Looking for Wisconsin riders this spring

[VenusdeVelo]

Wondering if anyone near or around the Milwaukee area is interested in joining a women's ride group (last year we did Tuesday evening rides, and sometimes weekend rides) -- we started as a "Betty" group (aka Terry Bicycles).

If you live in that area and are interested, send me an email at venusdevelo@yahoo.com and we'll make sure to get you riding with the group!

Levels vary -- by midseason we hope to have subgroups that can all set their paces. Weekday course is pretty easy, weekends more of a challenge....oh, and on the weekends, boys are allowed :p (as we affectionately call them "Barneys").

[Trek420]

My sister, who lives in Norway will be in your area next year, teaching for a year in Wisc. and I'm thinking of going out to spend some time with her there. How's the riding? When's the best time of year?

[annie]

Trek,

Where in Wisconsin is your sister going to be teaching? I live in Iowa, but right on the border with Wis. and do quite a bit of my riding across the river. It is a beautiful area to ride in. Hills and valleys, tons of quiet county roads.

The area around Madison is great for biking, too. Madison is often rated one of the best biking cities in the county. Active bike clubs, many rides and riders and all different types of terrain.

Northern Wisconsin also has some wonderful biking. I'm talking road riding here, but Wis. also has some great off-road trails.

As for time of year, it gets REAL cold in the winter. Fall is gorgeous, with the trees changing colors. Summer can be hot and humid, but you never know.......it's very unpredictable. Spring is usually cool and a bit wet. So pick the weather you like.

If there's any other questions I can answer, I'd be glad to. Just post...........

annie

[Trek420]

sorry I've ignored this a bit. I just saw my sister today and it reminded me that I need to look into rides in Madison area and figure out when I might go out there. are there organised rides? when's the best season? any good shops in Madison in case I ship my bike?

[madisongrrl]

Cycling is pretty big in madison, wi. We have a few clubs...

http://danenet.wicip.org/bombay/clubs.htm

Bombay is probably the most popular....

http://www.bombaybicycle.org/

[Trek420]

I'll let you know and or bump the thread when I know her schedule and when I'll visit there. She will mostly be in Madison.

[madisongrrl]

Also, if you are in Madison, the best bike shop here is Cronometro. I won't let anyone else touch my bikes but them...

http://www.cronometro.com/

[VenusdeVelo]

Hi all WI riders,
Re-starting a women's bike club in Milwaukee area this summer on my return back to the US...let me know if anyone's interested...

[VenusdeVelo]

Geesh, I'll have to start importing female cyclists :D

[Trek420]

VenusdeVelo "Geesh, I'll have to start importing female cyclists :D"

:D you think there's a market for it? :D judging from the spam we get there's a profit importing female cyclists

[roshelleuop]

Hi ladies!!

I live in Milwaukee, WI and would love to eventually join some ladies around the area for riding and/or competing. I'm not sure I'm "good" enough yet as I haven't been riding long. I starting with a mountain bike about a year ago and bought a road bike about a month ago. I'll tell ya, once you go road bike, you never go back!!! :)

I know this post is old, but if anyone has any information on women's biking groups around the Milwaukee area, I'd love to hear about it. :D

Thanks ladies!!!!!!!
roshelleuop@yahoo.com

[VenusdeVelo]

Hi, I will drop you an email at your email address -- we are riding casually (I just moved from overseas so my riding time's been hampered!!).

Look forward to riding with a new roadie!

Renee

[deena]

Hey, wait for me! I'm coming too!

I'm also new to biking this summer - up to about 15-20 miles a day now. I have pestered my friends and family as much as I am going to get away with, and still no riding buddy. :(

I'm in New Berlin. Are there others here?

[VenusdeVelo]

Deena,
I sent a note to Roshelle as well -- we try to ride once weekly then add on where when we can. So, if there are certain days that work better for you--we usu do a weekly thru Root River Parkway -- generally meeting at the Greenfield entrance. About 18 mi if we do Greenfield-Loomis-Greenfield. We're open to other routes but try to stay away from car-laden ones as riding around 6:00ish cars are plentiful. Other days we might ride we may pick routes that are hillier, or whatever we might be interested in.

Send me a note if you are interested, email is my TE screen name at yahoo.com.

See ya on yer bike!

[Ashgarth]

I'll bump this back up to the top
I would love to ride too--would you except a 'slow' mountain biker or would I not be able to keep up with your bikes....? :/

Megan in Milwaukee
(sheesh I have got to get road tires!)

[VenusdeVelo]

A few years ago (before I moved overseas and our group kind of disbanded temporarily) we had a mtn biker in our group (with a mtn bike, with knobby tires) who beat the pants off of us with shiny new road bikes and slicks !! I think we forced her to stay knobby else we'd never catch up!!

Of course she was one of the top female mtn bikers in WI :p

Anyway, yes, you are welcome, knobbies OR slicks! We do not discriminate!! :D

Drop me an email at my TE screen ID, at yahoo.com. I can tell you about the rides....

[deena]

Ashgarth - As long as you don't mind riding with a newbie! :D

Deena

[Ashgarth]

don't worry-my mountain bike with the HUGE treads makes me slow slow slow on pavement. I have grandmas passing me on tricycles....

