Miller Lite Ride for the Arts 2009

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A yearly event for me is the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts that starts in downtown Milwaukee. I was trying to rack my brain and couldn't remember if this was the third or fourth year I have done it. You can see posts on it from previous years here.

You may or may not recall, but last year I broke a spoke at around mile 65. I was hammering that ride and had to endure a bitter last 10 miles as I limped my bike back the the starting line. I certainly was ready to clean up my unfinished business from last year.

At the starting line I always like to see the cool and new jerseys. I didn't get to see many this year as most (incliding me) had jackets on since it was 50 at the start. I think I need one of these in celebration of the Crappy Beer Challenge.
Alterra was giving out free coffee and it was a big hit. For whatever reason bikers seem to like coffee. I quit drinking coffee several years ago and last month went completely caffeine free - I don't think that the small amounts of caffeine really do much for your performance. Unless you are drinking that Cuban stuff like Johathan does down in South Florida, in which case it is probably like crack.

This building has been covered in scaffolding for several years and is right at the starting line. I am glad they finally got it done, it is pretty majestic.

The ride this year was cold, rainy, and windy. Absolutely miserable from start to end. But I did crush it in a new personal best time for me, averaging 17 mph even in the crazy weather. I hooked up with about 8 other guys and we had a great peloton formed. For those who don't know, riding in a group is so much easier than solo as you don't have to break the wind all the time. When you get in a big enough group, your energy output goes way down. You almost feel as if you are being pulled along. Great stuff, but you really have to concentrate to make sure you don't hit each other and junk in the road.

This also gets you more wet. As you are behind riders with bikes with no fenders, there is a constant spray in front of you. It rained on and off the whole second half of the ride. But all this did was make me want to go faster to get to the end. I think the highlight was when a giant dairy truck passed us on a rural road and put up a wall of water for all to enjoy.

At the end I was happy, tired and absolutely soaked. I was glad I had a change of clothes and slowly slipped into those - slowly because my hands didn't work very well since they were so frozen.

Here is a short clip of some of the guys I was hauling a$$ with. Here we are going around 15mph on a slight uphill on a path.