Fireman88 (Rusty) and I road Motorcycle support for the 2006 Ironman triatholon in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. Read all about it here: http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/ Madison is a beautiful town on a sunny day -- it was 60 degrees and raining Sunday The total ride was just over 200 miles on some very nice roads. In my case, I was assigned to carry a professional videographer around as he tracked the top four women throughout the bike and run. We had another rider with us carrying the tripod that got used on stationary shots. John road a VFR and grew up in the area -- very helpful as I don't know the area and was often riding in the left lane over the double yellow :eek1 . We were in constant communication via two-way radios so he would tell me when to get over. Darrel, the videographer was worked for Ironman and had done this race and many others before. He also knew the competitors. He'd always talk to them and encourage them when ever we were close enough -- and we were close!! They seemed to appreciate his help. On with the good stuff!! Bike Course -- 112 Miles!! Run Course -- 26.2 Miles!! We road the 100 miles to Madison the day before for pre-race briefing and 'cause we had an early start on Sunday -- 6 a.m. Woodstock, Illinois has a nice little square and a Starbucks. Let's start the trip there with a shot of Rusty and the bikes. The pre-race briefing had a nice turn-out and we learned a few things. Also talked to several other riders who did this on a regular basis. One guy on a Harley got sent home 'cause his pipes were too loud! We took a run around the course and stopped for lunch on Saturday. Two Valkyries, three GS's, an RT, an ST1300 (heard he dumped it Sunday..) an old R100RT (he could ride!), a VFR, and a Harley or two. After Lunch, Rusty and I road up to Wisconsin Dells for the BMW Rally at Chula Vista resort. We got there as they day was ending. This sign says it all!! These races are a big deal and even with the bad weather, there were over 2,000 competitors. Here they are taking a morning swim -- 2.5 miles!!! After the swim, they had to find their bike -- staged on the top level of a parking garage next to the lake. Then off for a nice ride in the country -- we was doing about 30 on the flats here and eventualy went on to finish 3rd -- BTW, she has asthema!! I think she was first out of the water -- for men and women!! Part of the ride was a nasty twisty uphill into this crowd of well wishers. She just passed the two behind her -- up hill!! The town of Verona has a festival during the race. One last ride along the lake before the run. This down hill was a little slick! The Harley was County Sherrif leading the women's portion of the race. Another guy was leading the men's portion. by now I was cold and wet so I don't have many pics of the run. To our runners left, was this view of Lake Mendota. The run was largely on bike paths, both hard and soft surface -- very narrow! Sorry, no pics. The last few hundred yards of the race was into downtown Madison past the Capitol building. The top women finished in 10 hours! The oldest competitor was 77 years old and had an artificial leg -- he finished in 17 hours!!
to you and Rusty. I think this is a great thing to do and helps us riders to be more than just 'riders'. Hope all is well and sorry I couldn't make it up this weekend. LIP
That's cool. Have a buddy who's a course official for lots of road races and he was even in the olympics in Atlanta so he has some credo. Asked me if I'd like to try helping out with a road race here but I'd have to ride his old GS. Sounded like fun. Showed up at his house 6:am in my gear. We were kinda in a hurry to get to the start so I just hopped on the bike and couldn't find the shifter or rear brake in my stupid moto boots. (had never ridden an airhead) Had to carry a passsenger - WHAT? - with a bunch of wheels in his arms. The start was totally hectic but we got in a groove. My bike had grip heaters that had a secret shut off switch that I couldn't find so my hands were bbq'ed by the time the first group finished. Quickly rode home for normal footwear and had a blast the rest of the day. Nothing like following a police bike with him motioning to follow at speed - in the wrong lane - 90mph!
well you've gotta pick your volunteer jobs carefuly In the winter, I'm one of these (but I don't ski as well as this guy does :eek1 )
Way to go guys. I rode support on my KLR650 for the first Ironman in Madison in '02. I have ridden the bike course on a bicycle as well, but not at Ironman speed. Then I went and moved to Texas so I didn't do it again. Of course now I am currently in Costa Rica, on my way to Tierra del Fuego on the same KLR, so life is good. The original contract for Ironman in Madison was for 5 years, this was the 5th. Do you know if it got extended? Would love to get back there.