MJ's Ride To Wisconsin

Columnist Dave Barry once said “there’s a fine line between a hobby and mental illness”.  I think I’m getting close to the line.  When you start imagining Tour de France announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin doing play-by-play of your ride…. then you know you’re on the edge of the line.

Phil: With the early morning fog the peloton looks complacent today and the sprinters teams are on the front controlling the tempo for the last 50K of todays ride into Sycamore

Paul: Looks like Columbia and Rabobank both believe their sprinters have a good legs  today so their plan is to keep the pace high and control the peloton until the finish in Sycamore

Phil: Well the peloton knows they have a hard day ahead of them, endless corn and soybean fields, a headwind and no place to hide.  Plus no one ever knows how their legs will react the day after a rest day.

Phil: Here’s an attack!  Yes, it’s number 174, Michael Johnson from the Nalley team.  Johnson is up and out of the saddle, he’s stamping on those pedals.

Paul: Yes Paul, he’s all over the machine

Phil: Johnson has opened a significant gap on the peloton, using the small rolling hills of this Illinois farmland to his advantage.

Paul: There’s a bit of a headwind out there and he’s low over his machine trying to get as small as possible.

Phil: We’re passing just outside of the lovely town of Waterman now.

Paul: Yes Paul, the helicopters are giving us a great view of the Waterman Co-op grain elevators.  Built in 1997 this storage will hold 2.8 million bushels of corn

Phil: Yes, Johnson’s got the bit between his teeth now.  Only 15K left and he has 55 seconds on the field

Paul: Michael Johnson has rededicated himself to the sport this year.  He’s lost over 20 kilos and changed his diet, logging thousands of training miles and has pledged to raise thousands of dollars for Lance Armstrongs LIVESTRONG foundation

Phil: Johnson knows at 49 years of age he doesn’t have much time left so this may be his last chance at glory

Phil: The time is coming down now as Johnson goes under the 10K to go banner.  He’s entering the small town of DeKalb now.

Paul: There’s a couple of twists and turns on the road and that should help Johnson because the peloton will not be able to see him until the final straigh-away.

Phil: The Columbia train is in full flight now, setting up the final sprint for Mark Cavendish.  Can Johnson hold them off?

Phil: Johnson is under the 5K to go banner.  His head is down almost touching the bars and he’s suffering like he’s never suffered before

Phil: Johnson is going to make a right hand turn past the world famous Portillo’s restaurant, known for their famous Italian Beef and Sausage sandwich and onto the final straight.  He’ll have a tailwind all the way to the finish.  He’s tapping out a merciless rhythm and his legs must be screaming at his brain to stop the pain.

Paul: They’ve pulled all the cars out now and the sprinters teams are closing down on this lone rider.  He has 15 seconds on the field.  Can he make it?

Phil: Johnson has passed under the red kite and has less than 1 kilometer to go.  He wants to look back but that will just slow him down.

Paul: This is going to be close.  300 meters to go and Cavendish launches

Phil: Cavendish is coming up on Johnson like a missile launched from a ship!

Phil: And Johnson narrowly beats Cavendish to the line!  A total look of disbelief on Michael Johnson’s face as he captures the biggest win of his career.  After 115 miles and over 6 1/2 hours in the saddle, plucky Michael Johnson is the winner of the 8th stage of the Ride to Wisconsin.

My apologies if you haven’t spent hours and hours watching Tour de France television coverage because this will seem pretty lame and confusing.  But after 6 1/2 hours of riding against a headwind with nothing to look at but corn and soybeans it’s the best I can do.

Here are the official stats, and for those of you are into the pure data, here is a link to my Garmin data for the day.  The Garmin data will also show you my route.

• Miles: 115.54
• Time: 6:39
• Avg. Speed: 17.4
• Climbing: 1515
• Calories: 7268

I’m looking forward to Day 9.  I get to ride with two of my three brothers.  Tom just finished Ironman Wisconsin and Steve is getting ready to run the Lakefront Marathon next weekend.  They will ride the entire 101 miles with me tomorrow.  At the 85 mile mark we are going to join up with my Dad and good friend Paul Petitjean.  The weather looks good for tomorrow and the winds favorable.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 26th, 2009 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.