Great Lakes - 09 Dairyland Dare Ride Reports

OK, only a little update but HOLY FREAKIN MOTHER OF RIDES .... This is the hardest thing I have done in my entire life.

I am currently icing my left knee (not the one with the torn meniscus). Explanation later. Have company and too tired to type much now.

Here's the data. The speed and distance is slightly off as I didn't reset my computer for my climbing wheels but it's close.

Data Value Unit
Duration 7:57:20
Sampling Rate 5 s
Cycling Efficiency 22.6 %

Energy Expenditure 5037 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 67315 beats
Recovery -49 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 82 bpm
Average Heart Rate 141 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 177 bpm
Standard Deviation 12.3 bpm

Minimum Speed 1.2 mph
Average Speed 16.5 mph
Maximum Speed 46.0 mph
Distance 131.3 miles
Odometer 2210 miles

Minimum Cadence 29 rpm
Average Cadence 86 rpm
Maximum Cadence 125 rpm
Coasting Time 1:17:45 (16.3 %)
Coasting Distance 30.8 miles (23.4 %)

Minimum Altitude 344 ft
Average Altitude 594 ft
Maximum Altitude 938 ft
Ascent 8901 ft
Descent 6539 ft
Slopes 21
VAM 1119 ft/h

Minimum Power 1 Watts
Average Power 202 Watts
Average Power (0 W incl.) 167 Watts
Maximum Power 673 Watts
Pedaling Index Average 24 %
Pedaling Index Maximum 94 %
Left Right Balance Average L52 - 48R Left - Right
Left Right Balance Maximum L86 - 14R Left - Right

Here is my ride report.
Got stung by a wasp which flew into my helmet right after the 2nd time at Tower Hill Rd. rest stop.
The next 40 miles turned into pure friggin hell with continuous cramps on my left thigh which had me already dismount Roberts Rd during the 2nd round and didn't get any better later on. I did not walk Rpberts Rd tho.. after some massaging of the thigh I was able to continue and the clip in worked perfectly.

Shop Hill Rd. I couldn't even think about finishing that one. My thighs were screaming in agony with cramping and I actually walked up the whole f'n hill after I dismounted only like 50 yards into the hill.
I didn't have to walk anything else, 12% inclines were really the most I could muster in my dismay. During my approach to the Clyde reststop I had over 100 miles on my computer and I was planning to call it quits right at that rest stop. The funny part is, I missed the f'n sign for the rest stop, because I had my head hanging low, only listening to my breathing and the screaming of my legs to make the torture stop. So running low on water, no food because of missed rest stop and pain on my forehead because of the wasp sting I cycled on to Shop Hill Rd looking forward to water at the top of the hill. Even the walk of shame on that road was hard enough to make me almost fall with my bike a few times, but the water on top fixed me up and I was able to continue after some gel.
Last rest stop I found Crystal again and finally the ride turned brighter since we both decided to ride the last 9 miles together and keep company and push on to finish that god forsaken 200k ride.
We rolled in together to the finish, neither of us able to eat solid food, but we munched down some smoothies and said our good buys.

Soo... and now I'm up in Mount Prospect at work. :D

Stats: Roughly 12 bottles of water (about 9 liters), about 6 or 7 gels, one bratwurst, dozen cherries, granola bar, two peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, 3 banana's, one muffin and some other bits and pieces

I'm in the process of downloading the data right now and will report more later. It was a good ride; though we got off course (reports of some markers being moved) and ended up taking HWY 23 all the way up past the House on the Rock on a terribly long, constant (guessing 3-4% for about 5 miles?--data will tell). I bonked BAD on this climb as it was riding into a strong headwind and (worse yet) was in the total open sunshine for the entire climb. Had to stop, eat and drink before picking back up the climb.

Ended up with a 100k+ (~71 miles?). Position felt good--no real pain today (legs burned here and there of course).

Some good climbs on this ride: Roberts was the steepest (did it fine thanks to the 34-27, don't think I dropped below 5.5 mph on the climb), climb up to Tower rest stop (I think) was pretty long, couple of pretty steep climbs before Roberts.

We drove to Blue Mounds State park afterward to finish off with a climb up to the park (I didn't do it, do to my bonk earlier--didn't want to push it, but the two others I was with did it).

More data to follow.

A BEAUTIFUL area for sure...

OK, only a little update but HOLY FREAKIN MOTHER OF RIDES

Duration 7:57:20

Distance 131.3 miles

Coasting Time 1:17:45 (16.3 %)
Coasting Distance 30.8 miles (23.4 %)

Ascent 8901 ft
Descent 6539 ft



That says a lot right there although I don't get that ascent/descent deal. If you coasted 30 miles, then it must have been a long day in the saddle. :D

A little data:

Total mileage (I missed recording a couple miles data due to 'stopping' the 725 recording prematurely) = 68.3 miles, Total ascent = 4682 ft, Avg speed = 15.0 mph (including quite a bit of easy pace climbing due to bonk), max speed (coasting) = 45.2 mph, Avg HR = 158, max HR = 189. Averaged 16.1 mph for the first 47 miles (pre-bonk, 2910' ascent); 13.2 mph thereafter--including bonk--, 21.5 miles (1745' ascent).


