TOMRV - Day 1

Day 1 was pretty much a wash – literally. The problem with events like this is that you are completely at the mercy of the weather. The weather had little mercy for those who attempted day 1. We did not attempt day 1.

We woke up to 49 degree temps, a light cold rain (which slowly evolved into a heavy cold rain), and winds from the northeast. We got dressed for cycling all the while keeping an eye on the windows and the weather channel. Things were not looking good at all. After about an hour of deliberating and debating options we punted. The main concerns were slick roads on the second half of the route (the hillier portion of day 1) as well as hypothermia. Lightning and a bit of thunder sealed the deal – no ride for us today.

A friend once told me that he evaluated his bike rides along three axis - wind, cold, and rain. He could handle two at a time - wind/cold, cold/rain, or rain/wind, but if all three were present the ride was punted (I personally would punt on the cold/rain combo as well – the others I can deal with). We punted hard on this one.

On the route there is a town where the local Lion’s club hosts a pancake breakfast, so we decided to at least drive out and get some breakfast. Along the route we saw a few riders either doing the route or coming back after giving up due to the conditions. At the firehouse where the pancake breakfast was held there were significantly fewer people then normal.

We continued driving up to Dubuque, arrived, and located our suite for the night. While getting the cards we saw a few people straggling in who had actually done the ride that day. Many were from the shorter Preston (the 50 mile option that starts and returns to Preston) and didn’t look too bad. Those who had done the full 100 were noticeable in the crowd. They had the shell-shocked look of having gone through absolute hell. A few had road rash and ripped up jerseys from crashes while going downhill. When asked about how the day was their eyes would glaze over in recollection and they would mumble ”It was painful”. I’m glad we decided to bag the ride for the day.

At dinner in the cafeteria that night there were about half the amount of people that normally show up for this ride. After dinner we went back to the suite and played poker for a bit. The floors in the suite were squeakier than any place I’d ever stayed. Anytime the people above us moved around it sounded like a herd of elephants walking through styrofoam. Slept well despite that.