treebound 

I'm trying to figure out if this is good or bad news. 8)

RobbieTunes

Lincoln stayed at that when it was an inn, back in the day. For a long time, it was the Walker House, initially restored by local artist Ted Landon. It's run many a dollar through the mill. It's 400' from the site of the last legal hanging in the territories, a murderer who played the piano on the back of a wagon en route to his death. He requested "the judge's heart" for his last meal.

There are two or three restaurants within walking distance, and a couple of taverns, and a cheese factory. What more could you want? At the other end of the street is the actual old brewery where Mineral Springs beer was brewed. A spring flowed into the basement of the brewery, pretty handy. Last I checked, it had a collection of antique looms and was an art gallery. The glass blower is right up the street, and several potters, a couple of painters, and a wood carver.

For those who ride MTB's, there is a trail right next to the Inn that is on an old railroad bed. Across from the inn, there is a set of bluffs, one in which one of Blackhawk's warriors holed up with a cannon pointing out. It took a while to solve that one. The Blackhawk "campaign" went on in the area about the same time as the civil war.

I may have to risk divorce and come home for this one. There are also several B&B's in town, and I'm not sure if the old Dairyland Motel is still running or not. They have little cabins, and regular rooms, if you like 50's decor.

RobbieTunes

I was a kid when Don Quinn bought the barn and made it into something special. My brothers worked there as waiters. I remember when he flew the "Flying Guppy" in and either llanded it on the highway, or taxied it to the inn via the highway. I also remember the Sikorsky Skycrane lifting the steeple into place that he used as a bridal suite.

BG-you'd have like the cheese room; a vat was suspended from the ceiling on stainless steel chains, and a huge mattress made for it. Or the fireplace with 12' logs.

E_merlin

I would be up for it - not sure about the 200K. Sounds like a fun ride form my newly arrived 83 Trek 630.

RobbieTunes

Yep, extending from about the Dells down to Galena, Illinois, I guess. Not uncommon to see a creek with a meadow on one side and a 40' bluff on the other. Uncommonly good trout streams, killer rock formations, and boulders to climb on the size of small buses.

The US 151 bypass cut a huge swath out through some of the best hiking around, but in the excavations, they found a lot of good Native American artifacts, makes you realize how tough they were to live in those subzero climates.

I'd recommend 700x25's or 700x28's if you've got 'em.

You'll go around Ludden Lake, named after the grandfather of Allen Ludden (of Password fame, husband of Betty White). He grew up out at the Lake, and Doc Ludden was a horse & buggy doctor, even after WWII. For years, the lake went undeveloped, and only the stone house remains, I think, of the Ludden family. There's a bit of climbing there, as you go from below lake level to the hills that surround the lake, and head back to Dodgeville.

RobbieTunes

No Madison yuppies make it out this far, just the cool folks.

RobbieTunes

Barneveld is the town that was wiped out by a tornado in the late 70's. Wiped out, meaning every building except a church. Every single building. Miller Brewing made a commercial about it. I think they lost about 12 people, because almost everyone was in the basement.

iab

Nah. But I don't get it though. Why does the HHH sell out in hours? Because it is in June instead of August? Because it was the "first" organized ride in Wisconsin's driftless area?

I don't know.

All I know is the HHH is overcrowded, the food sucks and the organizers never gave two hoots to me when I volunteered working the rest stops. I would have preferred a thank you over another free t-shirt.




As for food, i was always partial to the onion rings at the Red Rooster. Don't know if it still around.

treebound 

They have a nice looking poster, but it's too big to imagelink here:

https://www.dairylanddare.com/images/...2012_440px.jpg

Also there is a slight price break for signing up before June 30th.

I also see they have training plans that started in March

Giving it some thought....

teetime

At my age, I can see suffering for 100k, then relaxing with friends for a couple hours. 200k seems a bit overboard. I doubt I'd enjoy the day or two after that much after the 200k.

I have good friends that have done the 100k. What's considered a good time to finish in?

big chainring 

Is that a typical entry fee for this type of event?

