2022: A Statistical Review

Garmin Connect combines indoor and outdoor miles, but I don't.

How did I do in 2022, my 19th season as a cyclist? By the numbers, it was not an impressive year. I rode 4,190 miles outdoors, down from 4,704 in 2021. That decline came despite only a tiny reduction in frequency—143 rides this year versus 148 rides last year—but my average distance per ride dropped from 31.8 miles to 29.3 miles. I set no new monthly mileage records, and a metric century on October 22 was my longest ride of the season. My 4,190-mile total ranks 14th all-time and is my lowest output since I rode 4,100 miles in 2013, a season shortened by injury.

On the upside, I exceeded my goal of 3,612 miles in 2022 to surpass 85,000 lifetime miles. In 2023, my goal will be to reach 90,000 lifetime miles. I will need 4,422 miles to get there. I’m trying to stay on pace to reach 100,000 miles in 2025, the year in which I will turn 60. But obviously it would benefit me to exceed 4,422. I don’t want to rely on back-to-back seasons of 5,000 miles in 2024 and 2025.

I spent more than 53 hours on the turbo trainer in 2022, my biggest effort since 2008. That’s good news and bad news. I always would prefer to ride outside, but I have such an aversion to cold weather that riding inside is frequently the better choice. Having a smart trainer and a Zwift subscription has made indoor riding far less of a grind, so I’m doing it more consistently.

I missed my goal of 500 walking miles. Hurting my left leg in August put an end to that idea. I finished 2022 with 295 miles of fitness walking. I’m setting a goal of 260 miles in 2023. That’s 5 miles per week on average, and it’s enough. It is just cross-training, after all. I’m not trying to be a competitive walker.

June 10, 2023, will be the 40th Anniversary of my graduation from high school. I want to get back to my senior year weight: 185 pounds. That won’t be easy, but I was there as recently as September 2019.

Off the bike, 2022 was rewarding in many ways. I had a lot of success at my job and reaped the rewards from a grateful employer. I had a very enjoyable vacation in Pennsylvania. I read 28 books. I redecorated my dining room. Even if my cycling numbers were down a bit, 2022 was a good year.

One Last Outdoor Ride In 2022

Yesterday in West Bend, we rose above the freezing mark for the first time since December 15. And we didn’t just sneak above 32° for a few minutes; by 1:25 p.m. we had hit 40° for the first time since December 3. It might have been a day of aggressive snow melting if not for the considerable cloud cover. Fortunately, we stayed well above the freezing mark overnight—extraordinarily rare at this time of year—so the melting continued unabated.

This afternoon we cracked 50° for the first time since November 29. I think we topped out at 54°, more than 20° above normal. The streets were still wet and dirty, and the park paths were blocked by snow in some places. I didn’t let that stop me; I did my first outdoor ride since November 23. It was only a 15-mile tour of West Bend, shown on the map above. And like any winter ride, it wasn’t fast. But it was a mood lifter. Winter is the equivalent of house arrest for me and we’re in the early days of this one, so any chance to get outside is a blessing. We’re going back into the 30s tomorrow and we might have fresh snow on the ground by this time next week.

K’s For Days: Done!

Today I finished the “K’s for Days” mission on Zwift, completing 500 kilometers (311 miles) of indoor cycling this month. It’s not that big of a deal, but I appreciate little incentives like this at any time of year and especially during winter. Sometime in the next few days I will surpass 1,000 miles of Zwifting in 2022. And it looks like I will finish the year with my 4th highest total of trainer minutes since I started riding indoors back in 2006.

I don’t want to focus too much on numbers like these, as it always will be my goal to ride outside as much as I can. But something like “K’s for Days” is a good fit when the snow is flying in December. I’m thinking about doing the Tour de Zwift, Jan. 9 through Feb. 5, to stay motivated as winter wears on. It would be a great way to force myself to ride several courses I haven’t tried yet.

This Blows!

Bontrager makes a nice line of tire pumps and I’ve had one for years. But stuff wears out, and my old pump isn’t connecting reliably to Presta valves anymore. The good folks at Pedal Moraine are going to order a part that should get the old pump working again. It was my only floor pump until this afternoon. The plan now is to relegate it to backup duty … maybe to store it in my car so that I always have a pump when I take my bikes somewhere. Today was a good day to invest in a new pump to serve as my primary. This Bontrager Dual Charger can switch between high volume and high pressure, and it features a big, easy-to-read gauge. I tested it on my turbo trainer tire and was immediately impressed. Great upgrade!

1,000 Miles On Zwift

Today I surpassed 1,000 lifetime miles on Zwift. I have been using the virtual cycling platform since November 2021, but only when cold and/or wet weather keeps me from riding outside. I should have reached this milestone a couple of days ago, but family obligations kept me from riding on Saturday and I lost Friday’s ride to a technical glitch.

The exact cause of the glitch remains a mystery. Zwift’s customer support team says I lost my connection to Zwift’s servers. But Friday’s ride seemed normal to me in every detail except one: I appeared to be the only rider using Zwift at that time. So, I took every sprint and every KOM and didn’t fret over all the “Ride On!” cheers I wasn’t getting. At the end of the ride I selected Save and the course—one that I had never ridden before—appeared to be completed. But my ride never showed up on Zwift.com or on Garmin Connect. I then shut down the Zwift application. Upon restarting, I was prompted to update the software. After doing so, Friday’s course reverted to incomplete. In my manual training log I gave myself credit for riding, but “officially” the ride never happened. Those statistics are simply lost.

Yesterday I completed two courses on Zwift and everything worked as expected. Today’s ride also was free of glitches. Friday’s ride stands alone as the time Zwift failed me. Overall, I have been satisfied with the service, and I still have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

More Of The Same

When I find something that works, I stick with it. In the last couple of weeks I outfitted myself with new copies of old favorites.

My endurance road bike, the BMC, will need new tires to start the 2023 season. I didn’t even look at other options; I love Continental Gatorskins. You could say I love them too much, but I’m not asking my existing tires to last as long as their predecessors. I have more than 3,240 miles on the current pair, and that’s probably enough even though they’re still performing.

That new Bell Formula MIPS helmet will be my everyday helmet, replacing an older copy of the same thing. I probably should be replacing my helmet every five years or so, given how frequently I ride. Not sure how old the existing helmet is, but it’s starting to look a bit shabby.

The new saddle is a Fizik Arione, the same model I use on my BMC. This one will go on my Framed Gravier, replacing the stock Selle Italia Boost. The Fizik Arione is 90g lighter—I’m still trying to cut weight from the surprisingly heavy Gravier—and it’s significantly longer and narrower. That’s a better fit for me. Also, its surface is easier to move along. The Selle Italia Boost has a sticky, rubberized feel that I don’t like. I got the new Fizik Arione online from Walmart, believe it or not, where it was more than $30 cheaper than any other reputable retailer’s price.

