W
ednesday May 21 started EARLY. Lyle showed up at Smoootts at 0-Dark-45 am and we rolled over to the Chicken coop. From the western Burbs we had Smott, Bos, Lyle, Dave C, King, Tawse, Pete, and a special visit from Andy Caron. King drove the big Sequioa with about $40K of gear on top, Smooooott drove the Big Diesel with gear inside. We headed north into the land of cheese, with a McGriddle stop and coffee filling / emptying visit as well. We arrived at Tom Schulers house and unloaded, and met up with the rest of the SRAM contigent - Todd, Feltz, McKenney, Zellman, and Macedon were all present. It was a tad chilly on rollout, but not too bad at all. Very sunny and a light west / northwest wind was blowing. I certainly hung out in the wheels, and stayed out of the wind. Traditionally the ride is broken into 4 groups pretty quickly, but this year it seemed to get back together quickly, not sure if that was due to the wind or not. No major issues on the way up, i believe it was just 1 flat for McKenney and Bos, and the rest was clear sailing. Arriving in Madison, Andy was checking time and told us we had to hurry if we were hoping to enjoy our early roll out to help digestion on the way home. Everyone made quick work of some vittles from Subway, and we scurried to find Big Ed, change some gear out, refill bottles and pockets for the return flight. Macedon fell victim to a flat just as we were leaving town, but he was back with us in no time. Everyone was seeming to settle into place, and the cross tail wind was very welcomed on the trip back. Everyone seemed to go through their own little spots of difficulties, but the BP at 200km came up pretty quickly. There was a quick break to refill bottles again and chug down one last coke for the final 30 miles or so. We had been caught about 15 miles outside of the BP stop, but many of the guys that caught us peeled off at a bike shop on the route that cut them off about 20 miles left to go for us. I think we were all happy to not have the pace whipped up too much, and kept it together into town for a successful Bone. Our Bone virgins Todd, Lyle, and Pete all survived with flying colors, and there was never anyone in much difficulty that we had to nurse.
I would say that the conditions were almost perfect for the ride, and one of the better trips we have had in the last few years.
Thanks to ED - sag driver extrodinaire and all around good guy
Thanks to SRAM and all the effort they put into help make our rides successful
