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Quadracycle Riders of the Midwest, Greenbush, WI (2026)

09/13/2025

Menomonie, WI
We ventured further from home today to try the Red Cedar State Trail leading into Menomonie (western Wisconsin). There is a small parking lot about 3 miles south of Menomonie in the tiny town of Irvington. The trail runs next to a river (name unclear) on one side and a high natural stone embankment on the other. The trail itself is packed dirt, which ended up providing a pretty smooth ride. We reached Menomonie within about 3 miles and took the Lake Menomin Loop. The western side of this large lake consisted of mostly paved trail. The north end evolved into city streets and then a paved trail directly adjacent to a 3M plant that occupied what appeared to be about 400 acres. Heading around the east end of the lake involved neighborhood streets and then some creative workarounds for a couple high traffic areas. Ironically, we only got a tiny peek at Lake Menomin in a couple spots - the trail or nearby roads never seemed to get near to it. There are some nice parks on this route with even an open bathroom (after Labor Day!). Since there were mostly paved surfaces, we anticipated a bit more leisurely ride. It actually had a lot of ups and downs and windy open areas that slowed us down and made for some endurance pedaling. It was fun to be on a trail we had never tried, but we didn't think it was worth repeating in the future. We were in town for a wedding, so this was a bonus activity. There were other people on the trail today. We encountered about a half dozen walkers early, who all ignored our wave and managed to avoid making eye contact. We became a little more insistent with our greeting as the day progressed and found friendlier trail users in town. One lady tried to trade her bike for our quad. Of the few dozen bicyclists we saw, all but one were e-bikes. I guess we pedal pushers are becoming a dying breed. Wildlife sightings included 3 deer in the river getting drinks and a downed tree with a dozen large turtles coming up from the lagoon to sun themselves. Although there wasn't a chance for rain until later in the evening, we had a sudden downpour just as we were loading up. Otherwise the weather was beautiful at 75 degrees and sunny. We traveled 17.3 miles at a slow 5.8 mph average.

08/23/2025

Neenah/Menasha
We had special guests today on our urban trip between Neenah and Menasha. Lorri's cousin and her grandson joined us for their first ever quad ride. We met at the Pick 'n Save lot at S Commercial and Bell Avenue in Neenah. We took the paved trail north a few blocks and then headed toward the Kimberly Point Lighthouse on Lake Winnebago. There are pretty decent bike lanes so travel was safe and easy. I wanted to try the short trestle bridge rather than the narrow traffic bridges, but I jumped into the idea without the proper scouting. There is weaving back and forth down a short hill on a narrow path with fencing on each side. It's hard to understand what the purpose of these multiple 180 degree turns is, but once you head down them there is no turning back. I had to literally lift the front and then the back of the quad to make the turns! The gang all helped patiently as I fumbled around like it was my first time out on the quad. We made it to the short trestle bridge and then navigated city streets for a few blocks before we encountered a road closure and had to retrace our steps to find a different route. Ultimately we had to cross another bridge with no bike lane this time. We served as the pace car for a short line of vehicles. We reached our lunch destination at Mihm's burger joint (Est. 1958). That hit the spot with everyone. From there we took the close by longer trestle bridge west (no fenced in maze for this one). The self appointed guardian of the trestle bridge told us that he saw a "two seater" quad that was made in Illinois come through here last year. We let him know that was us sans trailer. We then had a good mile and a half of paved bike path to get us southward in the direction of our starting point. We had to pick "bicycle friendly" roads for the rest of the journey. They followed mostly industrial and railroad areas. Overall the vehicle traffic was light and polite. We took this route a couple times in the past, but we seemed to remember more charm to it then we felt this time around. Nonetheless is was a great day with the cousins and gorgeous 70 degree weather. We traveled 13.63 miles at an average speed of 6.3 miles per hour.