Watch this space! I’m not ruling out more new goodies before spring.

The 2023 ToAD Schedule

Add Mission

This wasn’t a great month. Tomorrow’s weigh-in will furnish irrefutable proof of that. I know I added to my already oversized belly, I just don’t know how much yet. I’ve been doing roughly half as much training as I intended. My energy has been terrible. Everything has been a drag since the end of Daylight Saving Time. Some days, like yesterday, are just dark all day long. On other days, I’m sleeping away most of the daylight and not getting active until evening. At least I have been consistent with strength and mobility training, but that’s not enough.

In December I need to do more. I need to kick myself in the ass and actually follow the Zwift training plan that I created for myself weeks ago. Zwift is providing extra incentive with its “K’s for Days” mission, challenging members to ride 500 kilometers (311 miles) in December. I’ve met lots of mileage-based challenges before … all outside, but still. Some of those challenges were self-imposed; others came from Garmin Connect. So, this new challenge resonates with me. I understand what needs to be done. And meeting the challenge should be easy. I need to average only 10 miles per day, and historically I have averaged more than 20 miles per Zwift session. The key will be consistency. The only thing that will sidetrack me is to take too many days off.

This month I did 10 Zwift sessions, racking up 216 virtual miles. I also rode outside on 6 occasions, but I don’t anticipate any outside rides in December. And, as I don’t intend to pursue any multi-day Garmin Connect challenges in the new month, Zwift will have almost all of my attention.

Think Spring!

West Bend got into the mid-50s this afternoon and the bright sunshine helped to melt much of the snow that has lingered for the past week. You could have been forgiven for thinking spring had come. I did a 26-mile ride around town to give myself a little break from indoor training. So, yes, think spring!

But then think, “Why do we look forward to spring with such passion when it’s always cold and wet?” Today’s ride pushed my November mileage total past my April mileage total, and October’s numbers were higher than May’s. If I ride 105 miles in December—not out of the question—then I’ll surpass my total from March. The truth about spring is that it’s hit-or-miss, and miss is winning. Today, though, felt the way we want those early spring days to feel.

Zwift: One Year Later

Today is the anniversary of my entry to the world of virtual cycling on Zwift. From November 18, 2021, through yesterday, I rode 624 virtual miles in 32 hours. The last calendar year in which I rode that many trainer hours was 2011, so that’s something. Still, the numbers aren’t as big as they should have been. Old habits die hard, and for most of the last year I treated Zwift as the exercise option of last resort. Winter 2022-2023 has arrived early in Washington County and I’m already working on my new periodized training plan, whose weeks range from 6 hours to 9 hours. In just a few weeks I will exceed the volume of work I did on Zwift in the previous 12 months.

My experience with Zwift has been mostly positive. Cheapskate that I am, it says something that I continue to subscribe. Riding on Zwift is far more engaging than traditional indoor training. The interactive nature of the platform creates a more satisfying and more realistic experience than I used to get watching first-person bike racing footage on YouTube while pedaling away on my “dumb” trainer. By adjusting the smart trainer’s resistance to reflect the changing terrain of its virtual world, Zwift keeps me honest. No ride is just a mindless spin at the same cadence and power level.

But a year ago I expected Zwift to integrate fully with Garmin Connect, allowing me to continue to use Garmin Connect as a single repository for all of my workout data. Unfortunately, the two platforms aren’t entirely compatible. Zwift rides don’t count toward Garmin Connect badges, and I think that’s unfair because the workouts are far more demanding than some of the activities that do count. Zwift rides count toward Garmin Connect mileage goals, and I think that’s stupid because riding on the trainer is not the same thing as riding outdoors. I will continue to count my indoor miles and my outdoor miles as two separate things, so I’m still doing my own bookkeeping.

And aside from its issues with Garmin Connect, Zwift itself feels disjointed. I don’t have a smart phone so I don’t use the companion app. That means I’m not reciprocating when friendly strangers give me a “Ride On!” and I’m always following default courses rather than navigating. Also, I would like to do more from the Zwift website, things like checking the course availability calendar and making changes to my bike or my avatar. The good outweighs the bad, though, so Year 2 begins today.

Coming Soon: Santa Ramp-Up 2022

Pass The Gravy

Today I reached 4,000 outdoor miles, year-to-date. I had been telling people that I might stop on 4,000 miles. But that wasn’t a promise, and I’m not stopping. It’s true that I have no more really meaningful mileage targets this season. However, it’s also true that I would be cheating myself if I opted for Zwift over this:

Another 101 miles would move this season up to 14th all-time. Three more rides would give me my 13th highest ride total ever. In November there will be two mileage-based Garmin Connect achievements that might be worth the effort. And, of course, I’m still working on that multi-season goal of 100,000 lifetime miles. I want to reach 100,000 in 2025 when I turn 60, so I want to be on 90,000 by the end of next year. I’m on 85,388 right now. Any miles I can add before the end of 2022 are miles I don’t have to worry about in 2023.

Next Sunday we’ll be back on standard time and sunset will be at 4:39 p.m.  Don’t miss the chance to ride outside in warm sunshine this week!

Zero Point Zero

By now you know I’m a Zwift rider. I started using the virtual training platform last November. What you might not know is that Zwift is also built for runners, and after almost a full year of Zwifting these are my running statistics:

If you find those interesting, then commit them to memory or bookmark this page. There will be no updates.

Past Peak

Well, that was fun while it lasted. We don’t often get four consecutive 70° days in October, but that was our good fortune this year. And last Thursday wasn’t too bad either. So, over the five-day period that ended today, I rode a total of 179 miles. But tomorrow will be a chilly rainout and the rest of the week will be in the 50s. Whether we will see 70° again before next May is anybody’s guess. Getting back to 60° will be hard enough.

I now need only 50 more miles to reach 4,000 this season. I expect to get them this week, then I will shift the focus to indoor training with Zwift. It’s not just that the temperatures are dropping; it’s also that the days are getting too short. My job demands a lot of attention and can be fatiguing, and on most days I prefer to go to bed immediately after my overnight shift. Sleeping deep into the afternoon greatly limits the amount of time I can spend on the bike. I will get better, more consistent workouts inside. I really miss the late sunsets of mid-summer!

