Sugar River 200 km Permanent

My randonneuring career started in Montreal. Physically, the idea of riding 200 kilometers seemed feasible. And the start location was just across the St. Lawrence, about 15 kilometers from where I lived. Since moving to Madison in 2015, I have done plenty of long rides. But only one of them was an official brevet. The reason? The local randonneuring club is based in Richland Center, almost 1.5 hours drive from Madison. Being carless, this made the logistics of getting to the start of their rides very challenging. 

An alternative to brevets are permanents: Same distances, same time limits, but you do them at a time of your choosing. When Randonneurs USA, the national organization, revamped their rules for permanents, I decided to finally create my own permanent route, starting right in Madison: The Sugar River 200k.

 

Start and finish are at Pacific Cycle, on the Southwest Commuter Path. You can easily reach the start by bike, and if you arrive by car, it's easy to find parking there. The route heads south, very loosely following the Sugar River downstream into Illinois. You ride on the Badger State Trail (trail pass required) until its paved section ends, and then transfer to quiet rural road. The first control is a gas station in Albany, and shortly after the control the unpaved section of the route, on the Sugar River State Trail begins. The surface is crushed limestone, but because the trail doesn't see a lot of use, grass will often take over a lot of the trail. Generally, the trail is easily rideable even on relatively narrow tires during the summer and fall. In the winter, spring, and after big rainfalls, take an on-road detour.

The trail ends in Brodhead and you're back on roads again. We're getting close to the Illinois border now. The only sign of the border: A sign for "State Line Road," and all the roads now have numbers. You don't go very far into Illinois: The southernmost control is a gas station near Lake Summerset, a gated community around an artificial lake.

 

Overall route is flat, but the terrain around the border has some ups and downs. We now go west and north toward the next control in Footville. The roads here are very sparsely traveled. Evansville is not a control, but if you're tired of gas station food, the route takes you right past a Piggly Wiggly supermarket. 

 

We continue northwest until we get to the next control in Oregon. There are stretches of on state or US highways in this section, but they add to less than a mile total and have paved shoulders. The official control in Oregon is a gas station. My recommended alternative for a stop: Firefly Coffeehouse just across the street. It's a great cafe with delicious baked goods, sandwiches, and cheese boards. They do close at 3pm however, and so depending on your pace, this may not be an option. 

 

Rather than taking the direct route back to Madison, we now head toward McFarland. This involves a beautiful stretch on Rustic Road 20, Dyreson Road. The highlight is a one-lane truss bridge across the Yahara River. McFarland is the last control before the finish. Just where you transition onto the Lower Yahara River Trail, take a photo of the Andrew Larson Park sign. The remainder of the route is all on bike trails, including Wisconsin's longest boardwalk. On weekends, these can be busy with people walking and biking, so be prepared to take it slow. 

If you have any feedback on the route or the cue sheet, please leave a comment here

A 300km DIY brevet to Kettle Moraine

My 200k ride two weeks ago went well. Near the end of the ride I started asking myself, "What would it be like to add another 100k?" I've ridden two 300k brevets before, one going really well, the other less so. Of course, organized brevets have all been cancelled due to COVID, and there are no sanctioned 300k permanent routes starting from Madison. So I figured I'd do a DIY brevet.

The difference between a DIY brevet and just a long ride? I dug up some of my knowledge about how to ride a good time and made a solid plan. The standard reference to this is an article in Bicycle Quarterly, where Jan Heine describes how he created his plan to ride Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200 km ride, in under 64 hours. One of the keys is to minimize the time off the bike, and to do that you need to specify how much time you're going to spend at each stop. Following the article's suggestion, I created a spreadsheet to help me with the planning. 

 

Based on recent rides and the wind forecast, I figured I should be able to maintain an average moving speed of close to 25 km/h (15.5 mph). I made some adjustments to account for presumed hilliness of the sections and the fatigue in the later parts of the ride. The break schedule was aggressive. A 15 minute break? Sounds long, but it's all to easy to, as the Brits say, faff about and waste half an hour at a gas station. This costs you time while also not really providing much rest.  

