27 Drafters tackled a ferocious head wind on the way out of town. Dobie Grey had something to sing about as Z Wrecks and Slim pulled the B and A teams out Schneider Rd:

Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock ‘n’ watt and draft away
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock ‘n’ watt and draft away

Bond has been riding out west on a secret mission this season, but a new, older Bond joined the Draft. Welcome Sean Connery!

The A Team was treated to a cameo appearance by Sandlot, who has been battling her way back from a nasty knee injury sustained skiing. Despite missing breakfast and lunch, Sandlot found an ounce of extra body fat in her big toe for fuel. With Draft protection offered by Vintage and Cujo, she exceeded her goal of an out and back 10 miler and rode full strength with her drafter family.

Booker J held up the Draft as he needed a hot minute to apply at least three different sprays, lotions and creams. He is currently seeking start up funds for development of the Booker J Spray– a product that combines sunscreen, chamois cream and preparation H all into one easy body application.

Slim’s legs (not slim legs) provide safe passage into the head wind, as many of the other Drafters were spent from weekend shenanigans. Credit to LuLu for the following Drafter photos. Not included in the photo session is Super Q, who was drafting serendipitously and joined the Draft for a good chunk on KP and Otto Kerl. Always great to have those quads take a pull.

Slim wasn’t the only power in the house. It was good to have B2 Bomber back in Drafter flight.

The climbs up Enchanted Valley and Schuman always leave us breathless, both due to the elevation and the beauty. This time, Schuman also provided an unanticipated cheering section!

Kilo Watt has been absent from the Draft, but she took time out from mowing the lawn to cheer on the Drafters as they crested the hill.

IN WEEKEND NEWS: Congrats to Vintage on his WORS race. Vintage also deserves a letter of apology from the editor. Apparently, the mechanical debacle with T1’s bike last week was not entirely his fault. Noted.

Keez’s quad low battery light was also on as she had raced her heart out at the Maple Grove Triathlon on Saturday, representing UW-Madison Triathlon Club at Collegiate Club Championship. The Badgers took 1st overall team and Keez took second in the female division. Go Badgers!

Special mention (because there are no photos) to Loose Screw for competing and competing in the Core4 Gravel race in Iowa. In the other direction, Dan-yelly and Tobacco City Boy are representing the Drafters in the UP while LuLu was learning just how steep climbs can get in British Columbia. He might not be KOM, but he is on top of the world.

IMPORTANT DRAFTER NEWS: Hincapie kits are en route. Please check your email for tracking information from FedEx. If you do not anticipate being at home on the date of delivery to sign for your package, you can opt for indirect signature. It works about 50% of the time, sort of like marriage and weather forecasting.

There is no formal Draft on Labor Day.

The Final 50 and End of The Season Drafter party (although the season never ends, it just morphs into MTB and then fat biking) will be on Sunday, Oct 2 at 10AM. Awards to follow.

Sunset is going to make rides over 30 miles dangerous. WHEELS UP AT 4:45 AND 5:00PM, SHORT POUR and FULL STRENGTH, respectively. If work prohibits a 5PM start time, please consider riding the alternative (short pour) route at 5:30. It is only 2 miles, but (a little) less demanding.

Both routes include Braun Rd. The full strength route tackles the backside, which includes a 20% section, and extends the route home to include a few more climbs. The short pour tackles Braun the “normal” way, which is a bit less steep, and retraces the route home on Airport Rd (one of our earliest routes in the season).

Full strength RidewithGPS Link Backwards Brawn No Brains 30 miles

PDF Map and Cue sheet download for Backwards Brawn No Brains

Short Pour RidewithGPS Brains and Brawn 28 miles

Map and Cue sheet download for Brains and Brawn

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

WARNING: the following may contain numerous typos, non-sensical lyrics from a favorite Bob Seger song and stream of consciousness lacking hilarity, cleverness or any other form of entertainment value. There are reasons, none valid, but plentiful. My apologies, Mr. Seger. You deserve better.

On a long and lonesome highway
East of Middleton
You can listen to his engine
Moanin’ out his big gear song
You can think about the Drafters
Or the ride you had the night before
But your thoughts will soon be wandering
The way they always do
When you’re ridin’ thirty-six miles
And there’s much pedalin’ to do
And you don’t feel much like quitin’
You just wish the hill was through

See here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up in’ the watts
Here I go
Playin’ bikes again
There I go
Turn the pedal

26 Drafters conquered Easy Street. The excel spread sheet with that data was consulted 3 times in the last 30 seconds to verify the head count. Because I can hold a number in my head for less than the time it takes to look at the spread sheet and bounce back to the blog. Sad. True. And not improving with age. The B for Bad A** Team had 10 little Drafters went out to ride. Seven opted for the short pour and then there were nine. Or three. But that doesn’t work with the rhyme. Z Wrecks, Loose Screw and Pepe led the XY-Z full strength crusade.

