http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90471846
The weekend of June 4th marked the 4th brevet weekend organized by the Great Lakes Randonneurs in 2011. Many riders seeking to ride Paris Brest Paris, the big daddy of all 1200K brevets in August, had the opportunity this weekend to complete the series of 200, 300, 400 and 600 kilometer brevets needed to qualify for Paris.
My goal was to complete the 600K, my first since 2007. Originally, I would have liked to complete the full brevet series as well, but following my mechanical DNF on the 300K four weeks prior, I elected to regroup and shoot to complete the 600K. I skipped out on the 400K as I was having a new set of wheels built which were more of the randonneur style (easily serviceable in the field). The last thing I wanted was to have one of my current low spoke Ksyrium wheels break and become stranded yet again.
Weather forecasts for the day included temps in the mid 80s and 40% chance of thunderstorms. So as you can see from the pic below, I loaded the bike up with WAY more than I needed by adding a seat post pack, which pretty much converted my 17 pound titanium/carbon ride into a 40+ pound "Mack-trike". As I found, the added weight in back really impacted handling, especially when climbing out of the saddle. The new wheels came out real nice, with reflective rims to boot!
Loaded up with all of the conveniences.
The ride rolled out promptly at 6 am under hazy skies and 70 degree temps. If I had to guess, the total number of riders were at about 20, with most electing the longer distances of 400 or 600K. The route consisted of a clockwise 400K loop which returned to the start point in Delavan, followed by a 200K out and back route through East Troy, Whitewater and Jefferson. As this was going to be a long day and night ... and next day ride, nobody flew out of the gates too quickly. I was still undecided at this point whether I was going to attempt to ride straight through the night or to take a sleep break in Delavan after 400K.
Within the first couple of miles, groups started spreading out across the road. I found myself caught in no man's land with the lead group out about a quarter mile or more ahead of me. I resisted trying to catch them as there was no sense in burning up too much energy so soon in the day. Instead, I settled into a moderate pace which felt comfortable. As each mile clicked by, the lead group slowly disappeared into the distance, and by mile 20, they were no longer in sight.
Quiet morning roads of northern Illinois.
Crossing over I-90 Tollway
Today's first control stop was in the town of Kirkland, IL at mile 48. I figured if I was able to maintain my current pace, I would likely see some of the lead group riders still at the control. I was in good spirits as the roads were very familiar to me from brevets of old, so the early miles rolled by very quickly ... until the winds started to kick up. This first leg was primarily to the south, but as we came within 15 miles or so of Kirkland, we stepped more to the west. Winds were hardly noticeable until shortly after I crossed over I-90 and turned to the west and wham ... instant wind. No huge deal, at least this time it was as forecast. By the time I reached Kirkland at just before 9:00, many of the lead group had already moved on, but there were still some hanging out at the control. I ran into Rick Cosaro who was up with the lead group. We wound up riding together for the rest of the day. It was 30 miles to the next control in Oregon, now mostly to the west and into the wind. It was great to have Rick as company and to share the work pushing into the wind.
As we left, I was not terribly looking forward to this leg because of the wind and the general lack of scenery to look at. I was however looking forward to arriving in Oregon in about 2 hours where we would turn back to the north and hopefully some favorable winds to push us along. As we moved along, the temps were on the rise and I could feel myself start to cook. After 15 miles or so, we slacked back the pace quite a bit to recover some. A few miles out of Oregon, we see another guy Mike at the side of the road. We pull over to see if there was anything we could do to help. He holds up his front wheel which has 3-4 spokes which were sliced in half. The wheel was toast. Apparently he clipped the rider's rear wheel in front of him and got his spokes caught in the rear skewer. I can only imagine how badly this could have turned out, but thankfully Mike pulled out of it without injury, no doubt due to some quick reflexes and good balancing skills. Mike had flagged down a good samaritan who offered him a ride into town. In a few more miles we were crossing the Rock River into Oregon.
