April 2007 200K Delavan, WI Brevet

When I started riding three years ago, if you asked me what a Brevet was I'd be lost for words. Well in April 2007 I did my first brevet, a 200K starting in and returning to Delavan, WI.

This brevet was the first of seven this year, that Great Lakes Randonneurs organized. Though, you need to do the following brevets in order to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) an endurance ride. Which are, the 200K, 300K, 400K and the 600K. All of which are self-supported rides, and you're allowed a certain amount of time to complete each brevet.

I did this brevet because a riding friend of mine is a serious endurance rider - he's a serious rider period. Anyway, he put out an email to our club, and thought it would be fun to try a brevet, and I've done 200Ks before, so I joined him in Delavan, WI. Though, before the brevet, weeks before, I needed to signup, and pay $15 for the 200K. Yes, there's no SAG, but the organizer does have some costs to cover.

The brevet was held on Saturday April 21, 2007 with a mass start at 8am, sharp, from the Super 8 Motel in Delavan, WI. I drove up that morning, leaving home around 5am. I got there too early, but I'm the type who likes to take his time, and not rush.

If I recall, there were about 60 riders, of all ages, and all were serious riders. Once we pushed off, the pack soon split into different groups, meaning everyone found a pace they could manage. I stayed with my riding friend Eric, and I soon realized he wanted to ride hard. We had a strong tailwind for the way out - our group - the lead pack of about 15 riders was flying towards the first checkpoint at racing speeds.

At one point the pack was doing about 35mph, and this squirrel runs out, hits my crank, flips around, goes under my back wheel. I don't think it made it. But, I was lucky it didn't cause me to loose control of my bike, because I would have taken most of the group down.

I should note, that brevets are not races. Though, from what I understand the 200Ks tend to be fast, if you want to hang with the lead group.

At the first checkpoint, about 30+ miles, we refueled, got our cards stamped, to prove we had been there. It was a pretty quick stop, and Eric and I continued to hammer it with the lead group. At about mile 44 Eric decided to pace it down. We still had a strong tailwind, but he knew better not to push himself too hard, as we had some good hills coming up, not to mention a head wind the whole way back.

The second checkpoint (located at another gas station/mini-mart) was the half way point of the 200K. We managed to keep our average speed at 21.6 up to now, but that was about to change. As soon as we left the second checkpoint, the head wind hit us like a brick wall. We rode with the lead group for awhile. Then Eric began to slow down, I think he pushed too hard in the beginning. Too much testosterone I guess. I hung with the group until after we climbed the last hard hill. I didn't see Eric. So I slowed down, as I came to ride with him, and I was too lazy to read my cue sheet, so I waited for him. A few minutes later, I could see this rider way off in the distance, and I could tell it was Eric.

When we got to the last checkpoint, before returning to the start, some of the lead pack was just leaving, and the ones still there, looked pretty wiped. The head wind was around 20-25+ mph, and to took it's toll on everyone. Eric and I hung around for about 20 minutes, resting and fueling up for the last leg.

I can't remember exactly when we arrived back at the Super 8 Motel in Delavan. But I think it was around 2:30 - 3:00pm. Not the fastest 200K ever, but it's not about speed. As long as you come in, in the allotted time, that's the important thing. We got our cards stamped one last time, and had some free micro-brew beer - and watched the other riders come in.

When Eric and I left the Super 8 Motel for dinner, then home, there were still riders on the course. I was told everyone made it back okay.

All in all, it was a great day to ride, minus the wind. And I'll be doing more brevets in the future - longer ones.

For anyone interested in brevets, you can get more information at:

Great Lakes Randonneurs
5038 N. St. Louis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
http://www.glrrando.org/index.html


(Special note of interest: Eric will be doing the 2007 PBP in August -
congrats Eric.)