2025 Butterfly Route, Part I

This is a recounting of USA Cycling Nationals and Senior Games Nationals, with three weeks relaxing in the mountains sandwiched between.  The picture of our driving 5,400 makes the title an obvious choice. 

I will refrain from the many negative comments I could make about the management and location of the Wisconsin races and just focus on the races themselves.

We left June 25 for Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1,200 miles) and the USAC championships.  There were three races, starting with a forty-five minute criterium on Saturday, a ten-mile time trial on Monday, and a forty-mile road race on Tuesday.  

I had handicapped the competitors in my age group and knew I'd be racing for third place, with my nemesis, Durwood, and an unknown (Mike) with good palmares sure to take the first two spots.  I wasn't sure about the other guys.  For the criterium we were grouped with the 70+ guys, so I was hoping to just hang on for the first lap.  As it turned out, it wasn't even the first 400 meters.  But to my surprise and good fortune, Durwood was right in front of me.  I hung on his wheel hoping I could keep up.  We quickly caught another guy in our age group and he latched on to my wheel.  Perhaps euphoric is too strong a word to describe my feeling as lap after lap went by and I was drafting him easily (as was the guy behind me).  My concentration was such that I wasn't paying attention to actual racing tactics.  For instance, why wasn't my heart trying to jump out of my chest?  The younger, fast guys had lapped up twice and for whatever reason, it was in my head that they were about to pass us again before the last lap.  As a result, when the guy (Bruce, by the way) jumped after the last corner, it didn't occur to me that the finish line was in sight.  Durwood didn't jump and only in the last twenty yards did I realize my mistake.  I received a 5th place ribbon for my error.  As we found out later, Durwood was having health problems and wasn't anywhere near his normal self.  

We moved hotels to Sturtevant, Wisconsin to be closer to the time trial on Monday.  Across the street from the hotel was a large flatish parking lot and I did thirty minutes of warm up before driving out to the course.  Parking was a problem but we eventually were situated and I did some more warming up.  The course itself was a rectangle and we were to do two loops.  The front side was a gradual uphill, the back side downhill and the sides were flat.  Bruce started ahead of me, Durwood behind.  There were others in the race but I don't recall their positions.  Riders went off in thirty second intervals.  It wasn't long, maybe two miles, before Durwood caught me.  But by then, Bruce was in front of us, and we lost him on the second turn.  I kept close to Durwood (no drafting allowed in time trials) for a mile or so but lost sight of him when he turned the third corner.  I felt good going up the frontside.  Bruce was no longer a concern and I kept the speed up on the backside.  For the last lap the riders were supposed to use the far lane when making the turn, using the oncoming traffic lane.  I immediately was aware I'd made mistake, but figured there would be a break in the median where I could rectify it.  This is one of those twenty-yard wide, wildflower medians.  With the finish shoot coming just around the corner, I had to stop, run across the median, and remount to get the proper time.  Fortunately, I had put enough time between me and Bruce (and Dominic) that it didn't make a difference.  That should have netted me a fourth place ribbon.  But no, I came in third and a bronze medal.  What we found out shortly after was Durwood had a medical incident and crashed and was taken to the hospital.  Most of us are friends, Durwood has been beating me for years, so we checked with his wife if she needed anything and checked again a couple weeks later.  He is back riding, nothing was broken, although he has a large hematoma.

It's a twenty-six mile drive from Sturtevant to Lyons which is the site of the road race.  I had driven there and ridden the course on our day off.  It was a beast, with some nasty hills.  It would be forty miles, four laps for us, more for the younger guys.  Once again, I'd be racing for third place.  Now that I knew Bruce had difficulty climbing, I was pretty confident.  The only worry was if I had the legs to do all that climbing.  But then came the announcement like music to my ears.  Because these were public roads, only the peloton would be protected.  As a safety measure, if you were dropped from your group, you would be pulled but your place in the race would be secured.  I'm not sure Bruce and Dominic understood the ramifications.  