And I have projects to complete around my home before winter gets here … yard cleanup, mostly, but I’m also planning to install a new TV antenna and to do some exterior house painting. The nesting instinct is strong at the moment. My pantry is now stocked with cans of chili and chicken noodle soup, and today I subscribed to ESPN+ to get access to most of the National Hockey League schedule. On my shopping list: new pillows and bath towels. I don’t allow myself many comforts or luxuries, but very much on my mind these days is how I will spend those long, dark hours after we fall back to standard time on November 6. This winter I want to work out harder than ever before, but I also want to relax harder than ever before … if you know what I mean.

First (Only?) Metric Century Of 2022

Today's counterclockwise ride was a fun solo adventure.

What a day in southeastern Wisconsin! I think we got as high as 75° this afternoon, which is about 20° above normal. Of course, the warm temperatures arrived on a stiff breeze from the south, but we’re not going to complain about that. You can’t have 75° at this time of year without substantial and sustained wind from that direction. I celebrated the day with my longest bike ride of the year: 63 miles on roads that, inexplicably, I had almost to myself. Today’s metric century was my 95th all-time but my first since September 24, 2021. I took one bottle of Nuun, one bottle of water, no food, no bathroom breaks, and I never got off the bike. This was one of those “get empty” rides that I like to do from time to time, and it worked.

The Great Career Of Philippe Gilbert

As the 2022 road racing calendar winds down, so too do the careers of prominent UCI WorldTour racers like Alejandro Valverde, Vincenzo Nibali, and Niki Terpstra. But the racer I am really going to miss is perhaps my favorite racer of all-time: Philippe Gilbert. The Belgian raced on guts and instincts. He was tactically brilliant, attacking at times when his rivals couldn’t see an opportunity. And that self-reliant, attacking style made him a man for the one-day races. Just look at this list of major victories:

2006 Omloop Het Volk

2008 Omloop Het Volk

2008 Paris-Tours

2009 Paris-Tours

2009 Giro di Lombardia

2010 Giro di Lombardia

2010 Amstel Gold Race

2011 Amstel Gold Race

2011 Liège–Bastogne–Liège

2011 Strade Bianche

2011 Brabantse Pijl

2011 Clásica de San Sebastián

2011 Belgian National Time Trial Championship

2011 Belgian National Road Race Championship

2012 La Flèche Wallonne

2012 UCI World Road Race Championship

2014 Brabantse Pijl

2014 Amstel Gold Race

2016 Belgian National Road Race Championship

2017 Amstel Gold Race

2017 Tour of Flanders

2019 Paris-Roubaix

Gilbert appeared 3 times in the Olympic Games and 25 times in Grand Tours:

Giro d’Italia: 4 appearances, 3 stage victories

Tour de France: 12 appearances, 1 stage victory

Vuelta a España: 9 appearances, 7 stage victories

Overall, Gilbert had 80 victories in a professional career that began in 2003. Now he’s a 40-year-old retiree living in Monaco, and it’s still good to be Phil!

Back From Vacation, Back To Normal

Today's fun route was completed clockwise.

Yesterday was unconventional. As October 8 began, I was at a highway rest area, desperately trying to sleep in my car after completing half of the drive back from my mother’s house in suburban Philadelphia. I got about two hours of fitful sleep before I resumed. When I got to West Bend at 7 a.m., I still wasn’t done. I hit the grocery store, knowing that if I allowed myself to go home first I wouldn’t want to go out again. I had emptied the house of food before my vacation, and on Saturday I bought just enough to keep me going until Thursday, my next day off. Last night was the start of my new work week. I didn’t do much during the day. I even got a little more sleep, and my energy level was sufficient to get me through the night. Being a bum on Saturday was the right call. I would have been a fool to ride my bike for the sake of a few low quality miles.

Things are back to normal today. I did a good 40-mile road ride to complete a 9-hour, 150-mile week. During my vacation, which began on September 29, I rode a total of 160 miles. Curse you, Hurricane Ian, for preventing me from doing even more. I surpassed 85,000 lifetime miles on October 6, which also means I surpassed my goal of 3,612 miles in 2022. It would be nice to complete another 4,000-mile season and to earn a couple of additional Garmin Connect badges. However, I won’t endure too much cold weather in those pursuits. And cold weather is imminent: we may see overnight lows below the freezing mark by Thursday, and by next Sunday we will struggle to reach 40 degrees in the afternoons! But so far Saturday afternoon looks OK, and if that forecast holds then I might line up for the WCA cyclocross race in Richfield. A lot depends not just on the weather, but also on my training and on my left calf muscle, which has felt good for the last week but hasn’t really been tested. I still worry about having to run. I thought I was fit enough for the Manitowoc race until I felt the muscle snap.

There was no strength training for me during my trip. I’m looking forward to my return to the home gym tomorrow. And I chose not to attend today’s UCI World Cup cyclocross races at Trek headquarters in Waterloo. After working all night and with another overnight shift coming later today, I needed to use this afternoon for my own training ride. Like I said: back to normal. This week needs to be a return to normal hours, normal diet, normal training, and so on.

Freein’ Myself Of Ian

If you could travel in a straight line from my mother’s house in suburban Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean, then the distance would be only 63 miles. And you can’t cover that distance in a straight line, but a hurricane can. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and much of today got wiped out by almost endless rain and occasionally high winds as Hurricane Ian continued its march up the East Coast. This is emphatically not what I had in mind when I planned my vacation. Average afternoon highs should still be in the low 70s here, but we’ve been spending most of our time in the 40s and 50s. Locals are complaining that it feels like winter and they’re not wrong. It’s nothing like a Wisconsin winter, but still.

After three days of forced rest, today I took advantage of a break in the rain to knock out a 50-mile road ride. I don’t have the same familiarity with these roads as I do with Washington County’s, so I stayed close to Mom’s house and did loops through and around Doylestown (imagine Cedarburg with a county courthouse and bumper-to-bumper automobile traffic). It’s nice here, but it’s hard to get around. Tomorrow and Friday I will point the bike toward some roads in a less congested pocket of Bucks County, and by mid-afternoon on Friday I will begin the long drive back to Wisconsin. I’ll be home on Saturday, but don’t invite me to ride. I’ll be looking for an evening nap to put myself back on a nighttime schedule. Technically my vacation ends tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. CDT, but I won’t really feel it until 11 p.m. on Saturday when I begin my new work week.

Rubber Side Down

Greetings from Bucks County PA, where today I did a 30-mile road ride that did not include a crash resulting in significant injuries! I liked not crashing so much that I intend not to crash again on future rides as my vacation continues into next week.

Fall 2022

It’s 8:03 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the moment autumn officially begins. And today certainly feels like the start of a new season. West Bend touched 60° for only a few minutes today and we will struggle to reach that modest plateau for at least the next week. We should still be averaging 70° for an afternoon high, so I’m not wrong to be disappointed. But again I’m left to wonder whether our historical averages are accurate. They must be inflated: we almost always seem to be below them.