Roberts:

0.3 miles, 200' ascent (for the 'kick'), Average grade = 13.6%, (0.4 miles at average grade of 10.9%) Average speed 6.2 mph, avg cad = 61 (thanks to the gearing). Max local grade somewhere between 15 - 17 %.

Climb on HWY 23 (missed Weaver due to 'detour'):

Total ascent: 775' over 9.2 miles; starts off with a 280', 1 mile climb averaging 5.6% (average speed of 7.0 mph), followed immediately by 2.5 miles of 1.4%, climbing 180' more, before a slight dip / climb section up to the final rest stop.

Climb out of the valley from the final rest stop:

1.0 miles, 300', average grade of 6.0%, Average speed of 7.3 mph, Avg HR = 166, average cad = 65.

Other significant climbs (for an idea of the ride):

At mile 41: 310' climb, 1.2 miles long, average grade = 4.9%, average speed = 9.1 mph

At mile 19.4: 420' climb over 4.7 miles, finishing with a 225' stretch (0.6 miles) at 7.4%

At mile 17.7: 515' climb over 3.7 miles, hitting 13% locally, in the middle of the climb

At mile 10.87: 305' climb over 1.1 miles, hitting 11.4% locally, in the middle of the climb

Oh yeah, all on 4 hours of sleep last night... :(


Sean

The dinner before was nice with great company. CyLowe, Psyco, Nietsmas, Scummer, Smokin and her friend, and me. Here are a couple of snaps. Maybe had an extra beer or two.:love:

Got to bed at 10:30ish. Woke up at 2:30 for a pee and water and I couldn't fall back to sleep. Alarm clock rings at 4:45 and I've only gotten 4 hours of sleep. Also, my pasta dinner was not sitting well. Not a good start.

Could only find Nietsmas and Scummer for a 6:15 roll out. Sometime last night I made a bet with some guys on my team I could break 8 hours for the ride (wise move Lance) so I pretty much took off right from the start.

Ride started pretty good. Near the first rest stop started getting pain in the back of my knees. Left hurt more than right. Not too bad and I thought it was just from all the climbing. The pain started getting annoying by the second stop. By the third stop the left knee now hurts and I finally figure out maybe my saddle is too high. I had to pull it to get the bike in my Porsche and put it back max 1/4" too high. After that adjustment the minor pain in the right knee went away but not the left. It's possible that I was just using poor climbing technique somehow but I think it was saddle height issue. :mad:

The first 60+ miles I rode pretty strong. Then my power started to drop off as I fell behind on food and water. I just didn't take in enough. It's more difficult to eat enough and remember to drink enough, and working so hard you need a lot more than usual: this is what got me.

Roberts road the first time wasn't too bad. An arse kicker for sure but I was fresh. The second time hurt bad and I was digging real deep to keep the pedals churning. I was thinking about Shop Hill at that point and going ... oh man.

We almost got lost as the signage at the split was not at all clear and the turn guide was flat wrong! Thank goodness I happened to be with a guy who had it gps mapped and they convinced me to go the right way. Stew... clean up the directions! How about Yellow1 changing to Yellow 2 arrows?

Just more pain and suffering and it took me probably another hour or two to catch back up on my eating and drinking. It wasn't a full fledged bonk but just a big drop in output. My knee was annoying the heck out of me as I was wondering if I was doing any damage and should bag it. Boy did I not want to quit.

More endless up and down and looking forward (ha ha) to Shop Hill. Got there and it wasn't as bad as I expected. I think Roberts is harder but Shop Hill comes late. The road after it was maybe tougher, Meirs?, with long climbing and real loose gravel so you couldn't stand without loosing the rear wheel. Somewhere along here my pinky starts going numb. I used lightweight riding gloves (duh) and was pinching a nerve somehwere. It is still numb and tingly this morning.

At this point you REALLY want the ride to end. Mashing the pedals on senile climbs and wondering "Why are you doing this?" lol. Finally got to the last stop knowing it ain't over yet. I roll out into a stiff headwind on top of the long stinking climbs to finish. Oh that was real nice.

Finished and went straight to my car to get my recovery drink. As I got off the bike I realized I had a hard time walking on my left knee ... really hurt to extend it. I could do squats with it but anything near straightened out hurt bad.:wtf:

Put my bike away, changed clothes, and limped into the building and found CyLowe. I looked at him with an incredulous look and said something like "What the hell was that? OMG, never done anything that hard in my life ... ".