 With sunrise a little after 6 am, I aimed for a 5:30 am start to maximize riding time with daylight. I was happy enough that I was on the road by 5:34 but that happiness didn't last long. About 2 km into the ride I saw a face mask in the middle of the road. That triggered an immediate, "Oh shit, I didn't pack a mask!" An additional 5 km and already 17 minutes behind schedule. Sigh.

The ride to the first control was uneventful. My legs felt in okay shape and there was hardly any wind. My route incorporated a tiny detour just before the control to collect two Explorer tiles. I skipped the first control in Newville as I still had plenty of water and wanted to make up some of the lost 17 minutes. At this point an unexpected drizzle had started. But I was making good time and at the next stop, in Whitewater, I was ahead of schedule. The lakefront park I had chosen for a 30-minute rest turned out to be so-so: The restrooms were locked and the lake turned out to be more of a swamp or marsh. But at least it had comfortable benches. I cut the 15 minutes break time down to 10 to account for having to make another gas station stop for water. 

The underwhelming lake view in Whitewater

 

The next section of the ride was my favorite. Kettle Moraine was already in view from just outside Whitewater. Oak trees, pine forests on sandy soil, gentle climbs on windy roads, good views. If this were closer to Madison, I'd ride here all the time. And based on the number of roadies I encountered, I'm not alone in this assessment. 

 

Eventually the moraine ended and the country of giant mansions on private lakes and Donald Trump election signs began. The next control was in the Town of Oconomowoc (population 98.74% white; 2018 vote share Scott Walker: 74%). Nobody at the gas station but me wore a mask, including the staff... I had calculated my arrival time based on a segment speed of 23 km/h, assuming that the hills of the Kettle Moraine would slow me down. But they had been gentle enough for me to arrive at the half-way point or the ride with 30 minutes in the bank. 

Looking for ways to stay healthy? Wear your f'ing mask

 

Those 30 minutes would come in handy for the next segments. The wind had picked up and came from the northwest. Which way did my route take me? Well, first north, then west. In addition to the cross/head wind, there were constant rolling hills, which I hadn't expected. And the route was dead straight for the most part. So it was a bit of a grind, mentally and physically. 

 

By the time I got to the next control, in Watertown I was a few minutes behind schedule. Or was I? Losing 30 minutes over 44 km seemed like a lot. Trying to claw back time, I skipped the Watertown stop (only 5 minutes anyway) and pressed on toward Waterloo. Once I got close to town and checked the clock, it looked like I would get there ahead of schedule. Weird: I certainly didn't feel any faster between Watertown and -loo, and I wondered if maybe my schedule sheet was wrong (I checked today, and it wasn't). Who knows.

In Waterloo I was scheduled for another "long" break, at half an hour. I bought supplies at a gas station, but it didn't have any seating. By the time I got to the nearby Firemen's Park, only 20 minutes of break time were left. Let me tell you: This break schedule was brutal. But the schedule is the schedule.

From here on I was in semi-familiar territory again. It was nice to recognize some of the road names from previous rides. But the wind had gotten stronger and the grind continued. What helped me get through this was listening to a podcast interview (in German) with Phil, an ultra-cyclist with a very chill-but-intense and inspiring attitude about riding your bike over long distances.

 

I probably was dehydrated and undernourished at this point, despite what I thought to be a decent job of chugging water, Clif Shots and Bars, and (a new addition to the arsenal) Tailwind. My body was in underpowered Diesel engine mode: Fine at constant speed, but slowing down drastically on every uphill. My heart rate for the most part refused to go into Zone 3. 

The last control before Madison was the general store in Keyeser. I had been there once before and wasn't counting on the store actually being open. But it was closed indeed and the faint hope for a Pepsi was squashed. No luck. I was 19 minutes behind schedule now, with 35 km to go. All south from here on, that is, no longer into the wind. Maybe with skipping the 5-minute stop at Keyeser I could make up the remaining 14 minutes and arrive on schedule?

To increase my chances, I followed advice I had just learned from the podcast with Phil. He describes how during ultra races he often catches a second wind in the evening hours. "I'll put on an awesome set on my speakers, real bangers. And then: Kopf aus, Beine an." Brains off, legs on.

