Sunday, April 13, 2014

Jo Daviess Drifter 150 and the long awaited Arrival of Spring

Well folks, we've made it.  Not that you would know it right now with the "wintry mix" coming out of the sky but spring is here.  I've got tan-lines on my hands from my crochet back gloves.  My clothes smell like camp fire.  My shirt has a salt crust on it.  Yes, these signs all seem to point to the end of winter and the arrival of spring.  I have been indulging in fun fair weather activities as much as possible over the past few weeks.  Last weekend held an excellent ride with Agatha and Jay followed by a weenie roast back at secret headquarters with Ari and his family.  It was a gorgeous day on the bike and we were all overjoyed to be showing some skin and cruising in the sunshine.  I was really glad to have Jay along for a ride out there.  He was putting on quite a display of strength riding his fixed gear Gunnar on the steep terrain of Jo Daviess, and didn't dismount for a single hill.  This weekend Agatha and I made it back out to the Driftless for a nice big ride scouting roads for the upcoming Jo Daviess Drifter 150.  Busy schedules have kept us from doing too much training together this year so far, and it was nice to spend a long day in the saddle together.  Saturday was hot, windy, dry and dusty--a mix of adjectives I haven't used in a long time.  In regards to the Drifter, I can guarantee this ride will traverse some memorable roads and show you some sights you might not have imagined Illinois held.  Hope there is a good turn out.

This road skirts the big river valley with impressive bluff views from north to south

Seem to keep finding these decrepit old bridges...  No cars allowed here.


We also joined some friends for a ride down to Shabbona on Friday.  They camped out down there for the night, but we had to make it back home so we could leave for Jo Daviess, so we headed back to DeKalb after a dinner of steak fajitas cooked in my cast iron skillet set right in the coals of our campfire.  When you're out for a S-24-O, don't ever skimp on dinner, release your inner campfire gourmet!




Barb City Bike Camping portraits.  Keep your eyes peeled for BCBC updates and maybe some patches ;-)

With all this fun it's easy to forget that Trans Iowa is lurking right around the corner.  I will keep up the training this week, and then rest the week before the event and make sure all logistics are in order.  At this point not much else can be done and we are mostly at the whim of mother nature.  The most recent course condition reports are encouraging but who knows what race day will hold? Pretty excited to get out there and see what happens.