Converge ride, 3rd edition: Chicago/Harvard to Madison

Converge is one my favorite bands, and there is now a bit of a history of me biking to their shows and experiencing adventures. Back in 2011, I bike from Ithaca to Syracuse and back, running over a dead skunk on the way back. And while spending the summer in Germany in 2014, I got completely drenched in a thunderstorm on the ride from my home town Welzheim to Stuttgart. So when I saw the announcement that Converge and Neurosis (another one of my favorites) would be playing in Chicago, I immediately started scheming up some plan that would involve a bike ride.

My friend Kevin, who used to live in Chicago, was game to join me. I met with Kevin at his workplace at 1:30pm on Friday. We biked to the Madison airport to pick up our rental car. Fortunately, they gave us some kind of SUV, which made loading the bikes quite easy. Driving into downtown Chicago on a Friday afternoon was painful, but we arrived at the National Car rental location in the loop shortly after six. Friends of Kevin's had offered us to crash at their place for the night, and we rode our bikes over there. Biking in a big city like Chicago is always a bit of a culture shock, compared to the relative serenity of Madison.

One stumbling block was that Kevin didn't have a ticket to the sold-out show yet. We tried contacting some people online and posted on the event's Facebook page, with no immediate success. Eventually we decided to just go to the venue and hope for the best. In order to not having to worry about our own bikes, we checked out Divvys to ride to Thalia Hall. Since my last visit to Chicago in September 2016, it seemed like they had kept expanding and improving their bike infrastructure. While still crappy in places, it was nice to see so much effort being put into making the city a better place for people getting around by bike. Somewhere along the ride Kevin received a message from someone looking to sell a ticket—great news.

Amenra

I got into Thalia Hall in the midst of Amenra's set. They had an awesome video projection behind the stage, complementing their sludgy post-metal sound perfectly. Converge was up next, reliably delivering their usual energy-laden performance and also playing the songs from their recently released EP I Can Tell You about Pain.

Converge

 The highlight of the night, however, were Neurosis. They played songs from at least five different albums, with an emphasis of their latest release, Fires Within Fires. Once again, I was blown away. Neurosis are able to reach emotional layers in me like no other band can.

After a late-night dinner stop at Furious Ramen, we divvied back and fell asleep on our camping pads around 2 am.

The plan for the next morning was to take the Metra train to Harvard, the station closest to Madison. With the train scheduled to depart at 8:20, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep. On the way to the station we picked up a cup of coffee at Big Shoulders. Our train was slightly delayed, but a little after 10 we arrived in the little town of Harvard.

Catching the train at Clybourn

Our route took us west, on a mix of country roads through corn and soy fields, a rail trail with dubious surface conditions, and finally through Rock Cut State Park. The stiff wind from the east made for a great helper and pushed us to our lunch destination in just over two hours. Pig Minds Brewing in Machesney Park was awesome. I had been there before, but both times I had been the designated driver and it had been winter. This time we could sit on the patio and enjoy their beers, burgers, and stellar desserts—all 100% vegan.

Weekend special at Pig Minds...

After our opulent lunch, I felt very much like taking a nap in the sun. Reasons prevailed and we continued on, at a reduced pace. Pig Minds is located in an industrial, exurban area, and during route planning I was slightly concerned about some of the roads. But on a Saturday afternoon it was pretty quiet and soon we would be on a bike path again anyway.

Said bike path led us to was probably the biggest adventure of the ride, involving a flooded underpass and a climb up a steep concrete banking. But compared with dead skunks or torrential downpours, this was pretty tame, leaving me only with wet feet and a squeaky derailer pulley.

To counter the post-lunch slump I suggested stopping for a quick coffee. Right on our route in Rockton, a nice little town, Local Dough offered itself for a coffee stop. I had an okay espresso and Kevin enjoyed cold brew coffee and vanilla ice cream, which apparently were just what he needed.

Crossing the Rock River, the landscape turned rural. We crossed the border into Wisconsin and continued west until we reached "The Little Store." This general store and gas station is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but nonetheless it was quite busy when we got there. It hadn't been that far since our previous stop. But with the next refueling option almost 40 miles from here, we made a quick stop for water, V8, and Dr. Pepper.

Trail kitteh at the Little Store

We turned left onto Brandherm Road, expecting the first gravel section of the ride. But despite what the WisDOT bike map had promised, the road was all paved. It took two more turns, onto Timm Road, until we finally reached gravel. The section was short, but very nice, with a narrow, smooth gravel road lined by trees.

