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Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=1337182
Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/148158799
This was the third brevet on the Great Lakes Randonneurs 2014 calendar and it turned out to be a beauty! Of the four distances offered in the Super Randonneur series (200, 300, 400 and 600K), I think the 400K is my favorite because it provides ample opportunity for a seriously long day and night pedaling away on the bike without the need for sleep (at least for me). I love the idea of setting off into the cool morning just after the sun rises, feeling the heat of the day and watching the sun disappear in the early evening hours as darkness again takes over. I already do quite a bit of riding before sunrise so I am quite comfortable moving along in the peace of nighttime.
Thank you to the GLR organizers for laying out such an awesome 400K course (thanks RBA Jim and company!) which provided some outstanding scenery, quiet roads, challenging terrain and a ferry ride to boot! Way cool! This course is one of my all time favorites.
I was equally delighted to have the company of a new friend, Michael to share the ride with on this day. Michael is newer to the randonneur scene, but is no stranger to long rides and has already put down tracks in France and has the desire to take on the challenge of PBP in 2015 which is also one of my goals.
Michael and I are also signed up to ride the National 24 Hour Challenge in Middleville, MI in two weeks from today, so I was using the 400K as my last long training ride before beginning to taper off for that event. Can somebody please tell me why I signed up for that again???
Weather for the day was perfect, with starting temperatures in the low 60s climbing into the upper 80s with no threat of rain (I was later informed that we broke the 90 degree barrier which I can believe). Winds were also forecast to be reasonable at about 10 mph from the SE for most of the day. My guess was that there were about 25 signed up for the 400K which pushed off at 6:00 am.
There were a total of 9 control stops on the route today as we worked our way in a clockwise loop around Madison, with the northernmost control at Baraboo before the return trip to Delavan.
We knocked off the first 31 mile leg to Edgerton pretty quickly in about 1:45, not a blistering pace, but hey, we were riding 250 miles today after all! Probably a good idea to leave something in the tank for later. We rolled into Carl's Shell at the lead of the group which was very advantageous, not just because we could get our food and brevet cards signed before anyone else, but I also wanted to make sure there were plenty of Cheese Heads to pick from before they were gone.
The next control was in Verona, another 35 miles away and just southwest of Madison which we reached just before 10:00 am. I had told Michael on the first leg that there were a number of Strava segments on the route which, depending on how I felt, I might want to contest. So if I just all of a sudden burst off the front, don't mind me, I'll wait up when the segment is finished. As the first segment approached midway between control stops, I forgot that Michael was not running an active route map on his GPS, so of course I go off sprinting for the next 1.5 miles to contest the segment and then soft pedaled for he and the tandem he was with to catch up. I wait a few minutes and no Michael, a few minutes more and other riders start to pass so I backtrack. First wrong turn of the day. I think they realized their miscue and within minutes they backtrack and we are all together again. Sorry dude, I wont be doing any more of that today, besides, sprinting kind of makes you tired! Did bag that KOM though. Sweeet!
Up until Verona, the route was relatively flat, with only a few minor hills to deal with. As we departed the control, we continued to stair step to the north and west, with the route getting appreciably hillier very quickly. We also began to see what were probably hundreds of other cyclists travelling in the other direction between Cross Plains and Verona, most of which were women. I recall seeing this before on past 400's. Very amazing how active people up here seem to be. As we reached the outskirts of Verona, Michael and I were turning a corner, and I hear the sound like a gunshot behind me. Michael's first tire blowout of the day. With the help of another rider's pump, we fixed up in no time and were back on the road.
We continued to press on toward Sauk City which was just under the 100 mile mark for the day, negotiating hill after hill, with one seemingly bigger than the next. During this leg we saw many immaculately maintained homes and farms which were quite impressive. Very nice to see how manicured entire neighborhoods looked. That reminds me, I still have to cut the grass. The biggest climb on this leg was on Dunlap Hollow Road, which averaged 6% for nearly a mile. Buy this time, things were really starting to heat up. Just when we were starting to feel cooked, we were routed onto a nifty little bike path which flanked the highway for a few miles as we gently rolled down toward Sauk City and the awaiting control at about 12:30.
