MDP Roadtrip - Greenbush Wisconsin

One of the primary objectives of the Men’s Development Program of xXx Racing – AthletiCo is foster the development of our riders.  To that end, when you sign up with the MDP you gain access to mentors, race support and program specific training rides.

The Tour of America’s Dairyland kicks off June 18^th in the lovely state of Wisconsin.  This tour is a 10 day series that features 8 crits and 2 road races.  As our team has two riders that will be riding most of the tour, we decided that a road trip up to WI to preview one of the road courses was in order.

After a 7AM departure from our team shop (Get A Grip) and an almost 3 hour ride, our group of 6 arrived in Greenbush WI (population 3000) and set up camp at a place called the Wade House.  We then got saddled up and headed out for a planned four laps, the same distance as the Cat 4 race.  Each lap is almost 10 miles long and contains some pretty good climbs.  As we left to hit the first 3 miles of climbs, it was apparent that 1) this was not 3% grade and 2) this was going to be a long, hot, hard day.

The first trip around we just got situated, worked on rotating pacelines and just took in the scenery.  This area was really scenic (you ride open country road, through state forest and county town all in one loop) and the roads (with the exception of a 1 mile stretch) looked as if they had never been touched.  There were no real cars to speak of, but several motorcycles enjoying the “twisties” in Kettle Moraine.

Second lap we were on our own once we hit the climb into the forest and we would reconvene after lap 3.  Lap four we did fast group chase the slow group (5 minute handicap) but I can tell you that we were all pretty fried after the first three laps in the heat.

All in all, our riders thought it was well worth the trip and agree that this is going to be a HARD race within TOAD.  If you really like road races, then we would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this race.  The climbs come at you pretty fast and frequent and will wear you down.  The road is awesome and the area is nice and quite.  Best of all, it’s just a good break up to the routine crit schedule that tends to dominate the summer.