Our First WOW
August 15th, 2005
Well, we went to Menomonie, WI for the Weekend on Wheels that is sponsored by the TCBC (twin cities bike club). Overall, I would have to say it was a complete hoot.
We drove down on Friday evening, after stopping for some Sesame Chicken at The Oriental Restaurant on the way out of town. Carbo-loading. =) Found the registration area easily enough, signed in and picked up our jerseys. Then it was off to the hotel. Found it after seeming to drive forever. On the complete wrong side of town. After a bit of mucking about, found out it was the wrong hotel and that instead of reservations at the Comfort Inn it was actually reservations at the Country Inn on the other side of town. Doh. Embarrassing, but it all worked out fine and by 8:30 we were sitting in our room and drinking Sangria with Scott and Eric.
Saturday am: We got up early to have breakfast. Met in the lobby at 6:15 and walked over to Perkins to fill our tummies for a day of riding. After breakfast, we went back to the hotel to get our stuff together and head to Riverside Park for the start.
We picked up the maps and a little food to eat on the way and left on the S1 route. It was the longest / hilliest route available.
We rolled out and all looked like it would be good til we had gone just a little ways, then the first hill appeared. Just like the Ramsey hill at home. Oof. Tough way to start out the ride. I couldn’t get to the top on my bike and had to walk the last 1/3. At the top I figured, that is over and I’ll do better on the next one. Unfortunately, the next one was just like the first one. Walked again. High spirites from the start were starting to flag. Wondered where the “rollers” were that we trained for. Rode on a little further, more big hills. Not quite so steep - but longer. Sigh. More walking. On the 3rd hill started wheezing. Not the best way to start out a full day of riding.
As we rolled down the hill, I called a stop. Felt like my rear break was dragging. My energy was just waning too fast. After a little looking, turns out I broke a spoke and my rear brake was in fact dragging since the wheel was completely out of round. Eric did a little bit of road-side repair work to get the wheel more straight and they loosened up the rear break so it was not dragging any more. Headache had set in so I took some tylenol and off we went. Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes we were on a nice long uphill stretch and the wheezing came on full force. I had to stop 3 times on one stretch. Everytime head down and gasping for breath. Just not good. I was completely freaking and couldn’t breathe.
We biked over the crest of the hill and I finally told Bill that he should ride ahead with the boys since there was no way I was going to do 100 miles that day and I would just ride along at my own pace. He was clearly unhappy with the thought of leaving me behind, but we worked out a messaging scenario so that we could keep track of eachother while riding at our own pace. So off he went with a wave.
I mentally changed my goal for the day from 100 mile push to just getting back to the car. We were now about 10 miles into the ride and I was a little out of whack. Only 12 more miles to the first rest stop. So I started looking at the scenery and taking way more stop breaks to catch my breath. After a couple miles, I was feeling better and moving along at an ok clip. I took in the beautiful vistas between Menomonie and Elmwood. I talked to the dogs that came out to run with me. I enjoyed the woods and valleys. I even made it up the next few hills. Life is good.
I rolled into Elmwood to find a worried Bill and crew waiting for me at the rest stop. I assured Bill that I was in fact ok and that the ride was getting better. I told them to feel free to ride their own ride and that I would message whenever I stopped and had a signal. Turns out T-Mobile does not have good coverage in WI if you get too far off the freeway. I spent my time at the rest stop chatting with other bikers that were there and then packed up my bag and headed out to the next stop. Leaving town seemed good, until we hit a nice big and looooong hill heading out of town. It didn’t look bad from the bottom, but when I hit the first turn and the hill continued to go up I felt my heart sinking. Then I realized that I hadn’t actually eaten any of the food I had acquired at the rest stop. So I stopped and had a snack, then continued on. I rode on my own through some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen in a long time. The country road they picked were just wonderful. When I got to Dunnsville I found the trail cutoff and took the Red River Trail to the Downsville rest stop.
After enjoying a little rest and chatting with some people, I took the trail back to Riverside Park. All said I did 53 miles and finished the ride feeling very glad I did it.
Later, I’ll put in the Sunday info. =)
Here are some pictures that other riders have put on the web. Click here.