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Greetings!
Shuttleguy staff are ready to hit the road for a big season of touring starting the first week of June with BRAN. Hope to see you on tour! |
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What's New?
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2012 Shuttleguy Openings Filling Fast
Haven't yet made up your mind regarding this year's biking adventures? If you plan on going with Shuttleguy, don't wait too long to register. Ride interest is high this year and we are filling fast! Let us Make Life Easy for you. With our Camping Domestique services . . . all you need to do is ride!   
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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,  passing 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.
 Leaving 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. Mineral Point is our 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  Governor 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 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  beautifully 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.
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Article: How to Deal with Dogs
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Everyone is getting out on the road now including Fido. Here's how to deal with dogs in the road. How to Deal with Bad Dogs
By Ed Pavelka and Fred Matheny
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 out sprint 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 . . .
read more about bad dogs here
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| Featured Riders: The Spransys |
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The Spransys Dick and Nancy Spransy are  a tandem team. They were both avid about physical exercise when they met nineteen years ago. Once married, they set about determining what to do for physical exercise together. Trying bicycling, they discovered the disparity in their abilities. A used tandem was purchased and they have been riding together ever since! The Spransys are on their second tandem now, which was purchased at a Midwest Tandem Rally in Duluth, MN.  | Shuttleguy Tri-State Tour
2011 |
Together they have ridden GRABAAWR , POWWOW, Pedal Across Wisconsin, Shuttleguy's Tri-State ride along the Mississippi, and many tandem events in Iowa, Wisconsin, and other Midwestern states. Not having a favorite ride, they just love to ride when and where they can.
Dick and Nancy ride between 900 and 1200 miles per year, riding every weekend during the warmer months. They also delight in riding with Dick's dad, who is 96 and still riding about 1000 miles a year. Their goal is to ride as long as he has!
Beside riding, the Spransys also cross country, downhill ski and have rollerbladed 75 miles in two days. Dick also enjoys walking and take Body Flow (a combination of Pilates, Yoga, and Tai Chi) whenever he can squeeze a session into his schedule. Can you tell they both like physical exercise?  | |
Midwest Tandem Rally
2011
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Dick spent many years in the car business as a service manager. He is now a handyman, doing lots of painting, minor repairs, and estate cleanouts. He loves working for himself which leaves time for him to teach spinning at the YMCA twice a week.
He also has two part-time jobs with non-profits. The first is at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee as a Human Resource Specialist. The Urban Ecology Center provides environmental education to children, adults and families, introducing them to the natural world and physical activity in the city.
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Riding with their best friends in western Wisconsin.
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His second part-time job is as Site Coordinator for Girls on the Run, which is an after school program for girls ages 11 to 14. The girls meet with volunteer, trained coaches, twice a week at YMCAs and schools. The goal is to build their self esteem, learn how to be good team members, and how to be physically and nutritionally fit. At the end of the 10 week curriculum the girls do a community service project together and run a 5K. Dick helps set up the sites, train the coaches, and make sure the season runs smoothly. The Spransys each have two children from previous marriages and five grandchildren between the two the them. Their children live in Milwaukee, Boston, and Corpus Christi. Currently, two of Dick's cousins children live with them while they attend college.
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Featured Video: Cycling Sucks!
| This is the first of two commercials that were created for a school project to promote the use of bicycles. Wit and humor are used quite effectively to show just how simple, sustainable and unproblematic bicycle transport is.
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