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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 05:34:22
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Distance:
76.99 miles
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Max Speed:
43.70 mph
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Avg Speed:
13.80 mph
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Route:
WT - Mauston to Spring Green
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Weight:
0
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Category: training: general -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Fuji Newest Road
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Club: None |
| Weather Conditions: |
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I started out today in a somber mood due to my wife informing yesterday afternoon that a good friend of ours, Phil Loder, past away early Tuesday afternoon (actually my cell phone just rang and the caller ID showed Phil Loder; turns out it was his wife calling to ask me to be a pallbearer at his funeral Saturday – yes I will). Phil & I go back about a dozen years or so. We’ve played ball together, not just on our church team, but he also played on my work team and in those early days he had a team that played out at Johnny Macs that I played on, too. Those were the days. Even the last couple years he would bring up the topic of starting another team here so we could play more softball. I also remember a visit I had with Phil, almost 11 years ago now, at his & Tracy’s apartment. It occurred a few weeks after I had spent 4 weeks in San Diego, CA during my father’s last days here on Earth. We shared stories about our growing up and our relationships with our fathers – his who had passed away several years before.
That news was weighing heavy on my mind when I woke up this morning. On top of that, the weather was overcast skies, and wet roads from the heavy mist. Wet roads mean road spray from the tires getting shoes/feet wet, and the back of the jersey, as well as longer brake times when the rims of the wheels get wet, as well as some loss of traction – basically it means a little more attention needs to be given to safety. As we headed out of town, towards climbing a near by hill, the low clouds shrouded the top of the hill – the picture shows more of the hill than I thoughy it would.
After climbing to the top, there was a sign marking the crossing into Sauk County, and right at that point the asphalt changed over to some new, smooth as glass asphalt. That’s also when we started our desenct that lead us to the first rest stop at mile #20. The second stop was about 20 miles later in a town called Baraboo. It’s claim to fame is that this is where you will find the Circus World Museum. I didn’t stick around for a tour or any of the ‘little’ shows; I was told that the big show lasts about 2 hours, and that would put a crimp in the day’s schedule. So, as cool looking and colorful as the attraction was, I rolled on to make my way to the lunch stop at mile marker #59 – today’s route was laid out fairly evenly. The lunch stop was in the parking log of Tower Rock School. This school is at the bottom of a hill (nice 40+ MPH descent the last mile or two into lunch) and an amazing looking tower rock protruding out of the top of the trees.
As I was wrapping up lunch, the sun finally started to break through the clouds, when I rolled out with Susan (co-owner of PAC Tour) and Ron (my roommate for the week). There were only 17 miles left for the day, with a couple good climbs left. One climb was labeled as "steep" and the other was noted as a 12% grade (which is fairly steep). My thought is if Lon makes it a point to indicate such things on the cue sheet, then these are obstacles to be taken seriously. Well, they weren’t as bad as I feared, especially as lethargic as I felt on the climbs earlier in the day, plus I think we had a slight tail wind during this stretch. As I approached the later of the two climbs, the cue sheet noted that we’d be turning onto that road by white school house. Near the school house was a traffic sign, warning motorist that the was a cattle crossing. I’m glad the gate for the cattle crossing was closed, but it must have been close to feeding time, because the cows were waiting to cross. So, then it was just matter of a climb to the top of the 12% - which had an encouraging sign of the truck sitting on a cheese wedge (i.e. steep downhill on the otherside) – so there was another righteous descent into Spring Green, where we are staying the the Round Barn Motel (I’ll need to take a picture in the morning and add it later).
Between the sun brightly shining this afternoon, and how I felt after completing today's 78 mile ride (with 3000 feet of climbing), it turned out to be a not so gloomy day after all. Yes, I will miss Phil - I have missed him already not being able to play softball with us this season - but like the sun comming out after lunch and brightening the day, as time goes by, the days ahead will not be as gloomy as they may seem now.
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