I can't quite say it was great yet but now I can say it was a load of fun ... well not fun but ... suffering? pain? ??? I don't think there is an English word to describe it. ;)

We almost got lost as the signage at the split was not at all clear and the turn guide was flat wrong! Thank goodness I happened to be with a guy who had it gps mapped and they convinced me to go the right way. Stew... clean up the directions! How about Yellow1 changing to Yellow 2 arrows?


Was this at the split where you're supposed to turn onto Hillside School Rode from Hwy 23? Either that turn wasn't marked, the markers were altered, or we just flat out missed the signs. We ended up taking Hwy 23 all the way along to picking up the red loop on ZZ. This was stretch of 8.5 miles of straight climbing--in the brutal sunshine. We all agreed this was the worst part of the ride the whole day. In a way I'm glad we hit this route as I really need to learn how to rhythm climb on longer climbs. Like you, I didn't drink nearly enough and thought I was going to throw up due to having too many gels and not nearly enough water...

Sorry to hear about your knee pain--I hope it is somewhat better this morning?

Our problem was at the first route split. You had to take the blue arrow and turn left while the cue sheet said turn right. :(

Knee is maybe a touch better but still can't walk, very heavy limp.

Ride report: I failed. Again.

Only consolation is that I didn't walk up anything and that I rode up Weaver a second time after taking the cutoff of shame. ~104 miles.

Ouch! What more can I say!

Going with the theme of "punching this ride in the face," it was a knock down, drag out, brawl! :fight:

First time I missed the UNMARKED turn at Roberts, so that tacked on an extra 3 miles (I could have kept going and met back up with the course, but I didn't want to miss that climb :twitchy:).

Later, I almost took the same route as Cy, but the second wind kicked in and I made the turn for Clyde (right turn Clyde). I felt fine until that "gravel" road into the wind -- that sucked big time!

Oh -- Shop Hill -- YOUR NOTHIN! ;)

Short story...141 miles total for me. Did the 200k and added on some distance between Clyde and Pleasant Hill aid stations. More on that later.

Had a great dinner with the best company! Nice evening, wonderful food. (Dawn, my friend, was nice enough to take a picture. I'll post it below) I missed the folk that are usually with us not being with us :(

Like CC and Scummer, I didn't sleep real well but that's nothing new for me the night before any event I do. Started right at 6am in the early morning fog with Dawn. She was riding the 100k which meant we could be together until 52 miles. The first couple of hours are just a hazy memory...just riding along...taking the early hills REALLY easy. I knew what was coming later.

I really felt good all day. I mean it's a hard ride but I thought I really had it in me to do the 266k. I pulled out of Clyde knowing I'd have to make the decision soon as the route splits after there. I got to the split...I was at about 106 miles then and took the long route. However, I got 5 miles out on the long route and decided to bag it. By the time I was out there, NO ONE was riding the long route and I didn't have it in me in that heat and humidity to tackle it alone. I figured I'd ride back and jump back on the red route and finish up. This is where I added my extra 10 miles.

Once I got back on the red route I started to feel very fatigued. My legs felt like someone else's and I knew I was in for a long 25 miles to the finish. There was at detour before we got back to Pleasant Hill which seemed really long. I pulled into Pleasant Hill totally planning on flagging down the sag and calling it a day. I had ridden 131 miles; I had accomplished enough. So I hung around noshing and chatting with the folk there; it was nearly a party atmosphere there by this time. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon by then.

And then, Scummer pulled in. Never so glad to see him in all my life!:D Someone to suffer in with to the end! I let him recover (he had missed the last aid station and was running on empty) and ate more stuff (definitely got my money's worth, Stew!) We set out to tackle the last 10 miles which I remembered being really difficult. I was right. There are some really long climbs. He was cramping and couldn't get out of the saddle to stand and we tried to eek out a little conversation while gettin 'er done.

At one point, he blurted out...."now this is what you call suffering" as if it was the essence of what we had signed up for and in spite of the pain, we wouldn't have been anywhere else.

Then it happened, a slow moving tractor ahead on a DOWNHILL. In our carb depleted brains, it seemed like a good idea to just fly on by him on the left where the road was clear. Except we didn't count on his tractor obscuring the last arrow that was sending us back to the finish at Harris Park. In our oblivion, we enjoyed a really, nice long downhill just to have to turn around and ride back UP it.:cry: I told everyone the night before that I usually always cry at some point on this ride.....I thought it was going to be right then. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad and we made it back in for the most delicious smoothies at the finish.

What a great day riding the most difficult ride I do.....and, it's my favorite!

Random thoughts......

This ride has absolutely the most amazing rest stops. The variety of fruit and other carbs is truly outstanding AND they serve HEED. The organization is first class. I noticed the missing arrow at Roberts had been fixed by the second time I was through there. Very unusual. I wonder if someone took it.

It's amazing how many bugs a sweaty body can attract....I'd say I was wearing about 2,000 by day's end.

