Mother Nature pre-heated the oven. It was so thoughtful of her to help with heat acclimation for the upcoming Horribly Hilly Hundreds. She turned it up to 84 degrees, adding a little extra burn to the 2766 feet of climb. Pre-heating the oven also made for delicious pizzas awaiting the Drafters at the Creekside Scoop. On that… apologies to Twinkle Toes for being one delux pie short on the pre-order. BrickO’s math skills burned him.

27 Drafters enlisted for heat acclimation training, including two newbies and the return of Hawkeye!!!. It was exciting to his wings back in flight.

New to the flight deck, a warm welcome to Air Bourne. He has gotten dirty with the Drafters, but according to records dating back to 2018, this was his first mission on paved roads. Sherlock deduced there is no better time to enlist than immediately before the hardest mission. “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Welcome, Sherlock!

Not pictured but very much drafting responsibly, are Lost Boy, Squeak and Midas. Living up to his name, Lost Boy arrived promptly… in Middleton Hills. He had carefully and dutifully read the original blog post, but not the follow up mulligan post pointing out the location error. Reminder: Draft departures on the first Monday of each month will be from Creekside. Apologies, Lost Boy. Glad you found your way, eventually. Midas hasn’t lost her touch, coming in hot for her first Draft of the season on a brand new bike. Yeah for new bike day! Squeak was still in traffic when the 5 o’clock whistle blew, but wasn’t late ice cream after the draft.

There are so many drafters in the team photos, it is easy to miss the finer details. Like the MTB Slim is riding. That man has more watts than any of us know what to do with. The only thing greater than his power output is his humbleness.

The B Team put forth a “Smile Per Mile” challenge. Your Creekside Scoop Short Pour champions: Presley, Nemo, Pit Stop and Sherlock

There is something about a mother-daughter duo drafting together that is pure magic, especially when wearing matching ENVE cycling kits and pink Bontrager helmets (shameless product placement for Nemo).

They were quick to defend their non-green wardrobe selection. The dynamic duo had biked the day before in Drafter green. While Nemo thought the unwashed kit would be presentable, Sherlock reasoned otherwise after examining the olfactory evidence.

The A Team elected to engage in a team building exercise. This was not premeditated, but rather presented itself on the side of the rode when Ruby was indoctrinated into the Flat Tire Club. Who is the keeper of the plaque? While very capable of changing a flat, she was wise enough to let the boys have their fun.

Air Bourne started the team building exercise by unseating the tire, carefully extracting the debris from the tire and transferring it directly into his finger. No first aid was required. Twinkle Toes, clearly not afraid to get his hands dirty (again) took over from there. Car Wash was an excellent in his role as supervisor.

A huge shout out to the staff at Creekside Scoop for managing to feed so many hungry and thirsty Drafters. The pizzas and ice creams were just the thing to put the exclamation point on this fantastic ride. In between bites and licks, entertainment was provided by Monday Night Live, starring Speedy. When asked if this comedy show went on endlessly, Duracell assured the crowd that code word, “migraine” would be uttered as the garage door opened. Ha!

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

This Mother-Son duo rocked the Lake Mills Triathlon!

Tobacco City Boy and Dan-yelly hosted a different kind of triathlon. Three kids, one event.

Keez stepped up her status to Category 2 in the wild world of bike racing. Congrats on her podium finish in the Concordia Crit- Wisco State Championship.

These are all amazing examples of what cycling can bring to families. Sadly, I will shift gears to to illustrate what it can also bring to a mother and daughter on a Sunday ride. Keez and I were biking, single file, traveling north on Hyslop Road (irrefutably captured by GPS, see exhibit A), when a silver Chevy Silverado pickup approached us, honking the horn. There was no behavior for us to modify- we were already skinnied up as the road is narrow and the “S” curve limits visibility over the hill. As the sound of the horn drew closer, so did the vehicle, until it ran us completely off the road, with its passenger side wheels in the ditch.

The truck then came to a complete stop and the driver, with hostile body language, approached us. Being run off the road, Keez and I were no longer pedaling. I reached for my cell phone and dialed 911 and directed Keez to get the license plate, which she did.

He yelled, “You don’t own the highway.” I think he meant the road, but his driving speed did suggest highway, to be fair. Keez countered, “No, we don’t, and neither do you.” The only other exchange was him challenging us to continue “videotaping” him. And me assuring him that I was using the phone as a device to call 911, not to videotape him. As I was relaying the license plate to the 911 dispatcher, another vehicle approached, and the driver of the truck fled the scene.

The rest of the details are unpleasant, at best. Since he did not raise a fist or a gun, and since we did not fall off of our bikes, this incident did not rise to the level of a being “threatened.” An interview with the driver revealed a different story, a fairytale in which Keez and BrickO were “riding in the middle of the road” (please see exhibit A) and he “couldn’t get around”. This seems logical then, for me to call 911 and for him to flee. Sherlock, we may need to hire you to do some deductive reasoning. I was told that “both sides could do better.” While I assured the officer that on some occasions this may hold true, our riding on Sunday was not one those instances. There is absolutely NOTHING we could have done to be more safe as cyclists, or more respectful of the rules of the road and drivers on it.

Nothing about this is okay, except that Keez and I are not dead. There appears to be no legal recourse, but that doesn’t mean we are powerless. Our actions as cyclists impact other cyclists. I imagine that at some point, this pick up truck driver encountered a cyclists who had been taking their half out of the middle, and therefore assumed would be doing the same. Much like I judge pickup trucks more harshly than I do a passing Prius. I get it. Judging isn’t good, but acting on that judgement without cause is bad. As Drafter in Chief, I am so proud of our group for being good stewards of the sport. We won’t be the cyclists that cause drivers like this one to be angry and threaten the safety of other cyclists. We will not leave any Drafter behind. There is safety in numbers. It isn’t full proof, but it does give us some power over our beloved sport.

As the road becomes more dangerous for cyclists due to inattentive and road raged drivers, gravel and MTB trails provide sanctuary.

DIRTY DRAFTERS! Let’s get dirty. There is a new weekly Women’s MTB Group Ride at Blue Mound on Wed at 5:30, starting June 11. BrickO will be leading them starting in July. No, she does not have the skill to get up the more challenging trails like Overload, but there are plenty of entry level trails (Gneiss) to spend an hour or two, so come on out! Zach at Blue Mounds Bicycle Works is looking for men and women to help lead rides on other nights. Please contact him if interested.
There is a GroupMe chat for Dirty Drafters. Let BrickO know if you want to be added. Please use this to get impromptu rides going at Blackhawk, Quarry, Cam Rock, Cross Plains or any of the other parks.

Here is what’s on tap for next week, June 9. Lost Boy, we are back in Middleton Hills 🙂 Departure times 4:45 and 5PM. Short pour 26 miles, full strength 35 miles.

RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Crystal Cat Short Pour

RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Crystal Cat

Draft responsibly,

BrickO