A History Lesson....

It's Friday again and I promised weekly posts so here's a brief history of BALLS.

Early winter 2007
For some reason I got looking at a map of bike trails in the state.  My primary interest was what I could get from my house.  The Cheese Country Trail was an afterthought but ended up being the misisng link to a really cool loop.  I pulled out a map of southern Wiscsonsin and highlighted the idea I had in my head.....Military Ridge to Cheese Country to Badger State to Military Ridge.  There in neon yellow glory was 130 miles of primarily rail trail right out my front door.  When I approached a friend about this he thought it was a great idea as long as we could break it into two days and find a place for an overnight.  As we moved into the planning phase we settled on the awesome (and now defunct) Earth Rider Cycling Botique as our overnight location.  This added a stretch of the Sugar River trail to both days and put the day one mileage at about 100 and day two somewhere near 65.

BALLS 2008
Day one of 2008 saw four riders head out into bitterly cold strong winds.  Things got better when we turned south at Dodgeville but I think we still questioned our sanity.  Let's just say things got a little damp once we hit the Cheese Country Trail.  I could ramble on but you would be much better served by clicking here for the whole story (the pics speak volumes):  http://motoscotch.blogspot.com/2009/02/balls.html

BALLS 2009
Twelve riders toed the line for the start of BALLS II.  Once the weather was total crap.  Early in the day we saw heavy rain, declining temps, and thunderstorms.  Oh well.  This ride rolls no matter the conditions!  This year saw the first official BALLS finishers as two riders completed the entire two day route.  Once again I'll provide a link for some day one pics and story: http://motoscotch.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-balls-mtn-bike-ride.html

BALLS 2010
The third running of BALLS saw a couple big changes.  First off we started day one with twice as many riders as 2008.  The other change was that our overnight location, due to group size, moved to Crazy Horse Campground in Brodhead.  The weather was once again rainy but on the bright side it just might have been the best conditions BALLS riders have ever had!  Anybody coming along in 2011 will see that the campground option worked out nicely....nothing like hot showers, free beer, and a campfire after a long day on the bike.  Hittin' up my source for more in depth look: http://motoscotch.blogspot.com/2010/04/balls-iiiin-books.html

BALLS 2011
I'm not messing with last years formula.  Same route, same campground, and same regardless of conditions approach.  Next week I'll focus on what you might want ride for the 2011 version of BALLS.  Prospective riders may wonder what's best; mountain bike, cyclocross, touring? 

See you next week.

Posted by Bear at 11:58 AM