madpogue 

^^^^^^ My guess is that, since it's a fundraiser for a local food/ag organization, and given the strong (extreme?) "foodie" culture here, this ride may draw a higher proportion of locals vs. out-of-town participants than, say, the Wright Stuff or the Dare. I know a few neighbors and co-workers who are participating, and they're definitely not the types to do the "big" organized rides. But that's just spitballing.

iab

Nope. You nailed it on the head. No personal records. No tri bars. No gel packets littered on the road. No droping the hamer. Just a great deal of chill.

bamboobike4

There’s a hill S of Darlington that is redic. But I stopped and rode it last time I was there. Just the hill. Then I got cheese at Roelli’s.

madpogue 

Yeah, ditching a gel packet on the road of the place that is playing HOST to your ride has got to be the epitome of weight-weenie-ism.

Maohaus

Well, that would be a welcome change - However I did the Bike the Barns over near Waukesha last year, and it was still dominated by wheel-chasers (which I was one for many years!)

And may I add for the distain for the litter of gels and packs on the road. I understand that some fall out of pockets etc, but alas, I believe that many just selfishly toss off the bike to avoid the mess and to make it someone else's problem.

iab

This one?

Farm 020 by iabisdb, on Flickr

Farm 021 by iabisdb, on Flickr

bamboobike4

+1

I roll the packet up and stick it under my shorts hem.

Thunder Ridge in VA provides mustard at rest stops….litters the road for a good mile.

madpogue 

I've never had those gels, but wouldn't a spent packet (or 2 or 3) fit in a jersey pocket?

I wonder what the international symbol for a road condition sign would be for "mustard-slick pavement".....

bamboobike4

Maybe like the tomato, tomato, (splat) catchup logo, but in yellow....

bamboobike4

Yes. I think it's called "leave Hwy 23 or 81 at your own peril."

rccardr 

That looks so, so familiar….

ldmataya 

I just got the menu emailed. Wow. Tamales, Tex Mex and much more on the ride. 6 providers on the after ride, plus beer and wine of course. @iab are you back in?

iab

Yes!

Business trip postponed!

Macguyver909

I am planning on participating in this ride, hopefully with my son and cousin also. I will be on one of Catnaps, Raleigh Internationals that is currently built up as a 3 speed.

madpogue 

Dayum, they still haven't resolved the Paypal bug. There's something hinky about that page. Whenever I go back to the reg page, it takes me to the END of the page flow, not the beginning. I even cleared the site data, and it's doing the same thing. Meaning it's caching it somewhere that I can't control. And there's no way to go back through the page flow to change any data.

Fortunately their office is walking distance, so I may get to turn the crank on the old printing press (okay, a laser printer....) and stop by with the form/payment. How C&V......

So,..... sense of the room. I'm seeing references to a 3-speed and even a single. Is it really "flat" enough that it doesn't call for a triple? Still haven't decided between a 2x7 Schwinn and a 3x6 Nishiki.

ldmataya 

I don't see anything on this route that is long or steep, I do see plenty of fairly gentle roads. County B and Tower Road might have the most elevation I can see and they are short rises. I think my 3-speed freewheel Bottecchia will be enough. But, I'm from western Dane county, so I'm hard to impress.

madpogue 

Haha, there's a RollerCoaster Road in Crawford County (heart of the Driftless area) not far from my land, looks about the same except for the power line. Wish I knew someone at WI-DOT, it would be fun to look up how many "RollerCoaster Road"s are in WI, and how many of them are in the Driftless.

iab

Lovely day for a ride and what a lovely ride it was. I decided not to ride the Rola. The ride profile (and was) showed a bunch of rollers. I didn't want to deal with fixed on the descents. So I went with the 1942 Frejus. No one noticed it. Except Daryll, but he is from here, so he doesn't count. (just kidding)

Arrival
BtB 01 by iabisdb, on Flickr


At a rest stop
BtB 12 by iabisdb, on Flickr


Departure
BtB 25 by iabisdb, on Flickr



The route was nice, a mix of county and small-town urban. A couple of high-traffic sections I didn't care for, but you do have to go from one farm to the next somehow.

BtB 02 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 04 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 09 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 20 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 22 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 23 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 24 by iabisdb, on Flickr

iab

Saved the best for last, the support, the only thing organizers can provide. Roads are free. And as expected, nothing better in the midwest, perhaps anywhere. Check-in was a lemon blueberry scone that melted in your mouth like butta and coffee. Sorry, no pics. Rest stop 1, bruschetta, cider and a talented singer. Rest stop 2, was tamales and a most interesting ice-tea ( I don't recall the exact flavors). Lunch was tacos, beet salad, rice and an ice-cream ice-coffee float. Too much food. And a band. I had to skip the after party, more food, drink and a band, I had other commitments. All of it was well organized.

