Wednesday, August 8, 2012

My first year in the state of bikes, cycles, brews and moos.


The title has become my muse for a new blog feature, we'll see if I stick with it or not. There are a lot of things I've learned since my move to Madison, and a whole lot more I need to learn, if not just discover.

Case in point, there is a city zoo, free of charge. I have yet to visit there. It may be on my 2012 Madison bucket list. Along with the arbortereum. And the bike trails. OH, the bike trails that line, cross, intercept, encompass and any other synonym of the like, through Madison!

To say that Madison is a bike-friendly community may be an understatement. There are bike lanes in nearly every main street in town; bike traffic lights as you get downtown and near campus. And let's not forget about the miles and MILES of bike trails in and around the city. Unfortunately, these I cannot tell you about as I haven't gotten my lazy ass on them yet (finding a pattern here yet?). I do feel a little "Wisconsin-ie" though, as I own a Trek bike. There are a lot of Trek bikes around, so I feel like I sorta fit in.

This (the population, not my fitting it) is because they are headquartered merely 15 miles outside of Madison in Waterloo, WI.  I grew up with a dad who loved Trek bikes. He had three, my mom had one with shocks (oh yeah, she was/is a cool mom!), my sister and I each had one. I thought I was pretty cool, but my Huffy-sporting friends didn't understand why I needed to lock mine up at the city pool. 

Trek has always been the staple of consistency, reliability, and strength in the makes of mountain bikes. The one I'm sporting now, yes, may be a few years old, but was the hybrid of bikes when my dad bought it back in the day. A pair of new tires, a good tune-up after years of moonlighting as a cobweb structure, and we're back in action!

Maybe it's the fit physiques gracing tv and media outlets with the Olympics in full action, but I really pine to get my glutes in gear and toe-trip my Trek around the great town of Madison.

A list of the miles of trails can be found here: http://madisonareampo.org/maps/documents/public_bike_map_2012_new_design_web.pdf

As for the bikes, brews and moos, I guess you'll just have to stay interested to see where I visit next!