BRAG tuneup ride in Madison?

[DoctorJD]

Anybody doing any of the BRAG tuneup ride in Madision this weekend? If so, which day(s)?

JD

[Benny]

I'm going up Friday after work to ride Saturday. Probably the century, but the forecast for wind has me wondering about that.

[DoctorJD]

I'm going up Friday after work to ride Saturday. Probably the century, but the forecast for wind has me wondering about that.
I'll probably do Saturday as well, if I ride. No century for me though.

[Benny]

Looks like it may be a rough start Saturday morning, but the storms should go away leaving sunny skies for the afternoon. I'm not sure what I'll do. Right now I'm still planning to go, but I'm watching and thinking. :confused:

[Benny]

Looks like things will clear up in time for an 8:00 or 9:00 start. I hope my motor can run all day in this wind!

[Benny]

I think I'll wait for this storm to pass through before I leave for Madison.

[Benny]

I got off to a late start because I had to wait out a tornado warning before leaving for Madison. By the time I drove up, got registered and ready to ride, it was after 9:00. But I was set on riding the century, so that's what I did. It had just stopped raining, but it was kind of cool and looked like it could rain again, so I wore my rain jacket.

By the time I got to the first rest stop, it was getting too warm in the jacket. I saw John Drummond from Augusta there on his touring bike, so I asked him to carry it for me and leave it on my car. Thanks, John. It was a little cool for a while without it, but it was soon fine.

At the second rest stop I met one of the guys who rode the century route at the April Fools Ride. He said he had ridden with me before out of Eatonton. He had flown past me on a hill a few miles before the stop, so there was no way I'd be riding with him.

The wind was about 12mph most of the morning and mostly behind me so not a problem. Soon after the 3rd rest stop at 41 miles at Mars Hill a little after noon, the wind started picking up and we turned right into it for the next 30 miles or so. It was brutal, supposedly 20 mph with gusts to 30. Actually I, along with several riders, missed the next rest stop in Good Hope and went off course for seven miles. I knew something was wrong when I hit some tailwind and 90 degree crosswind. Once we got to Bostwick we knew we were way off course. The seven miles back to the rest stop was awful. Strong headwind and fairly heavy traffic.

After the rest stop the wind got even worse until we got to Social Circle where I missed another rest stop but stayed on course. Now we finally had some long stretches of tailwind at it was nice! There was a 12 mile loop a few miles out of Rutledge which would have put me into some headwind for a while, but having a 14 mile surplus from my off route excursion, I chose to skip it and stay in the tailwind. I stopped at a gas station for water as I was running out. From there it was an easy ride into Madison via Rutledge with tailwind and mostly flat road. A welcome relief. I should have slowed and talked to Roz as I was leaving Rutledge, but all I could think about was getting down the road to the end!

I finished with 103 miles in a little over 8 hours averaging 14.4 mph. I felt pretty good about that under the conditions. I was tired, but felt pretty good. Black Betty (my bike) rode amazingly smoothly. The fit is dialed in very well as I had no pain in my back, shoulders, neck, hands or bottom. I was also well fueled with Perpetuem food substitute in one water bottle which I sipped on all day and water in the other. I had a small flask of energy gel that I hit several times during the ride to supplement the food substitute. I only ate a little at the rest stops, a couple of fig bars and a couple of PBJ sandwich halves. I had a big Jamocha shake from Arby's on the drive home. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157626513260552/show/

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/5626296318_42ab002530.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626296318/)
wet roads (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626296318/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5626324928_60ffe560a6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626324928/)
let's get back on it (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626324928/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/5625708439_47a63db3b5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5625708439/)
tractor crossing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5625708439/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5626299608_5f3f625bba.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626299608/)
bridge (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626299608/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/5626304626_b73f2708f1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626304626/)
store stop (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626304626/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5626308048_065c6cfebf.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626308048/)
done (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/5626308048/) by BluesDawg (http://www.flickr.com/people/bluesdawg/), on Flickr