The "brains off" part probably worked; the "legs on" less so. And so it was 7:42pm when I rolled in. Twenty-four minutes behind schedule, with a total elapsed time of 14 hours 12 minutes and 12:40 in the saddle. This was faster than any of my 300k brevets (14:26 and 15:12). Of course on an actual brevet you don't have the option to just ride through controls -- you have to stop at least long enough to get your brevet card signed, which can easily cost you 5 to 10 minutes each time. But on the other hand, I didn't benefit from any drafting, and there were the 17 minutes lost to forgetting my mask.

 

Conclusion? Well, I'll just copy and paste the one from my ride report from the previous 300 km (where incidentally my moving average was exactly the same):

My moving average was much lower [than on my first 300k], 24.6 vs. 27.4 km/h, but I spent half an hour less at the stops. This pretty impressively shows that a fast brevet is not so much the result of riding fast but of having efficient stops.

It's been a while: Blue River 200k

My last brevet was in 2013, back when I still lived in Montreal. One major advantage of the brevets in Montreal was that they started within riding distance from my home. Not so much in Madison, where the choice was to either ride with the Driftless Randonneurs out of Richland Center—a 60-mile drive—or with the Great Lakes Randonneurs out of Delavan—also 60 miles from Madison. So while over the years of living here I had been interested in doing brevets again, in the end it never happened. Too much hassle for someone living without a car.

Things changed this month. Two weekends ago, a friend and I rode to Milwaukee, starting at 3 in the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed that 145 km (90 mi) ride. And so when my friend Andy asked on FB whether anybody was interested in a 200 km or 300 km brevet with the Driftless Randos, I was all ears.

Kevin was in as well, and he offered to give me a ride. We drove toward Richland Center on Friday evening after work. Andy met up with us for dinner in Spring Green at Freddy Valentine's, a lovely pub in a historic bank building. Andy spent the night in his Bike Mobile van, and Kevin and I stayed at the Ramada White House Inn. Yes, it's themed after that White House, meaning it has cheesy portraits of various US presidents inside, a half-collapsed awning pretending to be a prostyle portico, and a giant US flag flying in front of it. At the front desk we were warned that a high school class was staying near our room and if they were too noisy, we should just call... Well, the beds were comfortable and the students were quiet. At 6 am we were ready to roll.

Our group was about 15 riders strong. The 200, 300, and 400 kilometer routes shared the same course until after the first control. The whole group stayed together in a fast paceline, and it only took us 1 hour 18 minutes for the 23 miles to the control in Spring Green. Kevin and I got back on the road quickly, but not before 4 or 5 other riders had already left.

Pacelining into Spring Green (Photo: Andy Quandt)

We did catch up to one rider, and we stayed with him until the 300 km or 400 km course that he was on took him in a different direction. From the Wisconsin River in Spring Green, the three of us had the first of four big climbs ahead of us. The grade was subdued, rarely requiring us to get out of the saddle or even getting into the small chain ring. So far this season I had done few rides with significant climbing, and so I was committed to taking it slow on the hills. Kevin, who has ridden way more than usual this year, also took it easy on the climbs. Partly because of some back issues; partly because his drivetrain made it difficult to get onto the largest cog.

The next control came soon. The Hyde Store—which in typical Wisconsin fashion isn't a store but a tavern—was deserted at this time of day. We walked around the building, just to be sure we weren't missing anything, but eventually we decided to just note the time in our control cards and take a selfie as proof of passage.

Hyde Store control

The route now took us toward Governor Dodge State Park, and I started recognizing some of the roads from previous rides. Two more climbs were between the Hyde Store and the next control in Highland, which would also be the half-way point of the ride. Kevin and I stayed together, but he was clearly the stronger ride and I sat on his wheel for significant amounts of time. I started to fade a little and was excited at the prospect of a slightly longer break in Highland.

