Drafter Tour de Dane Femmes Wrap Up
The Tour de France Femmes was an extraordinary event, held the first time in 33 years. In order to support these incredible women throughout 8 stages in their pursuit of watts, teamwork, integrity, podium finishes and putting women's cycling on the map, the Drafters held a Tour de Dane Femmes.
The mission was simple: encourage women to pedal, support local bike groups, bike shops and worthy causes, instill the spirit of racing with time trial and mountain stages, and have FUN while drafting responsibly. In that, we enjoyed tremendous success.
In order to earn the YELLOW JERSEY, a rider had to meet the following criteria: 1) complete 3 of 5 organized events including the N+1 50 mile ride, BrickO's Drafters Monday ride, Wheel and Sprocket Women on Wheels ride, Lake Ripley Ride for JDRF or the Trek 100 Ride for Hope; complete the 2) Mountain Stage, and 3) Time Trial Stage, with a finisher photo at Crossroads Coffeehouse.
Just like the professional racers in the Tour de France Femmes, these women had to overcome mechanical issues, road obstacles and unanticipated barriers to success.
Dan-yelly, with the support of her hubby, Tobacco City Boy, left him in charge of their three children to fearlessly climb Cleveland and Deer Run for a shot at the Polka Dot jersey. A dropped and trapped chain would have been the end for most Femmes, but not this Drafter. With a rapid fire GroupMe message, the Drafters were quick to respond. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime was unable to guarantee same day delivery in the mountains, but the link for Wolf Tooth Pack Pliers was not unappreciated. Wheel and Sprocket was able to remedy the mechanical failure and get Dan-yelly back on the road to finish the stage, although not claim the podium.
Not all of the Drafter Femmes were able to be in Dane for the race. And yet, their spirit was in full force. Belle organized the union of BrickO's Drafters and the Stonefield Wheelmen and the support of N+1 to host a 50 mile ride to kick off the first stage of the Tour de Dane before she headed out of the county (and state).
While Belle was out of state, Thing One was out of the country doing the Tour de South Africa. From another continent, and without WiFi, T1 still supported the Tour de Dane.
Other Drafters had competing races on their schedule. Cujo was tapering at the Drafter ride on Monday (leading the B team) for her Washington Island Ultra Triathlon, where she completed 17 triathlons, plus an extra swim lap for good measure. Cujo turned in the most miles during the Tour de Dane at 312.
Cookie Monster provided fuel for her fellow Drafter Femmes at the Lake Ripley Ride. She had her hands too full to complete all of the stages of the Tour de Dane, but she provided enough cookies and raspberry tarts for everyone to race for a month. Cookie Monster is the first women in the history of cycling to complete a stage with her mother and daughters.
Motherhood is one of life's greatest gifts. And while it may limit time on the bike, it makes the time we are able to spend on the bike another one of life's greatest gifts. Coach Arms was able to squeeze in the Lake Ripley Ride and the Mountain Stage between recruiting trips for the University of Wisconsin Women's Hockey Team and life as a mother of two beautiful Femmes. Coach Arms has quads that are polka dot jersey worthy, but an unfortunate timing for chip sealing Deer Run Rd had her slightly off route and pace. The win isn't always rewarded with a podium. There is no coming down from a win like this one.
The polka dot jersey was worn by the same Drafter for the entire tour. Columbus knows her way up a mountain her roar could be heard for miles.
The green jersey changed... hands (?) several times throughout the Tour de Dane. Squeak laid claim to the sprinter jersey in Stage 8, acing out Nemo by 0.32 seconds. Nemo didn't leave the tour without a jersey, however. The Drafter Tour de Dane awards a silver jersey to the most mature cyclist. After a stage win in the Tour de France Femmes, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), age 39, credited her victory over younger riders to more time in the saddle. Annemiek went on to win more than just a stage. Age isn't always our enemy.
Squeak entered the Drafter Tour de Dane as part of her training for Ironman Wisconsin. After coming off a 70.3 in Finland, Squeak was in prime condition to claim yellow but decided to split her efforts between swimming, cycling and running. She arrived early to the Lake Ripley Ride to get in some laps, rode an extra 20 miles after completing the metric century, and then ran out the rest of her glucose stores. That was on Stage 7. For the final stage, she awoke to run 15 miles before claiming the green jersey and coming close to dethroning Columbus from Queen of the Mountain. And then she went mountain biking.
The winner of the 2022 Drafter Tour de Dane Femmes completed all 5 stages ON THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of her bike accident, which left her unable to walk for many weeks. An inspiration for women's cycling and for life, congratulations to Pit Stop on earning the YELLOW JERSEY. She might ride with the B team on Monday nights, but she is part of the A Medical Team (Nitro, Pit Stop and Squeak) and the epitome of integrity, grit and strength.
There is one more jersey to be awarded. And that goes to the Tour de Dane Drafter who embodies the spirit of support even when they aren't pulling their teammates to the podium. The vote for the Drafter Excellence Award was unanimous, and the fact that it was a committee of one shouldn't take away from that. Congratulations, Sandlot. She volunteers on her day off from the clinic, where she also received the Nurse Excellence Award, to ride sweep for the W&S Women on Wheels ride, and provides clever and positive feedback for her teammates on nearly every Strava post throughout the tour. Coming off a serious knee injury, she has been working hard to add miles in the saddle and finished the 40 mile Lake Ripley Ride without the slightest hint of fatigue. She is the sunshine on a cloudy day.
Congratulations to all of the Drafter for participating and contributing in so many ways to the first annual Tour de Dane Femmes. And thank you to our sponsors at Online Cycling Gear for their generous donation of the podium jerseys. Please use code 20%brickson for all future purchases. And thank you to Hincapie Sportswear for the stunning kits that keep all Drafters in a green jersey. Use code SBRICKSON for 20% all non-custom orders.
Draft responsibly,
BrickO