Biking with Mom Bear

Last week was the first time my wife (aka Mom Bear) and I went biking together. We did two trips each on a different day. My wife and I biked many times together last year, from the east coast of Wisconsin to the Northwoods. Biking with Mom Bear is always an entertaining time.

I think it was on Friday of last week that she chose the route through much of northern McFarland. I got ahead of her on that ride while on Valley and she was telling me which way to turn. We get to Siggelkow and there is both a bike path and a bike lane. I went right on the bike path, which was right before the road, and veered around the corner. There is a large hill to go up, and I am chugging up at a rather measured pace, when all of a sudden I look to my left and there is Mom Bear in the bike lane passing me on the hill. I commented on how she was moving well, and then she said: "I even stopped at the stop sign." I am sure it was to point out that she stopped at a stop sign that I failed to stop at. Although I had to slow down to make the right turn onto the bike path. She is a very good rule follower. Perhaps not as much of a rule follower as Ove (in a Man Called Ove), but a good rule follower. 

Siggelkow Rd Showing bike lanes with road
 and bike path to south side above curb

For example, she was aghast when watching the Junior Bake Off on Netflix that that Gabriel forgot to add a few ingredients into his cake. She became more perplexed when he was not the one voted out. Mom Bear follows rules when it comes to baking. I guess I can understand why as one time making Christmas cookies I forgot baking powder and the cookies did not turn out well at all. Missing an ingredient did not affect Gabriel in the JBO.

When she was younger my wife was an avid bicyclist. She even had bike gloves. That level of experience showed as she took the bike lane in the road,  and I, being more of a leisurely bicyclist, took the recreation path along the southside of Siggelkow Road. When I did bike planning we planned for varied levels of bicycle capability. Needless to say she is a step above my limits. The tight pant crowd would not want, as so many told me when planning, a recreation path or a bike lane, just another couple feet on the road. the very experienced bike crowd tend not to like us less experienced folk as we hold them up. 

Our route took us through Juniper Ridge, a newer subdivision with a recreation path through the center of the subdivision, with us riding often at the edge of storm ponds, both retention and detention, with some recreational facilities mixed in along that subdivision route which is about a 1,000 feet short of a mile. It is a rather pleasant ride as you are not along any major roadways.

Part of Juniper Ridge Bike Path

On Saturday we biked, with our oldest son, around Lake Monona. We had some difficulty owing to a 21k race, which went around the lake, and a 5k walk in parts of Monona. It must have started at Winnequah Park in Monona because that was a hot bed of activity and was to be our starting point, but we moved to Olbrich Botanical Gardens, where we caught the path right behind the gardens. Atwood Ave (Monona Drive) is under construction from about Cottage Grove Rd to just past Olbrich Botanical Gardens, which made us alter the route somewhat. As we started we got mixed in with a group of runners. But after about two miles there route changed and we did not pick up with them again until we got onto Winnequah Road in Monona, that is until the large uphill to Tonywatha Trail took us closer to Lake Monona. 

That bike route is always busy, and the run made it even more active. It was an overcast, rather dreary morning, which probably reduced the activity level somewhat. Usually the busiest part is along John Nolen Drive. Given that one can get out the Monona Terrace doors at that level, but few let you back in, the most you see by the Mistake on the Lake is people fishing, seldom people hanging around. If you want to hang around outside at the Monona Terrace, you go to the roof top terrace.

The sad thing is that Mom Bear really did not do much on those two bike trips other than follow the rules.  Well, I should say most of the rules, because I think one time she slowed, but did not stop at a stop sign. The problem with a rule follower is that it does not make for interesting blog posts. That is the story of biking with Mom Bear.

Images from Google Maps.