I just learned that Sparta, Wisconsin bills itself as the “bicycling capital of America.”
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| bicycle capital of America |
To that I reply, “Way to go Sparta.” Any town that is proud of its cycling connection deserves the title of bicycle capital. From what I’ve seen of the bike trail network in Wisconsin & especially in the Sparta area, they would certainly rate up there pretty high for me. Personally I would gladly put Sparta ahead of some of the other high ranking towns based on bike-trail density alone.
The most well-known trail in the Sparta area is the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail. It is a long trail through beautiful Wisconsin countryside. Any town can say it’s the bicycle capital, but those who can prove it through a solid infrastructure of trails, has an advantage over the competition, in my book.
Then there’s the cool bicycle statue that says welcome to Sparta, Wisconsin. Do Portland, OR & Boulder, CO have large bicycle statues? Oh sure, Boulder has the runner statue and nearby Louisville, CO does have a statue of the late-great John Breaux standing beside his bike; but the huge, colorful biker statue in Sparta kicks butt, in comparison.
The bottom line is that Sparta has the trails and it has the bicycle pride. Ladies & gentlemen, we have a new bicycling capital… for now anyway… until you can prove to me that your town deserves to be capital for a while.