Rock River in Oregon, IL
When Rick and I rolled into the Oregon stop, Mike was there along with a number of others, including Jim, our organizer. Jim was the guy who saved my butt when I was stranded 80 miles from the finish with a broken crank four weeks prior. Jim was busy seeing what he could do to help Mike get back on the road. Surprising to me, Oregon had no local bike shop, so a new wheel would have to be found in another nearby town. I have not heard whether Mike ever did get rolling again, but I hope he did.
By this time, it was still only 11:30 or so, but it was down right hot out. The rain which was forecast earlier in the day never materialized, and because of that, it was much warmer than originally forecast, probably into the low 90s. I switched from hot, sticky Gatorade in both bottles to one ice water to dowse myself with. Problem was, without insulated bottles, ice water was hot water in the course of 20 minutes or so.
We left Oregon back across the Rock River and then turned to the north. Oh, I forgot to mention, as we came into town, winds switched to the north. Such is life! There were some fairly nice climbs out of town and good views of the Byron nuke plant we were heading toward.
Nice climb out of Oregon
Onward to Byron
They say it's safe?
As we passed the Byron power plant, I started feeling intermittent rain drops. It would have been a great time of day for a brief cooling shower, but as I looked up at the skies, it was clear those raindrops were not coming from the clouds above. This was precipitate from the steam clouds belched out by the twin 500 foot towers. I do hope that was not a radioactive shower because I really have no use for a third testicle.
It was a long stretch until the next official control stop back up in Brodhead, WI, at about 60 miles from Oregon. With these temps and the rate I was consuming fluids, we would definitely need to take an unofficial stop between controls. Rick and I pulled off in the small town of Pecatonica, IL to refuel. We first stopped at a small restaurant and each got a slushy to cool down a bit and then head up the street to a combo grocery/Subway for more fluids. I was definitely faltering in the heat and felt I needed to increase my intake of calories from solid food, rather than just sticking with a straight liquid diet of Gatorade and Perpetuem. I was also gobbling up 5-6 Enduralyte capsules every 2 hours at a minimum to keep the electrolyte balances in check. Felt like a junky popping all those pills! I scarfed down a sub sandwich before Rick and I head back out on the road to Brodhead.
Since leaving Oregon, it had become noticeably hillier, especially after leaving Pecatonica. The roads remained pretty straight, but they rolled up and down over and over again. This was pretty taxing to say the least, so we took our time climbing up one side so we could coast down the back side ... and repeat. This stretch was probably the low point of the ride for me. I was hot, had a difficult time finding rhythm, the feet were starting to blow up, and my back was aching with all of the additional baggage I was carrying on the back of the bike (most of which I didn't need or use). As we approached Brodhead, we were routed onto some pretty lonely farm roads which were pretty cool. We rolled into the BP station at 4:30 feeling pretty tired with the heat of the day probably at its highest, mid 90s I would guess.
There was another rider there when we arrived. We got our cards stamped, got some food and drink and head back outside to take a short break. This other guy Glenn, came down from Minnesota to ride with the GLR crowd. Sounded like he was pretty new to this stuff, but obviously was doing quite well. Our duo now became a trio as we headed out for a short 15 mile jaunt to our next control in Evansville to the north. From this point forward, all of the controls were spaced more reasonably together, pretty much in the 20-25 mile range which felt good as we would likely be needing more frequent breaks as the hours of riding took more out of us. Although only 15 miles, this was also a tough leg for me, again due to the heat. It took us nearly an hour and a half from the time we stopped in Brodhead and took a 15 minute break or so and then to ride the 15 miles to Evansville. Thus, our average speed was likely below 15 miles per hour.
We took another extended break in Evansville where I got a hot dog to try to get more salt in me. I laid down on the pavement and called my wife just to chat before night fell. I didn't feel like getting up or riding anymore and started thinking that it was still had 100 miles to go before we got back to Delavan, the 400K mark. At this point, I was definitely planning on taking sleep at the hotel (actually in the back of my van). When everyone was ready, we set out to the west to hit New Glarus, and one of the hillier sections of the ride.
Rick out in front on the way to New Glarus.
Note the shadows starting to get long.
