Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.sekaijin
08-09-10, 09:20 AM
I rode the Centurion Wisconsin 50-mile cycling race yesterday, in wild stormy weather. It was a blast.
Here are the photos and the ride report I posted on Facebook.
=====================
Photos:
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsiteinthestormpre-ride.jpg
Pre-race storm. Can you see the people holding onto the tents so they don't blow away?
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Riderswaitoutthestorminahangar.jpg
700 riders waiting out the storm in a hangar.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/PeterTomandMarkpre-ride.jpg
Me and my neighbors Tom and Mark waiting in the hangar.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsitewreckagepre-ride.jpg
After the worst of the storm.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsitewreckagepost-ride.jpg
At the post-race lunch, the sun was out but there were still reminders of the morning's havoc.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/MarkPeterandTompost-ride.jpg
Mark, me and Tom after the race.
Ride report:
Rode the Centurion Wisconsin 50-mile cycling race yesterday with two buddies and the Henry Vilas Zoo cycling team. Finished in 2:31:52. It was a great event on a wild, stormy day.
Neighbors Tom, Mark and I left home at 5:45am for the 6-mile ride to the event site, Middleton Municipal Airport/Morey Field. We noticed some dramatic flashes of lightning.
Hundreds of riders were gathered at the airfield, anticipating the 7am start time. But it started to rain around 6:40am. It quickly grew into a lashing storm. Riders were ushered into a hangar to wait it out. The event site took a beating, with tents blowing down.
Two storm fronts passed through, and the race finally started at 9:30am. The delay meant that the 100-mile race was canceled, leaving only 50-mile and 25-mile races. 700 riders got into start corrals and took off at the starting gun.
The mass start made for lots of paceline drafting, and the course was a mix of hills and rolling flats, so the pace was fast despite the wet roads. Which got wetter because it soon started to rain again. I recall a couple times when the rain stung, and I looked down and saw it bouncing off my body. Hail.
The rain eventually let up and the sun even came out toward the end of the race.
We rode mostly country roads but passed through the towns of Cross Plains and Black Earth. Here in the Madison area, we hear a lot about rural residents wanting cyclists off their roads. So it was great to see so many people on street corners and at the ends of their driveways cheering, ringing cowbells and taking pictures.
I completed the 50-mile race in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 52 seconds. A startling pace of 19.3 mph - much faster than any similar event I've done. But that only put me in 285th place, barely in the top half of the 584 50-mile finishers. Fast crowd.
Back at the airfield, the sun was drying things out and we enjoyed a terrific lunch catered by Bluephies, a popular Madison restaurant.
=====================
Here are the photos and the ride report I posted on Facebook.
=====================
Photos:
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsiteinthestormpre-ride.jpg
Pre-race storm. Can you see the people holding onto the tents so they don't blow away?
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Riderswaitoutthestorminahangar.jpg
700 riders waiting out the storm in a hangar.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/PeterTomandMarkpre-ride.jpg
Me and my neighbors Tom and Mark waiting in the hangar.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsitewreckagepre-ride.jpg
After the worst of the storm.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/Eventsitewreckagepost-ride.jpg
At the post-race lunch, the sun was out but there were still reminders of the morning's havoc.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/sekaijin/Centurion%20Wisconsin%20race%202010/MarkPeterandTompost-ride.jpg
Mark, me and Tom after the race.
Ride report:
Rode the Centurion Wisconsin 50-mile cycling race yesterday with two buddies and the Henry Vilas Zoo cycling team. Finished in 2:31:52. It was a great event on a wild, stormy day.
Neighbors Tom, Mark and I left home at 5:45am for the 6-mile ride to the event site, Middleton Municipal Airport/Morey Field. We noticed some dramatic flashes of lightning.
Hundreds of riders were gathered at the airfield, anticipating the 7am start time. But it started to rain around 6:40am. It quickly grew into a lashing storm. Riders were ushered into a hangar to wait it out. The event site took a beating, with tents blowing down.
Two storm fronts passed through, and the race finally started at 9:30am. The delay meant that the 100-mile race was canceled, leaving only 50-mile and 25-mile races. 700 riders got into start corrals and took off at the starting gun.
The mass start made for lots of paceline drafting, and the course was a mix of hills and rolling flats, so the pace was fast despite the wet roads. Which got wetter because it soon started to rain again. I recall a couple times when the rain stung, and I looked down and saw it bouncing off my body. Hail.
The rain eventually let up and the sun even came out toward the end of the race.
We rode mostly country roads but passed through the towns of Cross Plains and Black Earth. Here in the Madison area, we hear a lot about rural residents wanting cyclists off their roads. So it was great to see so many people on street corners and at the ends of their driveways cheering, ringing cowbells and taking pictures.
I completed the 50-mile race in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 52 seconds. A startling pace of 19.3 mph - much faster than any similar event I've done. But that only put me in 285th place, barely in the top half of the 584 50-mile finishers. Fast crowd.
Back at the airfield, the sun was drying things out and we enjoyed a terrific lunch catered by Bluephies, a popular Madison restaurant.
=====================