Paoli’s first tourists

Why is Paoli such a perfect biking destination for so many? Let us count the ways.

June 6, 2024

6:00 AM

Tommy Washbush

Paoli is both a cycling destination and a connector to country routes.

When I moved to Madison in 1988, one of the few valuables I shipped was a one-year-old aluminum Cannondale touring bike. It was a substantial upgrade from the heavy, steel Panasonic bike that I rode as a teenager on Long Island and later in Brooklyn, where I tested my strength on the hills of Prospect Park and my courage on the crowded streets to Coney Island.

I was eager to explore the biking possibilities in my new town and the route to Paoli quickly became my go-to ride. From downtown I’d head to the Mills Street entrance of the UW Arboretum, ride through the Arb and then turn south onto Seminole Highway. From there I took Whalen and a few country roads to arrive in Paoli, where bikers would often gather in Paoli Park by an old water pump that is still there, but no longer in use. The small shelter next to the pump, according to a 2020 article in the Verona Press, was expressly built in 1976 “to provide a resting space for hikers and bikers.”

Paoli has been drawing scores of bicyclists from Madison for decades, long before a new boutique hotel, beer garden, and new restaurants and shops started attracting a broad swath of visitors from Madison and around the Midwest. Why is Paoli such a perfect biking destination for so many? Let us count the ways.

“From my front door to here it’s [nearly] 100% bike path, “ says James Edward Mills, a Madison based freelance journalist and independent media producer. “It’s a perfect 25-mile Madison west side out-and-back route.”

“That has always been one of the primary draws to the Madison-area cyclists,” adds Eric Maves. “It’s a great out-and-back distance.”

I ran into Mills and Maves on a recent ride to Paoli at 1 OAK Bicycles, the stylish shop Maves owns on Paoli Road where he crafts curated, one-of-a-kind bicycles within a gallery setting that features an eclectic collection of historic bicycles and cycling memorabilia. Maves, who opened his shop in 2017, says that Paoli has been like “a little secret that the cyclists let everybody know about.”

The two say the ride from Madison can be either mostly flat or with some hills. And from Paoli, says Mills, “there are dozens of different routes” to get more miles in. Bikers training for grueling races like the Ironman and Horribly Hilly Hundreds head to Observatory Drive, a steep road a couple of miles outside of town.

Nic Mink, co-owner of Seven Acre Dairy Company, offers Paoli’s tagline — “Close to home, a world away” — as another reason why bikers flock to the quaint town.

“It’s a perfect half-day trip or full-day trip for anyone coming from Madison or south of Madison,” he says. And once you hit Paoli, Mink adds, you cross over the “terminal moraine. Paoli is kind of your first community in the Driftless Region from Madison and it definitely feels like that. You’re taking a short bike ride but it feels like you’re getting into a different place.”

As development has boomed in Fitchburg and Verona, particularly on Seminole south of McKee Road, traffic increased substantially on the roads to Paoli. The 2006 opening of the Badger State Trail proved a game-changer. It’s now possible to bike almost the entire way from Madison on a dedicated paved path, save for the remaining two miles on Sayles Trail and Sun Valley Parkway (once the paved path ends at Purcell Road a crushed stone path continues to Belleville and later connects with the Sugar River Trail in Monticello).

The ride on Sun Valley Parkway, where there is no shoulder, can be a bit harrowing. The official speed limit is 45, according to the town of Montrose clerk, but most cars appear to be going faster. It’s why John Cioci, owner of the Paoli Art Shop, commutes to work by car rather than bike even though he lives just a mile away from town.

“It’s a shame,” says Cioci.

Cioci and others, including Mink, are exploring the possibility of obtaining easements along Sun Prairie Parkway for a paved extension of the bike path or a dedicated bike lane. Cioci says he’s had a preliminary conversation with one landowner who seemed open to the idea.

Mink says safety enhancements on the highway would allow more novice bikers and those with young children in tow to make the trek to Paoli. He says he’s also watching closely the proposed repair of the Badger State Trail’s Stewart Tunnel, which has been closed since 2019 due to loose and falling debris; Gov. Tony Evers included $6.6 million in his 2023-2025 budget to repair the tunnel.

Mink is also talking with Madison BCycle in hopes of establishing an electric bike station in Paoli.

Mink notes that Fitchburg recently made a large investment in BCycles. “That puts the infrastructure within five miles of Paoli,” he says. The addition of BCycle in Paoli, Mink adds, would be “another really important investment in bike-based transportation out to this really cool community.”

Helen Bradley of BCycle confirms that discussions are underway. She says logistics and finances just need to be worked out to make a station in Paoli a reality. “There is definitely momentum.”