Adding to the sense of change, this evening I hosted the final Royal Oaks Park cyclocross practice of 2022. My still sore, still tight left calf kept me off the bike. I directed the setup and teardown of the course … not a big job, but it’s still a job. Much like Cheesehead Roubaix, cyclocross practice at Royal Oaks is my show. I’m the one person who has to be there, no matter what. Today’s practice was number 8 this season and number 64 since the series began in 2012. I didn’t run the series during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, so it was nice to come back this year for Season 9. Attendance wasn’t great—our best turnout was 10 racers—but this season was notable for its appeal to first-time participants. The newbies learned a lot, progressed quickly, and now can look forward to success in actual races.

I’m looking forward to vacation, starting one week from today. On Sunday, three of my favorite TV shows will have their season premieres. Two weeks from tomorrow, the new NHL season will begin. So, there are some good things coming my way this fall, but the clock is definitely winding down on my outdoor cycling season. In addition to the falling temperatures, we’re losing about three minutes of daylight per day. Soon I will be riding more inside than outside. But watch out for Thanksgiving, nine weeks from today. After my upcoming week-long vacation, I still will have a four-day block of time off to spend before the end of November. Don’t be surprised if I skip the turkey and head south in search of warm weather and big miles.

2022 Flyover Silver Creek CX

My first race of the 2022 WCA cyclocross season also may have been my last. Today at the eighth running of Flyover Silver Creek CX in Manitowoc, I re-injured that left calf muscle, this time with a discernable “pop” and a sharp pain that almost certainly means a torn gastrocnemius. When the injury occurred, I was in no danger of winning the Masters 1/2/3 50+ age group. I knew before the race began that even the lower steps on the podium are not meant for me. But I was on my way to a 14th place finish in the 18-man field, and I was OK with that. In the end, I yielded 14th and 15th to riders who caught me on the last lap when I no longer could run with the bike or climb hills. I was still able to apply force to the pedals while seated, though, and I preserved 16th place by outsprinting my last challenger. It was my first bike race since CrossFire in Sun Prairie on October 26, 2019, and I had high hopes for it and for the season in general. Now I just want to be able to walk without a limp when I visit my mother in two weeks.

I’m assuming there will be no more cyclocross races for me in 2022, so my training focus is going to shift back to high-mileage weeks on the road for as long as the warm weather holds. As of today, I am still 300 miles short of my goal for the year and 688 miles short of my 15th 4,000-mile season. I will shoot for those marks. When the weather turns, I will get more serious about Zwift. Clearly, this isn’t how I wanted my season to go, but I will try to salvage something from it.

The New Season Begins! (On Zwift)

At Thursday’s practice, I already knew today’s race wasn’t in my plans.

As the 2022 cyclocross season begins, I am forced to confront two unpleasant realities. First is the tentative nature of the WCA schedule. The Sheboygan race originally scheduled for September 3 got moved to October 16 and the Milwaukee race originally scheduled for September 10 got cancelled altogether. Today’s race in Waterford went on as planned, so the season is finally in progress … but not for me. That’s because the second unpleasant reality is bad weather. And bad weather is a part of cyclocross many racers enjoy, but I don’t. When I saw that today was going to be an all-day soaker, it was an easy choice to stay home and stay dry. So, instead of being three races into my season, I’m still looking for my first. The promise of a seven-race September is long gone.

Staying home today meant staying inside. West Bend was wet too—the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for most of southeastern Wisconsin, where some areas may see as much as 5 inches of rain by the time it stops on Monday—and West Bend also was nearly 20° below normal. Got to love summer afternoons that never get out of the 50s! Tomorrow is a planned rest day for me. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, cyclocross practice at Royal Oaks Park will run on a hilly course as a test for next weekend’s hilly races in Manitowoc and Franklin. I’ll do something fairly light on Friday to make sure I’m not fatigued going into the weekend.

I did not intend for today to be a rest day, and it wasn’t. I put in a solid hour on Zwift, my first training ride on the virtual cycling platform since February 28. (Don’t worry: my account was on hold for much of the time I wasn’t using the service, so not all of those monthly fees went to waste!) Zwift calculated a new, higher FTP for me today. That felt good. I still haven’t done an actual FTP test, but that’s coming. I need to take those numbers seriously if I expect to compete on Zwift when winter arrives.

I have gone back to my original plan by using the Trek Boone on the smart trainer. When I bought the Framed Gravier, I thought I would use it instead. That’s not going to work out. The Gravier’s original wheelset, now relegated to backup duty, is too wide to allow me to mount my 25mm rear trainer tire properly. The setup I used today worked perfectly, the hour passed quickly, and I got a terrific workout. Not a bad Plan B on such an ugly day.

Welcome Home, Tarra!

Yesterday afternoon I was privileged to ride with Tarra Gundrum on the final leg of her fundraising ride for the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial and Education Center in Kewaskum. Gundrum left Wisconsin on August 14 and rode more than 900 miles to Washington DC. She returned to Wisconsin by train. Yesterday’s ride on the Eisenbahn State Trail began at the Rusco Drive trailhead and finished at the memorial, where even more supporters greeted her. To date, Gundrum has raised more than $5,000 and the donations are still coming in. Great job!

Calf Injury Update

My left calf continues to bother me. After a full-stop rest day on Monday, I felt strong enough to do a road ride on Tuesday. I was fine as long as I remained seated, but I could not pedal comfortably when I was out of the saddle. When I rode again on Wednesday—a ride on which I surpassed 3,000 miles, year-to-date—I felt strong enough to pedal out of the saddle. And that brings us to today and cyclocross practice, which proved too much for me.

Cyclocross practice was fine as long as I stayed on the bike, but I couldn’t run. During the practice race I detoured around both sets of barriers instead of dismounting to run over them. I gave something like a 75 percent effort: plenty of aerobic capacity went untapped as I very consciously tried not to hurt my leg any further. We’ll see what happens next Thursday.

In the meantime I will continue to train. Ordinary riding doesn’t aggravate the injury. And I have to keep the weight off somehow! I had a good weigh-in today: I’m down 14 pounds since May 1. I’m still +4 since this date last year and +5 since last October 1, but I could lose those pounds in the next few weeks. A handful of supplemental solo cyclocross practices might be in order. They’re short workouts but they’re much more intense than my typical road or rec trail rides. My weight loss stalls when all I do is long-steady-distance stuff. Mixing in the shorter, harder workouts always produces good results.

