Ride cancelled. Roads are too slippery.
We're going to make a run up to Bluffington's for hot chocolate on Saturday (and/or Eggs Bluffington). Bundle up, because it is supposed to be a chilly day (high of 40 degrees), but given the unpredictable weather in Chicago, this may be as good as it gets for weekend bike riding during the remainder of 2011. The ride will leave from Panera Bread in Wilmette shortly after 8:00 am and should be around a 50 mile round trip at a pace of about 20 mph.
11/30/11 Update - Bluffington's is going to provide a free hot drink to everyone in the group Whoo-hoo
Bluffington's is going to provide some sort of special deal to our group, details to follow. Also, there is some sort of holiday fair in Lake Bluff on the 3rd that we can take in if the spirit so moves the group.
If the weather is not good for riding a cancellation will be posted by 07:00 AM on the day of the ride to this site.
Sunday's ride will be a Show & Go ride, but we may consider heading to Rooster's in Bloomingdale. The highlight of this route is viewing the elk while riding through Busse Woods It's about a 60 mile ride if we don't make any wrong turns (it's been about 3 years since I last made the ride, and the odds are fairly good that if I lead the read, I'll make at least one wrong turn). However, this is just a possible option, and if the members of the group are time constrained, we can follow our usual winter route of Panera to Panera.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving Weekend Ride Recap
Is it stating the obvious to indicate rides during the fall in Chicagoland were greatly affected by the wind? The wind was above 10 miles an hour for all the rides, so the wind was quite a factor. It was blowing mostly out of the south, so all our rides north were at pretty good pace, while we fought the wind on our ride home.
We had a good turnout for the Thanksgiving day ride, including Cliff, George, Big Bob, Martin, Felix, John and me. We met at our usual spot, Panera Bread. It seemed a bit odd when I rode up to see everyone standing outside, including a good sized contingent from the "Fast" group, as Panera was closed for Thanksgiving. Due to Panera in Lake Bluff also being closed we altered our route a bit. We took the Skokie Valley Bikeway up to Route 176 and the headed east on the bike path. We stopped at the Starbucks by Fort Sheridan.
The Black Friday group included Cliff H, George, Jim H., John, me. We took the same route north, until arriving at Fort Sheridan, and then headed north up the bike trail to Bluffingtons. We decided to come back via the scenic route along the lake.
Saturday's ride featured warmer temperatures (in the '50's), with a threatening sky and rain in the forecast. We decided that Heidi, who turned back for home at Lake Cook Road due to work commitments, was probably a lot smarter than Cliff, John Martin, and me. She avoided the drizzle/rain that the rest of us got caught in. We had decided to shorten up the ride by just going up to Route 176, and turning back. But we were unable to beat the rain. John made the rest of us feel like weather wimps, because he headed on to Bluffington's on his own.
We had a good turnout for the Thanksgiving day ride, including Cliff, George, Big Bob, Martin, Felix, John and me. We met at our usual spot, Panera Bread. It seemed a bit odd when I rode up to see everyone standing outside, including a good sized contingent from the "Fast" group, as Panera was closed for Thanksgiving. Due to Panera in Lake Bluff also being closed we altered our route a bit. We took the Skokie Valley Bikeway up to Route 176 and the headed east on the bike path. We stopped at the Starbucks by Fort Sheridan.
The Black Friday group included Cliff H, George, Jim H., John, me. We took the same route north, until arriving at Fort Sheridan, and then headed north up the bike trail to Bluffingtons. We decided to come back via the scenic route along the lake.
Saturday's ride featured warmer temperatures (in the '50's), with a threatening sky and rain in the forecast. We decided that Heidi, who turned back for home at Lake Cook Road due to work commitments, was probably a lot smarter than Cliff, John Martin, and me. She avoided the drizzle/rain that the rest of us got caught in. We had decided to shorten up the ride by just going up to Route 176, and turning back. But we were unable to beat the rain. John made the rest of us feel like weather wimps, because he headed on to Bluffington's on his own.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Weekend Rides - November 24,25,26 and 27
EBC Show & Go rides are scheduled to leave from Panera Bread at 8:00 am on all four days of the holiday weekend. Participation by members of the 20+ group may be a bit spotty, but presumably there should be a group going out each morning.
Heidi passed along the following:
Hi all – I thought you might like to know what a fellow EBC’er has accomplished. Phil Procida easily won his age group at the Tour de Tucson with an 18.7 mph average for 111 miles. 111 miles in 6 hours. Did I mention he is 75?
Heidi passed along the following:
Hi all – I thought you might like to know what a fellow EBC’er has accomplished. Phil Procida easily won his age group at the Tour de Tucson with an 18.7 mph average for 111 miles. 111 miles in 6 hours. Did I mention he is 75?
