This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.
Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Brothers.
This week we give one of the best short trips in the vicinity of Chicago. To take the trip, leave Chicago some afternoon by train, say Saturday, planning to arrive at Waukesha in time for supper. Begin the run early enough next morning so that you can reach Oconomowoc before the heat of the middle of the day. It is possible to either take breakfast at Waukesha, or to merely have a cup of coffee, and plan to eat breakfast at Pewaukee, at the head of the lake of the same name. The road is easily found, running north and northwest from Waukesha. Follow the railroad for a short mile, then take the left fork and run out two miles, after turning left again, before reaching the river, and follow along on the westward side of this stream into Pewaukee. The distance is about five miles and a half. After breakfast you can either take the steamboat down the lake to Lakeside Cottages, or run out across the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad, keeping to the left fork at the crossing, and running westward by Lakeside Station to Hartland.
From Lakeside Cottages you wheel up by the Lakeside station, cross the track, and turn to the left into the road running into Hartland. From Hartland to Nagawicka the road follows most of the way along by the railroad, passing Pine Lake, and then, still following the railroad, runs through Nashotah, at the head of Nagawicka Lake, continuing through a slightly hilly country to Okauchee, and thence passing between Okauchee Lake and Oconomowoc Lake, crossing the railroad just before reaching Giffords, and recrossing again a mile beyond, running thence into Oconomowoc. The road is easily found, except at a point just as you pass through Okauchee, where, on reaching the school-house, you turn to the left where the road forks and run direct to Giffords, as described. From Hartland to Oconomowoc the road is through very attractive country, covered with thriving farms, with frequently a water view over one of the lakes that is well worth the ride from Waukesha. Here and there you see summer cottages of city people in the midst of the farming country. The hills between Nashotah and Okauchee are easy to climb, as they are all graded, and the roads are as fine as any in that part of the State. The gravel which lies on the top is well rolled down.
After having had two or three hours' rest in the middle of the day, with dinner at Oconomowoc, the return trip can be made by what is called the Nashotah road, passing Soft Water Lake, and running on between upper and lower Nashotah lakes, thence following the road into Delafield, crossing the stream in the centre of the town, and running out eastward along the lower end of Nagawicka Lake. From this point the run into Waukesha is made over what is known as the graded road to Waukesha. This trip can be made easily in time for you to arrive in Waukesha early enough to take a late afternoon train for Chicago.
The whole country about Waukesha is filled with lakes and with picturesque scenery, and this particular trip can be extended in several different ways by circling any one of the lakes, or by making a stay of a day or two at any one of the towns, especially Pewaukee. Besides this, a good way to reach Waukesha is to take a steamer from Chicago to Milwaukee, and then ride down to Waukesha itself over the Waukesha-Milwaukee road race-course, the distance being twenty-five miles. This particular route will be given in the Round Table at an early date. The Waukesha route itself is about thirty-six miles in all.