Home of the 2016 WEMS Championship

October 8th, 2016

Don't be surprised by a 30 mile lap! 

Awesome terrain has opened, and the machine is waiting.

Shelter from the Creatures

Four Pilgrims from Duluth at Dog Lake on Halloween

Rained Out

A Halloween ghost ride and camp out looks yucky.  Sunday at 1:00 is a better idea.

Beautiful Out

I don't know about the weather for Saturday, but the Dog Lake shelter is ready to go and the trails are great.  Millions of leaves have been removed.  The GHOST RIDE and camp out is set for Saturday at 6PM, and there are rumors of a group ride and cook out Sunday at 1PM.

Underdown Ghost Ride

6PM October 31st

Spooks, festivities and a chance to camp at the new Dog Lake shelter that we're building Monday.

FALL COLOR HIKE

SATURDAY,  SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

10:00 A.M.

Northwoods Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance will be conducting their

Annual Fall Color Hike in the beautiful rolling Harrison Hills of Lincoln County with  the brilliant colors created by many maples, birches, aspens and oaks and small lakes.

The hike is open to the public at no cost.  A free will donation for the local chapter is welcome.

Directions: Take Highway 51 to County Road J at Irma-Go East on J-5 miles to Turtle Lake Road . Go North  3 miles on Turtle Lake road-Follow Ice Age Event Signs

Or from the East-Take Hwy 17 to County Road J at Bloomville.  Go west on County Road J to Turtle Lake Road. Turn North. (Follow the Ice Age Trail Event Signs)

Any questions contact Ruby Jaecks brjaecks@airrun.net or 715-551-1118

Here You Are

The signs with Joe's map on them are up so you won't get lost.  Trails have never been better.

Rhinelander Holds the Cup

Rhinelander 371
Wausau 163
Green Bay 30
Iowa City 30

We Will Race

We will sweat.  We will have water at 6 locations on course. We will be flexible.  We will watch radar.  We won't make you do anything stupid to win a race.  We'll watch it blow over.  We're gonna have fun.

MAN PANTS

 That's what we'll be drinking after the Thunderdown, and it's not made from any man's sweaty bike pants.  It's the Kölsch beer from RedEye made from German malt and German hops.

 Bring your own man pants or big girl panties because this is the Underdown and you will need them.  However, if you do go down to the Prairie River for a swim please don't leave your butt sweat on the bridge railing, and don't jump off the bridge because the big rocks are shallow a long way out.

Thanks to the best shop in Wausau.

Thanks to the best shop north of Wausau.

This is Underdown

And this is not some hyperbolic ploy to get you fired up to race just so you can own bragging rights with your friends.  There are some things you need to know if you're not familiar.  Some call this the toughest trail in Wisconsin.  That may be true, but it's not a contest.  Underdown is what it is.
This is not where you go for an easy ride.  This is where you ride something you can't get at the other places you've been to. This is where you find one-of-a-kind boardwalks and beautiful views of lakes from above.  Expect to top out on all the hills and have a screaming descent to follow, but don't expect a gentle ramp to get you up there.  These are old-school hand-built trails that will bring you close to trees and make you use your gears.
Trails may never be built this way again.  I'm getting old, and so is the Thunderdown.  2015 will be the 15th time you kids came to my country with your fancy pants and your bouncy bikes. I hope you get the butt kicking you came for.  I'll leave a jug at the top of Heartbreak Ridge for you.

Everyone get's to ride this one!

Who will fill the Thunderdown Cup?

2014 Wausau 402, Rhinelander 348, Green Bay 272, Madison 120
2013 Rhinelander 351, Wausau 348, Duluth 105, Green Bay 81, Ohio 75
2012 Wausau 315, Rhinelander 301, Madison 186
2011 Rhinelander 295, Wausau 116
2010 Wausau 411, Rhinelander 352

A RASTA Event

This year's Thunderdown will be affiliated with the Rhinelander Silent Trails Association.  This means that more funds will be available for trail improvements and expansions after the race!

Fast Trails

Underdown trails are dried out and really fast right now.  A pre-ride of the long race course confirmed it at 15 miles.  4 or 5 laps would be possible in the 10-hour race depending on temperatures.  The winning 6-hour racer will do 3 laps if it's cool or 2 laps if it's over 80 like today.