Because of the pubic roads, the first half mile or so, to the beginning of the loop, was held behind the pace car.  We were once again with 70+.  As we jostled for position I could see Bruce a few riders ahead.  We made the turn and the young guys led us out at a reasonable pace.  This was mostly flat or downhill and the hard climbs wouldn't start until the first right turn.  We were all together until the turn and the road tilted up.  Bruce attacked with the group, I found my own pace.  About a mile further, after a few more climbs, I could see Bruce had spent all of his climbing muscles and was no longer in race mode.  In cyclists lingo he was "pedaling squares."  Using a high cadence, I made up the couple hundred yards on the last steep climb and left him behind.  This was about six miles into the race.  Then I hit it as hard as I could, not worrying about the hills to come.  That's because we had been dropped by the peloton and there were no more laps for us.  When it came time to start the second lap, I (and those behind me) was waved toward the finish line.  And that is how I got a bronze medal by doing ten miles of a forty mile race.  My actual racing time was thirty-five minutes rather than two and a half hours.  My body was thrilled.  The reason I thought Bruce and Dominic hadn't understood the announcement is that they didn't wait for their awards.  USAC's podium goes to the top five.

 
 

2025 Butterfly Route, Part II

This is the vacation part of our sojourn.  After a trying, but successful, trio of races in Wisconsin, we drove 760 miles to the Kennedy Creek Resort in Suches, Georgia.  We've been coming here since 2005, enjoying the solitude and cooler air of the mountains for two or three weeks.  This year it was twenty-three days.  In the middle week, family from Texas and Maryland joined us for a reunion.

We arrived July 3rd and settled in.  In the past we have attended the Suches fireworks show, a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department but this year decided to skip it.  But a couple of gentlemen who are regulars, bought their own fireworks and when it got dark, set them up.  Now folks, these were really nice displays and they went on unabated for an hour!!  We had a great view from the front porch of our cabin.  

Suches is in the North Georgia mountains and my main activity is cycling the gaps.  Marilane's main activity is completing puzzles.  Dahlonega (just down the mountain) is known in cycling circles as the home of the Six Gap Century.  I completed it in 2011, all 105 miles and almost 11,000 feet of climbing.  For vacations, though, I usually just do three.  It's either Jack's, Unicoi, Hogpen or Woody, Neel's, Wolfpen.  Up until a few years ago, I would also try Brasstown Bald, a real beast of a three mile climb with several 16% grades and a 24% wall.  Not this year.

The first cycling day in the mountains is always Woody, Neel's, and Wolfpen.  I always suffer going up Neel's Gap, over five miles of climbing.  My time is a consistent three hours twenty minutes, give or take.  My experience in Wisconsin gave me a clue that climbing might be more of a challenge on my new bike.  Sure enough, I found myself seriously wanting another gear.  Apparently my suffering wasn't much of a deterrent, as I finished with the same time as previous years.

The weather for our whole stay couldn't have been better.  My plan included more than the eleven days I actually rode, but I just needed more rest days.  Having the Tour de France on TV may have influenced my decision.  I also restricted myself to just Woody, Neel's, and Wolfpen.  I detest Jack's, and Hogpen is almost as difficult as Brasstown Bald, so I skipped them this year.  But I did take a couple of trips to Brasstown Bald. highest spot in Georgia.  It was to ride my time trial bike around their spacious parking lot.  We had to drive twenty-two miles to find this safe, flatish spot to ride.

I like to say I was doing my altitude training, but at only 2,800 feet it doesn't compare to Colorado Springs, for example.  But I got in 250 miles and 25,300 feet of climbing in preparation for racing in Iowa.

                                               Headed toward Neel's Gap

Going up Woody Gap

Two different curves on Neel's Gap.  Fun going down, not so much going up.

2025 Butterfly Route- Part III

 Part 3 of the getaway (can't call it a vacation) is the Senior Games Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa.  We drove 900 miles from Suches, Ga to Des Moines, arriving two days before the start of racing.  Hilton's Homewood Suites hosted us in Des Moines.  Let me say now that the weather for all races were ideal.

