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Snap up copy of new biking guide

In Wisconsin, new trails await bicycle tourists.

In Wisconsin, the best guide to bicycling is free.

Destination bicycling began in Wisconsin, which became the pioneer of rail trails when it opened the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in 1967. It's still the leader, and every year, it gives away  50,000 to 75,000 copies of its excellent Wisconsin Biking Guides.

The seventh edition is hot off the presses, and avid cyclist Phil Van Valkenberg has included a fresh batch of trails and routes in his biennial guide, which spotlights 10 touring trails, 10 mountain-bike trails and 10 on-road tours.

This year, he's featuring the new Badger State Trail, 34 miles from the Madison exurb of Fitchburg to the Illinois state line, where it connects with the Jane Addams Trail and continues 13 miles to Freeport, Ill.

It's a trail for fans of craft beer and Swiss treats, he said. The Sugar River State Trail connects it to the Swiss tourist town of New Glarus, where New Glarus Brewing Co. will open its new brewery and beer garden this fall. At its southern end, the Badger goes through Monroe, the capital of cheese country and home of Minhas Craft Brewery.

And like the Elroy-Sparta, the trail has a long  tunnel.

"It's a neat tunnel in that it's got a curve, so you can't see the end,'' Van Valkenberg says. "It's a little on the spooky side.''

Another new trail, the Three Eagles  between Eagle River and Three Lakes in the forests of northeast Wisconsin, passes a winery. It's only eight miles, but Van Valkenberg says riders love it.

"It has two boardwalks that are really neat; you can look over bogs, and it's a really good place to spot eagles,'' he says.

For mountain bikers, he's featuring the Cam-Rock Trails between Cambridge and Rockdale in southeast Wisconsin, which have three loops of varying difficulty.

And he's mapped two new loops along the Mississippi River, one around Prairie du Chien and one around the south end of Lake Pepin at Alma, where he claims to have found a relatively gradual way for bicyclists to climb to Buena Vista Park, which provides one of the most spectacular views on the Upper Mississippi.

The guides go fast, so call Wisconsin tourism at 800-432-8747 and put your name on the list. The information also can be downloaded from Travel Wisconsin, though for now, only the sixth edition is available on-line.

Van Valkenberg has aimed his guides at tourists, with highly detailed, descriptive text and easy-to-read maps that show the parks, playgrounds, beaches, places to eat, historical sites and attractions in the state's most scenic regions.

He always gives the Elroy-Sparta a spot, as well as trails and tours in Door County and the Devil's Lake-Baraboo area, perennial tourist favorites. His on-road loop tours, most around 30 miles, use lightly traveled country roads and include as many scenic spots and attractions as possible.

Van Valkenberg, a Wisconsin native who now lives and rides around Kettle Moraine State Forest in the southeast part of the state, has been promoting bicycle touring since the early 1970s, when he helped run a Madison bicycle co-op, and he has written eight touring and mountain-biking guides.

Last updated on May 7, 2008