The BP gas station in Highland was hopping when we arrived. We were confused by our brevet cards, which indicated that this was an info control—but didn't provide us with a question to answer! I bought two small bottles of V8, a pickle in a bag, and a gallon of water to share. On the bench outside I had one of the peanut-butter-tofu-and-kimchi sandwiches I brought (I couldn't really argue with Kevin's assessment, “That's weird”). After a couple minutes, three other riders including Andy arrived as well. Sitting down and having food helped me feel refreshed. But I was also still a little chilly, as the day had warmed up less than forecast. In retrospect I probably should have had a Pepsi or some other sugary thing, but I wanted to save that boost for later in the ride and I was also counting on the route being downhill to the next control.

All five us rolled out of Highland together, but we were separated quickly. Because the bathroom line at the BP had been long, me and Gabe had to take a quick stop on the side of the road. Whereas Gabe on his fancy Pinarello was able to catch up with Kevin and Andy, I gave up the chase quickly and rode at my own pace. Which wasn't particularly fast. Highway Q followed the wide Blue River valley toward the Wisconsin River. The highlight of this section was spotting a bald eagle on a tree; the low was being chased by a St Bernard.

Kevin and me (Photo: Andy Quandt)

As I got to the gas station control in Muscoda, I knew it was high time for sugar and caffeine in form of a Pepsi. All five of us headed out together again, with the next control being only a few kilometers downriver. On the dead straight highway 133 we were battling a stiff headwind at this point, and I think we were all very glad that Gabe took a strong pull all the way form Muscoda to Blue River. Here it was time to cross to the northern shore of the Wisconsin River again, with a quick control stop at a gas station. The Pepsi had done its job at this point and I felt much better. So much so that heading out of the gas station I unintentionally rode away from the group for a little bit. After going east on Highway 60 for a little bit, we turned north onto Highway E. The highway follows the valley of Mill Creek, and for the first time of the day we were able to catch a tailwind. Kevin, Andy, and I rode together, making good time. The valley very gently climbs for almost 20 miles.

Andy and me (Photo: Kevin Mulcahy)

Only once we turned onto Patch Hill Drive did the grade pick up. I shifted to the small ring and took it slow. I could definitely feel the kilometers in my legs and I didn't want to blow up in the last stretch of the ride. Ultimately, the climb was pretty short and I arrived at the info control on top of it not much after Kevin and Andy (who was slowed down by having to answer a bike shop call as he was climbing...). And not much after, the two other riders arrived on top as well. After we had counted the number of zip ties on the street sign, we departed for the final leg of our journey. The climbing was done for the day, but now we were riding into the wind again. With the final destination close, the group fell apart. Kevin and Gabe pushed ahead, followed by Andy; I was slowly falling back, and somewhere behind me was Bill.

Bonking, but not too bonked to take silly selfies

Not far from Richland Center, the Man with the Hammer came for me and made me pay for not eating enough. I snarfed down some more peanut butter pretzels and just made peace with the fact that the remaining few kilometers would be slow. A quick bathroom stop and eagle selfie on the outskirts of Richland Center helped me regain my composure and after 9.5 hours I arrived back at the White House. I was very happy with my time. The route had been great and the cue sheet accurate.

Even though it had been a hard effort for me (and I was really thankful for Kevin and the others whose wheel I could sit on), the next day I could hardly wait to get back on the bike again and ended up riding 50 kilometers (30 miles). I still very much enjoy riding brevets, but the complicated logistics probably mean that I won't do them all that often. I know that there are some permanent routes starting out of Madison, and maybe we can organize a little event around here to do them in a larger group.

SOMA Grand Randonneur: My review

The post sounded promising: “FS: SOMA Grand Randonneur complete, 65cm.“ I had had my eye on the SOMA Grand Randonneur earlier, especially during the 20%-off sales that SOMA runs once or twice a year. At $400 retail for frame and fork, the GR is a great deal. Much to my surprise, Jan Heine also reviewed it rather favorably in Bicycle Quarterly, at least in terms of ride quality and handling. I had just started a new job, providing some disposable income. My Gunnar Roadie 650B conversion had been quite the success. Which on the hand provided a good reason to not buy a similar type of bike, but on the other hand had convinced that the low-trail fat-tire 650B thing worked well for me. And the SOMA would allow for fat tires and fenders, something not possible on the Roadie. I gave it some thought and discussed it with the SO, but ultimately didn't bite. When the seller lowered the price by another hundred dollars, however, I couldn't see myself saying no any longer.