Past experience has taught me the value of previewing the race courses and the next morning after breakfast I headed out to the road race staging area parking. There was some confusion as to the start, finish, direction of the race, and the awards presentation.  The course itself was a rectangle, a little over six miles per lap.  The original map indicated a counter-clockwise direction but that would give us all left turns and didn't seem right.  I left the parking lot and did the course clockwise.  Fortunately, that was not the start line, since it went immediately up a long hill, of approximately 6% grade with one ramp over 8%.  I knew I'd get dropped as soon as we started up.  Anyhow, there were a few more, less steep and less long, climbs before hitting the long downhill.  We would go past the start line, make a right turn and have flat road for over two miles before arriving at the hill.  I took my time, noticing the changes and put a vague plan together.  After finishing the loop, I loaded up the bike and drove over to the time trial course, a few miles away.

Senior Games has two time trials, 5k (3.1 miles) and 10k in length.  The 5k race would be all in one direction, and you would cool down on the way back.  The 10k would be out-and-back.  I parked the car along with a dozen or more other cyclists with the same idea of previewing the course.  It was a nice, concrete road with a few inclines, mostly 1-1.5% grades but to my mind it was all uphill.  Of course, that would make the 10k mostly downhill on the way back.  I did the preview on my road bike.  That chore down, I chatted a bit with one of the guys who had also just finished, then packed up and returned to the hotel.  I wasn't feeling all that energized so rested the remainder of the day.  Marilane was hard a work on a puzzle.

The next morning we drove out to the course and found a very convenient parking spot.  The police had blocked off the road to traffic so that was comforting.  Earlier, right after breakfast, I went down to the exercise room at the hotel and put in thirty minutes on the Peloton bike.  Therefore my pre-race warm up didn't take the usual thirty minutes, more like fifteen just to be sure I could hold the time trial position without straining.  

Generally speaking, there are no surprises in the older categories.  I had raced against some of the guys, and the others I looked up on Strava or race results.  So I knew it would be a miracle to get a medal.  My race would be for fourth or fifth.  Let me diverge a bit into strategy for time trials.  Yes, it is the "race of truth" in that you go as hard as you can for as long as you can.  Mainly, it involves shifting to the best gear at the appropriate time so that you don't lose seconds.  I determined yesterday what spots I needed to shift at, and was gratified that my race went exactly as I planned (that's rarely the case).  Anyway, as it turned out, I finished fourth, with the fifth place finisher two seconds slower.  We waited around for the awards ceremony, got my 4th place ribbon, then headed back to the hotel.  For me, more rest.  For Marilane, more puzzle.

The 10k race day started as a carbon copy of the previous one.  What changed was the wind direction.  It would be a bit stronger and be at our backs going out and in our face coming back.  I started well and felt good.  But a couple of miles in I realized I hadn't optimized the downhill sections.  Hey, I was going fast at 29mph, but it should have been another gear and 32mph for those two short sections.  At the turnaround I still felt good even though I was now going slower.  About a mile from the end, I took a short breather out of the aero tuck and let my heart rate drop a couple of beats before returning to it.  We're talking maybe six seconds.  That allowed for a strong half-mile finish.  As it turned out, the guy (Craig) I beat by two seconds in the 5k beat me by two seconds in the 10k.  So, I collected my 5th place ribbon.

The next day, Friday, was a rest day.  Saturday was a nightmare.  Started off with the thirty minute Peloton warm up, then breakfast, then drove out to the course.  The directions were to drive to the Raccoon River parking lot, then cycle on the path one mile to the Soccer Fields for staging.  Marilane would have a golf cart to shuttle her.  Given these instructions, we arrived early so I could pick up my timing chip and get additional information.  As it turned out, staging was not at the soccer fields, AND, in order to pick up our chips, we had to ride the course clockwise.  That meant climbing the lot of hills.  So, one mile to the soccer fields, four miles to pick up my chip.  Two miles back to the soccer fields, now being allowed on the course since all the previous races were completed.  Then another mile to Marilane to apprise her of the situation.  Then another three miles back to the start line.  As it turned out, another half mile after that.  All in all, my "warm-up" was 12.1 miles.

