Leinenkugel's Chippewa Valley Century Ride

[dannwilliams]

http://www.chippewavalleyride.us/

I have done this several years now. Great ride through the beautiful Chippewa River area. Last year was hot, two years ago was a horrendous head wind the last several miles.

Best part is Brat feed and beverages(read Leinenkugels) at the finish included in the registration!
I'm in for the 100 (comes in at 102 on the bike computer I had)

[laryanshabaz]

Whoa! I think I might be in, I've never heard of this before.

[RacerX99]

This looks like a great ride.

I will have to talk the wife into a road trip.:D

[tjayk]

oh yeah, i'll be there. the start is like half a mile from my mother's house. last year i had 2 flats in the morning, so i never made it to the start. i will be the young guy (23) on the orange/white trek 1000.

[laryanshabaz]

Yes I will be there!
Big old blue schwinn.
Not pre-regged and coming from 2-2.5 miles away.
See ya early!

[dannwilliams]

Fore cast is 50% chance of thunderstorms, mostly in afternoon. I might scale back to the 75 miles to make sure I'm done before they arrive.

[laryanshabaz]

No rain for me. Did my 100 (first century)
6h31m :(
This area was much more hilly than I anticipated.

[dannwilliams]

I headed out at 8:30 in bright sun. I still had the 75 miler planned as my route. The weather was a little cool, many other riders were in tights, knee/leg warmers, arm warmers/jackets. I was anticipating it to warm up so just took my helmet cover in my back pocket in case the rain came while I was out there. I saw a bus in the parking lot for Team Jokers Wild, from Wabasha, MN. They had 38 riders come for the ride. There are 4 routes, 35, 50, 75, and 100 miles. Bike traffic would thin after each turn off. Where the 50 broke off, at the Chippewa River in Cornell, I found myself alone. As I stated earlier in this thread, the route is pretty flat. At least until the route starts heading back, then the hills begin. Nothing as bad as SW WI though. The wind was a factor, as it has been every year I have done this ride. Also, the rest stops are quite a ways apart after the second. And SAG is mostly non-existent, saw one vehicle on the road the whole day, but that was one more than the last year. After making the turn for the 75 mile option, I rode most of the way with a fella from Eau Claire. He was riding a nice Rivendell. I was out in front coming from the last rest stop and missed a turn, doh! Made it back to Irvine Park with 78.2 miles on the Garamin. A good ride, and I enjoyed my brat. Went over to the Leinie Lodge to see if the new jersey's had made it in, no luck.
A fantastic day. My only upgrade to this ride would be to move a rest stop up in the middle. There are two stops in the first 30 miles, and the last stop is 10 miles from the end. And there was a road tore up in the middle that should have been routed around. Had to walk the bike for about a mile.
This area was much more hilly than I anticipated.
This ride does end with some hills, but it is the wind that I always remember. The last few miles directly into the teeth of a strong headwind!

[dannwilliams]

Stats from the Garmin:
Distance (mi ) 78.44
Moving Speed (mph) 15.9 avg. 32.2 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +3,100 / -3,080

Avg. Heart Rate 132 bpm Zone 3.1

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=5754767

[tjayk]

does anyone have the 100 mile route that they can post? i missed the ride, but want to do it solo. it would be much appreciated.

[dannwilliams]

does anyone have the 100 mile route that they can post? i missed the ride, but want to do it solo. it would be much appreciated.
The roads are marked, so you could just leave the park in Chippewa and follow them. I didn't have the Garmin last time I did the 100..

[laryanshabaz]

A fantastic day. My only upgrade to this ride would be to move a rest stop up in the middle. There are two stops in the first 30 miles, and the last stop is 10 miles from the end. And there was a road tore up in the middle that should have been routed around. Had to walk the bike for about a mile.

There were complaints about the distance between the second and third stops.
One thing I would add about the 1/2 mile stretch of ground earth: I was told that happened Thursday after the maps and route were committed to. I carried/walked mine through (700x23) after riding in it for about 10 seconds. Though I saw at least one road bike make it through, I'm glad because a guy a bit behind me apparently bit the dust on it.

[tjayk]

yesterday i did the 75 mile route solo - thanks dann for posting that. apparently i did it backwards though, but it ended up working well as i started off into the wind, and traffic was all going the other way mostly. although i also finished into the wind - which was pretty damn strong. and i made it through the gravel w/out putting a foot down! i guess a triple is nice sometimes - i wouldn't have made it up the gravel hill w/out it.

my route was 79.45 miles starting/ending at my mom's place, and i did it in 4:20 - an 18.29 average. i was definitely pushing myself pretty damn hard. plus i ran out of water in Lake Holcombe and kept going to Cornell, where i had to deviate from the route slightly to hit a gas station.