I am not from WI, never been to WI (until last weekend) and have no prior relationship with with or love for IM MOO. For those who have never ridden it and are looking for some objective (well fairly) observations/thoughts about the Verona loop, I’ll offer the following:
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WI is beautiful. The farms are immaculate, the views stunning. Wildlife everywhere - very very nice, even the red tip black birds attacking you is bizarre but kind of cool!! (I really did n’t think that was real - wow!) Verona lovely town, Madison very cool. People very friendly - even pick-up drivers - no hassle on roads at all - given loads of space by all - amazing.
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The Verona loop is very undulating. Most of the loop is gradually and constantly up and down. This is clearly what gives IM MOO its unique characteristic. IM FL - flat but windy - IMLP - the Keene decent and the 12 mile hill at end of each loop - for IM MOO, its up and down the whole time.
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Almost every decent on the Verona loop is interrupted by sharp (some 90 degree, some stop sign) turns. Almost every decent requires braking at some point, well at least for the newby rider to the course. Often 90 degree right hand turns are made into sharp inclines.
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Do not push too hard on the first half of the first loop - wait till you see the 3 great hills on the last 20 miles of the loop - they hurt the first time - they really hurt the second.
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90 % of the surface of the roads for the Verona loop (40 miles × 2 = 80 miles) completely sucks. The roads are not asphalt, but asphalt with gravel on top - its like riding in sludge - you start to think you have a brake rubbing or a slow flat then all of a sudden you hit a 300 yard stretch of real asphalt road and feel the difference. In addition to the actual surface, the roads themselves are for the most part horribly bumpy. Aside from railroad crossings, in places the surface is an uneven/bumpy (a la shake you like sitting on top of washing machine) but otherwise, for literally miles, there are significant bumps every 10 yards - looks like it is related to how the underlying road surface was constructed - there are dips across the entire width of the roadway, with the following effect - thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, etc. (On the first loop the thud-thud phenomena is not too bad - by the second, every bump goes through your shoulders, neck and upper back.)
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Given the above, there is no (well at least very little) down-time on the Verona loop - you are constantly gearing for rolling hills, sharp turns, watching for holes in the road, cracks in the road and/or otherwise trying to pick the best surface in a sea of shite surfaces. Be wary, given the never ending concentration factor to make sure you are fueling and hydrating according to your plan.
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Every once in a while posters here ask which is faster IM LP or IM MOO - for my 2 cents you can add 20 mins to your IM LP time for IM MOO - LP has to be faster - clean, fast descents, with a great road surface. IM MOO is a light, climbers course - of which sadly I am neither!!
For last years race - in 50 degree rain - anyone riding a sub-5 hr 30 min bike is a stud - oh my god - IM MOO is not a place to go for a PR, which is unfortunately why I signed up - do not now expect to break any PR records on the bike or the run.
WI is however, clearly a gem of a state, and with somewhat adjusted expectations, roll-on September 9!!!