Last Ride Before RASDAK

Paved county highway with a town every 10 miles.

How come you only want tomorrow with its promise of something hard to do?

A real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold.

Blue sky's above and sun on your arms strength in your stride

and hope in those squeaky clean eyes

So you train by shadow boxing, search for truth but it's all used up

Break out your million dollar weapon but still you push your luck

--David Bowie, Teenage Wildlife 1980

Ah David, you left us alone too soon.  Here I am in Warren County climbing a hill on S23 wondering if next week is going to be like this all week.  Wondering why 90% of vehicles on this road are Chevrolets, the majority of which are the subpar Equinox.  Hoping that the dark red C1 Corvette would be sitting at the Casey's so I could take a foto of it.  Wondering what prevented training in April May.  But finally real hill work.

Next week at this very moment these that thoughts are haunting my brain, we'll be arriving in Hermosa, South Dakota, somewhere between the Badlands and Black Hills, for that State's version of Ragbrai.  For 6 days 225 cyclists plus support will be riding bicycles in a huge loop "west river", that is west of the mighty Missouri River.  We'll ride on the Needles Highway, up a mountain, see bison, cycle through tribal lands, pay our respects at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre and view the Badlands.  Lots of other things to do as well.  This ride is very well organized and we have the option of sleeping inside every night and showers!

So, Bike Bitch, Co-Commuter of the Year, why the apprehension?   I don't feel like I have ridden enough to prepare for this.   Last year I suffered.  Wind and hills.  Changes were made.  I noticed that one week in May of this year I had more miles than I did for the entire month of May 2024!  I also broke out my "million dollar weapon."  I will be riding my 07 LeMond Versailles for it light weight and triple chainring.

For training, 3 rules:

Break your ass in

Build endurance

Climb hills

Since I commute to work on bike year round, my ass is already broke in and desensitized to bike saddles.  No chamois butter or "butt don't hurt" gimmicks for me.  I rarely take ibuprofen, maybe once a year for serious pain.

Endurance means get out and ride.  Long rides.  Easy to do where I live since we are blessed with so many trails (when they are open).  We have done a lot of them.  Our house to Carlise/Indianola and back, over 40 miles, Bill Riley/Jordan Creek/new bridge at Raccoon River Park then loop Easter Lake on the return is a 50 miler.  Waukee to Perry on the Raccoon River Valley Trail.  Our house to Polk City is an enjoyable mix of trail and roads with the Oasis being 19 miles from our house, over 40 miles.   Yeah, got the 40 mile in but time constraints and racing against weather seems to be a limiting factor.  Sadly, no 60s, 80s or centuries.  However, generally people can handle a ride that is 3 times as long, both time and distance as their average training ride.  I need to keep this in mind.

The Million Dollar Weapon

07 LeMond in Lacona.  The red ribbon hanging from the bars is a peace ribbon giving to me at Wounded Knee the last time this bike was in South Dakota at that site of the massacre.  I'm hoping to get another one this year.  Also visible is a poppy that I got in Carlisle for support of Veterans.

This year I thought long and hard about which bike to take to South Dakota.  My 2007 LeMond Versailles has been the one I have ridden since the last Tour De Kota, 2012, and most of the RASDAKs since 2013.  When RASDAK resumed after Covid, I rode my Trek Domane in every ride since 2021, the exception was in 2023 when we went to Wyoming instead of South Dakota.  This year I have choices.  the "TIE Fighter," my Linskey roadie, the Domane or the LeMond.  

The TIE Fighter was eliminated since it has 90's race gear.  I'm too weak and heavy to be pushing a 53/39T crankset up a mountain.  Also the drops on the handlebars are too short and give a rough ride.  But, man o man, that bike shifts so damn smooth!  Best shifting bike I ever ridden or owned.  Don't mess with it now.  Don't!  Maybe next time after I shovel some cash its way and replace the chainrings and bars.  

The Domane, too heavy and climbs like a dog.  So Big Bike decides that triples shift like shit, true, and that the drivetrain should be a 2x1 or 1x1 with a HEAVY cassette to make up the gearing loss from the removal of a lightweight triple front derailleur.  Make the tires wider, too.  Replace lightweight caliper road brakes with much heavier hydraulic disc brakes.  Sure, they are better at stopping bicycles but there is a weight penalty and every gram counts when climbing.  This year the route will be hilly.

