August 21: No Brains, All Braun/Brawn
The sports page of the Drafter Gazette is loaded this week! Congrats to the following Drafters on their various adventures:Vilker and MegaWatt took advantage of the glorious weather on Saturday to explore 300k of Wisconsin's finest hills. The longest event in the Dairyland Dare was no match for these two Drafters. Vilks finished third overall with a time of 11:41:31. MegaWatt decided to use more of the allotted time and rest stop hospitality, finishing strong as the clean up crew cheered him on. Z and BrickO took the more leisurely 150k route. They had intended to ride a more substantial distance, but once they realized the finisher shirts did not delineate the distances ranging from 50 to 300k, they lost motivation. BrickO was whining incessantly about lack of sleep and emotional exhaustion subsequent to dropping her eldest offspring off at the dorm the day before. She claims there weren't tears in her eyes during the DLD, only sweat (hard to do that in 70 degrees and no humidity but let's cut a little slack here).
Loose Screw fought the mountain and the mountain fought back, hard. The Leadville 100 is not for the meek. If they do inherent the earth, I'm quite sure it won't include the 100 miles of the Colorado Rockies terrain ranging from 10,152 to 12,424 elevations.
B2 Bomber found slightly less elevation to do a mountain bike race, but still incredibly challenging. Congrats on rocking Ore to Shore 48 mile Hard Rock event in Marquette, MI.MI was a popular destination for Drafters this weekend. CM Wille knocked 28min off her 70.3 PR at the Steelhead triathlon in Benton Harbor on Sunday. Despite the sleep deprivation that comes with parenthood, Coach Cindi Bannink was on her A game, pushing CM to a 5:33:03 finish. Wow.
A dozen Drafters boldly set off last night, despite as many raindrops which began to fall at precisely 5:28PM. L-Mac allegedly experienced derailleur failure and was forced to withdraw from the Draft. This claim falls under suspicious circumstances, as the equipment malfunction occurred near Docter Evergreens, where L-Mac has been known to frequent for hiking and beer drinking festivities.I trust the group can find their way next week without me, as I will be Solar Eclipsing in Bend, OR. To ensure success, I have chosen a route that requires No Brains and All Braun/Brawn. Tobacco City Boy and Dan-yelly can't even get lost (congrats to both of you on a successful Indian Lake Extended route last evening).
PDF map download: Union Valley 30Garmin link to No Brains All Braun/BrawnDraft responsibly,BrickO
Aug 14: Indian Lake Extended
Game of Drones Season 5For drone coverage of previous episodes, please visit the Drone Master's webpage at: Drone Master Video
14 Drafters from 5 Kingdumbs joined forces on Monday night to win the battle against the Flat Tire Walkers. Deflation is coming. Any history of war between the 5 Bone Mender Kings was cast aside for the greater good of the Drafters.Kingdom of the Rock and Flat Tire, ruled by Rainbow MakerKingdom of the Mountain and Strava Segments, ruled by One Hip WonderKingdom of the Isles, Rivers and Cancelled Swims, ruled by AquaphobeKingdom of the Wrong Turns, ruled by Hit-The-WollKingdom of Ukrainelands, ruled by ZRainbow Maker was looking a bit green heading into the glacier ridges of Kahl Road. In part, this was due to shielding BrickO's friendly fire, as she failed to observe the wind direction before executing her farm girl discharge maneuver. Distracted by the friendly fire, Rainbow Maker rode over a landmine of pot holes, blowing a tire on his Cervelo war machine. The reverberations that ensued enhanced the green hues in Rainbow Maker’s spectrum.
Fire breathing flies were ferociously attacking the cycling warriors as they waited for Rainbow Maker to repair the damages. Apparently, he is pretty green when it comes to changing flats as well. In a rare call for help, Rainbow Maker cried out to his resident, “I could replace a hip faster than I can change this flat.” No doubt or argument there.
In the true spirit of the Bone Menders alliance, leaders of the 5 Kingdumbs rushed to assist with flat tire repairs. 5 sets of hands all working together independently. We grew cold and hungry waiting- not easy to do in August, but we exceeded expectations.
The Flat Tire Walkers and fire breathing flies were not the only adversity the Drafters faced that evening. Seemingly, the Map of WesteroWIS had been sabotaged. One Hip Wonder, a red-shirt pre-schooler, could not discriminate between R and L such that every turn was decidedly right. Team Tobacco City didn’t even bring a map, and subsequently had no recollection of the battle fought on Far View Rd. Can’t take a wrong turn if you don’t know where you are going. Edgerton breeds some clever boys. It is no wonder we only have one stop light in our home town. Aquaphobe failed to head the steep grade warning on Turkey Rd and toppled over. This incident would have gone unnoticed by the Drafters, save the black spot on his shining forehead. Given that Ash Wednesday doesn’t fall on a Monday in August, we were quick to deduce the cause of the dark mark. Drone Master had a different map altogether- one that included a secret passage with a direct route to the cask and ale.Fully inflated, the Drafters sped down Schneider in a pace line that averaged 30mph. Zika was pumped up with stories of pulling Lance Armstrong at RAGBRAI last week, which inspired the blistering pace. The Free House was glowing under the full Sturgeon Moon as we rolled in having defeated the Flat Tire Walkers, fire breathing flies, and navigational ineptitudes. Also glowing in the moonlight was Sully, dutifully holding down the fort and ordering beers for the thirsty troops. News correspondent Tobacoo City Cousin reported that all golf courses within a 100 mile radius had agreed to shut down Monday evening to ensure Sully reenlisted in the Draft. Winter is coming, but Sully has a date with the Green Walkers of AZ.
We had the moon to guide us home, but next week we should rely on daylight. The routes will start to shorten, this one less than 35 to Indian Lake. The Short Pour takes the bike path home after crossing the Highway, near Rauls Rd. The the Flat Tire Walkers should strike again, we might all be taking the bike path home. I did recon today and discovered that Hwy 19 at Indian Lake is still closed to through traffic. This is perfect as there should be minimal car traffic.Garmin Link to Indian Lake Extended
PDF to download: Indian Lake Extended Cue Sheet and MapDraft responsibly,BrickO