Backwards Brawn, No Brains
27 Drafters tackled a ferocious head wind on the way out of town. Dobie Grey had something to sing about as Z Wrecks and Slim pulled the B and A teams out Schneider Rd:
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock 'n' watt and draft away
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock 'n' watt and draft away
Bond has been riding out west on a secret mission this season, but a new, older Bond joined the Draft. Welcome Sean Connery!
The A Team was treated to a cameo appearance by Sandlot, who has been battling her way back from a nasty knee injury sustained skiing. Despite missing breakfast and lunch, Sandlot found an ounce of extra body fat in her big toe for fuel. With Draft protection offered by Vintage and Cujo, she exceeded her goal of an out and back 10 miler and rode full strength with her drafter family.
Booker J held up the Draft as he needed a hot minute to apply at least three different sprays, lotions and creams. He is currently seeking start up funds for development of the Booker J Spray- a product that combines sunscreen, chamois cream and preparation H all into one easy body application.
Slim's legs (not slim legs) provide safe passage into the head wind, as many of the other Drafters were spent from weekend shenanigans. Credit to LuLu for the following Drafter photos. Not included in the photo session is Super Q, who was drafting serendipitously and joined the Draft for a good chunk on KP and Otto Kerl. Always great to have those quads take a pull.
Slim wasn't the only power in the house. It was good to have B2 Bomber back in Drafter flight.
The climbs up Enchanted Valley and Schuman always leave us breathless, both due to the elevation and the beauty. This time, Schuman also provided an unanticipated cheering section!
Kilo Watt has been absent from the Draft, but she took time out from mowing the lawn to cheer on the Drafters as they crested the hill.
IN WEEKEND NEWS: Congrats to Vintage on his WORS race. Vintage also deserves a letter of apology from the editor. Apparently, the mechanical debacle with T1's bike last week was not entirely his fault. Noted.
Keez's quad low battery light was also on as she had raced her heart out at the Maple Grove Triathlon on Saturday, representing UW-Madison Triathlon Club at Collegiate Club Championship. The Badgers took 1st overall team and Keez took second in the female division. Go Badgers!
Special mention (because there are no photos) to Loose Screw for competing and competing in the Core4 Gravel race in Iowa. In the other direction, Dan-yelly and Tobacco City Boy are representing the Drafters in the UP while LuLu was learning just how steep climbs can get in British Columbia. He might not be KOM, but he is on top of the world.
IMPORTANT DRAFTER NEWS: Hincapie kits are en route. Please check your email for tracking information from FedEx. If you do not anticipate being at home on the date of delivery to sign for your package, you can opt for indirect signature. It works about 50% of the time, sort of like marriage and weather forecasting.
There is no formal Draft on Labor Day.
The Final 50 and End of The Season Drafter party (although the season never ends, it just morphs into MTB and then fat biking) will be on Sunday, Oct 2 at 10AM. Awards to follow.
Sunset is going to make rides over 30 miles dangerous. WHEELS UP AT 4:45 AND 5:00PM, SHORT POUR and FULL STRENGTH, respectively. If work prohibits a 5PM start time, please consider riding the alternative (short pour) route at 5:30. It is only 2 miles, but (a little) less demanding.
Both routes include Braun Rd. The full strength route tackles the backside, which includes a 20% section, and extends the route home to include a few more climbs. The short pour tackles Braun the "normal" way, which is a bit less steep, and retraces the route home on Airport Rd (one of our earliest routes in the season).
Full strength RidewithGPS Link Backwards Brawn No Brains 30 miles
PDF Map and Cue sheet download for Backwards Brawn No Brains
Short Pour RidewithGPS Brains and Brawn 28 miles
Map and Cue sheet download for Brains and Brawn
Draft responsibly,
BrickO
Pining For More
WARNING: the following may contain numerous typos, non-sensical lyrics from a favorite Bob Seger song and stream of consciousness lacking hilarity, cleverness or any other form of entertainment value. There are reasons, none valid, but plentiful. My apologies, Mr. Seger. You deserve better.