A Bad Time To Revisit An Old Hurt

Today I did not exercise outside. I haven’t been able to say that since April 30. My streak is over at 120 days. And it’s over because I’m injured. This time, the cause of the injury wasn’t a bike crash. I have sustained some sort of repetitive stress injury to my left calf muscle, the gastrocnemius. The injury surfaced 2 miles into my walk yesterday morning, and it was all I could do to limp 0.6 miles back to my house. Today I did nothing. I’m going to stay off my feet for a couple of days and hope for the best.

I have experience with injuries of this type. The first time I felt this pain was in 2001 during a softball game. Jogging from the dugout to my position at the beginning of a new inning, I felt a pop and experienced a sharp pain. I turned around to see who had hit me with a ball or some other object, but that wasn’t the cause. The calf muscle became tighter over the next few hours and left me with a limp for about a week. This injury reappeared a couple of years later in another softball game. On that occasion I was not jogging but sprinting out of the batter’s box to beat the throw on a ground ball. That sudden acceleration seemed to be the cause.

Yesterday’s event didn’t come with a pop or any other sensation of catastrophic failure, so I’m hoping for a rapid recovery. But this is a setback for sure. I don’t know whether I will be able to participate in this Thursday’s cyclocross practice at Royal Oaks. With the first race of the WCA season now only 13 days away, my first priority is to heal. If I lose a little top-end fitness in the meantime, then that just has to be OK.

A Little Thing That Means A Lot

At the end of last year when I was outfitting my new mountain bike with the accessories it needed, I bought a bottle cage from Elite: the Vico, renowned for its lightweight construction and its firm hold. It looked great on the bike, but my very first ride convinced me that it was the wrong cage for that application. The Vico’s hold was far too firm. I could barely extract my water bottle in the parking lot, much less while bouncing around on singletrack. So, I replaced the Vico with an old aluminum cage that doesn’t pretend to have any of the Vico’s carbon fiber, designed in Italy, sexy charm. It just works.

In July when the Framed Gravier arrived, I tried again to find a home for the Vico. Again I was frustrated. I was literally forced to stop pedaling while extracting or inserting the bottle, that’s how much concentration it required. And I’m talking about roads and recreation trails now, not mountain bike trails. I expect to use my bottle cages without looking. The Vico wouldn’t allow it. I had to be so deliberate that my average speed was suffering because of my bottle cage!

The Vico works better with some of my bottles than with others, and I’ve heard it works exceptionally well with Elite’s own line. But I have plenty of bottles already. I would sooner give up on the Vico than replace all of my existing bottles to accommodate it.

Deciding that the experiment with the Gravier was a failure, I demoted the Vico all the way down to the spare parts bin. Ouch! That’s no place for a barely-used carbon cage, but there’s no other place for it right now. My road bike has stainless steel cages that work beautifully. My cyclocross bike doesn’t need bottle cages; they get in the way when I need to run with the bike on my shoulder. The Gravier got a pair of these:

Elite’s Cannibal cage has a much more forgiving design. It’s even marketed as a cage that works well with smaller frames, as extraction and insertion don’t have to be perfectly straight. Frame clearance isn’t an issue with my 56cm Gravier, but I’m enjoying these new cages nonetheless. Once again I can grab a bottle without taking my eyes off the road. The hold is firm but not excessively so. Nothing less than a crash should cause me to lose a bottle.

It’s remarkable how much this one piece of equipment was throwing me off. There are no unimportant parts on a bicycle. And the more you ride, the less you can put up with something that isn’t working to your complete satisfaction.

Bespoke

As a consumer, you probably understand and accept that bike brands have to save money somewhere to bring complete bikes to market at prices people are willing to pay. Even very good bikes usually have a house-brand handlebar, stem, and seatpost—generic aluminum parts stamped with the brand’s name—and a saddle at or near the bottom of their own line or another company’s. A lot of this stuff is sold only with complete bikes; you couldn’t buy it by itself … and you probably wouldn’t want to. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s ordinary. And it’s heavy.

“Light. Strong. Cheap. Pick two.” That’s an old truism in cycling, and perhaps it is most applicable to wheels. It’s no surprise that bike brands save money there when they sell you a complete bike. I wouldn’t accuse them of cutting corners—the wheels are safe and functional—but if you have performance objectives, then you’re probably not going to be satisfied forever.

After taking delivery of my Framed Gravier on July 27, it took me only about a week to decide to open the wallet again for new wheels. Shopping for them became an interesting pursuit. At first I did what I had done in the past: I looked at big retailers and found, mostly, machine-built wheels that would be a step up from Framed’s heavy stock wheels but not exactly what I wanted. In the light-strong-cheap equation I had already dismissed cheap, and from there it was a small step to hand-built.

I went to wheelbuilder.com and found a huge array of options. Eventually I decided on HED Belgium+ rims mated to DT Swiss hubs. But there’s more to wheelbuilding than rims and hubs. What spokes did I want? What spoke nipples? Thru-axles? Yes. OK, what size thru-axles? What hub body? Centerlock or ISO disc brakes? What about colors? What about rim tape? The last time I bought a wheelset by itself, none of these things were a consideration. But the wheelbuilder.com website is designed well, and it wouldn’t let me choose things that were incompatible with each other.

So, today I have my first set of bespoke wheels. They were made just for me. And they weren’t inexpensive, but they also weren’t priced too far beyond the range of their mass-produced rivals. For a lot more money I could have gone with carbon fiber rims instead of aluminum—I just couldn’t justify the cost. The new wheelset is almost a full pound lighter than the stock wheels, and I intend to use the Gravier as a high-mileage training bike, not as a race bike. I think I’m going to be happy with the upgrade. My expectations are high.

New Goals, New Calendar, New Equipment

There was a time when I felt like I had to be fit by the beginning of every May. I had WORS and WEMS races to consider … maybe even a Wisport race if it were close enough to West Bend. More recently I have targeted events in late summer or fall, and this season I am shifting the focus even farther into the second half of the calendar year. My 2022 racing season will begin in four weeks, on September 10 or 11. Yes, September 10 is back in play: the Milwaukee Bicycle Co. CX Classic might go on after all. And who knows? With mild weather I might make it all the way to the state cyclocross championships on November 19. But when that season ends, I want to try racing on Zwift.

Last winter I didn’t get out of Zwift everything that I could have, and that’s partly because I didn’t participate in any special events. For me, Zwift was a solo training platform only. Its competitive and social aspects didn’t really appeal. I need to embrace them. Zwift offers a way to do a road race without spending an entire weekend in some remote corner of northwestern Wisconsin. Zwift offers a way to do time trials without a time trial bike and all of its ridiculous accessories. And OK, it’s not the same as racing outside, but it’s still competitive. It’s still something to motivate me at a time of year when almost nothing can. You know I hate winter and you know that our “spring” is an annual disappointment. I can’t continue to write off half of every year. Zwift events have to become objectives for me in the same way that outdoor events have been.

