14 Drafters sang this song by the Lovin’ Spoonful:

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck gettin’ dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity?
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
All around, people lookin’ half dead
Walkin’ on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

But Monday night, it’s a different world
Go out and find a ride
Come on, come on, and draft all night
Despite the heat, it’ll be alright
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity
The days can’t be like the nights
In the summer in the city
In the summer in the city

The bar was open, but no shots were ordered. There were two takers for the short pour.

Kudos to Z for making the leap when he discovered the B Team had transitioned to the AC Team. There was a strong showing for the A for Acclimated Team. GQ was fearful is pretty face would melt, and Car Wash certainly did his best to keep his friend hosed down. Dr. Dewey, Z and BrickO broke the wardrobe code but beat the heat putting on a gun show. Rimshot was lobbying for a hydration break at Missouri Tavern, and was last been seen riding home on the bike path. It is possible there was a shot ordered after all?

Duracell get’s full credit for drafting full strength, with a permissible head start as he was needed home for parental Uber duty.

The heat advisory wasn’t issued for the temperature, but for Speedy looking cool and ridin’ hot on her new fire engine red Madone.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

LuLu and Vintage did some aerodynamic testing. Turns out the kitchen sink has more drag than anticipated.

Congrats to Gopher on his Olympic distance Triterium triathlon. His pace picked up after this HIGH-FIVE from his #1 fan.

CONGRATS to Grit and JR, Herbie and Tank on their SBT GVL victories. A win for sure finding a window without the fires threatening air quality.

The SpokeNFour reunion was in full swing at CamRock. Sadly, it ended in one wing in a full sling. Sending Slim healing wishes for his next flight.

So much green. Feeling left out? The HINCAPIE STORE is now reopened through July 4th. at midnight. PLEASE note when ordering there are options for jerseys: Velocity (race fit) or Axis (club fit). Bibs come in race or endurance (side pockets) and 2 inseam lengths. Link to Drafter store. Looking to make a deal? New, never worn women’s medium bib (2025 logo) and men’s medium axis jersey (2026 logo). Contact BrickO (or Watson and Hawkeye, respectively through GroupMe).

HAVE A SAFE JULY 4th WEEKEND! Ready to take the INDEPENDENCE CHALLENGE?

Not sure of the logistics, but gonna run with this half baked idea. Octane, Momma Monster and Spigot are the bakers, so I welcome there ideas on how to perfect this challenge. I suspect most of you equate riding with freedom, and given our country’s 250 anniversary, it seems fitting to link the two. Send BrickO via email or text (not GroupMe, please) a photo of you on a bike that gave you a sense of flying, freedom, or pure joy. If you have a Junior Drafter and want to share their first moment of movement freedom on two wheels, that would be great. These will be posted in an Independence Day Edition. Or something like that. TBD. Here’s a preview.

July brings the Draft back to Crossroads Coffeehouse in Cross Plains. No pizza, but there should be beer on tap. The bridge on KP is still out, so please note the routes are Creekside version 2.0. Full strength 39.7 miles and short pour 28.1 miles options. There is rumor of a KickAssKK return, so saddle up.

RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Creekside 2.0 ShortPour Departure time 5PM

RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Creekside 2.0 B team 4:45, A team 5PM

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

Two dozen Drafters were excited to be reunited with Belle and Bomber. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band led the serenade.

Some other familiar faces made their way back to the Draft. So, so, so good to have Midas and Footer in the lineup. Midas may have to repeat bootcamp. Rolling in seconds before wheels up with wheels that needed pumping up…. good thing she has that Midas touch! Sweeps rolled in 3 minutes after departure time. Firing out of the hole with such gusto, she blew a derailleur. Best 3 minute power ever. Well done, Sweeps.

Aside from Sweeps’ 3 minute best max power, no records were set. Fresh pea gravel on sections of Spring Valley Road kept the tempo. Dr. Dewey, proving the UW doesn’t give away PhDs, showed up on a gravel bike. It didn’t hurt the pace to have Keez limping along after her VO2 repeats at Nationals on Sunday.

Mentally exhausted from navigating through the the pea storm, Shaq and Barkley took a big break and even bigger short cut home. Skipper gave some sage advice as he passed by the big riders, “try to relax your shoulders and hold speed”. It might be aero to have your acromion processes above your earlobe, but it sure isn’t comfortable! Shaq had her massage therapist on speed dial.

Gravel wasn’t the only big surprise. LuLu and Columbus showed up with some Swedish Cinnamon Rolls!