It was very busy at the gas station quickie mart where we needed to get our brevet cards stamped and fuel up for the next and toughest leg to Baraboo which was only about 26 miles away, but extremely hilly. I opted for some salt intake so I grabbed my first cheddar wiennie for the day and topped it with more melty cheese, the neon yellow variety, mmmm good! There were lots of already sun burned locals in swim suits leaving with lots and lots of beer. Hope you don't run into us later!
After an extended break in Sauk City, we left with the Danhaus tandem in search of those hills. The first 9-10 miles or so were pretty tame but those once far off green mounds in the distance were looming ever closer. As soon as we turned onto Balfantz Road, the fun really began. This eventually turned into Freedom Road where there were some long steep climbs. Add to that, temperatures were now nearing 90 degrees so things got a might unpleasant during this stretch.
While the legs were still feeling fresh, I thought I'd try to hammer up the largest of the hills on Freedom Road, if nothing else, to try to get it over with as quickly as possible. There is one segment which is about 3/4 of a mile in length at about an 8% average grade topping out at about 14% in its steepest section for a net elevation gain of about 340 feet. This hill is particularly cruel because it bends around a corner, and just when you just about reach the top of the bend you can see the road start to level off. While you are starting to think that wasn't so bad, as you continue to complete the curve, the road shoots up again for the second half of the climb with the top no where in sight. I think my heart rate topped out at about 175 on this one.
As with all hard effort in cycling, there is usually a reward, and today we would not be denied a nice 5 mile descent down Happy Hill Road. This one was fast but I don't think I topped much more than 35 mph on the descent as I tend to be overly conservative when the grade pitches downward. I think Michael nearly hit 50 mph on his descent. Wow!
After we came down out of the hills it was just another 5 miles or so until we reached the control in Baraboo, about the midpoint of the day in terms of total mileage. By this time it was nearing 3:00 and it was still pretty hot. We took another extended break in Baraboo to try to get some strength back but we were both fading some with all of the hill work and heat. Nutrition at this point was also becoming a challenge because there was not a lot that was appealing to me but in knew I needed to bank some more salt and protein. I ended up with a Red Bull a Slim Jim and a Starbuck's Vanilla Frappuccino. How's that for an awful combination?!
Recovery was not coming as expected, even with an extended break, thus we opted to push on at a slower pace, hoping the heat of the day would soon begin to fade and the power from the engine would return.
As we were leaving Baraboo, we passed by the Circus Museum where I remember taking the kids when they were little and then a beautiful ride through Devil's Lake State Park.
Devil's Lake offered some additional climbing, speedy and twisty descents and some gorgeous lake views which were simply stunning. As one might imagine on a perfect day like today, it was also very crowded, with a fair amount of traffic. As we worked our way through and out of the park, our pace continued to be labored, so we were looking for the next opportunity for a break. This came with a cool ferry ride across Lake Wisconsin at Merrimack. I was hoping to grab an ice cream by the dock, but we literally rolled onto the ferry just as it was about to leave.
The ferry ride went really quickly, and next it was off to the next control at Lodi just a few miles up the road. we continued to struggle to find our mojo for the next few hours so we continued to take longer rest breaks at controls and try to do what we could to get the nutrition balanced and work on getting the core temperature down. There was really no need to hurry, as there was something like a 27 hour time limit on successful completion of the ride. All we needed to do was to keep moving down the road and knocking off one control stop at a time.
As we left Lodi, we began a pretty boring stretch due east for about 30 miles to the town of Columbus. At this point, boring was good, because boring also meant flat! That really helped me sort of tune out and keep the legs spinning at a fairly even cadence. We had also enjoyed for most of the day a prevailing southeastern wind of about 10 mph and now was the time we needed to pay for that! The wind profile was not expected to change for the rest of the evening so we were looking at 100 miles home into the wind on legs that already had 150 miles on them. No problem!
