JO DAVIESS DRIFTER 150--29th JUNE 2014

The Slender Fungus Cycling Association is pleased to officially announce the Jo Daviess Drifter 150!!!

This ride will take place on JUNE 29th 2014 and will consist of 150 miles of rugged road riding in the scenic and mysterious unglaciated glory of Northwestern Illinois.  Any sensible "all-arounder" style bicycle will do fine on this route, but wide tires and a wide gear range come recommended.  This location is dear to our hearts as a riding destination and we want to share the beauty of these ridges, valleys, rivers, and roads with you.  Yes, you!!!

The ride will start and finish at Apple River Canyon State Park to allow for parking as well as camping accommodations for those who might be traveling to attend this ride.  There will be a shorter route (60 to 70 miles) for individuals not wishing to ride the full 150.  Full routes and additional details will be provided as the date of the event approaches.  Keep your eyes peeled for updates on other blogs/social media, leave a comment if you would like more information, and please share this ride with your friends!!! 

Rules

1. Ride starts at 5:00 AM from Apple River Canyon State Park
2. Ride is self supported.  You are on your own if you are unable to finish the route.  That said, this NOT a race, and riders WILL NOT be dropped.
3. Cue sheet and maps will be provided.
4. Expect hot conditions and excessive elevation change.  Plan your hydration and nutrition accordingly.
5. There will be opportunities on route to resupply on water and food.

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.

More Important Training Tips, Recent Training Activities

http://www.bicycling.com/beginners/bike-skills/rough-road-ahead

Bicycling magazine has published this very helpful and informative guide on how to ride and race your bike on gravel.  I encourage all aspiring gravel riders to read and take this information to heart.  I have some changes to make to my training plans!  While you are at it, I also recommend this helpful training tool:

http://www.bicycling.com/whattowear

Next time you head out on a training ride, this can help take the guess work out of what clothing you should wear.  Thank me later!

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Here is a dump of photos of spring training efforts so far.  Right now I am at about 700 miles for the month of March.  Looks like I will fall a bit short of the 1,000 mile goal, but I am not too discouraged as my riding has been of high quality and I have been running consistently as well.  Rides out in Franklin Grove, a trip down to the Ozarks for a week, a solo century, commuting, and other rides here and there make up the miles accumulated so far.  Training is going well, the weather at the end of April remains the unknown and unforeseeable variable.  Hope for the best, and keep at it until then.

Take Refuge In Clean Living

The journey to Trans Iowa V10 begins to draw to a close.  The day will soon be here when we gather in Grinnell to face the challenge we have been preparing for.  There is not much time left, but that doesn't mean we should panic.  If you are serious, it is time to dedicate yourself.  Find the time to ride, run, or exercise.  Figure out your bike, your clothing, your equipment.  Keep your thoughts positive.  This one can be harder than it seems, but it is important.  Take refuge in clean living.  How long has it been since you have had alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and other drugs completely out of your system?  There may not be room for these things and Trans Iowa in your life at the same time.  Stay balanced.  There is still work, school, relationships, and family for most people to consider.  It can be done though, people prove that every year.  Two months remain, make them count.

Brief: Short Training Weekend in Jo Daviess Co.

Temps have tipped up a bit over the past few days following the sub-zero "polar vortex" we experienced through early January.  Agatha and I took advantage by making a get away to secret training HQ and did a few fun rides out in Jo Daviess county.  Friday we rode a 30 mile loop up and around the Apple Canyon Lake vacation area, and then on Saturday we did about 25 miles northwest of our location.  Conditions on Friday were pretty ideal, all things considered.  Roads were slushy, and even the paved roads felt like gravel due to the sand/gravel mix applied to give traction on the snow and ice.  The above freezing temperatures felt amazing.  After we finished riding on Friday, some freezing rain started up and then temperatures dropped below freezing overnight.  Against better judgement, we drove over to Galena Friday night and dense fog and freezing roads made for a pretty unpleasant drive.  Coming back to HQ, we had to be pretty strategic about parking our car, as the hills combined with frozen road surfaces and a shitty 4 cylinder compact car could have left us stranded.  We awoke to glass like frozen road surfaces on Saturday and knew we weren't going anywhere until they started to thaw a bit.  The morning sun had thawed the roads by about 12:30 PM and we embarked on a short route.  Towards the end of our ride, the sun had disappeared behind clouds and temperatures had dropped below freezing, resulting in the slushy road surfaces beginning to refreeze. We faced a pretty nerve wracking descent down the gravel section of Clark Rd. at the end of our ride, but managed to keep the bikes upright, laughing afterward about how badly it could have turned out.  This was a good little getaway, with about 55 miles and 5k-6k ft of climbing over the two days.  Would have been great to get some more riding in, but considering the time of year and conditions we were pretty happy with our efforts.  Jo Daviess is magical for riding in all seasons, get out there and get pumped on those relentless hills and valleys.

