This year, we went straight from hot to cold. Temperatures in the 40's with a huge amount of rain and high winds. I had three brevets scheduled for October, all 200K's. The first was my "Fledglings Dare" route which is one of my favorites for the fall with a lot of sections up on the ridge tops where you can really take in the fall colors.
This year, I went from 11 riders registered to 6, then 3, then 1 (me). Cold, windy, rainy and solo just wasn't a good time. Got it done but didn't enjoy it much.
Next up was my "Galena Gallop 200K". This is a "Meet in the Middle" ride done in conjunction with Quad City Randonneurs where we start in our respective locales and ride toward each other meeting in Galena, IL where we have lunch then turn around and ride back. As the date approached the forecast got worse and worse - really cold and really windy. Again, I went from 6 registered down to 2, this time not including me. I went over to the start in Fennimore where I spent the night in a hotel before the ride. Got up the next morning to howling winds (gusts to 35 MPH) and a wind chill in the 20's - no thanks. I had two riders start and one finish. A very strong rider who finished with about 4 minutes to spare. Mike Fox in the Quad Cities had one rider start and finish. Marcia and I drove down to Galena and had a nice lunch and chat with Mike and Bob Booth then we all adjourned to the Galena Brewing Company for a beverage. We hung out there until 5 then Marcia and I started for home. On the way, we decided to go to Potosi Brewing and have dinner (pretty good prime rib). So not a good day for riding but the caloric intake was right up there ;-)
The final ride for October and the 2019 riding year was my "Via Viroqua 200K". This is another favorite and a good year ender. It's a hilly route (about 6K of climbing) but quiet roads and nice vistas. This time I had 11 sign up which shrank down to 8 with 7 starters. The forecast didn't look too promising with rain likely.
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| Intrepid group at the start |
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| Bill and I sporting our Midwest Randonneurs jerseys |
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| Fixing a flat (Photo by Richard Burnside) |
We rode as a group the whole day with a nice stop at the Co-Op in Viroqua for lunch. The promised rain didn't happen until after we left Viroqua (51 miles) but rained for the next 50 miles. Not hard but steady with the temperatures in the low 50's.
Nevertheless, it was a good ride. Everyone was prepared for the rain so we were wet but warm enough. My back held up mostly OK. In each segment between controls it would get to where it was hurting pretty bad by the time I got to the control but a little bit of stretching helped. I pushed it a bit in the last 20 miles to see how it'd hold up and how I'd feel the next day. Pretty sore but not any worse so that's encouraging.
And as I write this, it's 42 degrees with winds gusting to 45 MPH.
Sigh.
