Crystal Clear April 19
Gusty winds did not deter 15 Drafters from enjoying the historic viaduct route Monday night.
The B Team set out with Skipper at the helm. 10 watts stronger each week and 10 pounds lighter thanks to RAW training, BrickO and Z Wrecks were the grateful recipients of his draft protection. And not only from the wind. Two separate oncoming honey wagons with their poop shoots extended horizontally, perfectly aligned with the wind direction and the Drafters in the cross hairs called for heroic measures. Thanks, Skipper.
Pit Stop and Squeak were chaperoned by Surly. Impervious to the added weight and rolling resistance of his fat bike, the only notably oversized components are Surly’s mitochondria. Pit Stop lived up to her name, while Squeak downplayed her handle. Her beautiful yellow SEVEN was finely tuned and quiet. A squeak by any other name is still a squeak.
Speedy and Footer were the B team caboose, but not the only train on the track. Passing through Dane, they had to outrun the train twice, once on Military Road and then again turning (left) on Johnson. Their sprints were rewarded as they were privy to watching the train pass over them on Viaduct.
Dark Knight and Flash caught a romantic moment under the historic viaduct (read: Flash paused to let Dark Knight catch his breath) earlier in the day.
The A team was in full force, with Cannibal providing the steam for the 5:00 PM train. Blurple, Booker J, Busch Latte and Rimshot were on a mission to catch the B team caboose. Adding an extra hill to the route, because “when in doubt, climb” is the Drafter way, they still managed to catch Footer and Speedy on Hyslop.
Bush Latte heard the train take off on Hyslop and revved up his engine. “Is this a Strava segment?” he called out to Cannibal. “No, we are chasing wabbits!”.
“Is that a sick cow?”, wondered Footer out loud. Nope, only the sound of Cannibal’s diesel engine closing the gap. For the second week in a row, Cannibal embodied the Drafter spirit, pausing for nearly 30 seconds to converse with Footer and Speedy. His behavior modification training has clearly made a dramatic impact, as he sacrificed the opportunity to challenge Romeo, our Cat 1 Drafter, last week to shelter a fellow Drafter. And this week, a polite exchange with Footer. What’s next? Perhaps serving garden drinks in his apron?
Another Drafter train left the station with precious cargo in their caboose.
That’s full circle for our Drafter family, from our youngest Drafter to our oldest Drafter. Sully, the matriarch of the Drafters, returned from sunny AZ to share a post-draft draft. Welcome home, Sully.
We will soon welcome another new Drafter. Two weeks to go, Dan-yelly! It is the homestretch. What you can do once (or twice, in your case) you can do again! Captain Joe was curiously absent from the Draft, , helping Dan-yelly and Tobacco City Boy assemble a bike for their eldest Drafter.
Vintage drafted on the couch after his 146-mile gravel adventure on Sunday. Wuss. There are some great gravel adventures coming up:
The Bear May 8 with 107, 73 and 31 mile options:
Wheel and Sprocket May 15 Wiowash Trail Oshkosh with 60 and 44 mile routes
HISTORIC DRAFTER KITS are now available through the Hincapie Store. Order deadline Sunday April 18.
The route for April 19 will take us to Crystal Lake. Sadly, the route will sadly not include Fish Lake due to flooding and road closure.
RidewithGPS: RidewithGPS link Crystal Clear
Throughout April, we will maintain the A and B team starts. Come May and more daylight, we will bring both teams together for a unified 5PM departure. Hopefully, this will allow some of our hard-working Drafters (Sandlot, Duchess, Hit-the-Wall and Wampus) a bit more time to get to the starting line. I would also suggest talking to your boss about work-bike balance…
DIRTY DRAFT UPDATE: the board has agreed upon Wednesday evenings from 5-7PM. Blackhawk, Quarry Ridge, CamRock and other Capital Off Road Pathfinder (CORP) trails are fair game. Think about joining CORP to help support the trials. I'm looking for someone to lead this week, as we are getting dirty at DuPont. Use GroupMe to arrange the ride!
Draft responsibly,
BrickO