Not my day, but... – Dairy Roubaix 2015

Mile 50: Turn left and climb one last hill back to the camp site. Or turn right and do another 58 miles. I stopped at the intersection, drank some water, and chatted to some other folks pondering this decision. Eventually I turned left, and it was the right choice, even if meant not following through with what I had planned.

My Madison buddies working the registration desk

Wonderful breakfast buffet

Dairy Roubaix is a Wisconsin spring classic, and I had heard heard many great things about it. I signed up months ago and was excited to see that the weather forecast promised excellent conditions. Somehow I was not at the top of my game, though. I arrived at Wyalusing State Park the night before the ride, after a hectic day of work and errands. I ate dinner too late (and maybe should've gone a little bit more easy on those jalapenos...) and didn't sleep well in my bunk bed.

One of the nicest stretches of the route, along the Mississippi

Once the ride started, though, all that was forgotten. The sun was out, it was warm, and the scenery was terrific. There were lots of friends from Madison riding too, in addition to a whole bunch of interesting people I got to know before, during, and after the ride. Knowing that I would have a long day with lots of climbing ahead of me, I made sure to not start out too hard. Nonetheless, I was going at a good clip, probably helped by the fact that with my 35 mm tires and the low-trail geometry of my Gunnar I had an appropriate tool for the gravel roads of western Wisconsin.

First and only rest stop, including Korbel shots

The tiny hamlet of Glen Haven at some point had two bars

At the first rest stop, after 26 miles, I snarfed down one of the sandwiches I had brought. But my stomach discomfort had started showing itself again and I had a hard time eating for the rest of the ride. The nasty, strong wind from the east didn't make things easier either. Hence my decision at mile 50.

Unfortunately the tractor was to slow to make for good drafting

Rare sighting of yours truly wearing a helment

Some general remarks about Dairy Roubaix: The organization was wonderful, the scenery stunning, the people great. The variety of bikes was great, too: Fat bikes, single speed 'cross, crabon race bikes, a beautiful lugged Holdsworth, a randonneur build and ridden by Jon Kendziera of Jonny Cycles (which apparently might make a comeback), a stainless steel travel bike by Ellis Cycles, also ridden by its builder, and many more. The elevation profile of the ride is challenging for sure, and I felt sorry for the people riding on tires less than 30mm wide. I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year, then hopefully for the full length of the course.

Nice Soulcraft

Jonny Cycles rando rig

...with Rene Herse cranks

Special thanks to the ride organizer for going to great lenghts to reunite me with my helmet and my gloves that I had left behind!

Dairy Roubaix 2015—Let's do this!

Woo, this looks like fun! (Image source: Ride With GPS)

I had heard about Dairy Roubaix (DR) for the first time in an article about the boom in gravel riding in Wisconsin. The ride was advertised as one of the best in the region. The start of the ride is about 100 miles from Madison, though. I generally dislike rides I have to drive to, and so I wasn't really planning on doing the DR. Having met the awesome folks of Madison Bike Winter, though, I was convinced that the ride was totally worth it—beautiful scenery, the possibility to stay in bunk beds at the start of the ride, and a great atmosphere/party. So when registration opened a couple days ago, I just signed up for the 107 mile (172 km) route. It's not quite clear yet how I'm going to get to Wyalusing and back, but I'm sure I'll make it work somehow.



Located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin River, the ride is quite hilly, has a bunch of gravel riding, and there are almost no services along the route. This raises the question of which bike to use. Partly this is probably going to depend on the weather conditions. In mid-April there could be pretty much anything between snow and blazing sun. In the best of cases, I'd love to have finished my Gunnar 650B conversion. I have watched some videos of the course, and the gravel roads don't seem to be too rough. So while it would be possible to ride the Gunnar in its current configuration with 25-millimeter-wide tires, having 32 or 38 mm tires would be even better. If this doesn't work out, I'll have to put the gears back on Wolfgang the Cross-Check, which currently is in fixed winter mode. The ride certainly would be harder that way, but it's not like I haven't done similar things on Wolfgang. So either way I should have a good time!

All relevant info can be found on the official event homepage.