Monday started with a steady rain, which settled into a comfortable drizzle before clearing up just after lunch time. With dry roads and clear radar, the Draft was clearly on. Until a sneaky little cell found its way to Middleton Hills at precisely 4:24PM. A handful of optimistic Drafters waited patiently and just like that, Mother Nature took her showers elsewhere.

The B for Bad A** team welcomed back Velo, fresh off the plane from France. Ignoring jet lag and the inconvenience of needing to borrow a bike and shoes, he was ready to roll. His only request was for clé tri allen. Thank goodness for Google Translate. From a little less far away, Loose Screw and Skipper found their way back into the saddle. So good to have the boys back in town.

The A team was saddling up at 4:57 when what to their wondering eyes did appear, a man on a Trek ready to commandeer. Wheels up at 5PM, newbie. Saddle up and don’t leave your wingman. Welcome to the Draft , Goose!

The return of Skipper is cause for celebration for many reasons. One of those being a notable improvement in quality and quantity of action shots.

And dutifully falls back to capture this action shot on the formidable climb up to Festge Park.

BrickO and Hammer Time pulled whenever there was a headwind, while Vilks and Goose took their turn during the tailwind portions of the ride. In the final stretch down Schneider, the A team tried to shield Hammer Time, as she is competing in her first criterium races later this week. But she just couldn’t resist putting the hammer down, “It is so much fun!”. Yeah, it is. Go get em’ this week, Hammer Time!

The rain dampened any hope of a fire, but things still heated up in the back yard with Vilks and Skipper holding court from their perch on the hot tub.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

Dirty Drafters. Congrats to Momma Monster on her first 50 mile gravel grinder! And to Belle on yet another successful day in the dirt.

Cookie Monster set a new PR for first and fastest 5k race with all 3 kids!

Congrats to all of the Drafters who conquered the Horribly Hilly Hundreds: BrickO, Vilks, Colonel, Hammer, Octane, Car Wash, Shaq, Pit Stop, Squeak, Pepe, Puma, VonQ, Hawkeye, Spigot and Gopher. “When in doubt, CLIMB!” It was an absolutely gorgeous day to climb but many were often in doubt. Vilks, BrickO and The Colonel missed a turn and shorted themselves 20 miles of hills. While Vilks and BrickO made up for it with 20 oz glasses of beer, The Colonel did hill repeats to get in his 10k feet of climbing. Hammer Time took a different wrong turn, showing up all of the 200k riders with a few EXTRA miles.

Octane had some doubts at the start when he blew a shoe. Thanks to a fellow HHH rider who happened to have a role of velcro, he made the grade. Car Wash never left his side, making sure the Macklemore meets MacGyver solution was up for 10,0000 feet of climb.

Pit Stop was never in doubt when it came to rest stops!

In other shoe updates, Squeak swapped her cycling shoes for running shoes and ran repeats up and down Blue Mound. No doubt, Kona is coming.

A huge thank you to all those Drafters who volunteered for the various HHH clinics, pre-rides and packet pick up (Shaq, Octane, Z, Gopher, Hammer, Cujo, Car Wash, Spigot, Pit Stop and BrickO). And to Midas and Comet at Madison Multisport for hosting those clinics! Great teamwork.

Sad to have missed the HHH? Here is another fabulous opportunity to climb, L’Alpe Bl’Huez Time Trial.

Into climbing Blue Mounds but prefer dirt? Please join the Wednesday Night Women’s Blue Mound MTB ride, starting from the Blue Mound State Park trail head at the shelter/swim pool at 5:30. Not a woman? No worries. You are still welcome to ride, just not with the ladies.

LAST CALL! The Hincapie Store for Drafter gear closes Friday. This is your last chance to order kits this year. Please ask if you are unsure about sizes. Velocity is race cut, Axis is club cut. Measure twice, order once.

ROUTES FOR MONDAY JUNE 23: Full strength is 34.4 miles and the short pour is 31.2 miles. It’s hard to get a far view without going far! Departure times 4:45 and 5PM.

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | Little Less Far View

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | Far Far Far View

Draft responsibly,

BrickO