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Featured Rider
Featured Video
2012 Shuttleguy's
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BREW (Bike Ride Exploring Wisconsin)

 

2012 Tours
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March, 2012
Greetings! 
  

In the Midwest, the days are getting longer and the average daily temperatures are going UP!  

 

Can spring be far behind?

 

What's New?

 

    
2012 Shuttleguy Registration Now Opened!
   

When the first of March roles around things are heading toward full blast in the Shuttleguy Registration office.

 

Haven't yet made up your mind regarding this year's biking adventures? Why not join us on one of the rides we service and let us Make Life Easy for you. With our Camping Domestique services  . . . all you need to do is ride!

 

BTC

BRAN

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ragbrai

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Article: Featured Ride - BREW

BREW
(Bike Ride Exploring Wisconsin)
August 6 - 10, 2012
Registration Day, August 5

Experience challenging bicycling, craft beer, artisan cheeses, and local wines. A great blend of structured tours, select group meals, personal free time, amazing scenery, quirky attractions and personal attention by dedicated staff who know the area will make this a great bicycle vacation.  Five great days of moderate to challenging riding. This is a camping tour with hotel options.
 
This five day loop tour begins and ends in Mount Horeb. Come early and take time to see the many shops, including the new Duluth Trading Company's flagship store, restaurants, and carved trolls along the "Trollway." We'll visit the Grumpy Troll Brewery and Restaurant.

From Mount Horeb, we'll head south to Monroe, brew1passing through New Glarus, home to the New Glarus Brewing Company. Take a tour and enjoy a tasting at the New Glarus Brewing Company and then enjoy the atmosphere of New Glarus, America's "Little Switzerland."

From New Glarus, head south through rolling hills dotted with small towns, farms and woodland pastures. Visit a cheese factory in Monticello, enjoy the beauty of the Sugar River, marvel the art and craftsmanship at a woodworking studio in Albany, immerse yourself in history at the Depot Museum in Brodhead, or relax in the old world charm of the revitalized downtown in Monroe.
While in Monroe, take a tour of Minhas Craft Brewery, one of the oldest breweries in the country.

brewpicnicLeaving Monroe, you head north and west through some challenging terrain in an area with many organic and community supported agriculture farms. Take a break from the hills in Blanchardville with a stop for some bakery or organic food or take a tour of an organic farm or wool producer. Then head to Hollandale, home of Nick Englebert's Grandview, a collection of concrete sculptures, something one must truly see to believe. Then it is on to Mineral Point, our host for two nights. Enjoy Brewery Creek Brewpub, many artists, and great restaurants in this historic town.

Today is a layover day. Ride a leisurely loop through Wisconsin's beautiful countryside. See Wisconsin's first capitol in Belmont, barn quilts, Amish buggies, historic buildings in Darlington like the depot and the Lafayette County Courthouse, Shullsburg's charming downtown and some of the best riding you will ever see over low-traffic rural paved roads. Or take a day off of the bike in Mineral Point and explore historic Shake Rag Alley or the Pendarvis State Historic Site. Shop in one of the antique shops in the historic downtown, explore one of the many art galleries and working studios in the area, or take in a round of golf. It is your day. Relax and enjoy. In the evening, take an optional trip to Potosi, home of Potosi Brewing Company and the National Brewery Museum where you will enjoy a wonderful tour and a great meal.

From Mineral Point head north to Dodgeville, where you can find the oldest functioning courthouse in the state, a great bakery and an 1827 cabin. Then head to brewsamplerGovernor Dodge State Park where you will be wowed by the beauty of the bluffs, valleys, lakes and waterfall. From there, it is off through more rolling terrain of the Driftless Area on the way to Spring Green where you can tour Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen. Sample Spring Green's Furthermore Beer as you enjoy a picnic and take in a show at American Players Theatre, an outdoor Shakespearean professional theater.

As you leave Spring Green, you begin with a journey through some more of the Driftless Area of Wisconsin on the way to Barneveld. Enjoy seeing and hearing grassland songbirds near Botham Vineyards and Winery at The Nature Conservancy's Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area. On the way relax next to the Hyde Mill, a brewcornbeautifully restored grinding mill tucked next to a stream. Challenge yourself to ride to the top of the hill in Blue Mound State Park or admire the view of the valley below from Brigham Park as you make your way back to Mount Horeb with five days of wonderful memories behind you.

Optional routes are available each day for those wishing for additional mileage. The route is entirely on paved roads. Several sections run close to non-paved trails if riders wish to use trails.


 

Article: How to Deal with Bad Dogs!
   
It's early in the riding year for most of us including Fido who has not become accustomed to seeing bikers over the winter months. Read here how to deal with dogs while pedaling down the road:

How to Deal With Bad Dogs

By Fred Matheny and Ed Pavelka of www.RoadBikeRider.com 

 

Dog attacks are high on the list of cycling fears. Maybe you can't stop Fang from giving chase, but you can outsmart him if you know how dogs think-assuming that stinkin' mutt even has a brain! 

