It’s a personal tradition to take a Black Friday ride each year. It just seems like the right thing to do to work off the caloric debauchery of the Thanksgiving Day. And, most years, we are spending our holiday with family in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, so it’s also an opportunity to spend time in one of the most beautiful landscapes the Midwestern US has to offer… I landed on the Great Sauk State Trail, which has its trailhead in Sauk City, and travels northward from there up along the Wisconsin river, then thru woods and prairie to the edge of Devil’s Lake State Park. All told it’s about 10 miles in one direction, making for a nice 20-mile round trip.

And - vital for Wisconsin for this time of year - it’s paved from end to end…