Ride 25 - The Not-so Iron Man

Some of the half-Ironman cyclists. 9/6/25 dwm

  It's Ironman weekend in Madison. There are two races, 70.3 on Saturday with the race double that Sunday with athletes proving themselves over 140.6 miles.

 On Sunday, the bicycle leg passes a short walk from our home. I wasn't sure where the shorter route was run but figured it was downtown, so I was surprised when my ride covered some of the same route.

 The athletes had finished their 1.2 mile swim in Lake Monona and were in the first few miles of the 53.7 mile ride south of Madison, before finishing with a 13.3 mile run.

My sister and brother-in-law are Ironman athletes. While I could handle the ride portion; it would be questionable whether I could run fast enough for race standards; and there is no way I could finish the half or full distance of the swim with a life preserver and floaties. 

Color in Monona. 9/6/25 dwm

I was using the Capital City State trail to connect with the Lake Loop and take it around the east side of the lake while the race used the trail, which is adjacent to the swim course, to get out of town and on to quieter country roads.

As the cyclists rode south on the path, I was on the street next to the trail. After waiting in line with half a dozen cars to get through the long line of bikes, I rode north to Waunona Way, then followed it along the lake's south shore.

It was a perfect October day, just a little unusual for south Wisconsin in September with temperatures in the upper-40s overnight and low 50s for most of the ride. I didn't wear all my gear, but the tights and light gloves made the trip comfortable.

The trip around the east side of the lake joins the Capital City trail north of the lake, which is where I left it to ride alongside the Yahara River to circle counter-clockwise around Lake Mendota.

A section of the Pheasant Branch path. 9//6/25 dwm

 Once I was back in Middleton, I chose to take part of the paved path in the Pheasant Branch Conservancy which straddles Pheasant Branch Creek. It's not crowded during the early to mid-morning hours of the weekend and lets me avoid a couple narrow and busy city streets.

 In addition to a couple more layers to ride in, I was eating regularly along the way - snacking on Ritz crackers with peanut butter and a couple Kwik Trip donuts - and drinking enough I needed a refill half-way through. 

This route only has a handful of hills compared to last week's trip, which made for a quick ride, 50 miles in 3 hours, 12 minutes. The distance increased my average ride to 53.4 miles per trip.