Zwift Racing League offers a chance to race with teammates every Tuesday in the fall and winter, but I don’t think it’s a good fit for me. Not yet, anyway. If riders could compete as individuals, then I would be more interested. Instead, I will look for pop-up races and other challenges. It shouldn’t be hard to find a selection of those that will accommodate my weird work and sleep schedules … if I can be said to have a sleep schedule.

My new Framed Gravier is going to be my Zwift bike. Initially, I thought my Trek Boone would be my Zwift bike once cyclocross season ended, but that’s not going to work. I will be training on Zwift during the cyclocross season, and I really would rather not switch the Boone back-and-forth between trainer and CX racing configurations. The Boone is going to be strictly a cyclocross bike from now on. I hope that will encourage me to practice more, as the bike will always be ready. The Gravier is getting a big upgrade in a couple of weeks: HED Belgium+ rims mated to DT Swiss hubs. Paired with my much-loved Continental Gatorskin 32mm tires, the new wheelset will be for outdoor riding and the Gravier’s original wheelset—very strong but far too heavy—will see only indoor trainer duty. I have a new, trainer-only rear tire for the upcoming season and I’m feeling good about my setup. The Maxxis Raze tires that came with the Gravier are going on a spare wheelset to serve as cyclocross season backups. And since I’m going to try to get through this season without a tubeless setup, I may actually need those pit wheels to get myself out of trouble. I’ve been spending money freely and I’m not done yet, so I admit it’s odd that I have drawn a line at buying new tubeless cyclocross tires. But with two sets of new non-tubeless tires already in my garage, I decided to take my chances.

So, I guess I’m a fall/winter racer now. I’ll get whatever I can get in spring but my expectations will be low, and summer will be a time to fortify that deep base fitness with long road rides. I was moving in this direction for years without a plan. Now I’m more conscious of what I want to do, and this plan should hold up well … unless I return to mountain bike racing.

Over Here, Out Of The Way

The Wisconsin Cycling Association’s cyclocross calendar is always a work in progress. I have no problem with that; I know it’s hard to get commitments from host clubs and communities. But since the announcement of the 2022 calendar on May 24 we have seen significant changes and don’t be surprised if there are more to come.

The first published schedule placed the season opener in Sheboygan Falls on September 3. That race not only moved to October 16, but also moved to Evergreen Park in the City of Sheboygan. And that made the Milwaukee Bicycle Co. CX Classic on September 10 the new season opener … until it got cancelled. So, now we’re looking at a season opener on September 11 in the Town of Waterford.

If I am not mistaken, the cancellation of the Milwaukee Bicycle Co. CX Classic means 2022 will be the first full season in WCA history without a race at a Milwaukee County Parks property. And while I have no insider information about the negotiations between race promoters and Milwaukee County, it seems like that relationship got much harder to manage after the 2015 Halloween race turned Washington Park into a muddy mess. To avoid an encore, Milwaukee County cancelled the 2016 Washington Park race as soon as rain appeared in the forecast, and other Milwaukee County dates have been disappearing ever since. Hampshire Cycle Club moved its long-running race from Estabrook Park, a Milwaukee County Parks property, to Wern Valley Sportsmen’s Club, a private facility in Waukesha County. The only race in Milwaukee County this season will be Hill Bill at The Rock in Franklin, which is privately managed.

So, none of our races are actually in our two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison. You have to wonder about the long-term effect of almost never racing in front of a crowd, almost never engaging the community beyond the existing pool of racers.

If we omit the non-series Trek Cup, then 5 of our 14 dates are on courses that are privately owned and/or managed:

• The Rock Sports Complex, Franklin
• Englewood Farm, Fall River
• Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie
• Wern Valley Sportsmen’s Club, Waukesha
• Trek Headquarters, Waterloo

You wouldn’t expect races at those locations to attract attention from anyone other than the participants themselves. And the situation is only marginally better at these 7 facilities, which are best described as destination parks, not neighborhood parks:

• Waterford Town Park
• Silver Creek Park
• Badger Prairie County Park (Dane County)
• Fox Crossing
• Richfield Nature Park
• Evergreen Park, Sheboygan
• CamRock County Park (Dane County)

That leaves only Waterloo Firemen’s Park and Grafton’s Lime Kiln Park as true neighborhood parks where an unsuspecting public might bump into a cyclocross race and say, “Hey, that looks like something I’d like to try!”

Racers probably don’t care whether they race on public or private property. They’re happy enough just to race. And in some instances, holding a race in an out-of-the-way location is the only way to hold the race at all. But I worry a little about exposure for and access to the sport. How would someone who doesn’t already know about cyclocross find cyclocross? Word-of-mouth promotion still counts for something, but how do people find it on their own?

West Bend Receives Grant For Safety Study

Last month the City of West Bend applied for a grant to study safety issues facing pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter users. Today the city announced that its application was approved and the study will move forward in 2023. It will be interesting to see the results of the study, and based on those results there may be infrastructure improvements in our future. Stay tuned.

Here is the full text of the city’s official announcement:

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has awarded the City of West Bend a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant worth $220,000 to fund a Safety Study for Pedestrians, Bicycles and Electric Scooters.

The City of West Bend actively seeks programs and grants that maximize the ability to accelerate and complete important infrastructure projects. Collaboratively, the Administration, Economic Development, Engineering and Police Departments developed the TAP grant application to fund a safety study that will examine crossings of state highways, main arterial roads, high-traffic roads, and the historic downtown. The City of West Bend will request proposals for a consult to conduct the study. This evaluation of existing roads and routes will help the city team prioritize infrastructure projects to offer safer pathways, crossings and intersections for multi-modal transportation. The study will identify areas in the city that could benefit from greater connectivity through future improvement projects. It will also facilitate economic development by increasing opportunities for bicycle, pedestrian, and electric scooter traffic throughout the City of West Bend—particularly in the historic downtown, Eisenbahn State Trail and Riverwalk.

“The City of West Bend is committed to the safety of motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter riders,” said Police Chief Tim Dehring. “We look forward to conducting this study in 2023.”

A statewide selection committee competitively rated and ranked applications across three geographic population areas (0-5,000, 5,000-50,000, 50,000-200,000). Additionally, Transportation Management Areas (TMA) selected projects within their geographic boundaries. A full list of awarded Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) projects proposals can be found on the WisDOT TAP website (https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/doing-bus/local-gov/astnce-pgms/aid/tap.aspx).