It's also amazing when you can get stung twice and stop later to look at the enormous whelps and realized that at the time you were so focused and in so much pain that a measly wasp sting wasn't even worth your brain attending to.

It's amazing that there is truly nothing flat on this ride.

It's amazing that Stew can put together routes to equal up to 300k of riding.

It's amazing to feel the comrarderie that comes from suffering up hills with total strangers..

Random funny things.......

Riding along with a group of guys when we spot a guy stopped on the side. He says he's out for the day...busted rear derailleur. One of the guys in our group says, "I've been praying for that to happen to me all day"

Same group....we ride by a dead squirrel while going up some long climb. The poor fellow (squirrel) is all paws up. Guy in group gasps out, "dudes, that is a bad omen"

Very thin guy at rest area recounts what he's eaten during the day. Says it's possible he's actually gained weight on the ride. Says he's eaten at least 20 !!! bags of fruit snacks and 15 Tropic Ices.

So many folks using aerobars. Super girl was definitely there aham!(or one of her minions)

Looking for Scummer to ride into the finish. I'm looking all over asking "has anyone seen my friend?" only to find him laying in the grass behind me.

Waiting for Scummer to saddle up and moving out into the road in take off position only to later realize that this is indeed a real ROAD and traffic might find it odd that I'm just sitting there.

Having all of Dawn's stuff in my car for her to get ready to go to the wedding she had to go to after she finished only to find out later that I had mistakenly given her the wrong key to my car and she had to go to Walmart to buy underwear, makeup and jewelry. She was such a great sport about this. Thank goodness her husband had her dress and shoes.


I love this ride. I'm going to attempt the 233 k next year or maybe the 266k. I can't imagine ever making the 300k.

Ride report: I failed. Again.

Only consolation is that I didn't walk up anything and that I rode up Weaver a second time after taking the cutoff of shame. ~104 miles.

I could see you ahead and was yelling at you...well, with as much force as I could muster and then I lost you. Was hoping we could ride in together. It's really so hard the last 30 miles.

Ouch! What more can I say!

Going with the theme of "punching this ride in the face," it was a knock down, drag out, brawl! :fight:

First time I missed the UNMARKED turn at Roberts, so that tacked on an extra 3 miles (I could have kept going and met back up with the course, but I didn't want to miss that climb :twitchy:).

Later, I almost took the same route as Cy, but the second wind kicked in and I made the turn for Clyde (right turn Clyde). I felt fine until that "gravel" road into the wind -- that sucked big time!

Oh -- Shop Hill -- YOUR NOTHIN! ;)

Hey, I saw you pulling out of Clyde as I came in. You were looking strong as you headed out!

Then it happened, a slow moving tractor ahead on a DOWNHILL. In our carb depleted brains, it seemed like a good idea to just fly on by him on the left where the road was clear. Except we didn't count on his tractor obscuring the last arrow that was sending us back to the finish at Harris Park. In our oblivion, we enjoyed a really, nice long downhill just to have to turn around and ride back UP it.:cry: I told everyone the night before that I usually always cry at some point on this ride.....I thought it was going to be right then. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad and we made it back in for the most delicious smoothies at the finish.


Haha... Oh man. I totally forgot about the passing of the tractor. It was a blast to go downhill and just thinking about finishing and all of a sudden me and you standing at the T-intersection scratching our heads where the red arrow could be, only to have it dawn on us that the darn tractor was at the wrong place at the wrong time for us. So we had to grind up that hill again. Gaaahhhh.

I'm really wondering how I look at that finishing picture. I don't think I was even able to crack a smile at that point.

At one point, he blurted out...."now this is what you call suffering" as if it was the essence of what we had signed up for and in spite of the pain, we wouldn't have been anywhere else.


I think I even mentioned the suffering in a race only lasts for the length of the race which is maybe 30-45 minutes and you can recover in the pack. While the suffering in the DD is almost for the whole 2nd half of that ride and those hills are challenging you mentally in the worst possible way.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_qNTF2kaqXq8/SohPhb2KfVI/AAAAAAAAEZU/mzf5eL1XH9w/s800/SDC12390.JPG

^^^^^^^^cyclpsycho,scummer,smokinmiles,colorchange,cylowe97,nietsmas

Noice!!!!

The road after it was maybe tougher, Meirs?,

Yes, I had forgotten about that little gem. I think in my hazed memory it was all just one long continuous up that I considered part of Shop Hill.

A couple observations of some 'odd' things (for lack of a better description) I witnessed Saturday while 'doing the Dare'.

