Mancona and other experience IMWI peeps: how do you segment the bike course?
Wondering how you divide the bike course up, for pacing or mentally. In my head:
- I "start" the loop on the right turn onto Valley Road.
- The classic WI rolling hill-type terrain starts at the left onto Witte Road from S, about mile 28.5. Seems like a good place to start to go to work (smartly)
- Garfoot/Mineral Point (mile 32) through Stagecoach to the end of Indian Trail and the start of Old Sauk (Mile 41) -- would typically have my lowest IF of the loop in this section. Very aerobar-esque, get very aero and ride steady. Deal with the pavement on Stagecoach (sucks)
- The Climbs: 41-47, Old Sauk, Timberlane, Midtown, ends on the right on Shady Oak at mile 47
- 47-51 -- Shady Oak to Verona, pretty vanilla section
- 51-~56-ish: through town and back to the start of loop with the right on Valley Road. Just enjoy the crowd and strafe the corners.
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Comments
I mostly agree with Rich with a few minor changes/additions:
Out / Back are both ~13.7 miles
Loop as i define it is ~42.3 miles
My definition of the start of the loop is the corner of Whalen and Old PB. This is right after you go down hill on whalen and under a bridge on the way out. To start the second loop you make a right onto Whalen from Old PB, to go back to madison you make a left onto Whalen from Old PB.
The center of the loop is during the climb on Garfoot 2
The first half of the loop actually has more climbing but it is a bunch of small rollers and false flats so it doesn't seem like it.
The second half has the longer descents and even though it has the three biggest climbs there is less total climbing. Therefore the second half is typically faster.
Other thoughts:
ASI will be at about mile .5 on John Nolan taking a picture of you with the downtown madison in the background. You will see them again on old sauk when you make the downhill left and imediate right before starting the climb, the picture will have a red barn in the behind you.
The area on County M by the high school in Verona will tons of specators and an annoucer... to bad you are going downhill and will fly through there at over 20 mph coasting. Stupid spot for it if you ask me, but I'm sure they do it because it is near the town/restaurants and makes the logistics easilier for the spectators.
Do not pass any one on the helix or the bike paths... the officals will give you a penatly and it just isn't worth it.
if you are going into a blind turn... 9 time out of 10 you should shift and be ready for a slight kicker to greet you once you can see aronud the turn (i.e. valley view area, G/92, end of whitte, start of garfoot 2.
The wind can and usually does either pick up or shift directions around 11 to 1. Just because it was from the SW in the morning don't assume you wil have a tailwind back into madison. I have dealt with a headwind on G and then had it again going back to madison before. If you are luckly it wont change direction and you will get a tailwind somewhere on the loop or back to madison.
Nice to know where the half way point is, too, and I hadn't appreciated the climb distribution either. So thanks! I vaguely remember having a headwind going both directions on the "stick" a couple of years ago, as you suggested.