Am I making a good guess that roads east of Hwy 61 and between Bellvue and Dubuque would make an alright family trip? I'm looking for up to 2 hour rides from Madison that my wife and one of the kids would like.
By family this would be a strong teen and my wife. I'm guessing 25-40 miles or not more than 4.5 hours pedaling max.
I'm trying to let a shoulder injury heal so no MTB riding or trail building. A 4+ hour or rough ride might be trouble too.
Thanks for any suggestions.
WJL
P.S. Any upper Midwest suggestions would be appreciated. Less time in the car makes Dubuque appealing.
What types of surfaces or climbing are you looking for?
Mt. Horeb seems like a great (WI based) call, but it's so close that maybe you have already done a bit out there? It's easy to find some hills, scenery and get a good meal at the Grumpy Troll afterwards.
If you're not tied to Iowa, there's fantastic riding in the NW corner of Illinois near Dubuque. Galena is probably a better bet than Dubuque and has a lot of decent restaurants.
I could source a few turn by turn routes in the Stockton or Elizabeth area. It sounds like you wouldn't be staying overnight, so those spots might be good since there's not much else there.
dangle wrote:What types of surfaces or climbing are you looking for?
Mt. Horeb seems like a great (WI based) call, but it's so close that maybe you have already done a bit out there? It's easy to find some hills, scenery and get a good meal at the Grumpy Troll afterwards.
If you're not tied to Iowa, there's fantastic riding in the NW corner of Illinois near Dubuque. Galena is probably a better bet than Dubuque and has a lot of decent restaurants.
I could source a few turn by turn routes in the Stockton or Elizabeth area. It sounds like you wouldn't be staying overnight, so those spots might be good since there's not much else there.
Thanks.
Mt. Horeb is a regular with my trail digger and riding posse but the floods have moved the bridges off their footings. Construction at Ridgeway has the Military Ridge trail closed.
Toward Galena has been considered. I see those other towns are not freeway driving but not more than two hours.
I'd be game to know great rides in the general area. My groad riding is usually the close to home stuff now messed up from the floods or the much more gravel by our cabin in N. WI.
Some have suggested parts of the Dairy Roubaix ride. Several acquaintances do that every year.
I live in the Dubuque area and am just getting into gravel biking. I have some friends there who formed an informal club called the Flat Iowa Earth society. Check them out on Facebook.
my mother-in-law used to live about 5 miles north of Maquoketa, just off 61. i had a decent loop from her place out to Savannah and back... there's definitely some good riding between Dubuque and Maquoketa east of 61, both paved and gravel.