  • Know dog psychology. The majority of dogs who chase cyclists are merely defending their territory. When you pedal off the section of road that they consider their turf, you no longer pose a threat to their ancestral instincts and they lose interest. Incidentally, this is why you'll rarely be chased by a dog you encounter way out in the boonies. He's not on his turf so he couldn't care less about you.
  • Know dog tactics. Dogs want to attack from the rear, coming up from the hindquarter. Even one who sits up in his yard ahead of you may wait till you pass before giving chase. You can use this to your advantage in the next tip because it gives you a head start.
  • Sprint! You often can outsprint Fido when he's more interested in fooling around than in actually attacking. You can tell his intent by how hard he's running and his expression. An easy gait with woofing and ears and tail up, no problem. A full-out sprint with ears back, tail down and teeth out, problem. Still, the territorial gene can save you. If the road is flat or downhill, stand up and sprint to get past the dog's invisible boundary.
  • Guard your front wheel. When a dog sees you coming, he might make a beeline for your bike, then attempt to turn up beside you. The danger here is that his poor little paws will skid on the pavement and he'll plow into your wheels. If he hits the front one, you'll crash. Sprint so that you move forward faster than he expects, and give him a margin for error by steering farther into the road-if traffic permits!
  • SCREAM!  Most dogs know what happens when a human is angry with them. A sudden shout of "No!" or "Git!" or "Stay!" will surprise Fluffy and probably make him hesitate for just the second you need to take the advantage. If he's hard of hearing, raise your hand threateningly as if it contains a rock. Outlaw mutts usually have had experience with bad things flying at them when a human makes a throwing gesture.

Featured Riders: Tesha and Larry Huffaker


The Huffakers  
  

huffakerportWe are Larry and Tesha Huffaker (Huff and Puff) that's what we do the tandem. Ha! Ha! We have been married 42 years. We have two married sons, two daughter in laws and five beautiful grandchildren. We are from Newton, Iowa.

 

We have been biking since 1996. We had tried a tandem on a trail in Minnesota and thought  that was fun. So we bought a used tandem and found we loved to ride and didn't kill each other. Communicated very well. We put 11,000 miles on the 30 year old bike and decided to buy a new Santana and have 18,000 miles on it now.

    

huffakertandem
Anchorage, Alaska
2004 

We used to ride single bikes around town and Larry would try to help me figure out what gear I was to be in. He would usually be ahead of me and beat me home. The saying was "We had a good ride didn't me." That is one reason we  decided to get the tandem. It has worked out GREAT. Even though people are always saying I'm not peddling. 

 

We have ridden half way across the United States from Northfield, Minnesota to Gloucester, Massachusetts. On this trip we stopped in a small town to use the restroom and a young boy was VERY fascinated by our bike. So I ask him if he wanted to ride with my husband around the lot while I went inside. He asked where we were going and we said to Gloucester, Massachusetts, he didn't know where that was so. When I told him it was 1780 miles away he said, "Mister don't you have a car." We had a great laugh about that. We have biked in 29 states and parts of Canada.

 

huffakerwaterfall
Minneapolis
2009

 We both think the prettiest state we have bicycled through is Alaska. The scenery is indescribable and we were fortunate to see Mt. McKinley 13 out of the 14 days we were in Alaska.  

   

huffakeralaska
Seward, Alaska
2004
We love to bike. It is such a GREAT way to see the countryside and to meet new people. We have never met a stranger or as I say "none stranger than me. "

 

I am known for my VERY BRIGHT outfits. I like to be seen by the vehicles. I always say if we do get hit at least I will be a bright speed bump. My sister made me the outfits for our Alaska trip because she was afraid the cars would hit us. 

 

We do local rides with our bike club and have ridden some self contained rides. We self contained to Princeton, Illinois for a Huffaker family reunion. Most of the family from there didn't know us, so it was a great conversation starter for them to ask us about our trip. We became known as the "crazy relatives from Iowa."

 

I am semi retired with 35 years as a Hairdresser. I am a para pro at the Junior High. Larry is retired with 30 years at Maytag and now drives the food service truck for the schools. We have summers off to enjoy our hobbies of which biking is only one. Other hobbies include following our grandchildren and their sports, enjoying a 66 Dodge Charger, being crew and photographer for a hot air balloonist, knitting and I love taking LOTS of pictures. We keep out of mischief or in mischief which ever way you look at it! We enjoy life.

  

huffakermusky
Minnesota
2007

We have ridden with Shuttleguy and enjoy their rides. They do enjoy the hills but as the saying goes "if it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger".  

 

The scenery is always beautiful and the fellow bikers always friendly. 

 

 

 

 



Featured Video: Living On A Bike
We all like to think we spend a lot of time in the saddle
. . . but how about 382 days!
 
liveonbike
   

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Shuttleguy specializes in superior bicycle touring services for bicyclists with discriminating taste. Let us make life easy for you this summer on one of the many tours we support.  
Sincerely,
Tym Allison
Shuttleguy and Shuttleguy Tours