As we cleared out of Evansville at between 6:15 and 6:30, almost immediately the three of us began riding at a faster, yet seemingly easy pace. In fact we all seemed to be feeling a bit better, primarily because the temperatures were finally starting to come down. This in fact, was quite and enjoyable spin, even the steeper hills we were riding into were not as challenging as I was expecting. There is also one really fun downhill on this leg as we turned onto Exeter Crossing road which I remember from the 300K and years past which lasts for more than a mile. That provided a lot of cooling as well as a fun filled descent.
We entered New Glarus at about 7:45 as it was starting to get dark. Good timing as we needed to stop to install lights and don reflective vests and ankle bands. We met up with a tandem which had been riding in front of us all day which we never seemed to catch, just at the rest stops and they would leave and we wouldn't see them until the next rest stop. New Glarus is a pretty cool looking town. Seems like a cool place to hang out when not riding your bike all day. At the gas station stop, there was a stretch limo there with a bunch of women who piled out, squeezed into dresses which didn't flatter most of them. They looked to be out on the prowl. My initial guess was bachelorette party. Or perhaps they were the entertainment? Oh well, I should just mind my own business, shouldn't I?
We left New Glarus the way we came in, with one little exception. The route card as well as the morning instructions from our organizer Jim, were very explicit that we needed to go straight after the traffic light, instead of turn right back the way we came. Apparently Jim wanted to show us something up this road. What he showed us was a short, but very steep climb out of town, probably at least a 15% grade. This one, certainly got our attention, so thanks Jim for that!
RBAs have a sick sense of humor - painted on 15% grade climb
At the top of the climb. My tongue was out at least that far!
As the sun set, temps, although still warm were becoming quite pleasant, especially with an open jersey. We had only 2 more control stops until arriving back in Delavan at the 400K mark. Next was Oregon (WI) followed by Edgerton.
Nice sunset somewhere between New Glarus and Oregon
We continued to ride with good speed and energy into the early evening. Once the sun dipped below the horizon, darkness came very quickly. There is not a whole lot to report on while riding in the dark. You do need to use some additional caution and space out distance between riders a bit more to allow for added reaction time to poor road conditions or traffic. If riding in front, its harder to pick out cars in your mirrors with the lights of other riders shining behind you so it is important for everyone to be as alert as possible.
This is what darkness looks like. Floating signs.
1 mile from control stop in Oregon at 9:30 pm.
As we left the Oregon control I was actually starting to feel a bit cold, like I might need to stop to put on my arm warmers. By the time we climbed the first hill, I was warm again. It's interesting that there are noticeable thermal pockets of cool and warm air as you are riding in the early evening. On some climbs and descents, I would guess that there might be as much as 8-10 degrees of temperature difference between the bottom and top of any given hill.
The other thing which we were reminded of at night time is that Wisconsin-ites love to party. We saw at least a couple of 20 foot high bon fires as well as parties with cars parked all over lawns. The good part was that it seemed that everyone was in their spot for the night and traffic was very light, and we were mostly on back roads. I would hate to be around when one of those little soirees broke up. This also sealed my decision to take a sleep break at Delavan. If the bars let out at 2 or 3 in the morning, I wouldn't want to be back out until at least after 4 to make sure the maximum amount of drunks were off the roads.
It was a relief to reach the final control stop of the night in Edgerton, with just under 30 miles to go to the hotel in Delavan. I was starving and was looking to really fill up to replace some calories so I bought these two burritos from the Taco Johns attached to the gas station. The first one went down real well but I couldn't finish the other so I stuck it in the back of my jersey. As I got out of the burrito place, Rick was talking with this guy who wondered what we were doing riding our bikes at midnight. Turns out he used to do 24 hour mountain bike races so we had a good time swapping stories. The return to Delavan was uneventful, I would up scarfing that other burrito down within 5 minutes of leaving Edgerton, and regretting it another 5 miles down the road.
The early morning streets of Delavan were understandably quiet. Just as we turned onto local streets, we spotted a cop who looked as if he was looking for something to do. We made sure to make full stops at the stop sign as to not be the subject of his attention and further delay the awaiting sleep break. We rolled into the Super 8 at 1:45, got our cards stamped and exchanged morning riding plans. My original inclinations were to head out while still dark after a few hours of sleep and finish the remaining 200K. Rick was planning perhaps a few hours more of sleep. In any event, we all wished each other a good night and we would see what tomorrow would bring.