My 2022 Framed Gravier

Yes, it’s New Bike Day again! This one’s a 2022 Framed Gravier and it will replace my other bikes for gravel grinders, recreation trails, and urban rides. And I do a lot of those. I’m very fond of mixed surface rides around West Bend, combining paved streets and trails, gravel trails, turf trails, boardwalks, and even short sections of dirt singletrack. The new bike will handle it all with ease. This is the new workhorse.

My 2013 BMC granfondo GF02 will continue to be my road bike. Let’s see if we can extend its life a bit by not asking it to do more than you would normally expect of a road bike. My 2017 Trek Boone will continue to be my cyclocross bike, but it also will serve as my indoor trainer bike. I have two wheelsets for the Boone. One will stay set up for cyclocross; the other will stay set up for indoor training.

I briefly considered buying a used bike to devote exclusively to the trainer, but anything decent was going to cost at least a few hundred. To me, it made more sense to get a new bike that is better suited to the roles in which I was trying to make my other bikes fit. (It should go without saying that my 2021 Giant Anthem mountain bike will continue to be only a mountain bike!) If you’re thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have sold one or two of the bikes I thought I no longer needed, then you may be right. My Diamondback Steilacoom, for example, would still be fine for gravel, rec trails, and indoor training. But there’s no going back, and the new bike is another step toward an all disc brakes future.

Framed is a small company from Minnesota and a great option for the value-conscious cyclist. I was drawn to the Gravier for its carbon frame and fork, and for its efficient simplicity: the drivetrain is a reliable 1x11 SRAM Apex/Rival mix, and the disc brakes are mechanical, not hydraulic. Yes, hydraulic brakes are stronger, but they come with a lot more fuss and bother. And at the Gravier’s price point—only $1,600 for the complete bike—you accept a few compromises. Try to get a similar setup from a big company like Giant or Trek. They wouldn’t sell you a comparable frame by itself for $1,600. The Gravier came tubeless-ready but not tubeless, so that’s a future project. And I may replace that beefy aluminum seatpost with a carbon fiber one to cut weight and to improve ride quality.

I don’t know whether this bike will ever see competition—hopefully there are gravel grinders in its future and not cyclocross races in relief of a broken Boone—but it will get a lot of use in training. I had a fun time with this evening’s 32-mile shakedown ride on the Eisenbahn State Trail. We’re off to a good start.

Always Faithful: Tarra Gundrum’s Ride To Remember 9/11

Life’s an adventure for West Bend’s Tarra Gundrum. Two years ago, the accomplished US Marine Corps veteran did her first bikepacking tours and on August 14 she will begin another: a 950-mile expedition to Washington DC to raise funds for the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial and Education Center in Kewaskum.

Gundrum has set a goal of $25,000 to support the memorial’s ongoing mission: to build and sustain a 9/11 memorial to remember the victims, honor those who responded, celebrate the resilience of our communities and country, and educate future generations. Gundrum’s fundraising efforts will support the education goals of the memorial by providing lesson plans and activity guides to students throughout Wisconsin.

Her trip will include a ferry crossing of Lake Michigan on the first day. She then will ride through Michigan and Ohio before stopping in Pittsburgh to celebrate another of her causes at the Black Girls Do Bike annual meet-up. When her tour resumes, Gundrum will continue through Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia before reaching Washington DC. She hopes to visit with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to discuss still another of her priorities, I Am Not Invisible, a program for female veterans of the US armed forces.

Returning to Wisconsin by train on September 3, Gundrum will ride from Milwaukee to the southern terminus of the Eisenbahn State Trail at Rusco Drive. That’s where the final leg of the journey will begin.

“I am welcoming the community of supporters to ride the final 10 miles,” Gundrum says. “Just a meet-up; nothing formal.”

Departing from the Rusco trailhead at about 5 p.m., Gundrum will ride up the Eisenbahn to Kewaskum to finish the journey at the memorial by 6 p.m.

The trip will be a huge effort that requires not just physical toughness, but also the right equipment and no small amount of planning. Gundrum has learned a lot from previous bikepacking trips, including a week-long ride in Summer 2020 on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath, which once again will be her connection between Pittsburgh and Washington DC.

Her physical preparations have included a long (50+ miles) fully-loaded trip every week for the past two months, plus frequent commutes between her home and her workplace: 22 miles roundtrip on “the hilliest route I can find!”

Having reliable gear and knowing how to use it will be critical to a successful trip.

“I’ve taken many ‘shakedown’ rides by traveling in my neighborhood and then setting up camp in my back yard, without going into the house,” Gundrum says. “It really helped me to get back in the mindset of bike touring.”

What’s different this time?

“I had way too many items that I did not need,” Gundrum says, “and I learned to improvise by using the same items for multiple purposes. I learned that all of my years of carrying zip ties as a ‘MacGyver tool’ finally paid off when 2 of 4 panniers broke. Zip ties saved my life! I moved away from clipless pedals because I only want to carry one pair of shoes.”

What else has experience taught her?

“I learned that people are genuinely good. My first tour (Michigan, Spring 2020) restored my faith in humanity at a time when the entire world was broken. I found reinforcement in the fact that with a strong mind and faith in God, all things are possible.”

To promote her tour, Gundrum will appear at the Downtown West Bend Farmers Market on Saturday, August 6, from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. CDT. For updates on the tour as it progresses, check out her YouTube and Facebook pages.

Miles In 2022 Are Still Coming Hard

Today's ride featured some of the best roads in the Northern Kettle Moraine.

Today I surpassed 2,000 miles, year-to-date. Last year I surpassed 2,000 miles on July 3, so I’m about three weeks behind last year’s pace … right now. In 2021, I had a big July and a record August. It’s going to be hard not to fall even farther behind during the next several weeks. But September 2021 was pretty average and October was a full-on disaster because of my big crash. If I stay healthy this year, then eventually I should cut into my mileage deficit. Right now that deficit is 525 miles. I’m 17 rides behind last year’s pace and my per-ride average is 1.3 miles lower. I still expect to beat my official goal of 3,612 miles this year, but it will be a challenge to top last year’s total of 4,704.

Presenting The 2022 Royal Oaks CX Practice Series

After two years lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, we're back! And we're moving from Tuesdays to Thursdays. So, get ready, because #crossiscoming!

A Few Notes For July 2022

Independence Day fireworks aside, today is going to be quiet for a lot of people. It’s a Monday that acts like a Sunday: a day without work for most of us, a day without mail and banking and stock markets. Today also will be hot by Wisconsin standards: 80-something degrees. That’s enough to make a lot of cheeseheads languid. But before they feel too sorry for themselves I hope they will take some comfort in knowing that West Bend hasn’t seen a 100° day since July 4, 2012.