Intersection of Timm and Beloit Newark Roads

Timm Road

We caught another gravel section, in much worse shape, on Bernstein Road. Shortly after being back on pavement, Kevin continued his unlucky streak of one-flat-per-ride. But otherwise the rest of the day remained serene. A quick stop at a gas station in Brooklyn, and soon after we would be back on familiar roads. We made it back to Madison just after sunset, finishing a terrific trip with a beer on our patio. I highly recommend the route for getting to and from Harvard in one day. There is relatively little climbing, and with the exception of some of the roads around Rockford, it is all either on quiet back roads or bike paths. 5/5 would do again.

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!

Illinois Incursion: 150 gravely spring miles

As part of his preparation for the TransIowa race, Michael had announced another "long training ride," meaning about 240 kilometers (150 miles), a significant portion of it either on unpaved rail trail
or gravel roads. In theory that sounded like something right up my alley -- except that it was barely April. I had gotten in a good amount of riding in the previous weeks but am of course still not in
the greatest of shapes this early in the season. Combine that with the vagaries of April weather, and suddenly the ride looked a little daunting. Once I saw, though, that the weather forecast was about as
good as it can get at this time of year, I committed to the ride.

Jacob and Tyler on one of the first gravel roads we reached

Maybe the collapse of Wisconsin road funds will get us similar roads closer to home some day...

Incursing Illinois with me were Michael, Jacob, Tyler, and for part of it Steve. We have all ridden together before, and I think the size and constitution of the group was just right for such a long ride. Steve and I met up with the rest of the group at 5:20. The sun wouldn't be up for another one-and-a-half hours, and it was cold. I was only wearing thin wool gloves on my hands and wool socks in my summer shoes on my feet, making for a somewhat miserable experience. On the upside, there is something magical about riding into the dawn on a spring day. Frogs, birds, and the occasional rabbit were already out and about, and once we got into the country, a thin layer of hoarfrost covered the fields and wooden bridges on the Badger State Trail. Despite the heavy rain during the previous days, the trail was in not-too-bad a shape. Still, ruts, holes, and fallen branches did require our attention, meaning that I didn't take any pictures during the first couple hours of the ride.

Jane Adams Trail

In Monroe we made our first convenience store stop and also left the Badger Trail. Instead, we rolled along on country roads, which meant a faster surface but also the beginning of some rolling hills. And a dog: Jacob and I were a bit ahead when we spotted a black lab coming towards us from on the farms. It didn't look particularly threatening, but you never know. So we stayed alert and kept an eye on our new companion. He just kept running along and along and along... Only once we got to a farm with more dogs, maybe 2 kilometers down the road, did he get distracted enough and let us continue by ourselves. Soon after crossing the border into Illinois we also hit the first gravel roads, which were in pretty good shape and fun to ride on. The Jane Adams Trail then led us to the turnaround point, Freeport. We stopped at a—well, not that great gas station, where Jacob and I were immediately approached by a toothless guy in a car who wanted us to buy lottery tickets for him. Uh yeah.

The beautiful city of Freeport, IL...

...offers great amenities for the driving population.

Gravel roads + tailwind = bliss

Now turning north, we had a great tailwind for most of the way back to Madison. I felt great and couldn't resist upping the pace a bit. Our little group got spread apart and reunited a couple times until we hit the final rest stop, the Piggly Wiggly (for those of you not from around here: yes, that's the actualy name of a supermarket chain) in Brodhead. Tyler and I hammered along, doing some nice paceline work whenever we had a stretch heading into the wind. I knew the pace was too far in the red zone for me, but with "only" 70 kilometers ago I threw out common sense and kept going hard. We were pretty close to Madison when I started fading. Tyler kept disappearing into the distance and I finished the ride at a more leisurely pace and a coffee stop at Barriques, clocking in at 235 km on what was my earliest-in-the-year-ever 200+ kilometer ride.

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.

