Madison-Blue Mound-Madison

I took the day off aiming to head out and ride some hills for a while today. I tried Map My Ride to find a good route that included Blue Mound Park, View, and Ryan road. I found a good loop and headed out with plenty of food, legs, and with a little cheat sheet taped to the top tube. The longish climbs near the park are a bit sandy but they are clear for the most part and ready to ride. Ryan road is so sandy that it took over 5 minutes to descend while keeping it under 30.

Turns out my cute little cheat sheet was missing a vital turn. In order to pick up Hwy P out of Cross Plains from KP, you have to take a right and head through town to get to P. I kept following the KP signs out of Cross Plains all the way to 19. Whoops. It turns out that chunk of road, KP between Cross Plains and 19, is really cool and I will be seeing it again. I will be getting very familiar with this area in the next few years. But today I was lost and frustrated. 55 miles in, lost, 20 or so miles to go, 45 minutes to get there. I stepped into a manufactured home/tavern on 19 to use the phone. I have never felt more unwelcome. When I asked the guy if I could use his phone, he stared at me and didn't answer for like 15 seconds. He was wondering if he was going to catch some bizarre gay space monkey aids case from letting me use his phone. We are going to have to put together a 20 strong group ride that stops at this place for beers. When we get there we will hassle him to put the TDF on all the TVs. Anyway, I made a $40 mistake today after having to call a cab in order to pick up Rowan on time. Noob.