Tom Collins and the Bridge to Nowhere

Cycling doesn't get much grander than Monday night. John Denver wrote a song about it. Sort of.

Almost heaven
West to Cross Plains

Union Valley
20% up Braun Rd
Hills are old there
Older than my knees
Younger ones like Granny
Climbin’ is a breeze

Country roads
Take me home
To the place I belong
West to Cross Plains
Mountain Drafter
Take me home, country roads

24 Drafters chose brawn over brains. Footer left ahead of the B Team. This Drafter has places to be, World Championships to win. Good luck next week, Footer!

Footer is getting a head start as she is eager to get on the road to the World Barefoot Championship in TX

Dan-yelly made the 4:30 departure with seconds to spare, "Sorry I'm late. It was hard to leave the meeting I was running."

Loose Screw, Duracell, Speedy, Pit Stop, Squeak, Slinger, Nemo, Pepe and Dan-yelly

The B Team welcomed a Newbie, Fly Boy Joe, to the Draft. Fly Boy was found drafting alone on Airport Rd. Adhering to the bylaws, "No Drafter Left Behind", the B team took Fly Boy under their wing, flew him up Braun and back to Middleton.

Gopher, Z Wrecks, Thing 1, Slim, Keez, Midas, Rimshot, Granny, Cujo, Squirrel and Captain Joe. Not pictured: Vilker, busy in the bathroom doing his hair in preparation for his son's NHS induction later tonight.

Skipper's absence means the actions photos are limited. But fear not, the past two weekends have been rich with Drafter activities.

Squirrel, Slim and Captain Joe make their way along Stagecoach Rd

The post-Draft shenanigans was not lacking in chocolate chip cookies, thanks to Cujo. Her right biceps were particularly prominent, evidence of mixing the cookie dough by hand. Not owning a mixer leaves a smaller carbon footprint and a larger biceps brachii.

Captain Joe does his part in relieving Cujo of her chocolate chip cookie problem

Z Wrecks, Granny, Squirrel, Slim, Loose Screw, Nemo, Cujo, Rimshot, Pepe, Captain Joe, Thing 1, Slinger, Duracell and Speedy

As the days are getting shorter and the nights cooler, the Monday night Drafts are coming to a natural end. The ride for Monday Sept 26 is the Tom Collins 28-mile route past the bridge to nowhere. Departure times 4:30 and 4:45.

RidewithGPS link to Tom Collins and the Bridge to Nowhere

drafters-bridge-to-nowhereDownload

The Drafter Final 50 will be on Sunday, Oct 2 at 10AM. This will be a 50ish mile route through Mazo, Roxbury and Lodi. A celebration with awards will follow. As Captain Joe won't be in attendance, he received his award last night- a serving platter "Captain and Tennille. Draft Responsibly" as a token of our appreciation for hosting the draft AND serving delicious risotto.

A recap of the past two weekends is in order. Congratulations to Pit Stop and Granny on their 70.3 performance. Pit Stop took the cycling leg on her relay team, and earned the respect of The Voice for Ironman. Granny took no prisoners, placing top 10 in her age group without the help of aerobars. Arguably the most successful triathlete of the weekend was Squeak. The full Ironman took place on Sunday, during a steady rain that lasted the entire day. Reports of it being among the top 4 worst IM conditions in the history of triathlon ran rampant. Squeak wisely decided that would be the only thing running. With nothing left to prove other, she chose to draft responsibly.

Granny may not have aero bars, but those quads proved powerful enough to take top 10.

Pit Stop and The Voice of Ironman

Further north, Special K laid down the gavel on Ride the Ridges.

Special K drafting responsibly at Ride the Ridges

The Drafters have been making an impression off road as well. WARNING: the following video is not intended for young audiences. The mullet and porn stache have not hurt Vintage's rating on the charts as this video has gone viral.

https://videopress.com/v/d69xPNRN?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Vintage isn't the only playing dirty. Momma and Poppa Monster welcomed the crew to the Dirty Drafter Den in northern WISCO for the Chequamegon MTB Festival

Do you dare?

The deluge hit towards the end of the Short and Fat/Smart route, making sure every Dirty Drafter earned their title. One might think the rain ruined the ride. On the contrary. The mud made it all the more fun. Momma Monster, who just recently bought a mountain bike, said it best, "This ride was worth the cost of my MTB." A shout out to Skipper who is largely to blame for our dirty addiction.

Momma Monster, Cookie Monster and E$

Duracell and Speedy

Momma Monster, GFK, Ninja, Z Wrecks, Cookie Monster, E$, Footer, Speedy and Duracell

The Chequamegon 40 Drafters got a full blast of Mother Nature. Bomber had a plane to catch, so the sluggish mud left him in a time crunch. Poppa Monster came to the rescue, cleaning Bomber's bike while he showered up and made the mad dash to the airport. Can you imagine a flight to Spain looking like this?

Last boarding call.....

Sir BrickO-lot. Little in the middle but she's got big back.

BrickO definitely earned Dirty Drafter status

2022 Cheq Dirty Drafters

With every season, turn, turn, turn. As Monday night road rides come to an end, we will continue with the Dirty Draft. And beyond that into winter, the Drift Draft. Be sure to join the Dirty Draft GroupMe if you are interested in details.

Draft responsibly,
BrickO