Slimey Crud Run October 3, 2004 [Ride Reports]

Brian, myself and Rachel were planning to leave at 7AM until I found out it was only going to be in the mid 30’s at that hour. Since there was a frost advisory overnight, which could possibly mean slippery roads, we left 8:30AM instead. The morning portion was brisk and an hour later we stopped for a long breakfast break near Poplar Grove, IL, just about 9 miles from the Wisconsin border.

After breakfast we continued on Northward on 14 to 51 to 59 to 14 to 92 to 69 then jumped on 18/151 to P. Finally arrived in Pine Bluff at 1PM. We took a break there for about 10 minutes. There were only about 30-20 bikes in the parking lot and by the time we geared up we were the last ones to leave.

From there we took S to 78 to J to JJ to 78 to KP to Y to 78 to 12 to 60 to O to C and arrived in Leland at 3PM.We stayed there for only 45 minutes and had to head home using a direct and fast route since neither Brian or I brought our clear helmet shields and wanted to make it back home before it got totally dark. From Leland we went North on S which has brand new pavement and is a pretty sweet road, then 12 to 78. The construction on 12 at 78 really sucked and we crept at 2MPH for at least 15 minutes trying to turn on the gravel 78. The other direction was free and clear just like when we rode it a few hours before. Then we took 18/151 to I-90, lot of traffic through Madison and on the interstate where we mostly stayed in the left lane in a continuous passing mode. We took the 14 East exit though Janesville, WI.

We were all pretty hungry, having eaten our last meal at 9:30AM that morning but we pushed on racing against the sun, which now hung low on the horizon. From Janesville we took my usual short cut and stopped in Genoa to say our good-byes, since Rachel was heading north from there and Brian and I were heading South. The sun was just barely visible through the trees now and we had about 20 more minutes of light left. We turned off 72 toward Burlington. The cornfields glowed bright orange against the dark blue sky in the west. I turned around to catch a glimpse of the sun as it slipped behind the horizon line. It won again, like it always does. Lucky sun, it doesn’t have to slow down for construction or stop at stoplights like we do. The last 12 miles though the cornfields we rode below or at speed limit in complete darkness, I could barely make out the “deer warning” signs along the road, I doubt I could see the actual thing even if it stood by the road and waved at me. Finally we reached route 64 and after a few miles the street lamps started appearing as we have finally reached suburbia.

Although we missed most of the Slimey Crud Run, arriving late at the meeting stops. It was really cool to see many group rides going on in the area along the way. I caught myself waving to bikes more often then on a regular weekend. To me an event like this is just another reason to go out riding in Wisconsin, like I really need a reason anyway. It was our fist time doing the SCR and we had fun riding the roads, getting there on time was not a big concern, otherwise we would have slabbed it there, which is not fun in my opinion. Although cold weather doesn’t bother me, the winds did, since my bike is lowered, the winds tend to blow me around more than others. I got home feeling all beat up and sore only after a bit more than 400 miles. I actually was too warm most of the day, since I brought too many layers and then had no space to store it all in my tank bag. I think it reached upper 60’s, maybe more and the forecast was for 64.