RacerX99

Hello,
I rode the DCC yesterday and had a great ride. It was cloudy most of the day, but the temperature was fine as long as you did not stop for too long.

I lost my group at the start, a mix up on where and when to meet, but I caught them at the first rest stop. Then we rode together the remainder of the ride. Nice pace, around 20mph. The winds were out of the north, which made for a great push on the second half of the ride.

I saw one crash early, a downhill curvy part of the ride. A slower rider crossed in front of a passing group and on woman went down hard. She was knocked out for awhile and when she came to she could not remember where she was or why she was laying there. The EMT's showed up and took her to a hospital. Otherwise I did not see any one else go down.

There was a section in Peninsula State Park, where it got very crouded. It was four bikes wide and at least fifty people. My group decided to back the speed way down and let people through. That was the only section that was busy. Only had one driver that honked at us and gave us a rude gesture.

All in all a great time was had and then homemade spagetti and pies after the ride.

voldemort

Having been to Door Co. many times [U]without [U]a bike,I've thought of doing this ride because Door Co. seems like it would be a great place to ride around. BUT...is it worth the drive from Chicago? How are the routes? How about the roads themselves? Good condition? Hilly? Flat? Good rest stops? Do you ride near the the lake or the bay for any of the ride? Scenic? Through towns like Ephraim, Egg Harbor, etc., or are you routed around them? I may have to this one next yearif it sounds tempting enough. Thanks (in advance) for the info.

RacerX99

It is a very nice ride. You ride up the bay side along the water for much of the trip, and through Peninsula state park. Coming back down you ride along the lake side. Roads are in great condition, a couple with the usual asphalt separations, but not bad. A few hills in the beginning, mostly flat, very scenic. The rest stops were good, well stocked and a variety of stuff. The dinner afterward was great.

This was my sixth year, and I am planning on next year.

poxy51

I cannot add much to what racerxx said. It was a nice cool day, did get a few sprinkles but nothing serious. I was worried it would be crowded with either bikes or cars and really neither was the case. I rode a more leisurely pace and finished at 2:30. I liked the bike vendor sale Saturday at pre ride registration. I signed up for the fish boil Saturday, it was good!, plus there are a lot of other eating and drinking options.

db122

First time rider of this event and I rode the 64 mile option with two others. Our plan was to ride the century but one of my small group forgot his shoes so he rode 64 miles w/running shoes on Time clipless pedals. Amazing, in my opinion. I told him I wouldn't even do 10 miles with a setup like that! What a sport.

Anyway, it was a nice ride and we held a fast pace, for us. On flats (the majority of the ride) we were moving along quickly, often hitting a nice 18-20mph without any coordinated or effective drafting effort. Our overall moving avg was 16.5, again pretty quick for our group. We had quite a lot left at the end so we would have enjoyed the century I think. I've ridden the areas north on some self-supported touring, beautiful area too.

We saw the rider down, she was being loaded in the ambulance. That was a bit scary to see. Word was she was OK though.

My favorite was the 'surprise' hill turn to the right away from the bay at ~mile 30. Again, I've ridden the roads before so I was mentally prepared and enjoyed the small, relatively steep (12%?) climb, but there was a lot of carnage on the side of the road there. My wife flew right up the hill next to me and I was proud of her.

The ride was very organized and the stops had a nice variety of food and plenty of it. We usually do Maywood in Sheboygan (coming up this weekend) and this ride had a) nicer scenery, b) smoother roads and c) better food so we'll be back for sure. I was very happy there were showers afterwards too, it was great to clean up right there.

Post-ride meal was tasty, everyone was friendly. I definitely gave the bell a jingle. Those who were there know what that means.

kpumpy

I rode the 64 last year and did the 100 this year. We have a place near Sturgeon Bay so I added eight miles by riding to the start. I then added two miles past the finish as my in-laws have a place on the course near Sevastopol High, so it was nice to finish off a 110-mile ride at their farm. I ride the roads around Door most of the year alone, so it's always fun, as a friend of mine once said about RAGBRAI, to be surrounded for a day by thousands of people from my "planet."

The post-ride lunch this year was awesome, and, as a vegetarian, I have to give them a big thumbs-up for the meat-free option on the sphagetti and the pumpkin and cherry pies were great as well. I rang the bell as well. Had some great conversations with and met new people there as well.

Also enjoyed the bike store displays on Saturday -- fun to see stuff from stores I don't normally frequent.

Ride was a bit crowded in spots, but pretty open, especially away from the rest areas. Most of the cyclists were pretty orderly and respectful of others and road rules, but I did hear about tickets being handed out to some people who blew a stop sign in front of a sheriff's deputy. I also witnessed another group blow through an intersection in front of a car at the Jacksonport rest stop that did not have a stop sign and had the right of way. Not cool. I also had to squeeze past one group riding five across and taking up the whole road. Not cool, either.

What's also great about DCC is the actual support you get from locals. There were people at one intersection cheering us on as we passed. Another woman near Bailey's Harbor offered me cookies as I went by. Some little kids were passing out lemonade near Whitefish Dunes. They were too cute, so I stopped and drank a quick cup.

As a regular rider of DC roads, the course layout for the 100 is great with a couple of exceptions. There's plenty of good roads to ride on without having to do that back and forth loop up north from/to Camp David that repeats a good bit of distance. I hope the cyclist who was hurt on Monument Point Road is OK. I wish they'd get rid of that road. Someday someone is going to get killed there and I never ride it any other time of year anyway, there are better downhills that are less dangerous. And yes, that big hill climb past Egg Harbor -- that's the infamous Juddville Road, which will tell you how good a shape you're in. I climbed it three times on long rides in July and August prior to DCC and knew I'd be OK.

But all in all, good event. It's local for me, so I'll continue to support it.