Wednesday: First 2017 century - done!
The primary objective of the ride was to scout a potential new 68 mile "coffee and ice cream" route, which stops by several bike shops in Trempeleau County, WI that also happen to serve coffee and ice cream. The starting point was 26 miles from my house, so I decided to catch a lift up with one of the two other riders, ride home, and throw in a few more miles to hit 100+.
The weather was nearly perfect: temperatures ranging from 60-75F, fairly low humidity, and clear blue skies. We started with a leisurely pace into a rough headwind, stopping at Driftless Bike N' Bean in Trempealeau and Brone's Bikes in Fountain Valley.
After a lengthy stop at Brone's, the serious riding started. The third major climb was a doozy: this thing had an extended stretch at 16%, and even in my lowest gear, reverted to some of my fixed gear climbing techniques to get to the top. At this point we decided that perhaps a better name for the route would be "ice cream upchuck ride". After returning to the start in Galesville, I hung out for a bit and continued on to La Crosse. For the final miles, I took a quick ride up and down the bluff in town, then rolled back home.
On this ride, I tested out a handlebar bag (the Jandd bike bag), and found it very effective for storing the things I might need on a longer ride. I was overall very satisfied with my comfort level, energy, and hydration, though the great weather helped!
The total for the day came to 102.3 miles/164.6 km, with 5136 feet/1565 m elevation. Moving time: 7:15:27, elapsed time: 9:12:17. We had some very lengthy stops at the bike shops.