1. One guy I saw seemed quite content to crank out a 15 - 20 rpm (it had to have been) cadence on a long climb (I saw him doing it more than once--since I passed him more than once :D)--while in his big front ring--and he had at least a 39 for a small ring (and I thought he may have even had a triple)! I almost said something like 'hey, why don't you downshift in front' as I rode past him--but figured he knew what he was doing. After I saw him later in the day on another climb doing the same thing, I was again baffled--'oh well', I thought as I motored past at a 70-80 rpm cadence, hoping (for his sake) it might just spark a thought. He certainly deserves an award for making things harder than needed. :lol:

2. One lady was very vocal at the first rest stop (Barneveld) telling people that she was done for the day because 'Roberts Rd' was coming next--she wasn't even going to try it, she was done with the ride (and was telling others freely about her decision)! I know hills are mostly mental (ok somewhat physical too), but man-she was just defeated by this monster named 'Roberts' and had no intention of attacking it (ever?) again. To me, that was kind of sad--and it made me a little more fearful of this 'monster' that lie ahead--and a lot more determined also. Truth be told, when I got there, I was determined I wasn't gonna stop no matter what, and I ended up going up without much difficulty (yes, it was work; yes, my HR rose a bit; yes, my legs burned). In contrast, MAJOR Kudos to Cylow97: I know he said he failed 'again' (I'm not sure if that's because he didn't hit his mileage goal or what) but I say it was a great success for hitting it 'again' (especially if this wasn't the first time he 'failed'):thumb:. Way to go for attacking it again--don't give up! Some saying comes to mind about how many time Edison 'failed' before he created the first light bulb. Perseverance...

Anyway, these two sights caused me to scratch my head a bit...

^^^^ i ride with a guy on Tuesday nights. the fastest, strongest, bestest, oddest rider there. last week we roll in with a 23 mph avg for the flat 23 miles. he has a broken shifter. the left one, you know that controls the FD. he forced the FD and chain to the big ring for this fast ride. he states he is riding DD and not sure if he can fix it by then. he may just force it to the small ring, but not sure. he may ride his back up litespeed that he has never riden before, but not sure. you may be talking about this guy, but i am not sure. you just cant judge a book by its cover. later.

OK, my pinky is still numb/tingling and my knee still doesn't want to extend. Muy painful. :( Weird because there is no discernible swelling??? This had better not be serious!

Great ride. Man it was hot, humid and windy compared to last year. My goal was to beat my last year's time, but I think I came in about a minute slower. Course conditions were worse this year so I suppose that's still good, but I would have savored a lower overall time. Waiting impatiently for the official results to go up. And for next year ...

Ask CC how narrowly missing your goals can motivate you to improve. :)

Or me for that matter.

Great ride. Man it was hot, humid and windy compared to last year. My goal was to beat my last year's time, but I think I came in about a minute slower. Course conditions were worse this year so I suppose that's still good, but I would have savored a lower overall time. Waiting impatiently for the official results to go up. And for next year ...

Yeah, it wasn't the kind of day to set personal bests, that's for sure. What distance did you end up riding?

OK my training dairy for 2010 already had the Dairyland Dare marked as one of my top two events. I"m not sure , however, that I want to invest a year's worth of dieting, riding and lifting only to end up lost in the Wisconsin countryside due to bad road markers or cue sheets.

OK my training dairy for 2010 already had the Dairyland Dare marked as one of my top two events. I"m not sure , however, that I want to invest a year's worth of dieting, riding and lifting only to end up lost in the Wisconsin countryside due to bad road markers or cue sheets.

I think this is something Stewart will really need to look into next year. To the ride's credit, there was a person at the Upper Wyoming / Weaver split in the morning letting riders know to go left. At that point in the ride everyone goes left.

Riders easily get confused on which color they should follow. Wait... am I on the blue or the yellow loop? And I follow the red arrows back? Plus the arrows on sticks route markers are easily screwed with.

Roberts Rd was not marked the first time through. Lots of people blew right past it. The second time there were arrows and the road was painted to indicate the turn.

The first time out of Tower Hill one of the blue markers was thrown over in the trees and the yellow marker was pointing right. Both should have been pointing left and by the time I got back around they were corrected.

If it's possible, there need to be painted road markings, whether a symbol or DLD or something like this where all routes turn:

DLD
--->
ALL

This could easily be done in tune with the route colors to make turns look like this at a split like Upper Wyoming / Weaver:


DLD
100 / 200 (first time)
<--------

DLD
200+ (second time)
---->

Other rides do this and it's very effective and more vandal proof. Just thinking out loud...

^^^^ i ride with a guy on Tuesday nights. the fastest, strongest, bestest, oddest rider there. last week we roll in with a 23 mph avg for the flat 23 miles. he has a broken shifter. the left one, you know that controls the FD. he forced the FD and chain to the big ring for this fast ride. he states he is riding DD and not sure if he can fix it by then. he may just force it to the small ring, but not sure. he may ride his back up litespeed that he has never riden before, but not sure. you may be talking about this guy, but i am not sure. you just cant judge a book by its cover. later.

Actually, I did think of the broken shifter possibility. One guy we approached the bottom of Roberts with sounded more like the kind of person you described (I doubt it was him as this guy had a triple). At the base of the approach, he pulled out a screw driver (or a tire iron), reached down while pedaling and 'derailled' down to his easiest front ring (actually kind of clever, I thought, when I saw it). This person clearly understood shifting and riding in general.