No wonder the XY-Zs rode separately from the XXs. Who would want to bare arms with these two women?

Not Tick Tock and Sarge. They decided to start and finish a few blocks away.

The A team was missing a few due to tired legs post Race the Lake (Cannibal, Blurple, Sandals, Zephyr, maybe Rimshot and many others who I’m sure I’ve missed) and Ride Across Wisconsin (Special K).

Fashion models of the week go to Gopher and Pipes. There isn’t photo evidence of Pipes, but imagine a pair of denim shorts over cycling shorts. Her drafting prowess may be questionable, but this 2 time Olympian (silver and bronze, just shy of gold, but what’s the big deal over a fraction of a second? Second, apparently) was bragging to Midas about her incredible gold medal ball handling skills. Back yard banter.

Siri: What is the meaning of flamingo dance?

1 : a vigorous rhythmic dance style of the Andalusian Gypsies also : a dance in flamenco style. 2 : music or song suitable to accompany a flamenco dance.

The sock fashion game is really heating up. Skipper brought Slim a pair Pseudo Sue socks, which will be a dramatic improvement from his white Nike cotton basketball crew socks- a different kind of dinosaur. When you put out big watts, you can get away with wearing whatever socks you please.

The draft was relatively Easy, with only 3 “real hills”. Keez pointed out that BrickO qualifies a hill as being above a 10% grade, and regardless of how many occur on a single road, they count as one.

The only real excitement was a flying Squirrel sighting, or perhaps it was a heron, or a crane? Hard to tell. We can rule out flamingo.

Cannibal wins the Moulin Rouge award, which is much more prestigious than the Lanterne Rouge award. He went back for Booker J, who decided to use his two-wheeled machine like a scooter rather than a bicycle up climb on the Madigan Rd. Clipless pedals can be tricky, Booker J.

Vintage was so busy pre-drafting that he forgot to submit a service ticket for Thing 1’s bike. While still falling short of his mechanical duties as husband, it is a dramatic improvement over last week when he left her chainless. Some husband leave their wives breathless. Resourceful, T1 found some dirt to play in.

Thing 1 isn’t the only one playing in the dirt. Two thumbs up for our Little Dirty Drafters.

Also playing in the dirt, or at least the dusty gravel was our long long Drafter, Slow Cow. Perfect timing for a reunion, as BrickO joined the Flat Tire club drafting responsibly on the Badger State Trail with Ma Brick. In exchange for using Slow Cow’s tire pump (CO2 misfires are no joke), a flat tire changing clinic ensued. Slow Cow is now a card carrying member. And vowed to Draft this coming Monday (not starting from Free House, as he did in his previous attempt).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The end of the year Drafter 50 mile ride will take place on Sunday, Oct 2. Awards to follow. There will be NO DRAFT on Labor Day, Sept 5.

The ride for Monday, Aug 29th will be the Pine Loop.

RidewithGPS link for Pine Loop.

Download map and cue sheet.

Draft responsibly,
BrickO

The Drafters reached new heights on Monday as attendance soared to 35! Both teams were kitted up and eager to pump some wattage through their quadage on the western front.

19 Bad-Assadors enlisted for the short pour. Dan-yelly and Ditch were off like a shot before the camera crew arrived.

Speedy, Duracell and Nemo came in so hot Nemo’s bike was flaming red. The crew picked up Queenie who was jammin’ down the street. All tardiness sins were washed away with confession at Church. Z Wrecks and Knievel pulled a stunt and rode full strength, clearing 7 deer who ran out on Moe Rd.

The A Team wasn’t entirely innocent. As Thing 1 was all dressed up with no chain to go, which she didn’t realize until attempting to roll out of the garage. Vintage’s penance for chain thievery was paid by riding 47 miles before Drafting, keeping him right on the edge. Vilks definitely missed out on an opportunity there.

The A Team did a fly by on Airport Rd to give Zephyr a lift. Never discount the draft protection of somebody over 6 feet tall. Skipper was able to capture the essence of the Draft in heavenly light.

Weekend Events: Congrats to Bomber and Belle on their SBT GRV race! Brutal.

A very Happy Birthday this week to our Tobacco City Boy.