08/02/2025

Eland to Birnamwood on Mountain Bay State Trail

Weather, timing, and Canadian wildfire smoke finally all came together for a day on the trails. We were looking for a little adventure, so we made the two hour drive to Mountain Bay State Trail in Waupaca County. We have made the trip before starting in Wittenberg and traveling north to Birnamwood. We are not in prime biking shape and we didn't know if the Canadian wildfire smoke would impact the ride, so we decided to shorten the route this time to start in Eland - a tiny town midway between Wittenberg and Birnamwood. The other big factor is that we know that this trail is not regularly maintained and is probably second only to Oconto in this category. As expected, it was somewhat overgrown, although we did come across a tractor with a brush cutter on the way back. There were three deer sightings along the way, but very little other wildlife. The trail is very secluded the entire way. We even had to pull out the camp saw to cut a fallen tree blocking the trail. The saw had been in our travel bag for almost five years, since the last time a tree blocked our route and took three people and a half hour to pull back off the trail like a slingshot. Be prepared - the motto of a true scout! Lorri spotted wild raspberries on the way back. They were small but tasty. While in Birnamwood we stopped at Diane's Soft Serve for hamburgers. We then made our annual stop at Poured Creations concrete statue store down the block. They had a lot of new stuff, but nothing we needed. Birnamwood also had a small bakery (nothing left to sell after noon) and a neat little vintage shop. The weather was in the 70s and sunny. The wildfire smoke didn't seem to have any adverse health effect. The deer flies were abundant, but the biting was minimal as long as you kept moving. Since this is mostly a grassy trail, our average speed was only 5.4 mph over 9.8 miles. It was great to go on a biking adventure after a summer with such unpredictable weather.

06/28/2025

Oostburg to Belgium
We are back on the trails with the quadracycle. The weather has not cooperated on the weekends until now. A beautiful, sunny 80 degree day took us to the nearby Sheboygan Interurban Trail. We parked on the road in the small town of Oostburg and headed south. Cedar Grove is 3.5 miles down the trail and our end destination was Belgium. This is a paved and well-kept trail with mostly mild elevation change. There is not much to see, as the trail is mostly tucked between trees, shrubs, and tall grass. So this is mostly and get out and test your legs route. The road crossings are few and lightly traveled. Belgium has a nice park near the trail with public bathrooms. There was a baseball event there today. In past trips we've had the place to ourselves. Since it was our first full ride of the season, the distance to Belgium and back started to wear us down, but we made it back to Oostburg by noon. We had a quick lunch at Judi's Place - a local diner. It wouldn't be our first choice, but it was the local flavor. We grabbed a coffee cake with "extra" filling from the Oostburg Bakery, which turned out to be pretty good. There were a good amount of people biking on the trail - serious bikers and more casual folks enjoying the day. We traveled 18.38 miles at an average speed of 7 mph. For the record, our first trial ride was a week earlier in Fond du Lac. We had to navigate around the "Walleye Days" celebration, so it was only about 7 miles at 6.6 mph. It felt great to back out there after tending to some major projects at home.

09/28/2024

Mascoutin Valley State Trail
The Mascoutin Valley Recreational Trail (West) is about a ten mile stretch between Ripon and Berlin. We started at a small gravel parking lot just north of Ripon. The trail runs adjacent to County Highway E for 2.5 miles, but has a nice tree canopy that makes it feel secluded. The trail splits off to travel through farm fields and continues to be lined with trees and vegetation. We were glad to discover a small rest area in the tiny town of Rush Lake that included a porta-potty. This trail was gravel that was very well packed for a smooth ride. We encountered only a few bikers, dog walkers, and one bird watcher on this sunny fall day in the mid 70s. The trail runs along a fairly large pond as it nears Berlin. We spun around at about the 6 mile mark and headed back. The last couple miles before reaching the parking area are mostly uphill, but the trail is a pretty easy ride overall. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife spotted today, but it was a great day to be out on the quad. We traveled 13.35 miles at a leisurely speed of 5.7 mph. We planned to stop by a farm/garden tour at Burdocks and Rust in Van Dyne. The owners renovated an old farm house and farm buildings and created a beautifully landscaped homestead in just 7 years. The owners, Julie and Bob, were very nice about telling us all about their challenges reviving this property that stood vacant for 26 years. It was a great end to a great day.

