We’ll Always Have Paris

Riding two-up at a conversational pace, the group stuck together the whole way to Paris.

It was sunny and 21 degrees at 9 a.m. last Sunday when I got out of my truck in the Wheel & Sprocket Hales Corners parking lot for the first Spring Classic Ride to Paris. I was pleased to see about three dozen brave, smiling souls waiting for me. Last year it was 38 degrees and raining, which is really worse weather to ride in, but after all the 70 degree days we have had this year already, it is difficult to kit up for a road ride when it is so cold.

I distributed the passports to everyone at the ride who had ordered one online, and sold them to those who didn’t. We dropped the passports in a basket, and our ride leader Amelia Kegel pulled two out. This raffle our first lucky winner got a pair of Bar Mitts, and the second winner got a cool, Cow of Wisconsin Spring Classics T-shirt. With the raffle out of the way, we saddled up and followed Amelia south.

Paris Corners Cemetery.

On the way down, the group stayed together, riding at a reasonable pace between 15 mph and 20 mph as advertised. If anyone fell off the back on a climb or missed getting through an intersection, the group waited for them to catch back on. With a light 7 mph tail wind,  it was pretty easy for the group to stick together all the way to the Paris Corners Cemetery.

After a short break to eat some Bonk Breaker bars and chat, we took the obligatory group photo and headed back home. There was a longer 75 mile option that went into Kenosha, but it was cold enough that nobody complained about keeping the ride shorter this year. On the way back into the light headwind, some of the faster riders rode off the front and a few of the slower riders fell off the back. We ended up riding in three groups, for the return, but everyone ended up back at Wheel & Sprocket within 20 minutes of each other.

Flanders Points

For the record, everyone who did this ride gets 114 Flanders Points (rounding all numbers up) as follows:

114 FP = 49 miles x 50/21 degrees +0+7 mph wind – 10

You can record those points in your passport. I apologize I didn’t have the completion stamps in time for the ride, but I will have them for the next ride to Rome from Ben’s Cycle. Anyone who did the ride to Paris can get a stamp at any of the future rides, or at Wheel & Sprocket, because I will give them a stamp to keep at the shop.

There is some talk about shortening the Ben’s Rome route to Wales, so stay tuned.

You can see all the future Spring Classic routes at our Eventbrite page. Please let us know which routes you think you will do (no worries if you change your mind), and sign the online waiver. You can also order your passport online too.

Register (free), sign the online waiver and get your passport here» 

This article was originally published by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.