I did not reserve a room this time around, so it was out to the van to get some sleep. After fumbling with my bike and trying to get everything loaded, I popped off the shoes, set the alarm, threw down the pillow and was out quickly. I awoke before the alarm. As I looked up I could see that the sky was beginning to change over from night to pre-dawn. It must have been about 4:45. Realizing I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep, I got up, changed and got ready to roll out. For this leg, I decided to travel light so I unbolted my rack/pack, and stuffed some tubes and levers in my jersey. After double checking to make sure I had all the essentials, I got back on the road by about 5:15, still before sun-up.
The sleep really helped out in terms of recovery, I wasn't feeling great, but wasn't feeling crappy either. I started things off slow and put my mind into focus that this was a new day and a new ride, not a continuation of yesterdays ride. It was a cool and beautiful morning. I watched the sun come up as the route turned to the east toward East Troy. I was back in my happy place again. I remembered these roads from the PAC Tour Brevet Week in 2007 which brought up good memories. As I came up upon Alpine Valley, I remembered the seemingly countless times we dragged our butts out of that deep hole. You get a screaming descent, immediately followed by a steep trudge out on the other side. I got to East Troy by 6:45 and ran into Scott as he was leaving the Mc Donalds.
Crossing under I-43 on a beautiful Sunday morning
The next leg to Whitewater was a fun trek (mostly). As I am leaving East Troy, probably not much after 7:00, I see another rider approaching from the distance. At first I thought it was probably a local out for a Sunday ride but as he came closer, it turned out to be Bryce, who apparently rode all night. Gave him the big thumbs up as he passed, followed by a bit of jealously, wishing I were in his shoes at this moment.
This leg wound up being fairly hilly. When you get routed onto roads with names like "Bluff Road", it's kind of a giveaway as to what is in store. The pavement was good and there were a lot of rolling hills through the back woods which was pretty cool. I recognized some of the trail markers for Kettle Moraine where I have been mountain biking before. After a while, Bluff Road took me out of the hills and woods and onto lower ground, where it turned into a crappy chip and seal road which took much of the fun out of the remaining trip to Whitewater. This was destroying my hands which were practically bruised by now due to the long day in the saddle. Got to Whitewater by 8:20.
Onward to Jefferson. A short trip at only 16 miles. I was getting tired and eager to reach the far point of the ride and the turnaround to home. It was also starting to get warm again although it did not feel as though it would get as hot as it did yesterday. Met up with Scott again in Jefferson where he left just before me. As we began the trip back to Whitewater, I tried to keep pace with Scott by marking him on the horizon but he was pulling away ever so slightly. I noticed he missed a turn and yelled out but he didn't hear me. I missed the same turn coming into town. As I found out later, he took the next turn up the road which put him back on track so no worries.
The rest of the return trip to Delavan was pretty much the same as the out leg, except warmer. I ran into Rick on the way out of Whitewater on his way to Jefferson. He was looking good. I warned him to watch out for the turn I missed on the way up and wished him well.
I only saw a couple of other riders before I finished the trip back to East Troy where I arrived at 12:15. The East Troy outbound control closed at 11:16 so riders who I saw within the last hour were pressed to meet cut-off times or be DNF'd on time.
The final 25 miles from East Troy to Delavan went quickly, partly because I found those oh-so illusive tail winds, plus I found that extra energy to get the ride over with. It was exhilarating to see the water towers of Delavan on the horizon, so I really started pushing it. Misjudging how far out I actually was, I ran out of gas about 2 miles from the finish. I rolled in at 1:45, nearly 32 hours after the start. Whew, great to be done!
Got changed, threw everything into the back of the van, cranked up the A/C, a trip to McDonalds drive through for some fat and calories and drove home. I had no problem staying awake for the hour and a half drive as I was still on adrenaline. But by the time I did make it home, I pretty much left everything in the car, took a much needed shower, and settled in for a well-deserved Sunday afternoon nap.
Completed brevet card
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