Here are Foon Feldman and Josh Shafer at the team's "civilized" start in Fort Collins:
The team had pre-arranged caches of water out at some controls in the wilderness, courtesy of Will:
Here are Andrea Koenig (acting capt. ), Foon Feldman and Josh Shafer somewhere near Wyoming.
Knee problems forced the team to call it quits later on in their ride, but a good effort, and a fine adventure for the Sage Grouse! Stay tuned for the report of Team Deer with Headlights ...
-jle
Last Saturday, May 23, Catherine Shenk and I pre-rode the 400k course. 
Brightening the scene, a regatta with colorful sails was making their turn as we passed, a couple with spinnakers unfurled to catch some wind: 
Coming into Wellington, we'd ridden over lots of wet pavement and through puddles, but had eluded actual storms (by following the prescribed route!). Here we are heading homeward (south), spying sun in the direction of the finish:
And yet all too soon fortunes seem likely to change, along with the direction of storm cells as we ride into the storm:
Taking refuge from a deluging downpour (or "pour down" in the local parlance) and, more to the point, electrical activity, were minutes well spent, despite our declining the offer of free burritos:
The optimistic theory is that our threatening-then-soggy 400k ride will be an inoculation to riders on the actual event date! Here are the soggy cyclists:
Have a wonderful on-the-date 400k! 
Brent and Spencer (Klaassen)
Then there was Spencer the "Wonderman". I dubbed him that when I realized that he was doing this on his fixed gear and he always rides this way. He thinks nothing of it and has done our Last Chance on it. Except for the hair color, he looked and acted a lot like Bob Fourney, another amazing cyclist. Spencer gave us the local history of northern Missouri, including relocated towns, Amish country, and Civil War lessons.
Amish couple riding to town
Speaking of interesting, the most "Colorful" of all was Dan. He prided himself in taking the skill of wheel sucking to a new level. With him it is almost an artform and he swells with pride when others pointed out that he does nothing but suck wheel. Brent tried to diplomatically tell him that if one wishes to sit one one's wheel all day, it is common courtesy to take even a short pull every once in a while. "Oh no" Dan responded in his thick Cajun accent, "Why would I want to do that. I might get tired!" We wondered when we first saw him and he exclaimed "Hot dog a tandem" as he jumped on our wheel, why the others in the group chuckled. "You go Dan" they said and he remained our shadow for most of the ride.
Riding at night in a strange place it is important that one learns the terminology. We saw something big dart out with glaring eyes in the dark. "Rat" was called out (biggest damn rat I ever saw) but soon found out it was a possum. There are also very friendly sheriffs on this route as two of them stopped to shine a light on our group when we flatted at night. I could tell they were all watching out for us as we traversed their county.
All in all the Missouri 400K was a blast! We met some characters, covered some miles, shared some stories, and found out randoneering in a new place can be quite rewarding and fun. You should try it!
Rando trash gathering at fine dining establishment
Tim "Foon" Feldman reports on a darned windy Black Forest 300k! The Black Forest 300k took some perseverance. The day started with driving through rain to the start, and I had not a minute to spare to get ready. No rain fell during the ride, just some spray from wet roads for the first hour or two. By the time we got to Sedalia the winds had picked up. We had 20 to 40 mph winds out of the south for the next 8 hours until we got back to Sedalia once more. For a while we had seven rolling down the road with a quartering headwind from the left. I barked enough to get the lead riders all the way onto the yellow line so that the rest of us could echelon properly. I am getting used to my mirror which allowed me to monitor overtaking traffic and get the group back to the right side of the road before obstructing traffic.
From there to the finish I was able to ride with three others, but that was as often a psychological comfort more than a physical advantage as there is just not much shelter in such blustery conditions. The gusty sidewinds were just as problematic as the headwinds that usually dropped our pace to about 10 mph.
On the way to Elbert we had dangerously foggy conditions for a while, luckily only on lightly traveled roads. A tailwind section heading north to Elbert proved that the wind was over 30 mph. When the speedometer showed low 30's it felt like still air. Upper 30s was required before feeling wind on our faces. Here the clouds lifted and visibility improved through the remainder of the day. The route takes a u-turn at the Elbert control. Turning back into the wind, the 11.7 miles back to Sweet road took well over an hour for our lead group of four. But even then the route was not done sending us southbound into the teeth of the wind.
Finally at the southern most part of the route we arrived at the next control. The new Black Forest General Store has a soup kettle in their hot food section. This day followed their Kids Day theme with macaroni and cheese. A bowl of that and a few minutes sitting at the most welcomed small dining area readied us for the final third of the ride. We gladly turned the chairs over to the next group to arrive (Peter Hoff, Andrea Koenig and Dick Wiss). From there the temperatures finally started to climb and we got sections of coasting at 30+ mph while northbound as well as the sidewind on the westbound legs. After Sedalia though the wind shifted we returned to the day's theme of headwinds.
~Foon
A cool pre-dawn passage of the Ken Caryl hogback was a treat.
Things brightened up nicely for a while, as in these sunny moments climbing towards Larkspur in the morning. Everything is verdant green (because of all that rainfall and snow!):
The Black Forest General Store (a control) has just moved down the block to a deluxe new setting. We were keen to check it out, and were very pleased with the facilities and friendly smiles. But no hot dogs! (This should be rectified by the time you do the 300k.)
When rain did move in on the way back from Black Forest, a shower cap came in handy. 
Here's wishing the 300k riders a sunny ride with snacks as desired!
A drizzly start and gloomy skies did not deter 23 riders from gearing up and heading out on the first ACP event of the season!
Guest Carola Berger from Boston takes time off from a conference on subatomic particles to stretch her legs.
Rob Pogorelz (so fast he's already changed into comfy-ware), Paul Foley, Catherine Shenk, and Vernon Smith - happy despite just enough rain to dirty up the bikes:
Join us next time for more of a sundrenched ride, but no less rewarding!
-jle
John Flanigan brought his bike and usual enthusiasm, but left his helmet at home.
It's amazing how cheerful volunteers like Paul Brown can be, doing what they can for the riders while risking hypothermia.
... and in stark contrast, here are our volunteers' riders Michelle Grainger and Steve LeGoff sampling the snowballs at the Stove Prairie summit mere days before our odyssey.