An unhappy surprise… we wave goodbye to Cannibal as he and his beautiful family move to TN this week. Road trip for garden drinks is being planned.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

There has been a Gopher and Badger sighting in Oregon. Their natural habitat is only 2 blocks from the Drafter corral, but these beautiful creatures are rarely seen.

Knievel got dirty and failed to crash at the Belgian Waffle Ride in Montana, taking top 10 in his age category!

The CanAm team was fueled by cow pies at the Trek 100. Congrats to SneakO on his longest ride in 15 years!

Nemo’s son advanced to a Cat2 racer. That’s good. He decided to race Cat3/4 at Tour of America’s Dairyland. That didn’t turn out so good. Heal quickly. Just keep riding. Just keep riding.

Keez made her pro National Championships debut, but missed the Crit due to storms that delayed her flight by 24h.

Keez got her money’s worth at the road race on Sunday. Ice ice baby, to go, to go.

A shout out to all of those who put it on the line. It is hard to line up at the start of any event. It doesn’t matter if it is a pro national championship or riding your first 100K at the Trek 100. Hard stuff is good stuff. Congrats to all of those Drafters who challenge themselves.

Riding and racing is full of excitement, but also danger. Plenty of our fellow Drafters have been struck by vehicles- Vilks, Pit Stop, Keez, Sandlot come to mind in recent years. Tree of Rown, an honorary Drafter, was hit in a round-a-bout this week, clipped by a truck driver who felt the need to cut her off.

None of these Drafters did anything wrong. In every case, it was the fault of the inattentive (or worse yet, attentive) driver. The best we can do is draft responsibly. I appreciate all of you following the rules of the road, riding no more than two-wide, skinnying up on busy stretches, having front and rear blinking LED lights, radar, and wearing bright green drafter jerseys (ok, any bright color will suffice). Thank you. Let’s keep up the good behavior.

No green drafter jersey? If there is enough interest, the Hincapie store can be reopened. There is a men’s medium Axis (club cut) jersey available, ordered by mistake. Text or email BrickO if you are interested. Please don’t be shy about asking to try on a size and style (Velocity=race fit, Axis= club fit) before ordering as custom orders cannot be returned.

The theme song for next week comes from Credence Clearwater Revival. This is one of the longer routes of the season. As such, a SHOT will also be added to the drink menu.

SHOT 31.4 miles 5PM DEPARTURE.

RidewithGPS Link: Shy of Lodi

SHORT POUR 33.6 miles 5PM DEPARTURE.

RidewithGPS Link: Shy of Lodi Canning Co Short Pour

FULL STRENGTH 38 miles 4:45 if you need a head start, otherwise 5PM.

RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Lodi Canning Co

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

Theme song brought to you by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Who’s goin’ to ride that carbon two-wheeler?
Who’s goin’ to make that first mistake (Octane or Rimshot)?
Who wants to wear those Hincapie chamois?
All the way to Crystal Lake

15 Drafters, many with horribly tired legs and brand new kits, showed up for Crystal Lake. The Colonel and Hammer Time made a guest appearance, their FIRST draft as Mr. & Mrs.! Traveling light from San Francisco, the couple had to choose between packing bikes or a tux and wedding dress. Good call.

Vilks, Hawkey and Cujo had 200k of Horribly Hilly miles in their legs, yet still managed to bring the heat.

Their heat was chill enough for a photo op at Crystal Lake. Skipper jerry rigged a tripod using two bikes and wooed us with technology as he controlled the timer from his watch. The name is Bond. Skipper Bond.

“Do you want to take a picture of me looking off into the distance?” The appropriate response violates Drafter Code of Conduct. So Vilker obliged.

Octane dropped a chain and caught some flack on shifting technique. Not to be outdone, Rimshot registered his second mechanical for the year.

Another pair of guests were waiting at the finish line! Thing 1 is carrying two more little things. Can you spy with your little eye where the other one is hiding? Home stretch, T1… September is just around the bend!

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

Congrats to all of the brave Drafters who dared to climb the Horribly Hilly Hundreds! A special shout out to Cujo who volunteered to ride the 200k SOLO, starting an hour early to make sure the route was well marked and free from vandalism. Huge thanks to the Drafters who volunteeed at packet pick up at Wheel and Sprocket on Thur: Cujo Clyde, Pit Stop, Gopher, Duracell. The HHH is the flagship road event highlighting the Driftless region of WI. Gratitude for the hard work of Greg Wiegand and the Friends of Blue Mound. There are precious few endurance road rides left in WI. This event has survived despite countless obstacles (like the Town of Berry’s ban on HHH riders on their roads). Appreciate the Drafters who support this event by volunteering and/or riding.

