Century Rides that were like Night and Day

With summer winding down, I just participated in a couple of great cycling events. I usually try to do a couple of mid-summer Century rides, but with vacation and some other things that came up this summer I wasn't able to do the Heat Stroke 100 or Bay View Bicycle Clubs - Lake Country Classic.

These next two rides were only a week apart but they were like Night and day...

A little over a week ago I rode in the Cream City Cycle Club Century - Aug. 29th. This ride started out of Waterford Wisconsin and it wasn't bad at the beginning, but as the day wore on, the temperature and wind speed both started to increase. By the end of the ride I was close to "bonking". Not as bad as some, who required some medical attention, but I downed some fluids, ate the post ride meal (spaghetti dinner) and rested in the AC of the Waterford High School building before heading home. This was definitely a last ride of Summer with the heat, sun and wind to prove it.

Now fast forward exactly one week to Sept. 5th at Mt. Horeb, WI - actually Tyrol Basin Ski Lodge - to start the Wright Stuff Century (WSC). For this ride the temperatures were almost 35 degrees cooler (maybe 40 degrees at the start) and no wind for the first 3-1/2 to 4 hours. I followed a few tips on this ride that helped thru the day. Started with a 16oz sports drink about 2 hours before the start, I drank more during the ride (my hydration pack helps with that) and ate less at the rest stops. That's not to say I didn't eat, but I kept it to a piece of fruit and carbs with some protein; like a 1/4 bagel with peanut butter or I spread some peanut butter on a oatmeal cookie and then a banana or watermelon or orange slices. At the end of the day I had no cramping and felt a lot better. No doubt the lack of heat played a big factor it that, but the hills (and the number of them) are a lot tougher on this ride than the one a week early. The WSC was definitely the first ride of Fall (but not the last).

Safe riding all.

BVBC Classic Century

It was still sprinkling as I got close to Oconomowoc, WI on Saturday morning. The Bay View Bicycle Clubs Lake Country Classic was due to start (for the 100 mile route) at 7:00AM. I pulled into the parking lot of the church that they were using as their start/end location at about 6:30AM. As I parked the car I saw Gloria and Laura, two member of the same bicycle club that I belong to, looking at the sky and trying to decide if they would ride or not. I went inside and picking up my cue sheet/map and the wrist band, and by the time I came back out the rain had stopped. As I was unpacking my gear and the bike a few more members of our club showed up for about 8 of us all together. One snag, somehow I forgot my helmet, but fortunately a local bike shop (Wheel and Sprocket) was on site and sold me one at a reasonable price. Our group pulled out to start the ride at about 7:30. My part of the ride was logged on my Forerunner 305 (posted in the right hand column of this blog). The ride goes through some very pretty country side, know as the Kettle Moraine. The rest stops were well stocked with water, Gatorade, homemade treats and even BW3 wings at one of the stops. Gloria and I pulled into the church at the end of the ride at about 2:30PM, we had passed the other group from our club, who had stopped to help with a flat tire. All in all it was a great day, a little on the cloudy side, but it wasn't cold and the sun did come out occasionally during the course of the ride.

This weekend Waukesha, WI hosts the Carl Zach Cycling Classic (part of the Super Week Pro Tour). Our club, Spring City Spinners, is a sponsor and we'll have a booth near the start/finish line in downtown Waukesha on Saturday, July 19th.

Safe riding all.

3rd century this year

Well actually this was a metric century, so I've done the following; one(1) - 100 mile ride (BVBC Classic) and two(2) ~62 mile rides; one adhoc and the other was this passed weekend, the Cream City Cycle Club Ride. I started out intending to do the full 100 miles, but I felt a cold coming on (and today confirmed it), so myself and two other members of our club (pictured below) decided to do the 62 mile route. This route had one of the best downhills I've been on in Wisconsin. I topped out, speed wise, right at 44 MPH. But what goes down must climb out, and it was a good hard climb as well, luckily the rest stop wasn't far away.















Here's Gloria and Ron enjoying some cookies at the last rest stop in East Troy. Only 18 miles to go at this point. We finished at the Waterford High School and took advantage of the post ride meal. Spaghetti and meat balls always tastes great after a long ride. Now I just have to get over this head cold, and get in some more riding, summer's almost over.

Safe riding all!

Weekend Century Ride

There were 18 members of our club (Spring City Spinners) participating in Bay View Bicycle Clubs "Classic", this pasted Saturday. The day started out in the mid 70's, but it was clear, so the Sun was beating down throughout the day. Several of us did the 100 mile route, starting out of Oconomowoc, WI at ~7:15AM and working our way southwest through Waukesha, Jefferson and Walworth counties. The rest stops were well stocked with fresh fruit, cookies, brownies, and other high carb snacks, plus plenty of water and Gatorade. Our only complaint was that as the day wore on, the fruit (and water at the last rest stop) had been left in the sun. Nothing worse than being at mile 83 of 100 and having hot fruit and hot water for refreshment.