The days are getting cooler (yeah) and shorter (boo), and so will our routes to keep us in before dark. The routes for Monday August 22 will take us north through Dane. Departure times are 5PM and 5:30PM. There are 30 and 36 miles options for the short pour and full strength, respectively. If there are concerns about getting in before dark, please do not hesitate to form your own drafter until with an earlier start. For the sake of trying to heard cats, the official times are 5 and 5:30PM.

RidewithGPS link 100 Miles to Easy St SHORT POUR

Download PDF map and cue sheet short pour:

RidewithGPS link Viaduct 100 Mile to Easy St FULL STRENGTH

Download PDF map and cue sheet full strength:

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

In order to provide the best service possible, there are two services on Monday.

The 5PM service will be a bit shorter confession ( 33.5 miles).

RidewithGPS link to Confession Shorter Church Session

PDF map and cue sheet to download for short pour

The 5:30 service will be a bit longer (40 miles) and is worth the extra time. Of course, if you arrive at 5PM and want to stay for the 40 mile service, please do so.

RidewithGPS link to Moe Church

PDF map and cue sheet to download for full strength

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

You can take BrickO out of the Drafter but you can’t take the Draft out of the Drafters. Slim and Keez stepped up Monday night to host the Draft, wrangling 27 Drafters north to conquer Black Hill. Wrangling Drafters is easier than herding cats, including Calico, our newbie Drafter. Welcomeow.

Pres and Walt made their 2022 debut with the B for Bad A** team. Knievel rode strong without pulling any stunts requiring medical attention. Missing from the group was Loose Screw, as he was celebrating his birthday responsibly.

Keez provided a strong pull, although perhaps not always in the right direction. Apple. Tree.

The A Team was light on numbers for women, but those women were not short on watts. Granny and Thing 1 represent the finest in female physicians and watt output, brains and brawn.

All made it back to base camp safely. There was a RAW reunion with plenty of ruckus. Videos were sent and will not be posted.

A shout out to a few Drafters on their weekend activities. Keez and Cujo rocked age group national championships in Milwaukee. Not the same age group.

Footer locked in two gold medals and is the overall champion for her division at Barefoot Nationals. Her husband, the Legend, took silver in the UW Open Pro Top Division, and son H earned two silvers. That’s a footin’ family!

Z Wrecks, Vilks and Z finished matched miles with degrees at the Dairyland Dare and lived to drink another beer. Due to some faulty map reading, the crew finished the 150k in a record 65 miles. Keez comes by her directional impairment honestly. They did an illegal U-turn just before the finish timing mat and dutifully set back out to recover their missing miles. Integrity over intelligence, in this case?

Ninja, with out Green Bay cohort, also bleed green in the heat and recovered responsibly.

Sending good vibes to Belle and Bomber as they face the SBT GRVL this weekend!

CONGRATS to LuLu and Columbus on their NEW HOME. Roof responsibly.

Monday Aug 15 Confession: we are taking the shorter route to Church and not feeling guilty. This is a 33 mile route without any super obvious short pour option.

RidewithGPS link to Confession: Shorter Church Session

Map and Cue sheet PDF

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

The 2022 Drafter season marks 10 years as a cycling family, and 150 enlisted drafters since its conception in 2013. While there were no newbies on Monday for the Spring Valley loop, a MIA Drafter reappeared. Unrecognizable in cycling shoes, he quickly fell into line and drafted responsibly. Welcome back, Sandals.

28 Drafters were in the corral. The horse power in the B team was mighty, including 3 of the 4 podium winners from the Tour de Dane Femmes. Pit Stop claimed the yellow, Nemo the silver, Squeak the green and Columbus in the polka dot jersey. Congratulations to all the Femmes and Mennes who supported the Tour de France Femmes on a local level.

The fashion factor was phenomenally high, as the Hincapie kits arrived last week. Han Solo and Nitro were suited up in their new Drafter gear. It appeared as though Pipes had her 7-year-old pick out her kit, mixing and matching. Garanimals has nothing on you, Pipes.

The B Team tried to chase down Duracell and Queenie, but this pair of stallions could not be reined in.

Z Wrecks had enough giddy-up to pull a break away group. Loose Screw had little in the way of horse power as he had spent the afternoon baling hay, but chomped down on the bit and drafted responsibly. Fortunately, he had enough energy to out maneuver a family of raccoons who challenged his bike handling skills.

The A Team had some mechanical issues right out of the gate. Skipper had lost a shifting cable during the Lake Ripley Ride on Saturday, so brought his gravel sled. It is the bike equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Blurple was the exemplar Drafter, circling back to aid Skipper in the fight. A salute to the entire Drafter Team for drafting responsibly, riding no more than two wide and single file in traffic, keeping Strava segment hunting to a minimum, and helping a fellow Drafter whose machine has broken down.

