more. The race is an all female race that has the riders stopping at checkpoints to do various silly things. The difference with this alleycat from others is that we are told to follow traffic laws/rules and not cause trouble.

I went with a  fellow co-worker, Chelsea. She was actually the one who told me about it. I worked the same day as the race so after work I went home, showered, got dressed, ate lunch, set up the bike rack on the trunk of my car (with Erland's help) & then finally headed off to pick up Chelsea and her bike. We got to the starting point and met up with a group that Chelsea knew called the Greasy Gears. They are a group of women that ride bikes, prepare their own  go-go dancing routines & perform them. I don't & can't really dance, so I dig the bike riding aspect part. The race started and ended at Harbor Athletic Club and we had to be back by a certain time for it to count

Start of the race.

Riding off to the first checkpoint

We had 8 checkpoints on our manifestos to do. We completed 6 of them due to running out of time. First one was to go to a diner that sold pies and the checkpoint consisted of naming a pie and also what knowing pie was (3.14 type) and writing it down.

Trying to figure out how to get to 2nd checkpoint.

The 2nd checkpoint was at a coffee place where we had to write a haiku about bikes. (Mine was awful) 3rd checkpoint was at a park where we had to complete a small obstacle course around orange cones with a ball between our legs.

Doing checkpoint #3.

Riding away from the park.

4th checkpoint was to go to another park and write down what was on the sign. This one gave us trouble because we couldn't find where it was. It also involved a bit of climbing, but we checked it off our list! 5th checkpoint was to go to a furniture store and draw a bicycle on poster paper. the last checkpoint we did was at the end and it was to do a dance with the Greasy Gear members who stayed to man the last station. The two we missed were to go to a house and get a sticky note off a door & to go to a bike shop to pump a tire.

Dancing with the Greasy Gears.

My manifesto.

The end had a lot of  food & refreshments to enjoy as well as prizes. I didn't win anything, but I had a lot of fun. Some parts were tough and kicked my ass, but I really enjoyed all of it. There are more photos of the event on this Facebook page  & on Madtown Maidens page