Skipper

The 2009 Dairyland Dare (DLD) has come and gone. RCK and I rode the 100k loop. What a ride. This was my first time riding the DLD. RCK rode it in 2007.

We headed for Dodgeville at about 6:00am. We picked up our timing chips at Harris Park and were on the course at 7:37 am. It was a beautiful day for riding. It got a little “breezy” and kind of hot later in the day but other than that the weather could not have been much better.

My Garmin Edge 305 tells me that we:
Started at 7:37 am
Finished at 2:07 pm
Spent 6 hours, 30 minutes on the course
Spent 5 hours, 23 minutes actually riding
Spent 1 hour, 7 minutes off our bikes for various reasons
Rode 65.5 miles
Climbed just over 5,000 feet
Reached a maximum speed of 48 mph (All that climbing made for some sweet downhill runs.)

We got passed by a lot of other riders. The most notable was a fellow with one arm who passed us while climbing Rosy Lane. Way to go, Dude!

While rounding a bend at the bottom of downhill run on Upper Wyoming Road, we surprised a group of 3 Cranes. The squealling of RCK’s brakes sent them squawking and flapping out of our path.

There are some leg busting, lung wrenching climbs on this ride and you are rewarded with some pretty incredible views. The highest point on the course, 1290 ft above sea level, is just outside of Barneveld. You can see for miles. Blue Mounds is not far away. Sorry, I got very few pictures.

I crapped out and wound up walking about 2 tenths of a mile up the steepest portion of Weaver Road. RCK cramped and had to stop once at the start of the big hill on County ZZ but got back on his bike and rode up after stretching a bit. Other than that, we weren’t stopped by any of the climbs. We did some zigging and zagging but no stopping.

There were a lot of tired but very satisfied looking people in the pavilion at the end of the ride. We were well fed and watered during and after the ride. This was by far the best supported ride I have ever done.

I will probably do this ride again. I would like to be about 50 lbs. lighter and 20 years younger next time. I can do something about trimming down to 160 lbs. I’ll have to settle for being at least 57 years old, though.

Elevation Profile

cyclinfool

Looks like a hard ride - must have been hot.
Glad you had fun!

rck

cyclinfool-it was fun only in that we all enjoy a bit of masochism on occasion. If you look at the last pic-that is me feeling like I look. For gearing I had a 46-36-26 on the front with a 12-34 on the rear. I used all of them, a lot. By the end of the ride I liked the bikes granny a lot more than I ever liked my granny! Have to remember to add a few more hills and a few less lbs before next years challenge ride.

stapfam

Considering how little riding you have done- I am surprised at how well you have done.

I love my granny at present. See Signature.