The build as sold was already very nice: Old Dura Ace hubs laced to Velocity Dyad rims, Nitto stem, bar-end shifters, Nitto Noodle handlebars, CR-720 canti brakes, 36/48 Sugino cranks, Nitto Campee Mini front rack, Compass Babyshoe Pass tires, Miche roller-bearing headset. After throwing on a saddle and pedals, the bike was ready to go. On the first test rides the bike felt okay but quite different from my Gunnar, despite having a similar geometry. I didn't think much of it and just kept riding. On a particularly rainy ride I overshifted, breaking a spoke in the process. In addition, I noticed a grey sludge on the headtube, right under the upper headset cup. From the beginning I had had a hard time properly adjusting the headset, and the sludge incident motivated me to investigate further. The previous owner had told me that the frame and fork had been prepared by Mike Kone of Boulder Bicycle, theoretically ruling out bad frame prep as the cause of the headset issues. Eventually I figured it out: The headset parts had been installed in the wrong order, with the cups and bearings slowly being ground away. Well, that certainly explained my difficulty in adjusting the headset and why the bike handled differently than the Gunnar.

Some 105 DT 7-speed shifters I had in a box, set to friction

Origin8 Classique drillium aero levers: Cheap but pretty good looking

The frame is borderline short for me, requiring a long stem even with long-ramp handlebars

Fender stays, bent the Peter Weigle way (he no longer seems to do this these days)

PDW safety fender tabs

Velo Orange decaleur: So far, so good.

With two coats of clear shellack, the color of the Newbaum's tape came out great

Patch from Falls Creek Outfitters

Unfortunately, shortly after replacing the headset (with another Miche), I had a bad crash, which took me off the bike for two months. And by now, non-studded tire riding season is mostly over. First impressions from riding with the fixed headset: Rides much better but still different from the Gunnar. Whereas the Gunnar feels very precise, going exactly where I want it to go, on the Grand Randonneur I've found myself occasionally running over things that I intended to steer around. In terms of performance, I don't have enough riding in yet to make any definitive claims. It certainly doesn't seem slow, but who knows... I'll follow-up on handling and performance in a separate post after I've gathered more data.

Also topic for a separate post is the wonderful custom rando bag that you can see in the pictures.

Build list:
Rims: Pacenti SL-23, 32 holes
Rear hub: Shimano Ultegra 6600
Front hub: Shutter Precision PV-8
Spokes: Sapim 2.0/1.8/2.0mm spokes
Bottom bracket: ?
Cranks: Sugino XD-701(?) 48/34t
Rear derailer: Shimano RSX?
Front derailer: Shimano RSX?
Front rack: Nitto Campee Mini (front tab removed)
Brakes: Tektro CR-720
Front light: Busch & Müller IQ Cyo Premium T senso plus
Rear light: Busch & Müller Secula Plus
Fenders: Velo Orange Zeppelin, with Portland Design Works safety tabs
Pedals: Shimano XT Trail clipless PD-M785
Seatpost: ?
Saddle: Brooks B17 Imperial
Stem: Nitto Technomic(?)
Handlebars: Nitto Randonneur B-132 (44cm)
Brake levers: Origin8 Classique
Handlebar tape: Newbaum's Lime green, clear shellacked
Headset: Miche needle-bearing
Decaleur: Velo Orange

Weight as shown but without the bag: 12.3 kg (27 lbs)

First 200 of 2013

This winter in Montreal was much harsher and longer than last year's and therefore I hadn't gotten too many miles in so far. Yet, May marks the beginning of the brevet season, with a 200k. I probably won't be able to do any brevets next year, as we'll be moving to a town with a rando club and I therefore wanted to get a good number of rides in this year.

Important things first: Once again, I managed to not put back my memory card into the camera. I really hate it when that happens, especially when there would've been many opportunities for taking pretty pictures on this nice and sunny spring day.

