Madison, Wisconsin

On Wednesday, we drove up to Madison, Wisconsin in preparation for the annual bike ride with friends. We came to Madison last year also (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2021/08/almost-annual-bike-trip.html); there are lots of nice bike trails in the area.

We went out after we arrived on Wednesday afternoon on the trail from the campground to McFarland.

It has a long section that is a boardwalk.

All the pictures we took were on the boardwalk, but it also has parts through woods and meadow areas.

When we were here last year we rode on part of the Capital City State Trail - it passes very near our campground. On Thursday, we decided to ride along it in the direction that we did not take last year...

It ended up taking us along Lake Monona, across which we could see the Capitol Building in downtown Madison.

As we got near downtown, we could see preparations for an Ironman Triathlon to be competed in Madison on Sunday. The swim will be in Lake Monona, and parts of the bike and run components around the area where we were riding. I think I read that the finish line for the marathon (the last component) will be at the footsteps of the capitol building. (https://www.ironman.com/im-wisconsin)

We saw a sign along the bike path that was counting how many cyclists had passed it today (the number doesn't show up in the picture, but it had counted up to 1608 when we were there) and how many cyclists had passed the sign this year (somewhere upwards of 300,000).

An interesting note: Carl told me that he and Sue and their friends came to Madison for the "Annual Bike Ride" somewhere around 2006 -- while we were riding on Thursday, he pointed out the hotel where they stayed on that trip. While they were on their ride that weekend, they happened to be on the path that comes near this campground (probably the one we rode today) and stopped to use the restroom facilities. Carl saw the nice campground here, and at a later time, he and Sue decided to come back to stay at the campground. On a later visit to Madison when they stayed at the campground (2012), he got to talking with the camp host at the campground who was a fulltime RVer and a member of Escapees. Carl researched Escapees, they joined, and he and Sue went to their first Escapade in Gillette, Wyoming in 2013. There they learned more about Escapees, met Keith and Ruth Ann and learned about the SKP Christian Fellowship Birds of a Feather (BOF). That subsequently led to, after Carl's retirement in 2014, their attendance at their first SKP Christian Fellowship BOF rally in Quartzsite, Arizona in January 2015 -- which was also the first SKP Christian Fellowship BOF rally that Dwayne and I attended, and where we all met as couples! We are continually blessed as we see evidence of God's sovereignty in our lives!

We are looking forward to our friends arriving on Friday and hoping for good weather for bike riding on Saturday and maybe Sunday!