road up there this weekend from the Chicago area, was surprised how nice it was, we did some really great riding . On the way home we followed the river on the Iowa side wow that is some awesome riding. Just thought I would share in case anyone was considering a ride there.

 

You're right. We rode that last year crossing over into Iowa and up to Red Wing Mn. Very pretty country up that way.

 

the "bluffs" between lacrosse and prarie du chien are nice.some of those back roads will almost make u think your in the smokies.gaysmills and the kikapoo river valley are some nice area"s as well.

 

 

Just about every year I pull off at least one "Great River Road" ride -- I tend to run up 90 a whisker past Madison, back-road it through the SW Highlands, through the Wildcat Mountain area to LaCrosse and then down the river to PDC (the Best Western is very nice as is the Bridgeport Inn right down the street). Then, home through the highland farm roads through Gotham, along the WI river for a bunch of miles -- That whole part of the state is fantastic.

A few pics from this last spring: http://www.johnscrip.com/html/html/p...ride_2010.html And a little fall color: http://www.johnscrip.com/html/html/p...ride_2007.html

Makes a great "break in overnighter" also -- I've done that ride about a half-dozen times with a handful (total) of new riders that never pulled an overnighter before -- Not too far, good "get out of town" speed on 90 and then lots of scenery and laid-back sweepers on the way home. Two thumbs up. Good "state tagger" also -- You can hit IL, WI, MN and IA and be in PDC having dinner by 5.

Was going to make the same run a couple weeks ago but switched to Hannibal MO at the last minute because of the cold & wet coming into WI at the moment --

Lemme tell you something... If you've never ridden the IL River Road down to I72 and then through Springfield into Hannibal, do yourself a favor and ride as fast as you can in another direction. Bumper-to-bumper boredom like I've never experienced on any ride I've ever been on. I don't think I've ever felt like "Geez, can we just freaking *get there* already?" before. Nothing to do, nothing to see here, move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for.

Sorry - Didn't mean to change direction... But in any case, just don't go. But sure - Make PDC (Meadow of the Dog in case anyone was wondering the translation) a regular. Makes a great "circle" route if you bounce between PDC and LaCrosse -- 35 has a totally different personality depending on the time of day so it's easy to change up the same route.

 

I am lucky enough to live in SW Wisconsin about 30 miles east of PDC.
For my money it is the best part of the state for riding.

 

Nice pics and that area is great for bike trips.

 

also had dinner at the resturant next to BP station, $10 dinner buffet and the food was excellent, we stayed at bridgeport inn and was very happy with are stay, looking forward to returning to ther area soon

 

I used to live in SW Wisc and have ridden the river roads several times. The scenery is amazing, especially when the trees begin to turn colors.

 

The GRR does have really nice scenery but I like the roads away from the river, some are limestone gravel roads but then again, it's the adventure right. We are lucky if we cover 150 miles in a day.

I agree with you on your ride to Hannibal.