The ride was scheduled for 7. I got out of bed at 5:30 and my usual slow morning self completed the last bits of preparation necessary. Other than forgetting the memory card, I also failed to prepare sandwiches -- something I would dearly regret later. The forecast for the day was a high of 24°C and pure sun. Given how pale I am after the winter and having seen my SO getting badly burned from a relatively short run, I decided to play it safe and wear my longsleeve wool jersey.

When I arrived at the starting point, there was already a big crowd of riders assembled -- possibly the largest number I'd ever seen at a CVRM event. Jean, our club president, quickly explained the rules of the ride for the newcomers and after the obligatory group picture we headed out. I stayed with the front of the group, and riding through the quiet morning streets in a pack of 15 to 20 riders at high speed was exhilarating. Once we got out of the suburbs, a group of 8 or so cyclists increased the tempo further and after a short attempt of keeping up with them I let myself fall back and rode by myself for a while. While I had my first Clif Bar of the day, I was caught by another group of 6 riders and we stayed together until the first control stop at 41 km. On the way there, I -- for what I think the first time of my life -- managed to drop my water bottle while being near the front of the group. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and I was able to retrieve the bottle, but I was rather embarassed.

Going with my usual policy of keeping the control stops short, I only had my card signed, went to bathroom and headed out again before the rest of the group. After a couple minutes it dawned on me that I hadn't refilled my water bottles because somehow in my mind the next rest stop would be before getting to the big climb of the day. A quick glance at the cue sheet, however, confirmed that that was not the case and I therefore bought a bottle of Gatorade at the next gas station. The lost minutes, of course, meant that the people behind me would soon catch up with me. I considered hanging on to them but they were just a tad bit too fast and I therefore continued by myself.

The route had been flat so far, heading straight south towards the US border. At the last turn before the crossing, we then turned west and rode parallel to border. This was also where things started getting hilly. It starts out with gentle rolling hills and a lot of false flats and I started feeling a little exhausted. This was exacerbated by my maladjusted rear derailleur that kept ghost-shifting into a higher gear. On the other, this stretch of the route is also the most scenic part. Vineyards and orchards, old stone walls, and nice views (you can see a bit of it here). The final climb up Covey Hill was mean, as always, but I made it up, huffing and puffing.

The following downhill to the next control stop quickly made me forget the hard work, though, and soon I arrived at Boulangerie Chartrand, which was as busy as usual, both with regular customers and other randonneurs. I only had an espresso and a Clif Bar, refilled my bottles, re-applied sunscreen, fixed the derailleur, and headed out again, once again by myself. The sun was burning by now which on the one hand made me glad to have the protection the long jersey provided, but on the other hand also made me pretty hot. Once again, I was being passed by the group of people I'd been playing cat-and-mouse with. The route out here was again all very quiet -- there's only one little town, Saint-Chrysostome, on the 60 km between rest stops 2 and 3.

Having a properly working derailleur was nice, but now I had to struggle with a headwind (even though it seemed to switch directios many times during the course of the day) and me being absolutely sick of eating and drinking sweet things. This is not uncommon for me, but usually doesn't happen as early. I dreaded having to eat yet another Clif Bar and longingly thought about those savory sandwiches I never ended up making. My feet were also complaining, but in the end I made it to the third control stop (which is the same as number 1). A few other riders were there, fixing someone's flat, and this time they actually headed out before me. The V8 and coke I had had at the control made me feel better, as did the knowledge that only a good 40km were left until the finish.

Just before reaching the outer limits of the suburbs I was caught by yet another group. This time, I did ride with them and had a nice conversation with one rider who was doing his first fixed gear 200k. We arrived at the final control at 15:37, a good 8.5 hours after the start. Given how early in the season it was and that I had ridden mostly on my own, this was a surprisingly good time and I didn't feel too bad. I also seem to have avoided getting burned by the sun. Overall, a very happy ride!

Ride report: A hard 300

Picture from the start. Courtesy CVRM

I had just gotten back from a three week trip to Europe on Tuesday night. On Wednesday I checked the CVRM calendar and was a bit concerned about seeing a 300 km brevet on the schedule for the weekend. I would have preferred a shorter distance, but as there are only two other rides left for this season I decided to sign up anyway.

