So this is the ride: 123 miles in Southwestern Wisconsin, starting in Blue Mound, heading southwest to Mineral Point, dropping further south, and eventually coming back around in a counterclockwise direction up to Blue Mound with a final climb up the Blue Mound into the state park.
Doesn't sound like a big deal. I've already done a couple centuries this year & have been putting on a lot of fast miles over the past month, training with both my road club in Boston and a race team out here in Chicago. But these 123 miles include over 12,000 feet of hill climbing. How is that possible in a state without mountains? Well, it's very possible. The route is a constant up and down, so you're pretty much always ascending or descending. Most of the hills are between 100 and 400 feet. Not terribly high, but they accumulate and they can be pretty steep. The final climb, up the Blue Mound, is over 1000 feet with stretches averaging 15-18%. Brutal, plain and simple.
I woke up at 4 am, about 15 minutes before I set my alarm. Figured I was excited & there wasn't much sense in trying sleep an extra 15 min. The short drive from my parents' house in Madison to the Blue Mound State Park was quite lovely -- a lot of misty valleys & fields in the pre-dawn light. The group I was with got rolling about 6:20 (they let small groups go every 5 minutes or so, I think to avoid a mass peloton). Headed out doing my best to hold back over the first part of the ride. I knew it would be tough, though, as I always have a tendency to overdo it early. Today was no different. I stupidly attacked a few of the early climbs, knowing in the back of my head I'd pay for it later!
I felt great at the 35 mile rest stop and after the stop latched on with a couple of very fit dudes, one of which apparently did iron man competitions. They promised they weren't out for anything impressive, but after 15 miles or so I had to drop back. I could already tell I was going to be in for a long day.
I started feeling the first cramps in my right leg on the first climb out of the 65 mile stop in Darlington. Up to this point I had been pushing it, but felt comfortable all along. I'd say my average speed was around 19 mph. Boy would this drop!
I'd been in this situation before--cramps with a long way to go--and I know myself, I tend to cramp easily. So I did my best to find a comfortable rhythm and work it out. I took it as easy as possible on the climbs and tried to bomb the descents so I could work up momentum going from one hill to the next. I ended up doing a lot of the climbing out of the saddle because that position eased off on my groin/quad area which was where I was suffering.
I wasn't moving nearly as fast as at the beginning of the ride. The sun was beating down pretty bad at this point. It was around 90 degrees with hardly any shade since most of the roads were in wide open farm spaces. At about mile 85 I dropped my chain and it got jammed between the small chain ring and the bottom tube. Some friendly guys stopped and with a rubber glove that one of them gave me I managed to pull the chain out and reset it. Thank god he had the glove because I hadn't cleaned my chain in awhile and it was caked with grease. That was my only technical problem for the whole day. All told, not too bad.
I took a long break at the 95 mile rest stop--too long probably, but I wanted to wait for Nikki, Teddy & my parents who planned to meet me there, & it was motivational to see them. I spent most of the last 35 miles riding with a triathlete from Chicago. It was nice to have someone to set a pace with, and chatting definitely kept my mind off the pain and the intimidation of the final climb up the Blue Mound.
I hit the final climb alone, though, as I had to make a quick pit stop to appease the calls of nature just before the climb started. I alternated between spinning in the saddle and standing and mashing for most of the climb. I found a rhythm, a slow one for sure, and hung in there until I saw my mom and Nikki on the side of the road, maybe 100 meter from the crest. That was exciting! Even better, Teddy was on Nikki's back, and they ran beside me for a few meters. I was utterly zapped. Had the worst shoe burn ever, and wanted nothing more than to sit down and remain seated for a long period of time!
Some photos Nikki took of my last 100 meters or so. Caution: the rider doesn't look too pretty!
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