HINCAPIE KITS HAVE ARRIVED! Credit to Skipper for the awesome design.

A special treat next week: BELLE AND BOMBER return to draft responsibly! There is only one route suitable for their return. Spring Valley will highlight many of the roads from the couple’s wedding prelude ride 2 years ago, and takes us over Bomber’s Bridge (35 miles). Departure 4:45PM B Team, 5PM A Team. Short pour 27 mile option departs 5PM. **NOTE: this is a brand new short pour route.

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | *Spring Valley

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | Spring Valley Short Pour

In the event of rain, please join us at Longtable at 5PM for a celebratory beverage.

Draft responsbily,

BrickO

It is 4:15PM on Monday. The Crystal Cat ride has been officially cancelled. Let’s hope the next 30 minutes deliver the promised rain to justify the decision.

Bomber and Belle will be drafting next Monday, June 15 . We are excited to retrace some of the roads from their 2024 Wedding Pedaling Prelude. Be sure to wear your best greens for a photo shoot at Bomber’s bridge. Can’t draft? Stop by to say hello after the Draft.

Full strength B team 4:45. Full strength A team and short pour 5PM.

Full Strength: 35 miles

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | *Spring Valley

Short Pour: 27 miles

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | *Pine Loop

In case of rain, we will convene at Long Table at 5PM.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

And epic weekend for Belle, Bomber and Momma Monster at Epic Bike Fest.

BACK LOGGED HIGHLIGHTS : Cujo has been grinding away on gravel rides, crushing it at Heywood, Ten Thousand Gravel and Coulee Crusher.

OTHER NEWS: you should be receiving FedEx info regarding your Hincapie cycling gear within the next week or two. Deliveries are directly to you, and require a signature. Not going to be home? Log into your FedEx account and sign for the package in advance.

Draft responsibly,

BrickO

110 vertical feet per Drafter. The horribly hilly ride out of Cross Plains wouldn’t seem so formidable if you could assign it that way.

30 miles. 2400′ of climb. 22 Drafters. When in doubt, climb. No doubt.

The B Team showed up in full force. Welcome back, Grit! A little tune up draft before disappearing to Steamboat for her next gravel adventure.

And one more squeaked in just after departure, burning a match to catch up with the B Team. Squeak has 3 young boys at home, so sprinting after a group posed no problem.

The air is thin at the summit of Shitcliffe. Pit Stop’s nasal passages were primed for the climb. This generated a physiological and anatomical discussion about inhalation and exhalation. Can you breath through your mouth and nose simultaneously? ChatGPT seems to think so, but the citations were suspect. Queenie’s air passages were also wide open, as he reportedly was overheard singing up the climbs. McGritty was inspired to take vocal lessons if it aids in climbing. Queenie was quick to dismiss his vocal training as the source of his climbing prowess, instead pointing to an isometric lunge as his secret climbing weapon. So many ergogenic climbing aids available.

To counter balance Squeak coming in hot, GQ was on site an hour early, securing the parking lot.

There must be something in the water at Creekside? Hawkeye flew up the hills so fast the group decided it best his wings be clipped before the next Draft. Octane lost plenty of sweat but his tank was full of gas, as he pulled the group back home on KP. Booker J drank the same Kool-Aide, which he bought for $80, along with blue shoes and sunglasses. His AI algorithm is set at the $80 price point, apparently.

Dr. Dewey and Enron didn’t drink the same Kool-Aide. A little late to the party as Dr. Dewey had mistakingly dedicated Monday as laundry night, she and hubby Enron made a run at catching Keez using Find My Drafter. Dr. Dewey took the QOM on Full Braun, but never caught up with the Draft.

The Drafters enjoyed the Creekside Patio and a special visit from Granny and Squirrel and their junior drafter. This Nordic blondie knows how to fuel.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

Anything is bound to happen at Unbound. Lightening, hail, mudfest. Sweeps conquered it all! And Spigot was there crewing for some 200 bounders, a selfless and grueling task.

June 8 will take the Drafters to Crystal Lake. The route got it’s name from a rescue in 2021.

Back to Middleton Hills, departures 4:45PM and 5PM for 35 mile route. Short Pour 5PM departure for 26 mile route.

RidwithGPS link: Drafters | Crystal Cat Short Pour

RidewithGPS link: Drafters | Crystal Cat

SPECIAL GUESTS! Belle and Bomber will be drafting the following week, June 15. Rain or shine, let’s celebrate their return.

Draft responsibly,

BrickO