My sleep pattern was still messed up by the jetlag and I woke up at 4:17, 13 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I arrived at the start just a bit after sunrise and was surprised to see only five other riders there -- it later occurred to me that in addition to vacation season it was also the time of the Rocky Mountain 1200 which was attended by five of our members. My main goal for the day was to make it back in time to meet the biketopus for the fireworks at 10 pm, a secondary goal was to complete the ride in a similar time as my last attempt, 14 hours and 32 minutes. My French is still pretty bad, but it was good enough to understand that one of the riders, Marc, had the plan to complete the ride at "sept heure," which was clearly too ambitious for me. Nonetheless, I tried hanging on with the rest of the group to the first contrôle in Saint-Cesaire. The pace was high, with an average of about 30 km/h, but I was feeling okay.

This would quickly change after the first stop: Raymond had left a few minutes before us and Jean, leading the rest of us, seemed determined to catch up with him. Zooming along on the Route des Champs bike path at 38 km/h was way too much for me and after maybe 10 km I decided I had to ride at my own pace in order to survive the ride. Unfortunately, for the rest of day I would be in various states of pain. It started with a headache which became bad enough to force me stop at a supermarket in Bromont to buy a Pepsi. The Pepsi cured the headache but somehow during the stop I must have pinched a nerve in my hip joint. This was painful in itself and also affected my pedaling form which in turn caused my left knee to start hurting, too. Between the second and third contrôle I was feeling more and more crappy and had to stop and sit in the grass for a bit somewhere along Vallée Missisquoi. At the bottom of the climb up Scenic Drive, the major climb of the route, I reached a low and thought I would have to walk up the mountain. Pondering this prospect for a minute, however, brought back my stubbornness and I decided to not let the mountain defeat me. I was passed by a number of roadies on the way up, but in the end I made it to the top.

At the third contrôle in Sutton I stopped for 50 minutes which, in combination with two Advils and lots of V8 and apple cider, made me feel a bit better. Between Sutton and the next contrôle the ride was fairly enjoyable -- nice scenery, almost no wind, and not too much pain. Once I reached Saint-Cesaire, with only about 60 km left, I knew that I would make it. From St.-Cesaire the route followed Route 112 all the way to the end which is easy and fairly nice to ride on. Lots of cars but the shoulder is wide and has good pavement. Back in Longueil I missed the turn onto Lapinière. but at 9:12 I reached the final contrôle. And after getting lost in Brossard while trying to find my way to the Saint-Lambert locks I arrived just in time at the Parc de la Cité du Havre right on time for the fireworks.

Brevet card

The other riders did indeed almost reach their goal of finishing at 7 o'clock which is very impressive. Had it not be for the pain my ride would probably have been really great, as the weather was pretty much perfect: warm but not too hot and very little wind for most of the day.I was surprised that the brevet only took me about 45 minutes longer than in my previous attempt, where there had been little pain and I had received a lot of help from the other riders. My moving average was much lower, 24.6 vs. 27.4 km/h, but I spent half an hour less at the stops. This pretty impressively shows that a fast brevet is not so much the result of riding fast but of having efficient stops.

Ride report: CVRM 300km Brevet

After really enjoying my 200km brevet with the CVRM in early June and finishing with lots of time to spare I decided to give the 300 a try last Saturday. My main goal was to finish and since it was Nicole's birthday the next day the secondary goal was to get home before midnight.

At the start

I got up at 4:35, slurped down my oatmeal, and left the house at 5:15, well in time for the 6 o'clock start. With 9 riders (one more would catch up with us later) we got going right on time, heading for Chambly. I started out riding with Clement and one rider whose name I forgot but soon decided to catch up with the riders slightly ahead of us, Serge and Raymond. This turned out to be a good decision and I would stay with them for quite some time. The first controle was a gas station in Saint-Césaire after about 55km, and during our quick stop the whole group regrouped again.