Agatha aboard Karate Monkey equipped with 2.3" tires, bar mitts, and single speed.  She walked zero hills, very impressive.  Everyone said a 29'r wouldn't fit her so she said "fuck you" and rides this bike everywhere.  The Karate Monkey is a classic.

Me aboard Casseroll equipped with 700x32 Paselas and full fenders.  Fenders kept me so clean, I don't even need to wash the clothes I rode in.  Agatha was laughing about how my skinny little tires were cutting such deep ruts into the soft roads.

Images from Friday only.  Felt like I needed to keep both hands on the controls with the road conditions on Saturday.  A beautiful palette of white, gray, brown, snow and fog.  ALSO thank you JBJ for full fenders.

Study: Cycle Touring Through Southwestern Wisconsin, or Nine Days Driftless, or The Only Cool Thing I Did This Summer

Realized I never really made much mention of the tour Agatha and I went on this summer.  We spent nine days riding our heavy ass bikes up and down the hills of the Driftless Region in Southwestern Wisconsin. We passed through towns like La Crosse, Trempealeau, Richland Center, and Dodgeville.  Weather was basically perfect, aside from a hairy night at Perrot State Park featuring wind, rain, and hail, culminating in a flooded tent and the fun associated with such events.  The Driftless region itself is a place that resonates with history and intrigue for me.  If you live nearby, you owe it to yourself to go spend some time out there.  The roads and sights will blow you away.  Views up the Mississippi River Valley at sunset are certainly unmatched by anything else in the Midwest.   This wasn't really an "adventure" for us per se...  More of a bike vacation.  We had no set route, just a timeframe in which to operate.  This is a fun approach to touring, as you are sure to get tips from locals or find stuff you didn't know about before the trip that you are going to want to check out.  We took it easy, lingering where we wanted and moving on when we felt like it.  The long lazy days of summer are perfectly suited to the attitude of bike touring.  We ate delicious local produce whenever we could, and being the end of summer there were plentiful roadside fruit and vegetable stands selling squash, zucchini, onion, green beans, peas, etc...  I don't think we had any mechanicals at all on this trip.  It was just a plain old wonderful time living outdoors with someone I love and doing things that I love, and reflecting on it really makes me wonder what the hell I am doing with my life that it does not allow me to do things like this more often.  Bike touring is not expensive, it is not scary, you don't have to be an athlete. If it feels too hard, you are doing it wrong!  If fulfills all my ideals pertaining to simplicity.  It is the best way to travel and I hope everyone who has ever dreamed of taking a long bike trip gets to do it some day. Someday I will leave on one and never come back.

Nelson Dewey State Park

Dugway Rd., best road of the whole tour.

The mighty Casseroll, master of all terrains and tasks.

Amazing gravel hill, count 'em--1, 2, 3!

Navigation... Don't worry about it, you'll get there.

...

Yellowstone Lake State Park

I want to enter this picture in a llama photo contest

Yeah, that seems pretty good to me!

Part 1: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3076489

Part 2: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3076584

Nine days, 558 miles (according to web mapping, more like 600 by our count), 32,306 feet of climbing.

Brief: Rock Climbing in Shawnee National Forest, Southern Illinois

A few weekends ago, Agatha and I made a break for it to one of my favorite places in the whole world--The Shawnee National Forest.  At the southern tip of our long, long state lies a beautiful reserve of public land that bears no resemblance to the rest of our geologically infantile home.  Almost seven hours by car from DeKalb, it feels a world away and might as well be for how different and beautiful it is.  I have been going there with friends since high school to camp, climb, and generally fuck around out in the woods, and places like Giant City and Panther's Den are the places I learned to love the outdoors when I was younger. Agatha and I were feeling the grind of daily life and the and the cold onset of winter, so we set our sights south to Jackson Falls, a climbing area located in the National Forest.  Jackson offers no amenities aside from a pit toilet, which is a good thing. Camping is free and visitors are expected to practice Leave No Traces ethics.  We spent three days climbing, hiking, and relaxing out in the woods and had a spectacular time.  We definitely can't climb as hard as we used to, but we gave some old routes a try and survived to tell the tale. We did a lot of hiking around less traveled areas of the canyons and found some neat spots.  The Shawnee is an overlooked gem and the people who live in the area don't seem to mind one bit.  Very few published guides to the area exist, and I imagine "locals only" spots probably compose a lot of the potential climbing in the forest down there.  I love it, and if/when I make it out of the midwest, I will still come back to this place for the fun and memories it holds for me.

Agatha cleaning up after finishing a route

Bouldering the "Yosemite Slab"

Collapsed cliff overhang

Exploring under the collapsed boulders.  Pretty scary once we realized how precariously some of the house sized rocks were balanced.

I am the speck up top.  Climb known as Venom, 5.10a.  One of my favorites in the area.  Fun moves on small holds over the small overhang to delicate slab moves to gain the top.

Route-finding error resulted in some stupid climbing here.  Agatha laughed at me for looking like an idiot (which was deserved).

Beautiful cliff lines everywhere.  So much to explore.

Till next time...