It feels good to be back on this side of the pond. A big thanks to Cookie Monster and Tick Tock for keeping the Draft drafting while I was in Norway. I will try to piece together the highlights from the last 2 rides based on photos that were shared in my absence.
14 Drafters enjoyed a colorful Lodi Canning adventure. They rode fearlessly into the dark, only to be rewarded by a brilliant spectrum of light.
We have already inducted a Rainbow Maker into the Draft, so our Newbie who succeeded in summoning the red to violet path will require a new name. Welcome Roy G Biv, friend of Skeeter Bait. Doesn’t hurt that his real name is Roy. The rest just came naturally.
In other sporting news, Cookie Monster and E$ took the Shell Lake Triathlon by storm while Momma Monster lit up the Firehouse 50 and Keez took second overall in the Tobacco Days 10k (sorry, I guess the official PC name is now Edgerton Heritage Days).
The following week was no less colorful when it came to characters. The Indian Lake Extended Loop pushed KickAssK to her limits, thanks to Newbie known as the Canibal who reportedly put the hammer down. Word of the Canibal spread as far as Oregon (as in the WI community, not as far west as the Pacific coast. Come on, people, he’s just a man), scaring Drafters Dan-yelly and Tobacco City Boy into drafting from home.
10 brave Drafters managed to survive the Canibal and live to tell tales over a beer.
The most amazing ride this week came from Coach Arms, who claimed the KOM award (King of the Mommas). Welcome back to the saddle.
Z Rex and BrickO survived the Haute Route Norway, a three day stage race in Stavanger. While the “hills” were challenging, they would have been better served by growing gills than bigger quads. The first 100 mile stage offered solid rain, and the second 75 mile stage wasn’t much drier. When BrickO asked, “Why don’t we have cool rain gear like everyone else?”, Z responded, “Because we don’t choose to ride 6hours in the pouring rain at home.” This experience prompted retail therapy. Amazon has been busy delivering cycling rain gear to my house, in the case we ever loose our minds and enter such an event again. The 3rd stage 18k time trial was finally dry. Short and sweet, the Haute threw in 3 climbs over 20% (my Garmin said 26% at one point, and it felt all of that). Do we know how to honeymoon or what? In case you are wondering, we are still married. I thought it best to test our relationship right out of the gate with this event.
Riding a 3 stage tour gives me a sense of the chasm in abilities between someone like myself, and someone like KickAssK, who does this for a living. I’m sure more retail therapy will aid tremendously in closing that gap. The wind tunnel experts at Cronometro assured me that my non- form fitting wind breaker cost at least 100 watts. I’d like to think it cost more, based on the money I just spent on a “real” big girl cycling rain jacket.
We are going to be up against day light, especially with the high enrollment in the Flat Tire Club. I am proposing the 38 mile Spring Valley to Springfield route, knowing we may end up taking the bike path home (Tick Tock has to have some sort of pay back for helping running the Draft). There is another major short cut for those wanting a less demanding distance.
Download map PDF: Spring Valley to Springfield
Garmin link : Spring Valley to Springfield Garmin link
Last order of business: Good luck to those riding the Dairyland Dare this Saturday. Z Rex and I are downgrading our 200k to the 50k thanks to soft tissue damage caused by said 2 days and 175 miles of rain. Key ingredient for the week is Bepanthen Nappy Care Ointment. I’d bet my ass on it.
Also, the folks in Norway were impressed with our Drafter kits and I had several requests for opening another order. The Hincapie site is open for business until Aug 22. Follow this link and email me with questions:
Draft responsibly,
BrickO
brickosdrafters 