RobbieTunes

The HHH is the one people think they need to brag about. Tough ride, but doesn't have the charisma.

You remember the Red Rooster? Wow!

I guess I don't have to bring up Cornish pasty, then do I?

The tavern that is Tony's Tap used to have the best food around, when it was the J&R.
Tony is J&R's son.

You're slowly drawing me into this aren't you? Maybe I'll have to organize "my people."

iab

Horribly Hilly Hundreds is $75

Dairyland Dare is $95/$100/$110 depending on when you commit.

Again, atmo, the DD is well worth the $20 over the HHH.

iab

In 2010, 3:14:04 was the fastest time. To me, that is insanely fast. I think 4-4.5 is great. I'd like to do the 200 in 9-10. (Total time, not ride time.)

Chicago Al 

We're drawing you???

Heck, you must have half the forum thinking about signing up. I'll have to check the calendar. We may be doing college-freshman dropoff then, but if not, I should go for it. Where is a hill I can try? One usually shifts when going uphill, right?

iab

It's an "easy" 20-hour drive. It's nothing.


I'll buy all the beers at Tony's after the ride.

RobbieTunes

For events, time = money. They have deputy, EMS, other folks on overtime, and have to have people around for a long time.

Figure a normal metric/century at $50, and then throw in the other stuff, it's fairly reasonable for that size of an event.

The Madison Ironman is something like $2500.

I think I've done it in my sleep before. In fact, I'm sure I have. 1127 miles, door to door.
I can make the Gary/Chicago line in 15 hours if all goes well, but lately I've been going across from Indy, missing the mess. The City of Broad Shoulders is truly something to drive around.

You are really making progress.... you don't happen to know Tony, do you?
If so, you may well know me already.

iab

Don't know Tony. I have only been in his place a couple of times. Quite some time back.

JohnDThompson 

I remember that storm. I was working at Trek when the sirens went off. The Trek factory is built on a slab, so there was no secure shelter. We evacuated to the malt plant across the highway where there was secure shelter.

bibliobob

Don't think that I'd get the training in for a 200k. But a 100 or 150k might be nice....

RobbieTunes

Same here. I broached the subject very softly this morning, and didn't get the raised eyebrows or anything.... I also have the drop-off, so the dates are important here, too. I won't bring up that "the college is on the way to Wisconsin...." That may not fly well. But I'm working on it.

Think of it this way, even for the 200K: 12,000' of climbing isn't so bad when you realize it's really a series of about 100 rollers. With the scenery, only a handfull of folks will be riding urgently, anyway. Check out the gallery of photos. I could name about 1/3 of those locations.

Oh, and I forgot tea biscuits. Dodgeville is the place for those, I think. If you try one, you'll be taking them home. My sister would probably be able to whip up a bunch; she used to make them for local restaurants. Oh, and rhubarb pie will be in season. I may skip the ride and just eat all day.

County road ZZ on the map, I just remembered....use to have pot growing all over both sides of the road. Something I vaguely remember from my teenage years...

RobbieTunes

Yep, that was a killer. Before the internet, so few folks outside of the area remember. Everyone in Barneveld knows how old their house is. The reconstruction was a nice situation where FEMA provided supervision and materials, and the families worked in teams to build their own houses. It was a nice model, but required actual effort on the part of the recipients. Wouldn't go over as well, today, I suppose.

smontanaro 

Yowzers! There doesn't seem to be a straight line anywhere on those routes! Not sure I understand the route lengths. They all seem to have the same map. Is it just more times around the loop for the longer distances?

Skip

gomango

Same here.

I did the hills in and out of the Mississippi bluffs this morning and I feel like I need a lung transplant!

bibliobob

Nice! There's only one hill within 35 miles of me, and they made it illegal for bikes to ride it! Seriously, the police pull cyclists over and ticket them. Fascist Jackboot Suburban Thugs depriving me of my right to endanger myself!

95% of my miles are on the commute to work (about 1/3 of the time), which is 13 miles and flat as pancake. I get to climb a highway overpass or two, but that's it.

Still, the DD sounds like a blast.