The Bone Ride

Today I did the annual 154 mile or 253K ride from Tom Schuler's house in Wauwatosa WI. To Madison WI called the Bone Ride.

The Bone Ride 

I simply could not believe the turn out! My estimation is that there were at least 300 participants leaving Tom's house in Wauwatosa and with a stop in Pewaukee Wisconsin on the way to Madison WI we picked up at least another 100 maybe more!

Tom Schuler had a little talk about what the “Bone” ride was about before the ride and some basic ground rules for the ride. What Tom intended to happen was to have the large group broke up into small groups of no more than 40 riding two abreast doing at most a 5 minute pull at a “talking pace” so that no one would be working all that hard with the purpose (in Tom's words) was to do “stupid” miles or Bone head miles. Long steady distance miles is a part of all racers training in early spring and this was just a way to do it.

Ah! But the reality of the ride was a couple of very large groups of riders going at very high speed at times on very narrow and low shoulder or no shoulder roads for much of the ride through one of the fastest growing parts of Wisconsin with high volumes of traffic on the roads!

Combine that with at times some poor cycling behavior including many cyclists urinating right on the side of the road. No big deal if this was on a rural Wisconsin byway instead of a “New urban” area.

With the huge group the road was blocking cars from passing which brought out the Police to enforce two abreast and yielding the road to Autos. They were not happy. Just what we don't need. One guy was peeing at the side of the road right in front of the cops! Not to smart. Fortunately for him it was just a lecture and be on your way!!!

The other issue were the number of crashes that I personally witnessed. One was particularly nasty with a lot of road rash.

Now with all that negativity this could be a fantastic early spring ride with some changes to the venue given the new nature of the roads. One suggestion would be using the internet and have folks register and at that time get assigned to a small group with some kind of system. I am sure this could be easily done! And then stagger the groups when they leave with a rule that you are not to over take and make a group of 40 a group of 80!

These suggestions would help or eliminate what went on today with this large group of riders.

With 40 miles to go I baled on the ride and took the really nice bike trail and some much lower traffic roads back to Wauwatosa and I added about 20 miles to get about 180 miles in for the day.

Would I do this ride again? Not without some major changes....

KMB

Madison madness

Chaos in Pewaukee

Old New Glarus railroad building

New Glarus is a huge tourist town in SE Wisconsin but part of its attraction is old buildings such as this one. They get modified for modern use but the old architecture remains... KMB

Views off of the hill top

One of many fine hill top views on this great 300K journey! It was a hot and heavy ride but if you looked around it was just beautiful Wisconsin country! IMO life on a bike on a Brevet puts life in the simplest terms... KMB

GLR 2012 300K Brevet

When I arrived in Delavan Wisconsin it was already in the upper 60's at 6:30 in the morning. And for a spring day this was a bit unusual! For the 200K it was on the chilly side with winds out of the east with 50 degree temperatures.

For this 300K this early morning was just a prelude to things to come as the day progressed.
The ride started out with a slow roll out of town followed by a high speed roll into Brodhead Wisconsin with speeds over 25 mph in the lead group for some of the flat sections.

The main pace generation came from a couple of very strong riders and most were just hanging on for dear life with the smart ones opting for a bit slower pace for a long day in the saddle. I was not among the sane opting for a sane pace but felt strong to beyond that first check point until the heat kicked in.

After the first check point the hills really started kicking in to the second check point in New Glarus Wisconsin.
For me and many other riders the effects of this early season heat started taking its toll. On the long 3/4 mile plus 10% climbs the heat would just come up from the road and at least for me I was not used to that kind of heat that early in the season.

When I arrived in Barneveld Wisconsin and I was one of the first there I made a decision to get off the bike for awhile and avoid what for me was a case of heat exhaustion if I were to continue that ride at the pace I was riding. And so many other riders ended up there for a brake and something to eat. I was there for about an hour and after that I left with a group of riders traveling at a much slower pace.

From that point on my Brevet day turned in to a day to survive and a day to find a way to get to the finish.
I had severe leg cramps from this point until the last check point in spite of taking supplements and fine energy replacement drinks and it was just one of those days on the bike!

For me on this particular Brevet it was psychological battle which came down to not even looking up to the top of a hill! Breaking up a long climb with the pain in my legs concentrating on a tree or a road sign or a driveway!

So, working through those issues and not quiting and just hanging in there I made it to that last check point in Edgerton Wisconsin. And with a short stop and a roll out my legs started to feel better and I  hooked up with a couple of other guys to finish out this Brevet. For the last 20 miles of the Brevet the cramps left and my power returned and I finished strong.

Nothing goes according to plan on any Brevet but finding a way to finish is the goal. These are not races but more of challenging oneself to the course. Of course there is that friendly competition among riders and Brevets are the obvious events to train for ultra cycling racing if one wants to step up his/her cycling to the elite level....

KMB

Interesting retro bicycle

This is the most interesting bike that I think that I have seen in all my years of cycling! This is a Schwinn Traveler frame set built up with a three speed hub with multiple racks and bolt on water bottle cages. Fenders, wider tires and all on a very inexpensive budget. I think Christopher is on to something with this great retro bike and it just goes to show that any type of bicycle can be used to ride a Brevet! Christopher has tremendous genetics as a cyclist and he showed that to the lead group out to the first check point! Kudos and way cool bike... the KMB

The GLR 300 startline

A nice crowd for this hot 300k GLR Brevet. It was a hot day of over 90 by early afternoon. The heat was a factor for a lot of people including me. But I found a way to finish the ride! That I think is the spirit of riding rides like this since any finisher is equally recognized. These events are not races. The KMB

Cool retro trucks and cool retro bikes! This was at the start of the GLR 300K Brevet!