That leaves the Versailles aka Century Machine.  In 2022 I replaced its stock wheels with a set of Campagnola Sciroccos and then the shifters died last year.  On a ride to West Des Moines, the bike put itself into the hardest gear and refused to downshift.  After returning home, yes, pushing Big Ring and the smallest one on the cassette, I hung up the bike and considered options.  Since I have several other road bikes fixing the LeMond was not a priority.  The major issue is that no one manufactures STI shifters for 10 speed triples WITHOUT the cable housing sticking out like some sort of WWII German radar equipped night fighter (Bf 110 G, He 219, Ju 88 ect).  I want the cables to run along the bars.  So I decided to purchase a pair of Dura Ace bar end shifters and have a lesser amount of cable housing sticking out from the bottom of the bars instead of the top.  Since there are friction shifters, I'd get more control in moving the front derailleur.  I let the shiny box of shifters sit in the bicycle room until the day before this ride.

Took a quick course on how to install these shifters, albeit for aerobar placement, on YouTube University and put them on.  Of course, I messed up a bit.  Cut the housing a bit too short.  BUT IT WORKED!!  Shifts nicely from the start.  Did not have to redo although after the trip I'll probably replace the housing and cables with long ones and line it up better.  I will most likely draw shark teeth and eyes on the bar wrap where the cables exit like the Flying Tigers.

The Ride

Bikes in the Ridgeline.  Saftest place for bicycles during transport inside the vehicle.  

The bicycles for this ride and for our adventure in South Dakota.

We loaded the bikes into the Ridgeline.  Fold the rear seats up, remove the front tires and place the bicycles inside.  That vehicle will take us to South Dakota since I have been informed that the Pilot has a ripped CV Joint Boot and the axel could run out of grease.  The $500 replacement will wait a month. We drove to the McVay/Summerset Trail Head in Indianola.  From there we took the McVay Trail to highway 92 and turned east on the decent shoulder until we found S23.  Just 2 miles or so on 92, shoulder on both sides.  Watch out for gravel at driveway entrances.

This is our route for many adventures.  We have taken S23 to Ottumwa, Ragbrai and part of a century loop we rode with Graham that had us turn west in Lacona and connect up with New Virgina and eventually the Great Western Trail for the homebound section.  The Des Moines Bicycle Club used to host a ride, BRAWCO, with many distance options back in the 1990s.

S23 is a beautiful paved county highway that offers flat stretches and hills.  One can only do so much training on hills.  Sure you could ride the new connector to Carlisle and back repeatedly until boredom set in but the Big Hill is not a hill one would ever encounter off a trail.  Long stretches of road with hills develops rhythm and skills one needs for non-trail hill riding.  Thus, Warren County is the best place for such training.

C1 Corvette

The LeMond worked like a charm.  Ate up miles and climbed quite nicely.  The city of Milo is roughly 10 or 11 miles from the trail head.  There is a Casey's and a bar.  There is also a dark red C1 Corvette (1st gen for those not in the know) that passed us north of town.  I have him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture.  By the smell of his exhaust, that motor was not restricted by emission controls.

Downtown Milo, Iowa

Big chairs popping up everywhere.  Milo, IA

Heading south out of Milo, the town of Lacona is another 10 miles south.  We encountered a few photogenic barns.  Flags decorated the cemeteries along the route for Memorial Day. The main hill is presented by crossing Wolf Creek.  It's a long steep and long one, just what the doctor ordered.  There is also a hill going into Lacona.  We stopped at the gas station to the west of the road in the town proper.  To the east is an Irish bar and the city park that we once camped in coming back from Ragbrai a few years ago.

Rudy's closed.  Bummer.  Last time we were here, they were selling pints of Peace Tree's Blonde Fatale for $4.  That is dangerous.

Our Iowa heritage.

Turn around and head home.  41 miles.  I felt ready for South Dakota.  The bike did not break.  I wish we had done this earlier and more than enough.  In a week or so I'll let you know how I survived.