Granny blew two tires before the A Team even hit the town line. Respecting the Drafter code, several members of the A Team pulled over to lend assistance. The remaining team members stayed just close enough to comply with the code of ethics and still keep their hands clean. There was much suspicion over the close proximity of Squirrel as he arrived on the scene faster than an Uber. Granny earned the Airport Rd QOM (Queen of Mega flats).

The brutal head wind was beautifully broken by Slim and the big boys in front. Riding 60 of his cumulative 100 miles this season at the Lake Ripley Ride two days before, Slim seemed to reach an immediate peak level of fitness and grew stronger as the night went on. Vilker and Skipper, who had also made big waves at the Lake Ripley Ride, did not. Low on quad reserve power, Vilks serpentined up the formidable Table Bluff climb. Disgusted with himself, he turned back half way up to start again. Quad power wasn’t the only force to dwindle. The wind died down completely, offering no assistance to Skipper riding home solo on his gravel sled. Slim was two burritos into his recovery when Skipper rolled in. Better than a burrito, Skipper had a great attitude and an extra Untitled Art beer for BrickO.

Vilks was on board with Skipper’s post-draft attitude, and celebrated of his Table Bluff unintentional hill repeats with a bourbon. The credit for that brilliant idea goes to Billy Boy, who made a post-ride and birthday week appearance. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BILLY BOY AND COACH ARMS!

A few shout outs to some weekend warriors. Cujo took first place in the 24 hour solo category at the Washington Island Ultra Triathlon, completing 17 triathlons, plus an extra swim. The runner up finished 16 triathlons, plus 3 extra swims. Who let the dog out? She’s frothing at the mouth to compete this Saturday in Milwaukee for Age Group National Championships along with Keez. GOOD LUCK, DRAFTERS!

Far from a race, 16 Drafters participated in the Lake Ripley Ride for JDRF. Congrats to the Monster Family for completing the event with 3 generations of women (well, the third generation being 4 weeks and 2 years old, but you get the idea). E$ provided the horse power to carry the sleigh. There was a Pres and Walton sighting! Squeak arrived early to swim, biked 20 extra miles and then went running in preparation for her upcoming Ironman. There were signs that Duchess and Sandlot were looking dang good. Pit Stop completed the last stage of the Tour de Dane Femmes, earning the yellow jersey. Coach Arms rode twice in the same week without Mom guilt, not a small feat. Slim tripled his total miles for the year. Skipper found the spare key to Footer’s cabin and hosted fun in the sun with Z Wrecks and Octane, who was perhaps more wet in his jersey than standing in the lake in his swim trunks. The Monster Family provided cookies and raspberry tart for everyone, and then an extra plate for Vilks.

And Nemo secured her Silver Jersey by completing the Trek 100 Ride for Hope.

Looking to join the Drafters for another Saturday of fun filled riding? You can still register for the Dairyland Dare. Prefer not to draft? Dare to volunteer!

FOR SALE: if you are looking for tubular wheel sets, here is a lead on HED Stinger 5/7 ($800) and 3/3 ($700) and Zipp Sub 9 disc ($900), OBO.

The route for Monday August 8th will be 34.5 miles BACK IN BLACK. Short Pour option of 25 miles is to follow the route to the intersection of Lodi-Springfield & Black Hill and do a U-Turn, skipping the hellacious climb and northern loop.

RidewithGPS link to Back In Black

PDF Cue sheet

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

The Tour de France Femmes was an extraordinary event, held the first time in 33 years. In order to support these incredible women throughout 8 stages in their pursuit of watts, teamwork, integrity, podium finishes and putting women’s cycling on the map, the Drafters held a Tour de Dane Femmes.

The mission was simple: encourage women to pedal, support local bike groups, bike shops and worthy causes, instill the spirit of racing with time trial and mountain stages, and have FUN while drafting responsibly. In that, we enjoyed tremendous success.

In order to earn the YELLOW JERSEY, a rider had to meet the following criteria: 1) complete 3 of 5 organized events including the N+1 50 mile ride, BrickO’s Drafters Monday ride, Wheel and Sprocket Women on Wheels ride, Lake Ripley Ride for JDRF or the Trek 100 Ride for Hope; complete the 2) Mountain Stage, and 3) Time Trial Stage, with a finisher photo at Crossroads Coffeehouse.

Just like the professional racers in the Tour de France Femmes, these women had to overcome mechanical issues, road obstacles and unanticipated barriers to success.