Route Verte near Granby

We continued east towards Granby where Raymond (who Serge described to me as "the human GPS") took us on a detour on the Route Verte 1. This was slightly longer but much more scenic and quiet than the original route. Ten kilometers past Granby we changed our general direction, now heading south. This should be the beginning of the hilly part of our ride which continued for the next 100km. Initially, I was doing fine on the rollling hills, yet our pace was fast and the closer we got to the second controle in Lac Brome the more tired I felt.

Second controle in Lac Brome

Awesome scenery

Rest, V8, a coke, and two Clif Bars got me back into shape, however, and we continued. The dark clouds and showers that we had observed all throughout the ride now finally reached us, and for about 20 km we rode through heavy rain. Since it was still very warm and I was wearing my wool jersey I didn't bother putting on any extra clothes. Riding in the rain without fenders is something I haven't done in years but I wasn't as bad as expected, and eventually the sun came out again. In a little village near the Vermont border (Mansonville?) we stopped at a gas station for a final refuel before the big climb of the ride. Jean and Olivier passed us there while Martin decided to stop, too, and continue with us. The route was still very scenic, following a river between the sizable hills of the Eastern Townships. After about 160 km it was then time to leave the valley and tackle the climb on Scenic Drive. The climb, while being the biggest on the ride, is not all that bad with less than 200m of elevation change and a doable gradient. Nonetheless, I quickly fell behind Serge and Raymond, and Martin also slowly disappeared ahead. On top of the hill I took a quick stop to get out my camera and then it was all downhill. Martin fortunately waited at the next intersection which I otherwise probably would have missed. The descent was smooth, steep, and awesome, and I got up to over 70 km/h. For the following ten kilometers to the third controle I decided to take it easy, enjoy the scenery and take some pictures.

I made it up Scenic Drive

Getting ready for the downhill on Scenic Drive

Woo-Hoo

Controle in Sutton. Yes, that big bottle of V8 is mine

The picturesque town of Sutton was buzzing with St. Jean-Baptiste/Canada Day celebrations. The controle was at a supermarket on the outskirts of town, and the rest was very welcome. I devoured a bunch of crackers, a liter of V8, and a cup of coffee. Freshly nourished our group of 6 riders got going again, now headed north and into the wind. Serge had stop after about 5km for what I think was a mechanical, and Raymond and Olivier stopped with him while Martin, Jean, and me continued on. For the next 50 km I should learn why Jean is nicknamed "La Machine": despite the headwind he pretty much pulled me and Martin along all the way at a very good clip. I felt somewhat bad for not being able to contribute much but I was in no shape charge ahead. At km 225 we had another stop at a little dep with the now usual crackers, coke, V8. Somewhere between there and Farnham Olivier and Raymond caught back up to us and for the rest of ride we'd stay together.

Quick stop in Stanbridge East

Quiet country roads

Unplanned stop at a railway crossing

Tired legs at the second-to-last controle

Getting ready for the last leg of the ride

The second-to-last controle was again in Saint-Cesaire and from there we took the direct route back to Montreal on the Route 112. This is a busy four-lane highway but it has a wide paved shoulder and we made good time. The wind had mostly died down and I felt very good, allowing me to do some work for the others. We had a quick stop to fix a flat on Martin's bike but other than that the final stretch to Saint Lambert was uneventful. Following Raymond's suggestion we followed a different route into town which had much less traffic but unfortunately many more bumps.

Through the suburbs

Yay, 300km

Into the sunset

After 14 hours and 26 minutes with a moving average of 27.5 km/h we arrived at the final controle. I still had some way to go, and at the end of the day I had clocked in 335 km. During the ride, Jean and others kept suggesting that now I should do the 400 -- and I must say that probably I would have been able to do another 65km. Unfortunately, the CVRM's last 400k of the season is this coming weekend and I'll be in Europe. Oh well. I'll definitely be back for the remaining 300 and 200 km brevets in July, August, and September.

Cartier Bridge on the way home from the ride's start/finish

A big merci goes to all the riders who rode with me last Saturday, and especially to our great president Jean, for their advice, encouragement, stories, and paceline work. Without them I probably still would have made it but it would have taken much longer and been much less enjoyable.