For the 20k, we were grouped as 80+, so the older guys would be with us.  I lined up close to Mike (TT winner).  Generally speaking, the Senior Games has about half the folks as first timers to racing.  And, generally speaking, they are not as quick to clip into their pedals at the start.  As a result, the faster riders open a gap immediately and those who are left behind rarely catch up.  That has happened to me in previous races.  Mike slotted in second and I was right on his wheel.  We made it down to the intersection, turned right, and were cruising in the mid-twenties.  I had a chance to check my mirrors and could see maybe a half dozen riders drafting and nothing in sight further back.  We got to the big hill and almost everyone climbed faster than me.  Well, I dug in and at least kept them in sight for a couple miles.  But for the second lap, it was mostly just me.  I held off anyone coming from behind, but never caught anyone who was ahead of me.  As it turned out, I was 6th, 66 seconds behind Craig.

We weren't finished, in terms of chaos.  The awards ceremony were to be at the soccer fields, 2.2 miles away, not at the finish line.  So, I had to ride 3.2 miles to where Marilane was and let her know she could take the golf cart shuttle to the awards ceremony.  Let me back up a bit.  There was no way Marilane could get to the start/finish line from the soccer field, so her options were to sit in the comfy car with Wi-Fi, or shuttle to the soccer fields to watch me speed past twice.  I suggested staying in the car.  Once the awards were done I cycled and she shuttled back to the car.   On the way back to the hotel, I previewed a way to get to park at the finish line of the 40k.  They also changed the awards to be at the finish line.  

In 2008 and in 2018 I signed up to do both the 20k and 40k road races.  All other years I do mainly just the 40k, unless it's at Pace Bend, where I do the 20k.  So I wasn't looking forward to the slow slog up that hill four times on already weary legs.  For the 20k I averaged twenty minutes per lap, so I told Marilane I'd be 20-22 per lap for the 40k.  Given our parking spot, she was able to bring her chair to the intersection where riders made the first right turn (or went straight for the finish line).  The start line for the 40k was much further up the road than where the 20k had been.  .9 mile from the intersection.

For this race, we were paired with the 75-79 youngsters and the younger ladies would start three minutes behind us.  That guaranteed a fast start.  To my surprise,  because it was four laps, the start wasn't an all out drag race, holding in the high 20's.  We still left those who couldn't get clipped in quick enough behind, but there were about eight riders ahead of me and probably the same amount behind.  On the flat part we dropped the speed a bit as the leaders probed each other to see who was doing what.  As the hill approached, the speed increased and when we hit it, those who could climb left the rest of us behind.  As it turned out, by the top of the hill, there were only three of us left.  And one got dropped quickly.  I let the other guy (Robert) know I was in the 80-84 category and not his competitor (he being 75-79).  So he pulled and I drafted.  All too soon two young ladies passed us, with enough speed that we couldn't catch on to their wheels.  As we approached the last incline before several miles of downhill, four ladies passed.  One of them called out that she like my kit (I was very pink in my Geri Atrix gear).  We did catch their wheels and drafted, saving us precious energy and putting us further ahead of the guys behind us (even though they weren't in sight).  The ladies pulled us for about four miles, leaving us at the hill.  I was dropping behind at the end of the big hill, but caught up on the next two, so we entered the downhill section together and stayed that way all the way around to the hill, where I bade my farewell to him.  BTW, I did maybe a 30% share of leading so as to give him a break.  But when he led, we were 1-2 mph faster.  

I kept checking my mirrors to see if anyone was gaining, and couldn't see anyone.  While my Madone doesn't climb nearly as well as the Emonda, it's faster on the flats and downhills.  I held speed in the mid to high 20's for the last mile and pushed hard until the end.  As it turned out, I only finished 55 seconds behind my helper.  And, I finished 22 seconds ahead of Craig.  Even better,  Bill Earp (from Missouri, who is always much faster than me), didn't enter the 40k, so I came home with a bronze medal.  Most of my stats will be in a separate post, but the first two laps were in nineteen minutes because of drafting, the next two laps were in twenty-one minutes, and the last mile (four loops plus a mile) took two minutes, twenty-five seconds.