If you’re a cycling fan, then today also is a day without the Tour de France. This year’s edition began in Denmark last Friday and today is an early transfer/rest day as the riders prepare for the first stage on French soil tomorrow.

I’m already irritated with the cycling press, whose predictions proved incorrect when Yves Lampaert won the Stage 1 individual time trial. Lampaert’s victory was universally regarded as a “surprise” by the journalists who had overlooked him in favor of world champion Filippo Ganna, the versatile Wout van Aert, and other contenders. But if you were surprised, then you weren’t paying attention. Lampaert was the Belgian national TT champion in 2017 and 2021. With his Etixx-QuickStep teammates, Lampaert won the 2016 UCI World Championships men’s elite team time trial. This is a guy who performs well against the clock, and to dismiss his Stage 1 victory as a fluke is misinformed and disrespectful.

The journalists are probably going to fare better with their pick for the general classification when the race concludes in Paris on July 24. Two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar will be hard to beat.

I don’t expect to watch much live coverage of the Tour. I’m getting my fix with extended highlights and interviews. And I didn’t watch much of this year’s Tour of America’s Dairyland, which concluded on June 26. I went to Shorewood on June 24, but I was in a sour mood and left before the end of the men’s pro race. I think ToAD suffered from a lack of star power this year. There was no “must-see” rider, and crits are simply not that interesting. As a fan, I’m far more interested in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, and I’m looking forward to three events this month: Lenzerheide, Switzerland (July 8 & 10), Vallnord, Andorra (July 15 & 17), and Snowshoe, West Virginia (July 29 & 31).

My own mountain biking ambitions are pretty humble. For now, I just want to enjoy the trails again, and only more practice is going to fix me. Last Friday I rode at New Fane for the first time since September 2015 and I was absolutely awful. Trails that once were so familiar now seem filled with hazards at every turn. I managed not to crash, but I very nearly went over the handlebar on a section of trail that never used to challenge me.

On the evening of Sunday, June 5, we had a fatal bike accident in Washington County. A 62-year-old man hit a pothole in Germantown on Lovers Lane between Pleasant View Drive and Mary Buth Lane, causing him to lose control and crash. News of the accident reminded me of my own crash last October. Everything was fine, then in an instant I was on the ground, and I never saw the bump in the road that got me. Several years earlier I had a similar crash on the Wild Goose State Trail, losing my front wheel in a big erosion rut hidden by the shade of an overhanging tree. It’s scary how quickly things can go wrong. And they can go wrong inside or outside of the presence of motor vehicles. They can go wrong anywhere. I’ve ridden Lovers Lane in Germantown many times and can assure you it’s not an inherently unsafe road.

So, now you know what’s going on. And there’s always something, even on a holiday.

Halftime 2022

At the midpoint of 2022 the numbers don’t lie: I am a long way from where I would like to be. My total of 1,455 miles is my lowest first half total since 2006! Those miles were spread over 48 rides, and that’s a respectable 30.3 miles-per-ride average. But by the end of last June, I had ridden 66 times for a total of 1,945 miles. And down is down. There’s no hiding it.

Should I blame Zwift? Having a good indoor option made me less willing to ride in cold weather early this year. Add my indoor miles to my outdoor miles and the overall total would look much better.

Should I blame Garmin Connect? Going after walking goals has sometimes been an acceptable substitute for riding. But unlike Zwift, Garmin Connect isn’t new. I was going after walking goals in 2021 too, and this year’s numbers aren’t quite as good as last year’s numbers. Whatever time I’m spending on those goals is not enough to explain the cycling dropoff. And Garmin Connect has encouraged me to get at least some outdoor exercise every day. I have a nice streak going: I have done a ride and/or a walk every day since May 1. That’s 61 days in a row … and counting.

With 755 miles in June—my highest total since last August—I feel like I have found some momentum that I can carry into the second half of the year. This July and August should be high-mileage months too. I will need them to be. My weight is coming down nicely but I’m still a few pounds heavier than I was on this date in 2021. I have competition goals in the second half of 2022 and few things will be more beneficial to me than losing weight.

Kewaskum Bridge Update

Calling attention to the poor condition of a bridge on the Eisenbahn State Trail in Kewaskum has brought a swift and positive response from Washington County. The photo above shows one of several repairs to the decking. The ends of these boards appear to have been planed, sanded, and reattached to the base with new screws. Many of the tripping hazards that were so evident on Sunday are now gone altogether or at least greatly reduced. Some remain, however, and this week’s repairs have not addressed the big gaps between boards that could trap a bicycle tire. So, continue to be extra cautious on this bridge. But give credit where it’s due: Washington County recognized the dangers and has begun the steps to remediate them.

Call To Action: Rusco Reconstruction

Here’s an action item that may be of more interest to residents of the Town of West Bend than it is to residents of the City of West Bend. And for my out-of-state readers, I apologize for the ambiguity of the distinction. What you would recognize as a township—unincorporated land where the houses have septic systems instead of municipal water & sewer service—Wisconsin calls a town. On this map, the Town of West Bend is defined by a narrow red border, and the southern terminus of the Eisenbahn State Trail is marked with a red star:

About 5,000 people live in the Town of West Bend. For most of them, there’s no ideal way to get into the city on a bicycle. When your choices are State Highway 33, Paradise Drive, or Rusco Drive, the obvious choice should be Rusco. But the road has been in rough shape for years, and the absence of a paved shoulder makes it an uncomfortable place to share with motor vehicles.

There’s hope. The City of West Bend and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are developing a plan to reconstruct Rusco in 2023, and they want your input. On the map above, the 1.11-mile project area is shown as a bold black line that connects South Main Street to River Road. The city plans to replace the existing asphalt, not merely to top it off. That’s good. Even better is the city’s plan to add a 2-foot paved shoulder to each side of the road. Traffic lanes will remain 11 feet wide in each direction; the addition of the paved shoulders will not come at the expense of space for motor vehicles. And make no mistake: motorists will benefit from those paved shoulders too. Today, broken pavement at the margins of the road encourages drivers to position their vehicles close to the centerline, increasing the risk of a head-on collision.

So, is that enough? Will 2-foot paved shoulders create an acceptable margin of safety for cyclists on a no-passing road with a 45 mph speed limit? You decide. Send your comments, recommendation, observations, etc., to West Bend city engineer Max Maréchal (cityeng@ci.west-bend.wi.us) and/or to DOT project manager Michael Baird (michael.baird@dot.wi.gov) by next Tuesday, July 5. This section of Rusco Drive has not been improved since 1972. Don’t miss what could be the only chance you will ever have to shape its future.