Great Lakes Randonneurs 200 km ACP Brevet Ride Report

I completed the GLR 200 km brevet today in Delavan, WI. It proved once again that there is no such thing as an easy brevet, no matter what the course profile looks like. The weather forecast for Saturday had been steadily deteriorating through the week. At one time the forecast was saying 78 degrees and a slight chance of rain. But this later changed to a 70% chance of rain with a high only in the 60's. Unfortunately, the later forecasts proved to be correct.

Turnout was good with about 65 riders. We rolled out of the Super 8 in Delavan at 7:00 AM. Temperature at the start was about 65 degrees. I started out in arm warmers, no leg warmers. But I did bring the leg warmers along with a rain jacket of course. Within 2 miles it had started raining. A drizzle at first, then harder, then back to a drizzle. It only kept up for a couple of miles, so I didn't bother to put my rain jacket on, but it did manage to get all the roads wet, making things messy and more hazardous.

The ride from Delevan to Edgerton was mostly uneventful. There was a strong wind out the south, so most of the time it was a crosswind, but sometimes a tail wind. Ahead though, we could see ominous signs though--darker and darker gray clouds that we were headed right for. We got to Edgerton and stopped at the Shell station, which was the control. Getting brevet cards signed and more Gatorade only took about 10 minutes.

In those 10 minutes though, there was a marked changed in the sky. It was darker than ever, with the wind blowing harder, looking like a storm was imminent. And sure enough, half a mile out of Edgerton, the rain started. And hard. Now the rain jacket got put on. The rain was coming down at steady hard pace making sunglasses worthless. And it was hard enough that you had difficulty seeing the markings on the road.

Of more importance, you also had difficulty seeing bad patches of road because the rain was coming down so hard. And at about the 35 mile mark, I hit a pothole the size of the State of Massachusetts. I was fortunate it didn't wreck my front wheel or break any spokes. But it was a shock and sent a water bottle flying. After recovering the water bottle, I carried on.

At the 40 mile mark, I was having a harder and harder time staying up with the 2 people I was riding with. So I dropped back, and was soon joined by another rider named Jon riding a Seven. I had passed Jon earlier as he had punctured. Unfortunately for him, he punctured again at about mile 44. So we stopped to fix the flat. But worse yet, his second spare tube had a defective valve stem. So I gave him one of my spare tubes (I had two) so he could get going again. Right as we were about to leave, I noticed my front wheel was flat. That pothole I hit earlier must have pinched the tube and caused a slow leak. This probably also explains why I was struggling to keep up earlier. So the last tube between both of us came out and went into my front wheel. So to paint the picture for you, we have been on the side of the road for probably 25-30 minutes, raining the whole time with the temperature dropping changing three flats. We are now without any spare tubes, soaking wet and very cold as we start back up. I don't think either of us were in our happy place.

The rain continues steady to hard all the way into Verona. Some of the roads were busier, making it a real mess. There was a lot of standing water on the road and visibility was poor. Everyone is in survival mode now. All you are thinking about is getting to Verona, getting some food and turning around. And praying the rain will let up.

We got to the control in Verona and got our brevet cards signed. I had a ham and cheese sandwich and a coke. Jon opted for hot food, a couple of cheddar bratwurst. Not exactly cycling food, but it was cold, and he wanted to warm up. I do have to admit, the soup looked mighty tempting. I got out my now wet leg warmers and managed to put them on. The temperature had been dropping steadily, and was now about 47 according to a bank sign in Verona.

In Verona, the staff at the Kwik Mart told us about a bike shop in Verona, just a mile away. Jon and I could easily ride there and replenish our supply of tubes, so heaven forbid we flat again, we at least could fix it. So off we went and sure enough found Atkins Bike Shop. The staff working there couldn't believe we were doing a 200 km ride in such miserable weather, but they were very friendly and helpful. Jon also picked up some leg warmers (he didn't have any). I found some full finger rainproof gloves in my size and purchased those. So at this point, our luck started to turn around. We each had 2 spare tubes again, leg warmers on to keep some of the cold out and I had some nice gloves. And amazingly, the rain had let up.

Riding back, the rain would drizzle once in a while, but it never 'rained' all the way back to Delavan. Given, the roads were still wet, but at least they weren't getting any worse. And at some point, while still wet, a lot of the road splatter went away, so at least your shoes and legs stayed a little dry. This was very welcome news. The rain into Verona was miserable. Riding back was so much nicer. And to boot, we had an occasional tailwind.

We got back to Edgerton and back to the Shell Station, which was also the third control. I was hungry again, probably from burning extra calories to be warm. Connected to the Shell station was a Taco Johns. A chicken quesadilla totally hit the spot. Not cycling food, but hot food.

From here, it was 30 mostly uneventful miles back to Delavan. We did have to battle a cross/head wind for a few miles, and around mile 115, I was feeling a lot of fatigue, but I was able to battle through that. We arrived back at the Super 8 at 4:30 PM, making our ride time 9 hours and 30 minutes. Considering the elements, the fact that we spent 30 minutes changing tubes, had to go find a bike shop in Verona and probably took a little longer at the controls than normal due to the weather, I think that is a pretty good time. With what we had to battle through, its hard to imagine doing too much better.

Since this was an ACP brevet, finishers can purchase a finishers medal for $10 at the end. The medals are designed by the Audax Club Parisian and very attractive. And after the day I had, I wanted something to show for my efforts. So here it is, my 200 km brevet finishers medal. If you want to see what it looks like, go to the following link.

http://www.rusa.org/medals/medalimage28.html