09/22/2024

Neenah/Menasha
Neenah and Menasha provide an urban ride on trails, through parks, and on mostly lightly traveled roads. We parked in the Pick ’N Save lot and avoided the nearby Southview Park where we parked during a previous visit. It turned out hundreds of people descend on this park later in the day for soccer. The Bill Miller trail is within a block of the Pick ’N Save. We headed east and veered off the trail after a half mile and headed toward homes on the Lake Winnebago shore. There is another nice paved trail along the entrance to Little Lake Butte Des Morts that leads to a light house. After following the lakeshore, we headed on roads back west until we could cross over the Menasha Channel on Racine Street. A few blocks on city streets on bike lanes brought us to downtown Menasha. We walked through a street market and then headed to Mihm’s Charcoal Grill. We knew nothing about it and it appeared to be a bit of a gamble as we approached at noon without seeing any cars or activity in the vicinity. We swung open the door and it was like emerging from the Holland Tunnel into New York City. Every seat was filled while two busy servers tended to tables and the counter, a worker hoisted a bag of burger patties, and a couple groups stood patiently waiting their turn. We don’t know where everyone came from, but we figured that this must be the place to be. The butter burgers were fantastic. It turns out Mihm’s is a Menasha legend that has been around for over 60 years. It is a blast from the past. The Menasha Trestle bridge is about 5 blocks from downtown. It is open to pedestrians and bikes and is over half a mile long. From there we headed south on a trail for a few blocks before we took the streets Googlemaps marks as bicycle friendly back to our parking spot. The final leg of the pedal was less scenic than the initial lakeshore neighborhoods, but was nice nonetheless. This was an 80+ degree day that - despite not feeling like Fall - was starting to look like fall. We traveled 13.3 miles at an average speed of 6.5 mph.

09/22/2024

Ride along with us on the trestle bridge in Menasha.

09/14/2024

Old Plank Road Trail
We headed west on the Old Plank Road Trail in Sheboygan County. The trail is only 1/2 a mile away from our home, but we have ironically avoided it for years because it runs directly adjacent to Highway 23. Despite being within sight of traffic, the ride was not as raucous as we expected. The trail runs uninterrupted from Sheboygan to Fond du Lac. There are farm fields along the way and occasional peaks into farm properties. The path is smooth and beautifully paved. There are small and large hills, but they were manageable. We had the trail nearly to ourselves except for a curious dog who joined us for 1/2 a mile. We were unsure of his temperament - so we avoided direct contact - though he seemed to be buddying up with us for the day’s walk. The only other excitement was dodging fuzzy caterpillars. We turned around just as we reached County Road G near the Fond du Lac County line. It was a balmy 80 degree fall day. We traveled 11.4 miles at an average speed of 6.5 mph.

08/25/2024

Fond du Lac
We stayed close to home and cruised through Fond du Lac. This is one of our most laid back rides. A good portion is through the large parks along the east end of Lake Winnebago. It makes for fun people watching. We discovered a brand new trail bridge over a river. It took us to a huge dog park and then a gravel road closed off to traffic with more views of Lake Winnebago. Next it transformed into a grassy path that was not well traveled, but not too hard to pedal. A few hundred yards later the path simply stopped. We checked Googlemaps and discovered that we were on a peninsula and hence the dead end. We retraced our steps and exited the park. A couple short city blocks and we were back on a paved trail heading south. We elected to follow the river downtown and loop back on the part of the trail that follows a city street. The route provides a very nice view of different parts of the city. The weather was sunny and 80 degrees. This was a morning trip so we avoided the warmer part of the day. We weren’t in any hurry today - enjoying the sights. We traveled 10.3 miles at an average speed of 5.7 mph.

