Sept 27: Riley Tavern
18 Drafters rode onto Easy Street and into the Equinox with a 30mph tailwind. There was nothing easy on the return trip! The Big and Tall Drafters were very popular, including Newbie T Bone. Pipes wasn't able to Draft, but showed up after the ride to make sure the big boy didn't steal her handle. "I'm Pipes. Obviously. Or at least at one point."
E$ and Dan-yelly made a debut after a long hiatus (orthopedic residency and 3 children under 5, respectively). To have E$ and Cookie Monster drafting together begged the question, "who is watching your daughter?" E$ reassured us that Millie had things under canine-trol. Dan-yelly, not wanting the night to end, conveniently locked her keys in the car. Unfortunately, her breast pump was also out of reach. Tobacco City Boy earned a gold star for putting the 3 little bears to bed. A huge thanks to Captain and Tennille for bringing Dan-yelly all the way home to Oregon (city, not state).
Second string waiting in anticipation for Cannibal's arrival. He sent out a clip of Aerosmith performing Pink live. A more appropriate clue would have been songs "Dream On", "Cryin'" or "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". Showing up a tad late, Cannibal did miss one thing... his opportunity to hit the bathroom, which had him cryin'.
The northern route to Easy Street in Waunakee had us all feeling like rock stars with a southerly 30mph wind. Gopher and BrickO took their turns pulling early. They don't give PhDs to just anybody.
Cannibal showed up pretty in pink, but there is a reason Drafters wear green. Skipper took one for the team, dropping off the pace line to capture this action photo.
Just south of Dane, the second string came across a Drafter down. Speedy joined the Flat Tire Club. C-Monster followed the Drafter code, stopping to assist with the mechanical, and put her training as an engineer to good use. Footer, also being a well-educated engineer, looked back from the top of the hill heading into Dane and thought, "No f'in way am I going back down the hill to help." Point well taken: if you are going to flat, be sure your teammates are at the bottom of a hill, not at the top. Chances of following the drafter code go down the further up the hill.
Speedy and C-Monster, weighing in at 200 pounds (together), had a battle ahead with the head wind. The Drafters stopped to take a vote on whether to wait for the twosome. Booker J found an unmarked grassy area (Cannibal had not been here before) and a quorum assembled. It was a split vote until it was realized C-Monster had brought cookies. The vote turned unanimous: wait a short while for C-Monster and Speedy in order to have cookies sooner!
With new found enthusiasm for cookies and beer, Skipper pulled the crew home. There was a bright flash of green heading the opposite way. It was Queenie, setting out on a solo journey. He'd hoped to get further before meeting up with and circling back with the Drafters, but incentivized by cookies and beer, the pace was furious.
Watts were rewarded with more than cookies. E$ and C-Monster brought watermelon from their garden. Cannibal does look pretty in pink. There were gifts and special guest appearances (see above note on Pipes)
Captain and Tennille not only rescued Dan-yelly, but they saved BrickO and Z Wrecks from having to wash beer glasses for another night!
Pit Stop dropped by to share in the post-draft festivities. Several weeks out from her accident, she is back in the saddle! We can't wait to have her back in the Draft.
Pres is also recovering well. Walton brought his Drafter spirit to the Door County Century.
Pres was there in spirit, while Dan-yelly was there in the flesh. Her longest ride (maybe also her second ride?) of the season, this mother of 3 was not going to be denied her strawberry shortcake at the aid station.
It was a victorious weekend for Mothers of 3, as Squeak conquered the Wisconsin 70.3.
Several Drafters opted for a dirty weekend at the Chequamegon MTB Festival. Congrats to Ninja, LuLu and Vintage.
Back at home, the Dirty Drafters welcomed Newbie, Circus. He opted to ride his MTB, but rumor has it Circus commands a Unicycle. That would be an interesting ride down Howling Wolff.
The Draft next week is truly a Draft destination- Riley Tavern. Departure times will be 4:30 and 4:45.
The end of the year Drafter 50 will happen on Saturday Oct 9th at 9AM (rain date Sunday Oct 10th). Awards to follow. The Trek CX Cup will be held Oct 8-10. If anyone is interested in heading to Waterloo Sunday to watch, let me know.
Draft responsibly,
BrickO
September 20: Easy Street
Sweet 16 showed up for Vintage night but only 3 in the original Voler Drafter jersey. Some have gotten lost, and others lost their luster. BrickO's jersey drew many comments (not to be confused with compliments) from the Drafters. Cannibal: BrickO, did you used to be much larger? LuLu: BrickO, is that a parachute? Is that your B minus jersey? Points all well taken. I think our Drafter 10-year anniversary jersey might be a Hincapie version of this vintage jersey.
Cookie Monster was going to bail on the ride, as E$ was still at work and she hasn't trained the canine Millie to watch over their toddler, but remembering it was vintage night, she donned her Voler and made the Draft! Coach Arms & Footer wore the original red and blue Hincapie jersey, vintage in its own right.
GrannyZilla showed up at 4:38PM with a big decision: chase down the 4:30 group or hang with the 5PM crowd? Her trusty Bianchi steed was recently outfitted with new chainrings (who knew those shiny chainrings had a purpose?), giving GrannyZilla to confidence to wait. And wait. And wait. The 5PM crew was held up. Again. Waiting on Cannibal. He paid his dues and made amends by pulling all the way down Airport Rd. The Drafters would have let him pull all the way home had it not been for an inconvenient road closing.
Rain fell steady for most of the day, but the skies cleared just in time for the Draft.
It was a short flight on Airport Road, thanks to road construction. Captain Joe had done recon the day before and gave the Drafters a clear runway. Clearly, his copilot, Tennille, was not on board.
Cannibal's reign came to an end at the road closure, and the pace settled a bit. Until it didn't. Skipper, feeling spunky in his vintage 1994 purple jersey, had enough residual Race Across the West fitness to make our quads burn. Granny kept referring to Skipper as Sniper, possibly because once he took aim, we all fell. Or maybe she just pays as much attention to Drafter handles as she does changing gears.
Booker J, too proud to surrender in a pace line, claimed to have a "rock in my shoe".
There was no way Gopher was pulling up short. After reaching a career high 2k miles in 2020, he has his eye on the 3k prize in 2021. Way to dig deep, Gopher!
We had a Draft by proxy, all the way from Santa Barbara, California! Drone Master was rocking a vintage Drafter headband as he drafted responsibly, yielding at the horse crossing.
The season in turning. Sunlight is fading and temperatures required a fire for the post-draft draft. This year, Z Wrecks upped his fire pit game. No more lawn fires. GrannyZilla thought conditions were too moist to ignite a flame. Little trust she had in the hard wood.
Belle and Bomber came to enjoy the camp fire, and to share with us Belle's latest adventure: a 166 mile gravel race. From crits to gravel races, this beauty has become a beast!
Tick Tock and company took the vintage theme to Door County for the ride of the century.
In other Drafter sports news, Tree of Rown conquered Ironman WI. Congrats! Check out the support signs... lots of love in the Rowntree family!
We will continue to shorten the drafts, hopeful to ride through September and possibly the first Monday in October. Next week, we will draft Easy Street.
END OF THE YEAR 50 MILE DRAFT will be on Saturday, October 9 at 9AM. Awards to follow. If you have done something really dumb, we've noticed. And will celebrate that absurdity in true Drafter fashion.
Draft responsibly,
BrickO