The individual that I was referring to just gave all sorts of visual signs that he didn't seem to know what he was doing (buy hey, he was riding the Dare, so maybe I'm wrong?). Of course, I could be wrong--maybe this guy had mechanical problems as well.

I'm pretty sure, based on what you've described, this guy wasn't your buddy. I could give more of a description of what the gentleman looked like, but I'd only do it in a PM as I'd be describing a non-Caucasian person which is bound to somehow not come off correctly...

There's also the possibility that his derailleur worked fine, and he just had it in his mind to do the whole ride without using his small front ring--who knows. It just left me scratching my head a bit, especially after seeing it the second time. To each his own...

I think this is something Stewart will really need to look into next year. To the ride's credit, there was a person at the Upper Wyoming / Weaver split in the morning letting riders know to go left. At that point in the ride everyone goes left.

Riders easily get confused on which color they should follow. Wait... am I on the blue or the yellow loop? And I follow the red arrows back? Plus the arrows on sticks route markers are easily screwed with.

Roberts Rd was not marked the first time through. Lots of people blew right past it. The second time there were arrows and the road was painted to indicate the turn.

The first time out of Tower Hill one of the blue markers was thrown over in the trees and the yellow marker was pointing right. Both should have been pointing left and by the time I got back around they were corrected.

If it's possible, there need to be painted road markings, whether a symbol or DLD or something like this where all routes turn:

DLD
--->
ALL

This could easily be done in tune with the route colors to make turns look like this at a split like Upper Wyoming / Weaver:


DLD
100 / 200 (first time)
<--------

DLD
200+ (second time)
---->

Other rides do this and it's very effective and more vandal proof. Just thinking out loud...

I was thinking the same thing--should have just been painted on the road. I'm used to watching the road for my turn directions, so looking off to the side of the road was a little 'unnatural' compared to other rides I've done. I still don't know if we just blew past a sign that the three of us all missed (we were actually attentive for signs at that point), or if someone had yanked it. In either case, I'm glad I got a shot at riding such a long climb (looking over my data, it was twice as long as anything else in the Dare).

I also found it confusing to ride the 'blue' loop for most of the ride, then switch to the 'red' to 'return' and pick up the 'black' to do the extra 33k. I realize what they were trying to do, and it does make sense, but I really wasn't paying attention to anything other than the 'blue' signs...

I forgot to mention: while I was geared just fine for the ride, one of the two guys I rode with had a standard 53/39 and only had a 26 cog on back. He motored up Roberts (and everything else) like it wasn't much work (he really is a beast of a rider). :eek:

Does the ride come with cue sheets or just maps?

I've always relied on cue sheets with road markings as back up. Maybe you guys don't like the extra 5 grams from the little velcro clip. ;-)

I'm not sure that they are permitted to mark permanently on the road in that area. I know for the Wright Stuff Century they have previously used signs (and this year are using some sort of removable tape).

However, I have been on a ride or two where one route goes left and the other right which if poorly marked can confuse riders even consulting their sheets.

My ride was plagued with problems before I even started. The day before I apparently over did it working out, namely the leg curls and presses, and my hamstrings were very very sore. It didn't effect spinning so much but any time I got out of the saddle I was in so much pain I couldn't last more than a few seconds which obviously doesn't bode well for a ride like the Dare. To top that off I got a migraine about 15 miles in which wrecked my performance completely. Luckily they had Advil and Tylenol at each stop but as much of it as I took it never went away until bedtime and the whole. I vomited in my mouth a few times, got pretty dizzy and felt like I was overheating the whole ride and my HR felt like a racing horse on steroids. I had to stop more than once on each of the major climbs and it's a pain in the ass to get clipped back in mid hill but I just had to wait until people passed and went sideways or back down a bit to get pedaling before I could finish the climb and I honestly had to walk up three of the major hills. I felt like quitting several times and then about 1 or 2 miles before Pleasant Ridge I saw white spots and felt like I was going to faint to I stopped suddenly and my girlfriend was right behind me and I didn't signal I was stopping so I made her run into me, she made me take the SAG wagon to the rest stop to wait and get a ride back to the finish. I just laid out at Pleasant Ridge and drank lots of water and cooled down, popped a few more Advil and waited until my girlfriend made it to Pleasant Ridge and decided to finish the ride and felt like I attacked the rest of the hills and finished strong if not very very late at somewhere around 9 hours. So I wouldn't call the ride a success for myself as I walked up a few and the SAG ride skipped about 2 miles of the ride I'm still glad I didn't quit but I do feel bad for slowing my girlfriend down. She was really attacking all of the hills and would often just wait for me at the top as I had to stop a few times, I think she would have finished a hour or two sooner if it wasn't for that. I tried to tell her to go on ahead at her own pace but she wanted to do the ride with me and would rather not worry. I guess my poker face wasn't very good and she could see I wasn't feel well the whole ride.