On a long and lonesome highway
East of Middleton
You can listen to his engine
Moanin' out his big gear song
You can think about the Drafters
Or the ride you had the night before
But your thoughts will soon be wandering
The way they always do
When you're ridin' thirty-six miles
And there's much pedalin’ to do
And you don't feel much like quitin'
You just wish the hill was through
See here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up in’ the watts
Here I go
Playin' bikes again
There I go
Turn the pedal
26 Drafters conquered Easy Street. The excel spread sheet with that data was consulted 3 times in the last 30 seconds to verify the head count. Because I can hold a number in my head for less than the time it takes to look at the spread sheet and bounce back to the blog. Sad. True. And not improving with age. The B for Bad A** Team had 10 little Drafters went out to ride. Seven opted for the short pour and then there were nine. Or three. But that doesn't work with the rhyme. Z Wrecks, Loose Screw and Pepe led the XY-Z full strength crusade.
No wonder the XY-Zs rode separately from the XXs. Who would want to bare arms with these two women?
Not Tick Tock and Sarge. They decided to start and finish a few blocks away.
The A team was missing a few due to tired legs post Race the Lake (Cannibal, Blurple, Sandals, Zephyr, maybe Rimshot and many others who I'm sure I've missed) and Ride Across Wisconsin (Special K).
Fashion models of the week go to Gopher and Pipes. There isn't photo evidence of Pipes, but imagine a pair of denim shorts over cycling shorts. Her drafting prowess may be questionable, but this 2 time Olympian (silver and bronze, just shy of gold, but what's the big deal over a fraction of a second? Second, apparently) was bragging to Midas about her incredible gold medal ball handling skills. Back yard banter.
Siri: What is the meaning of flamingo dance?
1 : a vigorous rhythmic dance style of the Andalusian Gypsies also : a dance in flamenco style. 2 : music or song suitable to accompany a flamenco dance.
The sock fashion game is really heating up. Skipper brought Slim a pair Pseudo Sue socks, which will be a dramatic improvement from his white Nike cotton basketball crew socks- a different kind of dinosaur. When you put out big watts, you can get away with wearing whatever socks you please.
The draft was relatively Easy, with only 3 "real hills". Keez pointed out that BrickO qualifies a hill as being above a 10% grade, and regardless of how many occur on a single road, they count as one.
The only real excitement was a flying Squirrel sighting, or perhaps it was a heron, or a crane? Hard to tell. We can rule out flamingo.
Cannibal wins the Moulin Rouge award, which is much more prestigious than the Lanterne Rouge award. He went back for Booker J, who decided to use his two-wheeled machine like a scooter rather than a bicycle up climb on the Madigan Rd. Clipless pedals can be tricky, Booker J.
Vintage was so busy pre-drafting that he forgot to submit a service ticket for Thing 1's bike. While still falling short of his mechanical duties as husband, it is a dramatic improvement over last week when he left her chainless. Some husband leave their wives breathless. Resourceful, T1 found some dirt to play in.
Thing 1 isn't the only one playing in the dirt. Two thumbs up for our Little Dirty Drafters.
Also playing in the dirt, or at least the dusty gravel was our long long Drafter, Slow Cow. Perfect timing for a reunion, as BrickO joined the Flat Tire club drafting responsibly on the Badger State Trail with Ma Brick. In exchange for using Slow Cow's tire pump (CO2 misfires are no joke), a flat tire changing clinic ensued. Slow Cow is now a card carrying member. And vowed to Draft this coming Monday (not starting from Free House, as he did in his previous attempt).
ANNOUNCEMENTS: The end of the year Drafter 50 mile ride will take place on Sunday, Oct 2. Awards to follow. There will be NO DRAFT on Labor Day, Sept 5.
The ride for Monday, Aug 29th will be the Pine Loop.
RidewithGPS link for Pine Loop.
Download map and cue sheet.
Draft responsibly,
BrickO