Rolling into Round 2, DIY-BWR
Today being Wednesday seems a good day to wrap up what went down over the weekend and prep for the second half of DIY-BWR. In a non-pandemic year, Sunday May 3 would have been Belgian Waffle Ride which would have been my fourth go at this monster day in the saddle. I’ve finished 2nd and 3rd at BWR and I imagine it would be sweet to stand on that top step. However, in lieu of heading across the country to San Diego to show up at a start line to an event that’s been postponed until the fall, I mapped out a mega course here in Vermont to do my own DIYgravel-BWR ride!
I’m guessing you’re up to speed on DIYgravel, although here’s the deets if not. Long story short, it’s meant to celebrate the original event day of these amazing events that are getting pushed deeper and deeper into the year or off the calendar entirely.
Choose Your Weapon
I planned for the past two weeks to ride my SuperSix EVO, as that would have been my actual BWR ride, but a hiccup in shipping showed that it was still en route despite getting’r packed up and shipped a week and a half in advance. There’s no denying it, I’m blessed with many bikes, so my SuperX immediately became the tool for the job. The SuperSix is a pure road bike. I’ve been on iterations of the SuperSix since 2011 in my Liquigas days and this newest one that I received last summer is a bright white rocketship of speed. I freaking love that bike and was stoked to put some 32c Rene Herse Stampede tires on, jury rig them to be tubeless, and tear my way across Vermont.
Anyhow, let’s blame coronavirus, because quite frankly, EVERYTHING is upside down and backwards because of coronavirus these days. The SuperX is my slightly more burly rocketship and definitely up for the job. It’s the gravel bike that I seem to ride more often than not (and before you ask, “Ted, why don’t you ride your Topstone?” — I DO ride my Topstone. A lot. I am not riding it right now because it’s currently hanging out anxiously in California, because I was supposed to be flying out there for most of the month of May for a long list of projects, many of which were on the Topstone, but… ehh, coronavirus).
Moreover, this bike swap-a-roo allowed me to showcase the brand new Zipp 303 S wheels, which didn’t actually officially launch until yesterday. Lighter than a current 202, almost half the price of current 303 wheels, and infinitely better looking, I was jaw agape for most of the ride on these dreamboats. I paired them up with some plush 44c Snoqualmie Pass tires, which are certainly wider than what I would have raced in BWR, but are still shockingly fast and allow you to transition from pavement to the most chundery of gravel with ease and the confidence of a freight train.
Go North Young Man
The goal was to ride up to the Canadian border and wave hello to Tim Johnson who’s hanging out north of the border amid all this craziness. He and I each knew we couldn’t cross the border and high five and hug each other, we just wanted the novelty of riding to say hi in person.
And now, here’s funniest and most annoying part of the day. Let me set the scene. At this particular border crossing is a river and bridge. So picture me riding north, then at the last piece of land before crossing the river and continuing into Canada is the US border patrol station monitoring southbound traffic. There is nothing stopping northbound traffic, so in theory I could ride across the bridge, technically touch Canada, immediately be at the Canadian border patrol, where I would be told in a friendly manner to turn around and go home, at which point I would run into the US border patrol station in their southbound location. When I rolled up to the bridge, I saw Tim on the other side, which is too far away to have an actual conversation, but certainly we could wave to each other and hop on the phone to chat. However, immediately three US border patrol agents came sauntering out and stood in an intimidating fashion perhaps 20 feet away in their southbound lane.
Let me also set the scene that this is perhaps the least traveled border crossing in all of America. I don’t know what’s happening in way rural Maine or Montana, but for sure, this location rivals those for most scenic and the most boring crossings ever.
I explained to my uniformed countrymen, “I just rode 70 miles to see my friend over there. I just wanted to say hi.”
Literally while he crossed his arms to add even more intimidation to his stance, the chief cheese in charge said, “Saying hi to your friends is non-essential business.”
I nearly said, “Thanks pal”, but I figured that would get me tasered.
Meanwhile, Tim and I are on the phone and Tim asked if the US border patrol was giving me a hard time. I confirmed. Tim said that the Canadian patrol was super friendly, said sure go down to the bridge just don’t cross it. Then even asked how it went when Tim was going back north a few minutes later.
Good. We don’t want to smuggle any of that friendliness into America anyway.
The ride was awesome. It featured a ripping tailwind north and a ferocious headwind home. It was late in the ride that it dawned on me if I were doing the actual BWR, I’d be going over Double Peak towards the end, when I’m already horribly depleted. It’s a different pace to ride 140 miles solo as compared to racing it, of course. One is a 7 hour time trial, one is a punchy, dynamic race. In any event, I honed my diesel all day long and I can attest that riding in the way northern tip of Vermont is downright magnificent. I’d estimate that 50% of the ride was gravel and 100% of it was excellent.
What did I eat? A whole lot of UnTapped. Here’s a good portion of my calories for the day. Maple packets, waffles of all kinds, and lots of Mapleaid in the waterbottles. And hand sanitizer in the pocket because you just never know.
Next up, I’m putting on my support crew hat and helping Laura ride her DIYgravel-BWR edition tomorrow.
YOU all still have time to join the party too. DIYgravel-BWR submissions are welcome until this Sunday, May 10! More fun and prizes are up for grabs every week!
In totally unrelated news, I did a podcast with pro mountain biker, Olympian, Vermonter, Lea Davison and it’s hilarious. She’s amazing. I think you’ll dig it. Listen here on any device.