08/10/2024

Eden to Campbellsport
The Eisenbahn State Trail begins in Eden and runs south through Campbellsport, Kewaskum, and West Bend. The stretch from Eden to Campellsport is the wooded and quiet part of the trail and our preferred route. There are some swampy areas and views of farm fields. We caught a glimpse of what we think was an otter toting a baby in its mouth and thinking about crossing in front of us. The trail is gravel and packed very nicely. It made for easy pedaling. Our lunch destination was Ty’s Place in Campbellsport, but to our surprise it had now become a nail salon. We took a chance on Blue Door Coffee and were pleasantly surprised. The sandwiches and wraps were nicely prepared and reasonably priced. It was an unusually cool day for August - barely reaching 70 degrees. The wind was brisk and strong, but didn’t hold us up. It felt like a fall day. There were a few people using the trail and most were walkers. We traveled 15.37 miles at an average speed of 5.7 mph.

07/27/2024

Mariner's Trail -
We visited the Mariner's Trail on an 80 degree sunny day to make good on the ride earlier this summer when it was 60 degrees and misting. It runs adjacent to Highway 42 between Two Rivers and Manitowoc. There are many flower beds along the way cared for by the gardeners’ club. There is also West of the Lake Gardens open free to the public. A couple in the 1930 - 1950 era began an extensive effort to create gardens on their property. A gardening organization has taken over and the large yard is full of bright colored annuals in meticulous and symmetrical arrangements. The trail runs right past it. There are views of Lake Michigan along the entire trail. We watched a large ship appear on the horizon and dock in town. We were able to get close up view as we arrived in Manitowoc. There are several small parking lots with picnic areas. We parked at the one farthest along the trail on the Two Rivers end. The parking is right up along the highway and our ramps out the back of the van would have essentially sent the quad rolling into the road. So we backed in the only stall that had a low enough boulder that the ramps could straddle. We were on the trail in no time. There were a lot of bikers on the trail. At least 75% were e-bikes. We ate our Subway subs at one of the picnic areas. The ride was very relaxed and enjoyable. We traveled 12.08 miles at an average speed of 7.4 mph. A bonus today included the van drive to and from our destination. Since we were less than an hour away, we took every country and farm road we could find. It’s always a good trip when one of us is able to say “I’ve never been here before”.

07/21/2024

Oconto River State Trail
We revisited the Oconto River State Trail after quite a few years. We remembered the destination well, but forgot some other critical points. The first oversight was the parking area. There is a large parking area at the junction of Highway 141 and 22. This was not the parking lot we used last time and it added about 6 miles to the trip. When we passed the original parking area, we realized that this was the trail that was all grass and doesn’t get mowed. The grass was knee high on our prior visit and only about 8 inches today. It didn’t seem like a problem at first, but then we reached some really shady areas. We were sinking into the moist ground and it nearly brought us to a complete stop in several areas. We decided at mile 4 that we were never going to make it if we had to slog through the mud and we bailed at the next road. Highway J took us south to N. River Road where we able to continue our journey to Oconto. The road runs along the Oconto River and is not too heavily traveled. Then we remembered we had been on it before. Our original visit was also a test of endurance and we opted to take the same road on the return trip back then. We reached Oconto where there is a tunnel that takes you safely underneath busy Highway 41. A short ride on city streets got us to our lunch destination, Shake A Burger. It’s a burger and hotdog stand with outdoor seating along the Oconto River. The Copper Culture State Park is right outside of Oconto and we stopped at the museum for a personalized tour. It is a small farm house built in 1924 that county inherited and they utilized to tell the story of Native Americans who mined copper from the area after the last ice age. We stayed on roads on the way back as long as we could. The roads were hilly, but not hard to pedal. There was only about a mile of grassy trail that we had to traverse to get back to the parking area. It amounted to more miles than we anticipated today. It was in the 80s and the 20.7 miles pretty much wore us out. Our average speed was 6.9 mph.

Quadracycle Riders of the Midwest

09/13/2025

08/23/2025

08/02/2025

06/28/2025

09/28/2024

09/22/2024

09/22/2024

09/14/2024

08/25/2024

08/10/2024

07/27/2024

07/21/2024

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