Ino on off ACA route from Milwaukee to Chadron Neb

[mbromley]

My daughter and I will be crossing the US from Maine to Oregon May 2006 to Aug 2006.  Camping and occasional moteling. 55 mile per day average planned and at least one rest day per week.  Each on a recumbent.  Northern Tier from Maine to Ohio, then North Lakes route up into Mi and work our way to Muskegon to cross ferry into Wisconsin.  I'd like to get any information regarding a route from Milwaukee to Dubuque, Iowa and on to Chadron in NW Nebraska.

This message was edited by mbromley on 12-30-05 @ 8:07 PM

[Turk]

Wisconsin has a bicyle guide:

http://travelwisconsin.mobular.net/wisconsin/74/3/10/

The Sugar River Trail might be of use.

The Wisconsin DOT has a link for bicycle maps:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/bikemaps.htm

Wisconsin used to have the Wisconsin Bikeway, which ran from Kenosha to LaCrosse. I rode it many years ago. I couldn't find a link to it, though.

Iowa has a bicycling link:

http://www.iowabikes.com/#Transportation%20Map%20for%20Bicyclists

Iowa has a famous annual cross-state ride every year, RAGGBRAI, sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a ride starting in Dubuque sometime in the past.

You can find rails to trails info here:

http://www.traillink.com/

I don't know anything about Nebraska.

[Turk]

Here's a link to Ragbrai:

http://www.ragbrai.org/

Look at the History page. I saw there's at least one that ended in Dubuque.

[litespeed]

I crossed Iowa east-to-west on US34. It was a miserable 3 days as there were almost no paved shoulders. I was assured that this is the case throughout the state. I almost kissed the ground when I got into Nebraska and their fine wide-shouldered highways. You won't have the RAGBRAI hordes to run interference for you. I, personally, refuse to bicycle in Iowa again.
Unless you plan to visit someone in Iowa I would recommend you go across Minnesota and into South Dakota on US14 - a fine bicycling road - then cut down to Chadron. You could even go all the way to The Black Hills, take in Mt. Rushmore and the other sights there then head south.

[driftlessregion]

You can get the official WI bike maps from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (http://www.bfw.org/) and Illinois maps from http://www.dot.state.il.us/bikemap/STATE.HTM. There are Milwaukee County maps at http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/maps4460.htm. There are bike trails/routes out of the city and trails southeast out of the county. This will be a great few days of cycling for you. Fairly flat at first then pretty hilly west of Monroe all the way to Dubuque. Monroe is the beginning in southern Wisconsin of the "driftless region" which is the area of the Mississippi Valley that wasn't flattened by the glaciers. Virtually all roads are paved in southern Wisconsin thanks to the dairy industry that needed good roads for the milk trucks. The township roads are often the best choice until Monroe, then they might be hillier than the county or state roads. There's a nice state park, Big Foot Beach, at Lake Geneva then slim pickings for non-commercial campgrounds on your route. There are a couple of state parks in northern Illinois.

There is no Wisconsin Bikeway per se and Kenosha to La Crosse wouldn't be much help anyway. Be careful on the bridge over the big muddy; lots of traffic and windy.

This will be a beautiful route of farms and friendly small towns. Have fun!

[driftlessregion]

There is one other option to all the hills I mentioned. The New Berlin Trail leaves Milwaukee and the you can hook onto the Glacial Drumlin trail to Cottage Grove about 15 miles outside of Madison. About 60 miles NW of Madison in Reedsburg you can take the first of 3 contiguous state trails (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/specific/findatrail.html) to La Crosse: 400 Trail, Sparta-Elroy Trail, and the La Crosse River Trail. All nice fairly flat hard packed dirt trails. Then you can ride down the Mississippi River on WI Highway 35 all the way to Cassville which is fairly flat and then take the little ferry across the river and ride the Iowa side to Dubuque. This is much longer but much less hilly and more scenic.

[John Nettles]

Go to bikely.com and see if someone has posted a route.  It is good site for getting local info that is bike specific.  It is a fairly young site but will eventually be of great help.

Happy trails and may the wind be at your back!

TulsaJohn