BtB 05 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 07 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 08 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 10 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 14 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 15 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 16 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 17 by iabisdb, on Flickr

BtB 18 by iabisdb, on Flickr

madpogue 

Shoot, I didn't see you. You were probably way ahead, as I started late (9:30) and rode slow. I took the Nishiki, just to have a rack-top bag with some support goodies, but ended up using the granny ring 2-3 time. Woulda been a challenge for me on the 2x7 Schwinn; my mind's warping on the idea of tackling those hills on a steed like yours.

Excellent photos, perfect synopsis. Didya notice how many native prairie plantings there were the first 10-ish miles? (Pretty much corn & soybean fields after that). We were, indeed, well supported and well fed. A bit ashamed I've never done this ride all these years. With the miles home->start and and finish->home, I clocked just a shade over 70 miles. Some C&V bike porn, a Giant Kronos, a yummy purple Club Fuji, another Nishiki about the same age as mine, an '80 Spec Sequoia, etc. Beverage highlight was the Ginger kombucha at the Sprouting Acres stop (halfway point). I sank two glasses, it was like a battery charge. Only photo I got was of my bike leaning on a front-load bucket at Love Food, maybe I'll post it later.

The band at the lunch stop (see last photo ^^^^^^) def set the mood. Neil Young, Credence, some _old_ standards.

That was probably County MN, just before McFarland, that you found a little sticky wrt traffic. I got brushed a little close by an Explorer there, and heard the same story from another rider. Some McFarland locals mentioned that's a bad stretch for bikes. Then there was Angry McJackwagon blowing his horn all the way past the Parisi farm (the tamale stop), shouting "Get off the road". Rural drivers have to slow down for slow farm vehicles every day. Well today, _we_ were the slow "farm vehicles". Guess Mr. Angry didn't understand that. Other than that, *EVERY* passing vehicle that I encountered gave plenty of room, and/or waited plenty of time when it was too tight to pass.

Best part - there were forecasts for rain all morning, which morphed into forecasts of rain all afternoon. There was a little distant thunder during dinner, but not one drop on the ride. Thank the stars for bad forecasting......

Macguyver909

So I noticed the Frejus and took some pictures and saw someone else taking pictures of it at a different stop. That is a very cool bicycle, I dig the 3 or 4 "on the floor" stick shift setup. Looks like you have to pedal backwards to shift? Saw a couple of vintage Fuji's, Miyata's, and a Schwinn or two that were older. It was a great ride! very well marked, great food, good weather. I did the 55 mile route on the the 3 speed Raleigh International, with 42-19 gearing and an AW sturmey archer hub. Whoo wheee are my legs tired. (it's the longest single day ride I have ever done)

madpogue 

Congrats, that's some impressive gearing. Now you mention it, I saw those Schwinns, including an '80-ish Traveler that looked HEAVY. Some definitely strong folks on this tour, but as mentioned a few pages up, no show-offs / posers / wheel-suckers. Surprising number of '90s hybrid weekender types, mixing it up with the carbon crowd, all quite harmoniously.

Any ride-day pics of your International?

Macguyver909

Sorry no pics of my bike, but I've got three of the Frejus! A couple of shots of the rest stops and a couple of selfies with my kid and my cousin. I even brought a film camera but forgot to haul it out and take pictures. Oh well maybe next time. Oh yeah, I still don't have 10 posts either.

madpogue 

If anyone saw (well, most likely _passed_) this:


and a big pink POC helmet, that was me. Saddle, Kool-stops, tape and Tektro levers are not original (purchased the bike with a flat bar). You can juuuuust see the 1st-2nd gen Looks.

(Just after this shot, several of us were kindly but firmly asked not to lean our bikes on the equipment.)

ldmataya 

It was a fantastic day - the organizers keep raising the bar. The route was perfect except for having to use a couple of county road stretches that really could not be avoided (B and MN). This is Randy in front, I'm second wheel, and then Peter on his sweet Merckx MX leader. We ran into iab on the Frejus; that bike is *much* better in person than pictures can do justice. Macguyver909 we saw you on the International going up that first climb on county B. There was a really clean, green Della Santa. And everything in between including a balloon tire Schwinn cruiser - wonderful to see so many people out. We stayed for quite a while at the after tent and they didn't run out of anything - that is tough to figure out with over 800 people.



Lunch stop was popular.