Estimates of the short course at 5 miles look accurate, but the loop is all big hills do don't expect to get dizzy from going around and around.

Thunderdown 2015

July 18, 2015

LOCATION:  Copper Lake Road between Irma and Gleason, Wisconsin

START:
10AM     10 Hour team, solo, duo, single-speed
1PM        6 Hour solo, duo

3PM        3 Hour solo

COURSE:
Long: 10 hour solo, 10 hour duo, 6 hour solo
About 15 miles of single-track, this year's course will return to Oktoberfest and trail L.  Both have had some fun upgrades to the downhills.  Old-school trail V and the Hollow trail are taking a year off.

Short: 10 hour team, 6 hour duo, 3 hour
About 5 miles of single-track, this year's course will run with the long course through highlight trail CC  before splitting off onto sections of the Ice Age Trail that have never been raced in summer.  Riders will ride the winter route over the re-built Heartbreak Ridge climb before merging onto trail KK at Collarbone Corner.

THUNDERDOWN CUP:
Which town can put in the miles?  Wausau will be putting the Cup on the line.  Sign-up your town and return the form by 3PM.

AMENITIES:
Best deal: Lincoln County will waive the trail fee for the day so that all proceeds can be put back into the trail.
Best awards: Gift cards from the Red Eye.
Best camping: Right at the Underdown parking lot for a small fee.
Best burgers and pizza: Fork Horners on Highway X. (South\west on J, Right on X)
Best place to cool off: Prairie River bridge at the bend. Don't jump off the bridge though. (South on J 2.5 miles from Copper Lake Road)
Best gravel: BURGR 95 and Fork Horners 47 on July 11th.

Teamwork

• Bike people and hike people got together to rebuild the too-steep downhill on Ice Age Trail L.  Kelly, Bruce, Ruby, Jim, Bruce, Joe, Steve, Andrea, Gene, Randy, Anna, and Kathy came out in the rain to produce a scenic section of trail.  It will be a fun downhill on July 18th.
• Trails L and LL need just a little bit of tidying up before they are totally ready to ride, but it won't be long.  Watch for loggers between White Lightning and Homestead.  This job won't take as much work to fix for race day.

Big Day June 13th

• Help is needed for a record work day when we repair and rebuild trail L better than ever including a long, long downhill that used to be way too steep.  Come on out on the morning of June 13th about 9AM or 10AM.  It doesn't matter because we'll be there into the afternoon if we feel like it.  From Loop Road you'll be able to see the big hill where most of the work will be done.  Bring trail digging tools, but we've got extras.

• I finished cleaning up trail X and M around the Hollow to the Underover today.  It's better than ever.  
• Cougar tracks were seen near 17 east of the Underdown two weeks ago.  Maybe this is the same kitty that Brian saw on 51 in April.
• Map signs should appear on trails in late June.
• The end of June will mark the beginning of trail mowing season.  Volunteers are much appreciated.

Ready to Ride

Paul, Riley and Joe came out today to help install boardwalks and clean up after logging.  KK is now in top shape and the Heartbreak Ridge climb on trail N is ready to ride.  Most of the Hollow trail (X and M) if cleaned up with some nice little improvements.
This means that all trails are cleaned up and ready for some great rides except for L and LL which will be tackled in June with a great rebuild of a big downhill.
June 13th will be the last big work day this year.  Meet where the Ice Age Trail crosses the east side of Loop Road by the Homestead.  The effects of logging will make it obvious where the work is.

Work Day Sunday

Trails are getting cleaned off this week and are over half done.  Sunday the 10th we'll be working on cleaning up after the west side log job starting about 9AM.  We'll start on KK and work over the Heartbreak Ride on the Ice Age Trail to the Hollow Trail (M and X) to the trail G downhill off Round Top.  See the yellow line on Joe's funky map.

A Great Day for Trail Building

Steve helped get it going yesterday, and today Benji, Beth, Paul and Riley helped finish some fun upgrades to Oktoberfest.  The trail is so dry that it needs the rain.    Next week we tackle the trail around the hollow and KK where the tread took some beating from logging equipment.  We'll cover a lot of ground because the loggers were fairly gentle, and we might have time for upgrades.