Dan-yelly, with the support of her hubby, Tobacco City Boy, left him in charge of their three children to fearlessly climb Cleveland and Deer Run for a shot at the Polka Dot jersey. A dropped and trapped chain would have been the end for most Femmes, but not this Drafter. With a rapid fire GroupMe message, the Drafters were quick to respond. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime was unable to guarantee same day delivery in the mountains, but the link for Wolf Tooth Pack Pliers was not unappreciated. Wheel and Sprocket was able to remedy the mechanical failure and get Dan-yelly back on the road to finish the stage, although not claim the podium.

Not all of the Drafter Femmes were able to be in Dane for the race. And yet, their spirit was in full force. Belle organized the union of BrickO’s Drafters and the Stonefield Wheelmen and the support of N+1 to host a 50 mile ride to kick off the first stage of the Tour de Dane before she headed out of the county (and state).

While Belle was out of state, Thing One was out of the country doing the Tour de South Africa. From another continent, and without WiFi, T1 still supported the Tour de Dane.

Other Drafters had competing races on their schedule. Cujo was tapering at the Drafter ride on Monday (leading the B team) for her Washington Island Ultra Triathlon, where she completed 17 triathlons, plus an extra swim lap for good measure. Cujo turned in the most miles during the Tour de Dane at 312.

Cookie Monster provided fuel for her fellow Drafter Femmes at the Lake Ripley Ride. She had her hands too full to complete all of the stages of the Tour de Dane, but she provided enough cookies and raspberry tarts for everyone to race for a month. Cookie Monster is the first women in the history of cycling to complete a stage with her mother and daughters.

Motherhood is one of life’s greatest gifts. And while it may limit time on the bike, it makes the time we are able to spend on the bike another one of life’s greatest gifts. Coach Arms was able to squeeze in the Lake Ripley Ride and the Mountain Stage between recruiting trips for the University of Wisconsin Women’s Hockey Team and life as a mother of two beautiful Femmes. Coach Arms has quads that are polka dot jersey worthy, but an unfortunate timing for chip sealing Deer Run Rd had her slightly off route and pace. The win isn’t always rewarded with a podium. There is no coming down from a win like this one.

The polka dot jersey was worn by the same Drafter for the entire tour. Columbus knows her way up a mountain her roar could be heard for miles.

The green jersey changed… hands (?) several times throughout the Tour de Dane. Squeak laid claim to the sprinter jersey in Stage 8, acing out Nemo by 0.32 seconds. Nemo didn’t leave the tour without a jersey, however. The Drafter Tour de Dane awards a silver jersey to the most mature cyclist. After a stage win in the Tour de France Femmes, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), age 39, credited her victory over younger riders to more time in the saddle. Annemiek went on to win more than just a stage. Age isn’t always our enemy.

Squeak entered the Drafter Tour de Dane as part of her training for Ironman Wisconsin. After coming off a 70.3 in Finland, Squeak was in prime condition to claim yellow but decided to split her efforts between swimming, cycling and running. She arrived early to the Lake Ripley Ride to get in some laps, rode an extra 20 miles after completing the metric century, and then ran out the rest of her glucose stores. That was on Stage 7. For the final stage, she awoke to run 15 miles before claiming the green jersey and coming close to dethroning Columbus from Queen of the Mountain. And then she went mountain biking.

The winner of the 2022 Drafter Tour de Dane Femmes completed all 5 stages ON THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of her bike accident, which left her unable to walk for many weeks. An inspiration for women’s cycling and for life, congratulations to Pit Stop on earning the YELLOW JERSEY. She might ride with the B team on Monday nights, but she is part of the A Medical Team (Nitro, Pit Stop and Squeak) and the epitome of integrity, grit and strength.

There is one more jersey to be awarded. And that goes to the Tour de Dane Drafter who embodies the spirit of support even when they aren’t pulling their teammates to the podium. The vote for the Drafter Excellence Award was unanimous, and the fact that it was a committee of one shouldn’t take away from that. Congratulations, Sandlot. She volunteers on her day off from the clinic, where she also received the Nurse Excellence Award, to ride sweep for the W&S Women on Wheels ride, and provides clever and positive feedback for her teammates on nearly every Strava post throughout the tour. Coming off a serious knee injury, she has been working hard to add miles in the saddle and finished the 40 mile Lake Ripley Ride without the slightest hint of fatigue. She is the sunshine on a cloudy day.

Congratulations to all of the Drafter for participating and contributing in so many ways to the first annual Tour de Dane Femmes. And thank you to our sponsors at Online Cycling Gear for their generous donation of the podium jerseys. Please use code 20%brickson for all future purchases. And thank you to Hincapie Sportswear for the stunning kits that keep all Drafters in a green jersey. Use code SBRICKSON for 20% all non-custom orders.

Draft responsibly,

BrickO