We reached Columbus just before 8:00 pm and things were starting to get dark. By this time, pretty much the rest of the group had all assembled at the control and everyone was getting lights and reflective clothing on for the remaining 70 miles back to Delavan. While Michael and I pretty much kept to ourselves for most of the day, perhaps riding intermittently with a few other riders here and there, we opted to stay in a larger group as night fell. That way we would have the benefit of lots of light on the road an lots of tail lights shining backward at traffic.
It was really nice outside as darkness fell. Temperatures were coming down quite a bit (probably in the low 70s or upper 60s) and it was really neat motoring along in a pack of 10-12 riders with all of those lights on the road. Also with the cooling temperatures we began getting our legs back as well. We weren't terribly concerned about the pace at this point anyway, it was a beautiful night for a bike ride through the countryside!
I wish I could say there was a great blue sky full of stars, but frankly it was difficult to see overhead with all of those headlamps and tail lights shining everywhere. Most of our attention was focused on watching for cars and keeping a good distance between riders and not getting into any trouble.
Did I say trouble? Oh yes, this is about when Michael began a streak of mysterious flat tires along this stretch from Columbus, to Lake Mills and basically all the way back to Delavan. It was peculiarly odd because he mounted brand new tires just before the ride! I pretty much lost the sequence, but I imagine we were at the side of the road maybe 4 or 5 times fixing flats. As we waited up in Ft. Atkinson for a few riders to catch up, Michael was WALKING his bike over some gravel and the rear tire blew. He worked though both of his spare tubes, and I donated a few of mine, one of which developed a slow leak which required repeated attention. He also blew a hole in the side wall (of that brand new tire) which required a boot which was so generously contributed by another rider. It was crazy. This did not deter our resolve to finish, only strengthened it.
Aside from an annoying several mile stretch of gravel road (new construction) the remainder of the evening passed rather uneventfully. There were still a good number of hills to negotiate along the way, but it was probably almost better that we were doing these in the dark. That way we didn't need to focus on where the top was, just keep crawling up one end, followed by a speedy roll down the back side. We reached the last control of the ride (before the finish) in Whitewater by 1:45 in the morning. I opted for double ice cream this time. Everybody, myself included was looking pretty tired. At this point, I had been awake for nearly 24 hours.
We departed Whitewater rolling through very quiet streets. I think even the drunks had gone to bed by now. After warming up a bit for this last 20 mile leg, there was a renewed energy coming from the front of the group which seemed to pass to most of us following along. We were probably 10 miles out of Delavan and we were doing some fairly intense pace setting (considering how long we had been out on the road). I sped up to reach the head of the train and it had died back down again, Darn, late to the party again! As we turned onto the final road to the straightaway home, about 2 miles away, I had presumed that the group was still pretty well together. Most of us were but I could see headlights back in the distance.
Since we were basically near the finish, I didn't pay it much mind since we would all be at the barn in a matter of minutes. Then this guy Lech, who we were riding with at the start, rolled up and tells me that Michael is back. I slowed up a bit and pulled out of the pack, looked back and saw a headlight. Assuming it was Michael, I soft pedaled to let him get back on. A minute goes by and the rider catches me; it's not Michael. I see another headlight. Same drill, not Michael. I ask if they saw him and get, he's about a mile back, with a flat. At this point, I wasn't even sure he had any more tubes, so I double back and by the time I reach him, he had already made the repair, but was nursing an under inflated tire. You just had to laugh at this point. What else could you do?
We finally rolled into the Delavan Super 8 at 3:53 am, nearly 22 hours after the start. It wasn't the fastest recorded 400K, but it was certainly chock full of great times with a few challenges thrown in along the way. I opted to sleep for a few in the van before driving home. A cat nap of a half an hour perked me up quite a bit and enough to make the hour and a half ride home. Rolled in by 6:30 took a shower and went down for a 2 hour sleep before attending to my Sunday chores.
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