The Bone Ride Recap

Wednesday was the 25th Annual Bone Ride. Although the morning was cool and raining, the day turned out to be a pretty nice day. Chris and I learned many valuable lessons. Our first lesson of the day was that whenever it is raining at the start of the Bone Ride, we should just drive to try to stay warmer a little longer. It ended being that the "heads of state" decided to wait until the rain moved westward, so we would just chase it the whole way to Madison instead of riding in it all day. This was definitely the smart move; however, it meant that we were standing around in wet cycling clothes with temps in the 40s. Not overly pleasant.

With it being a little nasty out, only about 50-60 guys (no women) showed up at the meet point in Tosa. My thought on the lack of women was that they are the smarter ones, since it was rather silly to choose to ride our bikes for 150-160 miles in the rain and low 50s temps. Thankfully, there were another 30-40 guys and a couple gals waiting for us in Pewaukee and Oconomowoc to join our merry bunch.

Another valuable lesson that I learned was not to have the world's longest pee as we approached the rolling hills on the way to Madison. If I need to pee in the future, I definitely need to pee closer to Pewaukee in the future (like Chris did). As a result of my really long pee, ridiculously long pee, myself and a few other guys started a frantic chase of the group. No sag wagon waited for us, so we were on our own to chase back on. We were able to close the gap a bit, but the hills really were trashing our legs. Eventually, myself and Eric (from Michael's Cycles) caved and jumped in a sag wagon to fill up bottles and get closer to the field before trying to chase again. This seemed to work out well; however, I did the one thing I wanted to avoid: riding in the sag wagon. Oh well, this was a necessary evil.

After we caught back on the group, we stayed firmly planted all the way into Madison, where an acceleration over the hill gapped myself and a few other guys. I noticed that Eric (we seemed fated together on the way out) was struggling as well, so we and a few others formed a little group to ride into town together. Eric flatted while I was charging into the city, so I went back to wait for him to fix his flat and make sure he found food. I decided to eat at Pizza di Roma, the same place as last year, and I ran into the same guy I ate with last year as well (Rob from Wheel & Sprocket). It was fantastic as ever! Much needed calories!

After I ate, I found Chris and Jeff to gather for the picture and stay connected as the group headed out of Madison. As we crested the hill, we observed the Ride of Silence in memory of all the cyclists who were seriously injured and/or killed in the previous year. On the approach into Sullivan, I was mentally preparing for a bottle refill and pee stop at the gas station; however, Tom Schuler (the organizer of the ride) selected a new route to get back into Oconomowoc, thus avoiding the gas station. Thankfully, Matt (from Pinnacle Health) let me borrow a bottle of water to help me get through the next phase. Knowing that I was not getting the electrolytes that I needed, I tried to make sure I ate more the next few hours. Not easy to do while trying to stay safely tucked in the fast charging field.

This was the first year that I was still with the lead pack as we entered into Oconomowoc. I have been told that the race is on once they hit Oconomowoc, but I was definitely not ready for it first hand. Thankfully, I was able to tuck behind a sag wagon to get pulled back onto the field. At this point, Chris blew up, but we had already agreed to stop in Pewaukee to regroup if necessary and for me to return my loaner bottle. I stayed with the field. I have no idea how fast we were going other than the fact I saw my average climb .3 mph over the 20-30 miles from Oconomowoc to Pewaukee.

Once we hit the western edge of Lake Pewaukee, I shook my fist in excitement. I made it back to Pewaukee in the lead group! I took the time I was waiting for Chris to swap bottles with Matt, refuel and stretch. We then tootled on home with a few stragglers who did not know the way. It was a first that I rode my bike the whole way from Madison back to Milwaukee! I was pumped! Here is my data, in case you're interested in checking it out. Now I just need to get the whole ride put together and stay with the leaders the whole way home.

Following the ride, I treated myself to some sweet nectar: McDonald's Large Chocolate Milkshake w/o whipped cream!