I do feel a sense of accomplishment but it was a real eye opener for me. I moved to Wisconsin from Florida on January 1st 2008 and due to some personal things that were going on in my life I had a sort of mid-mid life crisis and sold my road bike (the Klein) and the Litespeed I was building up and completely lost interest in "serious" riding. I still commuted by bike on my cruiser but that was about it. It wasn't until this year that I my interest was renewed due to my girlfriend and I got another road bike about 4 months ago but I realize I've been too lackadaisical about training up for this ride. I've done some decent mileage rides but not in any sort of terrain like the DD and I was completely unprepared. Even if I was 100% on Saturday I still would have had a hell of a time getting up those hills. The first 20 miles alone were harder than any century I did back in below sea-level Florida. I had planned on going from the 100k DD to the full Wright Stuff Century but I'm going to scale back to just the 30 mile WSC and do the Bike the Barns and train from there until next year and I'll be ready to tackle the Dairyland Dare again. Maybe even the 300. Not!

Whew, sorry for the extremely long post and giant run on sentences.

I'd also like to say that the majority of riders on the DD were very nice and helpful and extremely courteous and encouraging. There were plenty of hardcore ******bags and I did hear plenty of crap come out of peoples mouths but for the most part the other riders were all great.

Wiswell: Both maps and cue sheets for the DLD. I usually rely on the maps. Cue sheets make my head hurt.

I need to go back and check, but CC mentioned that at one split the cue sheet was marked left when it should have said right (or vice versa). Need to verify that.

One of the tricky things about the DLD is that the 200km+ route doubles back on itself after the Pleasant Ridge stop. Riders end up back at Roberts, Amacher Hollow, High Point, the Tower Hill rest stop, and then on to Upper Wyoming again before splitting to the Clyde loop. After a certain amount of time in the saddle, thinking about this color route versus that color route can be rough for a sun-toasted brain.

I remembered that turn onto Hillside School from rides past, but I can easily see where folks riding on 23 with more traffic than the rest of the route that riders would be paying attention to cars whizzing by more than to the route markers off to the side.

In all, though, this is a brilliantly organized ride. The route is super tough. The stops are stockpiled with all the goods. The volunteers were cheerful. The swag is useful.... socks!

One other thing... I need to thank Jester for the spot on the ride. Next year we'll see you there, too, right?!?

.....snip......I'd also like to say that the majority of riders on the DD were very nice and helpful and extremely courteous and encouraging. There were plenty of hardcore ******bags and I did hear plenty of crap come out of peoples mouths but for the most part the other riders were all great.


wonder what makes you say this and/or what you mean by hardcore. did you have an run in with someone? curious, because this is a hardcore ride and a lot of riders show up prepared to ride it aggressively with specific time goals in mind. later.

Alright, I didn't suffer as much as Larue but I still want to complain. My knee is better, still limping, but definitely better. Only minimal tingling in the pinky, no numbness.

I know the ride messed me up. I spent all Sunday on the couch watching golf.

;)

First time riding the Dare and ended up doing the 200k route; had wanted to go for the 266k but didn't trust myself to do that big Highland loop in the heat, with Shop Hill twice. Overall it was hard but I really liked the area and thought the ride was well put together. The part I hated was late in the day past Shop Hill where the road surface was all chippy and my rear wheel kept spinning out when I stood up on the hill, can't remember the name of it. Was so happy to return to solid pavement.

Also made the HUGE mistake (b/c I registered late and couldn't find a decent priced hotel room) of tent camping. Not smart and next year I'll most definitely be getting a hotel room. People partied late and getting up at 4:30 in the dark to get ready is just not a good way to start the day. Another mistake was allowing my 'friend' at my bike shop to talk me into keeping my existing gearing ("you'll be fine!") Compact 34/52 up front with 12-25 in back. I *really* could have used something a bit easier....

I don't mean hardcore by how they rode I meant hardcore by how hardcore of a jerk they are. Comments such as "oh doesn't look like the girls I passed are going to make it up the hills but big surprise right, we are talking about girls..." and excessive fake grunting with remarks such as "oh yeah oh so hard oh my I won't make it" make you a hardcore ******bag. I know that many use this ride for Ironman training and whatnot but belittling other riders who might not be in your league is not necessary unless you really have confidence issues in other aspects of your life.
I would like to clarify that in my use of "you" I don't actually mean you yourself aham23.

Ask CC how narrowly missing your goals can motivate you to improve. :)

Or me for that matter.

I hear you. Trying not to leap to conclusions till I see the official results, but I don't think my wristwatch lied ... I hear you.

Hey, did your co-worker get a ride? Sorry I was not able to help out due to my travel logistics.