[SJCzar]

Hello,

I am also a Milwaukee area rider who would love to join in. I'll send you an email.

[madisongrrl]

A few years ago (before I moved overseas and our group kind of disbanded temporarily) we had a mtn biker in our group (with a mtn bike, with knobby tires) who beat the pants off of us with shiny new road bikes and slicks !! I think we forced her to stay knobby else we'd never catch up!!

Of course she was one of the top female mtn bikers in WI :p

Anyway, yes, you are welcome, knobbies OR slicks! We do not discriminate!! :D

Drop me an email at my TE screen ID, at yahoo.com. I can tell you about the rides....

Let me guess....was this person Sue J. or Rebecca C.?

[VenusdeVelo]

No...it was Melissa Haberman - now Arps I think, she has sinced moved to Michigan....really great mtn biker....:D

[madisongrrl]

No...it was Melissa Haberman - now Arps I think, she has sinced moved to Michigan....really great mtn biker....:D

I've never heard of her....So I looked her in Wors archive and indeed she was a decent Sport level rider who raced for TEAM EXTREAM as late as 2002. Hopefully she is still mountain bike racing in Michigan...

[Ashgarth]

Please feel free to join our group. We post upcoming events as well as availability for evening/weekend group rides. Many of the TE gals are already on here :)

www.wisconsin_betties@yahoogroups.com

[~MelissaP~]

I just joined TE and look forward to being part of this community!
I'm in the Milwaukee area as well and would like to join in on some rides when the weather allows. I am doing a metric century in June '08 that I need to seriously train for, so I would love to get in some rides with you guys.

[Thorn]

Melissa,

Welcome.....If you haven't already, you might also want to check out Bay View Bike Club ( http://www.bayviewbikeclub.org/ ). Bay View is much, much more low key than Cream City ( http://www.creamcitycycleclub.com/ ). Don't let the name fool you, about 1/2 of Bay View's rides start on the west side of town.

Bay View rides
slower (our "fast group" probably averages around 14mph and we have riders that will toodle in at 10mph). There is almost always a shorter route, but there are distances that will get you get training for a full century.

I've ridden with both groups -- great people in both clubs, but I prefer Bay View as it skews more non-competitive. The ride schedule starts up in April, but there are a few rides between now and then for the hearty (e.g., on Jan 1 there is usually a ride to watch the polar bear swim at the lake front).

Good luck training for your metric...which one are you going to do?

[~MelissaP~]

Thanks for the info Thorn! I'll definitely check out the ride schedule for Bay View!
I'm doing the Tour de Cure in Green Bay 6-8.....

[specialcross]

I do get down there for work a fair amount. I'd like to be included in any e-mail list in case I'm in the area.

[three]

Hey Neighbors...

Sorry to jump on this thread, but I'm getting desperate to find a century. I really, really, really wanted to do the Bay View century, but the friend I'm riding with will be out of town. Due to her fluctuating schedule and upcoming wedding, the dates we can ride seem to get more limited. I think we might be best off finding a century ride in WI (or MI/IA).

Are there any other centuries you guys know of, in June/July, that anyone can recommend?

Again, sorry to jump on the thread. Please shoot me off a private message if you have any ideas...thanks much.

[Thorn]

Private thread? Oh, maybe it was, but if a conversation can't digress, what is the point? :rolleyes:

Alas, until this year, I haven't been a strong enough rider to look for many centuries at the beginning of the year. Now, if you were interested in August/September, I can give a lot of reviews.

First, contact Bay View to verify the date of the century. There was talk that they were going to have to move the date (city politics). I suspect, by now, it is firm, but you might want to check. i don't see the Classic Coordinator in the email list, but send mail to Dan (the prez) or Kent (the ride coordinator).

Second, if you haven't check out the ride schedule at bfw.org or Mike Bently's Ride list ( http://www.mikebentley.com/bike/ ). The latter used to be a better resource than it looks right now...perhaps it is just early.

The only other century in that time frame I can speak of is the Riveredge Century ( http://www.riveredgenaturecenter.org/index.htm?news/bikeride.shtm -- opens in Firefox only). I've ridden the 70mile route. Lots of people at the beginning of the ride and lots of rest stops, but the further you go, the thinner the crowds and the further the distance between rest stops. Some rides are centuries that just happen to have shorter routes. River edge is a local, neighborhood ride that just happens to have a full century.

Somebody here on the board did a century in northern WI...ooh, I actually found the thread ( http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=17472&highlight=wisconsin+century ).....

Good luck! (and let us know what you end up doing)

[Beane]

this isn't june /july, but still worth a look:

http://www.doorcountycentury.com/

[SJCzar]

The Door County Century is a really nice ride, but if you are looking for something earlier in the season I'd suggest the "Trek 100".

http://www.maccfund.org/trek08/

I have done it the past three years and it is one of the best organized events in the area. The routes are really nice and the rest stops have unbelievable food. I can't say that I've ever gotten "Famous Dave's" wings and bread pudding at any other cycling event.

The best part is that it's for a really good cause.

Trek always brings in a celebrity to lead off the ride. Last year they had Lance Armstrong.