Where’s Kman

Baraboo, Wi. to Sparta, Wi.
89 miles
14.0 average mph
Reedsburg Rd.
Hwy 33
Dutch Hollow Rd.
Hwy 80
Hwy 71
The good news is it’s not hot anymore. The bad news is it’s not hot anymore. Only 61 today and it was windy and rainy all morning. I did ride through some Amish country and had 2 horse and buggy sightings. Also saw the first pheasant running across the road and into the tall grass. I went to Sparta, the self proclaimed bicycle capital of America and saw the statue of ‘Ben Riding’ and also went to the bicycle museum which had many old and unusual bicycles on display.

The red winged blackbird is the mockingbird of the midwest. They have been following me the past few days in Wisconsin. They sort of hover over my bike and cluck at me trying to chase me away.

Dodgeville, Wi. to Baraboo, Wi.
45 miles
13.9 average mph
County K
County KP
I rode around some in Madison which is consistently ranked as one of the top bicycle.friendly cities. There are a lot of bike lanes and lots of people riding bikes. The downtown area is right next to the University of Wisconsin so that is part of the reason but there were some none college riders as well. For the first day had a pretty strong headwind from the west.

Rest day
I’m having a great time in Wisconsin. You betcha! Went to the arts and crafts show in Spring Green and also took the tour of Taliesin – Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. As you can tell by the number of photos it has been one of the highlights of my trip so far.

Blue Mounds, Wi. to Dodgeville, Wi.
39 miles
14.6 average mph
County ID
Hwy 18
County XY
Rode around the town of Mt. Horeb, Wi. looking at all the trolls. Took a tour of Little Norway and the House on the Rock. Little Norway is the restored farm of a Norwegian settler of the late 1800′s in Wisconsin. It also displays the Norway Building from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair which is built to resemble a Norwegian Stave Church. The House on the Rock is a house/museum full of an eclectic collection of just about everything imaginable. Many of the items are antique automated music machines of huge proportions. The original part of the house was actually built on a rock in 1959. One of the rooms, called the Infinity room, juts out over the valley below. Also met fellow bike rider near Mt. Horeb, John. Thanks for lunch.

Oregon, Il. to Blue Mounds, Wi.
97 miles
16.2 average mph
Hwy 64
Mtm Morris Rd.
Hwy 72
Hwy 26
Hwy 69
County J
County JG
Had my first mechanical.problem with the bike today. The cable for shifting the front gears snapped leaving my only use of the small and middle ring ( 30 and 39) I was 15 miles from Monroe, Wi. so I rode there to find a bike shop but there were none. Luckily Mark and Lenny offered me and my bike a ride to the nearest bike shop in BrodheadN Wi. – 15 miles away. They took me back too. Thanks guys! Sharon at earthridercycling.com was great. She put in a new cable while I waited.
After the bike was fixed I rode on to Mt. Horeb and made it to the Mustard Museum where they have mustards from around the world and interesting mustard trivia on display. The terrain in southern Wisconsin is similar to that around Greensboro except the hills may be a little bit longer and there are not as many trees so you can see a lot farther.