I don't mean hardcore by how they rode I meant hardcore by how hardcore of a jerk they are. Comments such as "oh doesn't look like the girls I passed are going to make it up the hills but big surprise right, we are talking about girls..." and excessive fake grunting with remarks such as "oh yeah oh so hard oh my I won't make it" make you a hardcore ******bag. I know that many use this ride for Ironman training and whatnot but belittling other riders who might not be in your league is not necessary unless you really have confidence issues in other aspects of your life.
I would like to clarify that in my use of "you" I don't actually mean you yourself aham23.

i would agree with you. no matter how fast or slow i am always impressed with anyone and everyone who attempts a ride like the DD. it is no small feet. later.

Yeah, it wasn't the kind of day to set personal bests, that's for sure. What distance did you end up riding?

I did the 100K. Maybe one of these years I'll suffer with you 200K+ heroes.

Now whenever I do Roberts Road, I think "if smokin did this on the big ring, I can do it!"

Actually I didn't find Roberts Road such a killer this year. Maybe because I felt mentally prepared for it. The hardest climbs were the ones that seemed to come out of nowhere and surprise me. Like Weaver Road. I got to that and it just kept going up, and I was like, "where TF did YOU come from? how come I don't remember YOU from past years?"

BTW did anyone else see the vultures circling over Roberts Road? Literally.

I know the ride messed me up. I spent all Sunday on the couch watching golf.

;)

But it was really exciting golf!

With age (59 next mos) comes a limited amn't of wisdom, so I chose only to do the 100k. Additionally, I measure performance not in how fast the bike and I go but in how fast my heart does-max of 181-not that I had targeted and specific number.

In spite of much liquids and food, I cramped badly on cty Z and had to stop and strech for a few minutes. I'm sure everyone could hear me whimpering like a lost puppy! I think I was most impressed by the one armed guy who blew by us on the rosy ln hill.

We had no troubles with signage being mis-placed or removed. I only checked the map once as there was a turn I did not remeber from the 2007 ride reflecting a route change. Much as it pains me to say it-I'm sure I'll be back next year. Hopefully with a few more miles and a few less pounds under the belt.

I didn't have any issues with the signage either. The only turn I missed was due to a deer crossing the road in front of me and I stupidly paid more attention to it galloping off than the actual road. A mile or two later I realized there were no cyclists in sight ahead of me nor behind me and realized I missed something. It was right after that one turn where there is a stop sign but it was very hard to see traffic around the bend, I'm not quite sure what the road was called. That is one place where it would have been nice to have someone stationed to call out for oncoming traffic.

I added the ride to Yelp if anyone wants to review it. http://www.yelp.com/biz/dairyland-dare-dodgeville

I'll bet the locals have forbidden the rides that are from marking the roads. There are so many rides over the year that it would end up looking like a contruction zone all the time (looks like somebody called julie again...")

OK my training dairy for 2010 already had the Dairyland Dare marked as one of my top two events. I"m not sure , however, that I want to invest a year's worth of dieting, riding and lifting only to end up lost in the Wisconsin countryside due to bad road markers or cue sheets.

I didn’t have any issues with the road markers, but I only did the 100K.

I do several events like this and overall I have to say, this is hands down the best organized, best supported one.

I'll bet the locals have forbidden the rides that are from marking the roads. There are so many rides over the year that it would end up looking like a contruction zone all the time (looks like somebody called julie again...")

They spray painted the living daylights out of the road at the Roberts Rd turn the second time I got there.

And there were some pretty bad potholes that were marked.

Just a little DLD--> on the road 100 feet before the turn, at the turn, and a ^ DLD ^ after the turn would be perfect.

maybe stewart should rent everyone a garmin edge ;)

maybe stewart should rent everyone a garmin edge ;)

What happened to you after second Tower Hill? Did you ride the rest of the way back to the start? I rode back via the 100k route, but didn't see you. I was at Pleasant Ridge for quite a while just chilling in the shade, so maybe you went past at that point.

I want to also echo that this was the best organized, well supported ride I've done so far! :thumb:

One of the two guys I rode with had just taken apart his cassette the night before to clean it thoroughly. During our drive up, he mentioned he had only tightened it 'hand tight'. At the first rest stop, one of the mechanics gladly took his wheel off and torqued it down for him--that was great to have the support! Later, before the second rest stop, I had a poor downshift in the front which ended up knocking my Fr Der out of kilter so that the 34-25 & 34-28 combos were rubbing the Der. Next rest stop, another mechanic fixed me up nicely while I ate. What a treat! :D Normally I'm the one wrenching on everyone else's rigs..

They spray painted the living daylights out of the road at the Roberts Rd turn the second time I got there.

And there were some pretty bad potholes that were marked.


There was one scary pothole on the right side of a decent right after a blind corner. Blowing by that marked hole at almost 40mph was somewhat unnerving.

I didn’t have any issues with the road markers, but I only did the 100K.

I do several events like this and overall I have to say, this is hands down the best organized, best supported one. Thanks, that makes me feel better.