Join us for 2024 WCCC Madison Weekend

 

Friday, July 19th - Sunday, July 21st

WCCC Madison Weekend is our traditional summer get-away and we can't wait! We have 3 great rides planned over 3 days! And we will once again have both short and long route options on Friday and Saturday. 

Our host hotel will be the Holiday Inn Express again. Everyone truly enjoyed the hotel last year. They are offering a great nightly rate for WCCC: $140 per night, almost the same as last year. And if you bring one or more dogs, it's only $25 flat for the two days! Be sure to book your room while they last but this offer goes away on July 5th. You have up until 24 hours prior to check-in to cancel your reservation so book now if you're fairly sure you're going.  

Check back here weekly for updates. Please register for the event here on the website even if you're tentative so you receive email updates. Also indicate you are "attending" on meetup.com.

Friday, July 19th 

Our weekend together begins at 11:30 am in the town of Cottage Grove, WI just east of Madison, with brunch/lunch at: 

Olde Town Coffee House
218 S Main St
Cottage Grove, WI 53527

Park in the lot behind the restaurant -- it is also at the trailhead for the Glacial-Drumlin Trail with plenty of parking. After lunch, there will be time to unload your bike and get dressed for our first ride of the weekend. We expect to start the ride between 12:45 and 1 p.m.

Most will depart Chicago around 8:30 am for the drive to the Madison area, leaving approximately 3 hours for travel but best to check Google Maps for travel time to Olde Town Coffee House.

The short route is 24.8 miles with 725 feet of climbing: check it out here on ridewithgps.com. 

The long route is 34.1 with 1,027 feet of climbing: check it out here on ridewithgps.com. 
 
After the ride, we will head to the hotel to check in and relax a bit before dinner. We will meet in the lobby at 6:00 p.m. and take the hotel shuttle at 6:15 pm to dinner at: 

Buck & Honeys - Monona
800 W. Broadway #300
Monona, WI 53713

Saturday, July 20th

Today is our big ride of the weekend - the long ride will be a 65 mile loop and the short ride about 35 miles, so you have plenty of time to explore Madison.

A free continental breakfast is available at the hotel starting at 7 a.m. We will begin to assemble at 8 a.m. in the parking lot at the back of the hotel -- the door by the elevators. A pump will be available to top off the air in your tires before we head out at 8:30 a.m. 

The short route will be 34.8 miles with 1,166 feet of climbing: check out the route here on ridewithgps.com.

The short ride will return to the hotel around lunch time with the afternoon free for your own exploration. There is no designated lunch stop on the short route but there are plenty of options once you return to Madison. There are many things going on in Madison this time of year including the Dane Co. Fair across the street at the Alliant Center, State Street pedestrian mall and farmer's market at the foot of the Capitol building.  

The long route will be 65.0 miles with 2,623 feet of climbing: check it out here on ridewithgps.com. 

The long route features a metric century with more challenging climbing. We start the ride on flat roads until we get out of town where we will be greeted by gently rolling hills through beautiful dairy country on our way into hill country. 

Lunch for those doing the long ride will be in Belleville, a classic Wisconsin town with a bar on every corner!  No drinking and biking for us though -- we'll dine at: 

Lingonberry Llama
103 West Main Street
  Belleville, WI 53508

Park your bike around the back of the restaurant in the bike rack and then enter from the street entrance. Try their homemade pop tarts -- they're really good! Seating is available indoors and behind the restaurant past the bike racks.

Dinner: We will meet in the hotel lobby at 6:00 p.m. and car pool at 6:15 p.m. to tonight's dinner spot:

Everly
2701 Monroe St
Madison, WI 53711

After dinner we will walk down lively Monroe St to the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, an old-fashioned, family-owned store serving up more than 100 flavors of ice cream: 

Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream - Monroe St
2531 Monroe St
  Madison, WI 53711

After ice cream, we will return to the hotel or if you prefer, you can enjoy the nightlife. 

There are a lot of options for nightlife: we can go downtown for a walk to Menona Terrace and views of Lake Menona and the Capitol is very nice, lit up at night. Or a walk down State St, a pedestrian mall at the base of the Wisconsin State Capitol is also very nice. There is also one gay bar in the area, Woofs, that is very welcoming to all. So no shortage of things to do on a Saturday night in Madison. 

Sunday, July 21st

This morning we are going to "switch gears" -- pun intended. Before breakfast, be sure to request late check-out to extend check-out to 1 pm. After breakfast, we will assemble in the parking lot at 8:15 a.m. to take a group photo and head out on our last ride on the Capital City Trail that will take us through beautiful natural areas south of the city before turning north on the SW Connector to UW Madison campus. If you don't get to see Madison on Saturday, there will be time for it on Sunday. The route is 18.3 miles with 539 feet of climbing. Check it out here on ridewithgps.com. We are likely to add a few more miles, as an optional extension, for a tour of the UW Madison campus. You won't want to miss it!
 
We will return to the hotel around 11:30 a.m. to shower, finish packing and check out. For those interested in one last meal together for brunch/lunch before heading back to Chicago, we will meet at 12:30 p.m. at:

Great Dane Brew Pub - Doty St
123 E Doty St.
Madison, WI 53703

The restaurant is about a 5 minute drive from the hotel.

We hope you return home with great memories of the 2024 WCCC Madison Weekend! 

Hotel Information

Holiday Inn Express - Madison Central
610 N. John Nolen Drive
Madison, WI 53713
608-709-5050

This hotel is on the east side of own, just a short 5 minutes to Downtown Madison by car or 10 minutes by bike situated on Lake Monona, right on the Capital City Trail.

The hotel has offered us a discounted rate of $140 per night for a double queen or king room if you book by July 5th as long as rooms are available. In addition, the hotel welcomes pets for a flat $25 for the entire weekend, regardless of the number of dogs.

You can also extend your stay either before or after the event at the discounted rate by calling or emailing Amy Swenson, Group Sales at the Holiday Inn Express. You can reach her at 608-709-5050 or amy.swenson@glmghotels.com. 

Book early and save -- use the following link to book directly at the discounted rate: 

Book my room at Holiday Inn Express

The last day to reserve a room at the discounted rate is Friday, July 5th. 

Local Bike Shop Information

Last Minute Details

Please bring a good bike lock for times when we stop for lunch. 

The rides on Friday and Saturday are challenging and a good base of miles will help you enjoy it more.

Make sure your bike is in good mechanical condition and you bring tools and spare tubes in case of a flat. 

We assume all registered riders will be participating in dinner on Friday and Saturday. If you are not joining us for dinner on Friday or Saturday or if you are bringing a guest, please let Jeff or Mark know so we can adjust the reservation accordingly with the restaurant.

For more details, please contact Jeff at 847-971-4124 or Mark at 847-445-0534.