Did somebody say "gravel bike"? Mont-Tremblant 200k

Riding to Mont-Tremblant, after my previous, unsuccessful attempt, was still on my bucket list, and what better time to do such a ride than during the colorful fall. I had planned a route with a significant proportion of what I assumed would be gravel roads and this being the Laurentians, there was plenty of climbing. In order to be able to cover the distance, I spent Friday night at the McGill Outdoors Club's house in Prevost. After only a few hours of sleep I headed out at 6 o'clock. There were a few signs of the nearing dawn but it was still very dark. Given that it was October, it wasn't too cold -- or so I thought. I had expected for the route to start being mostly uphill. I did gain elevation, but only in the form of a constant succession of steep uphills and screaming downhills. The temperatures were also constantly changing, with the dips around the myriad of lakes being a good 5°C colder than the higher parts. So I'd get sweaty on the uphills and freezing on the downhills. Not too pleasant. Fortunately all other aspects of the riding were great: perfectly smooth lakes, a bit of remaining fall foliage, and the sun slowly getting up to and above the horizon.

The time just before sunrise is just awesome

Ah, finally some sun. But still cold.

The number of quiet, beautiful lakes is huge.

Most of them don't have public access to the lake, but since there are just so many, I still got a bunch of pretty shots

 I had hoped that the first part of the route would be all paved, but the smoothing pavement soon was replaced with horrible pavement and then gravel roads of varying condition. Overall not too bad, though, despite my 25mm tires.

The mountains are getting higher.

 Suddenly the gravel road ended and turned into a trail. Google must have that wrong, as they wanted to route me through here. Fortunately, the trail was actually a designated bike, hike, and cross-country skiing trail, the Sentier L'Inter-Vals. Because the surface was soft and sandy I had to get off the bike a couple of times. Well, this was also a good opportunity for a first short break.

A "Share the Road" sign on this??

 I deviated from my planned route to continue on the trail instead of the provincial highway.

Most of the trail was ridable, yet only at a slow pace. And keeping traction on the steep uphill sections was a challenge.

Stunning views over Lac-Archambault

A little bit of 'cross practice

 I didn't follow the trail for its whole length but switched over to the highway for the last part into Saint-Donat. In town I refueled at an IGA before going into the nice and pretty touristy town center.

I guess nobody walks in winter??

 The next section of the ride, from Saint-Donat to Lac-Superieur had a very different character. After windy, deserted roads through the forest I now followed a wide, straight highway. This was also the first time I saw other cyclists -- this seems to be a popular roadie route.

The climbs were a little gentler, but not much.

A sign that every cyclist loves.

Even a real pass, with a sign...

...and a screaming descent. V_max=82 km/h

Lac Superieur

 I had planned to take a longer break in Mont-Tremblant. But with only 10km or so to go my energy levels were extremely low and when I saw a lookout/picnic area next to the river I took the opportunity.

Perfect spot for a lunch spot and little nap.

 A sandwich, a bottle of electrolytes, and a micro-nap worked wonders and soon I was on the road again. Mont-Tremblant was extremely busy and I didn't bother going into the actual village part.

Mont-Tremblant

 I briefly considered saving myself what would probably be a challenging part of the route and just continue back on the P'tit Train du Nord trail, but decided against it. It was only 12:30 and my legs were still alright.

On the P'tit Train du Nord/Route Verte

 In Saint-Jovite I left the trail and after a short section on the shoulder of QC-327 I was on quiet country roads again.

A scenic valley after leaving the Route Verte.

 Initially, the roads were paved but in mediocre shape.

Too bad the road was bumpy and there was a 90° turn at the bottom...

 Eventually asphalt turned into gravel again, though.

Rideable gravel

Not so rideable gravel.

 The conditions got worse and worse. I had to get off the bike quite frequently and where I could ride it was slow and jarring. The only other vehicles I encountered were ATV's -- clearly the better choice! Well, there wasn't much I could do and I just continued. At kilometer 180 I finally caught the pinch flat that I'd been expecting. To have two spare tubes and one spare tire was very comforting under these conditions. Finally I got back on paved roads, some of them brutally steep. At this point I had decided that instead of spending another night at the MOC house, I'd try making it back for the last train to Montreal. Not knowing how many hills and horrible roads might still be in stock, this was a bit of a gamble. In Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard I made a quick stop to fill up my bottles and grab a pack of new batteries for the GPS. Downing a ClifBar and a can of coke worked wonders and I made good time on the way towards Saint-Sauveur.

Near Saint-Sauveur, with the evening sun producing wonderful colors

If you zoom in, you can see the moon between the power lines.

 I had to stop at the MOC house to quickly grab my sleeping bag and other stuff. From here it was another 15km to the train station in Saint-Jerome and I arrived with more than half an hour to spare before the train's departure. Total distance was 230 km with about 3500m of climbing. While the climbing was tough, I'd say the parts on horrible gravel roads was actually more challenging. Maybe I need to buy a gravel bike...