Monday, November 21, 2011
Ride Recap - Weekend of 11/19-20
We got in a couple of rides featuring a brisk pace this weekend. On both rides, we took the Skokie Valley Bikeway up to 176. However, on Saturday, John talked us into heading east to Bluffington's instead of our usual stop at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff. On Sunday, we did the standard Panera to Panera ride.
The wind changed direction by 180 degrees between the two days. On Saturday the wind blew us north and we fought our way through it on the way home. Sunday was just the opposite. The ride home Sunday with the wind at our backs was definitely more fun than the ride north.
Saturday's group included Cliff, Dave, Felix, John, Martin, Rob and me. Bill Rizek also was with us for part of the ride. Rob lived up to his reputation as having bloodhound like capabilities for tracking down rides, as he met up with up at Hibbard and Tower Roads.
The colder temperature (low 40's) may have held down the size of the group by a bit on Sunday, as it only included Felix, Gary, Ian and me. Despite the chilly weather, we seemed to have overdressed, as we all worked up a bit of a sweat on the strenuous ride against the wind heading north. We extended our stay at Panera to give our cold, clammy bodies an opportunity to thoroughly dry off before getting back on our bikes for the trip home. As we were in good company, no one seemed to mind extending the stay.
Hopefully, we'll get in some decent weather during December. We set of a goal for our group of racking up over 1,000 EBC Club miles next month. Of course, if 40 degrees seemed chilly, once December's weather descends, the 1,000 mile goal may start to seem rather ambitious.
The wind changed direction by 180 degrees between the two days. On Saturday the wind blew us north and we fought our way through it on the way home. Sunday was just the opposite. The ride home Sunday with the wind at our backs was definitely more fun than the ride north.
Saturday's group included Cliff, Dave, Felix, John, Martin, Rob and me. Bill Rizek also was with us for part of the ride. Rob lived up to his reputation as having bloodhound like capabilities for tracking down rides, as he met up with up at Hibbard and Tower Roads.
The colder temperature (low 40's) may have held down the size of the group by a bit on Sunday, as it only included Felix, Gary, Ian and me. Despite the chilly weather, we seemed to have overdressed, as we all worked up a bit of a sweat on the strenuous ride against the wind heading north. We extended our stay at Panera to give our cold, clammy bodies an opportunity to thoroughly dry off before getting back on our bikes for the trip home. As we were in good company, no one seemed to mind extending the stay.
Hopefully, we'll get in some decent weather during December. We set of a goal for our group of racking up over 1,000 EBC Club miles next month. Of course, if 40 degrees seemed chilly, once December's weather descends, the 1,000 mile goal may start to seem rather ambitious.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Rides for Saturday and Sunday 11/12 and 11/13/2011
I will lead VF rides from Panera in Wilmette on Saturday and Sunday starting at 08:00 AM.
We will do Panera to Panera with optional extra 10-15 mile loop on St. Mary/O'Plaine roads if the weather is nice and the group feels like it. If the weather is not good for riding I will post a cancellation by 07:00 AM on the day of the ride.
Felix
We will do Panera to Panera with optional extra 10-15 mile loop on St. Mary/O'Plaine roads if the weather is nice and the group feels like it. If the weather is not good for riding I will post a cancellation by 07:00 AM on the day of the ride.
Felix
Monday, November 7, 2011
Saturday 11-5-11 ride
This past Saturday we had a brilliant ride to Panera and points beyond. The pace up the bunny trail was a steady 28 mph for those that could hang on...I got caught out in the back of the surge and, although the line was always in sight, I could not catch back up. However, there was a soft tailwind and I had a terrific ride up the trail on my own and felt great.
After that effort, no one was in any hurry to leave our comfy quarters at Panera in Lake Bluff....but eventually we did and Felix led us on the St Marys/O'Plaine/Atkinson/Waukegan etc loop that goes by the forest preserve. Passing the silver lakes with the leaves drifting down in the sunshine as we paced along was fantastic.
I have new keywin pedals and discovered that they stiffen up in the cold and don't want to let me unclip....I was sure this would happen and I would have the inevitable tip-over - my plan was to stay close to Big Bob so I could lean on him instead of the pavement, but luckily I was able to get out every time -- also good time to practice the track stand.
But now I come to the real reason for this blog post. As we were returning Cliff slowed down and, when we turned to get onto Green Bay he stayed out of view. We waited for him and called his phone but he didn't show up or answer (did not hear the phone) so we assumed (correctly) that he didn't see us turn and went a different way. Because we know he can fix a flat (!!!) and knows his way home we weren't worried and decided to continue home. There was a plan for Cliff (and anyone else inclined) to stop at my house for wine on the way home and, sure enough Cliff turned up after awhile.
Cliff is on heart medication and it turns out that his heart rate went way up past where it should be with the medication. He slowed down to 12 mph (so of course he got left way behind) and still could not get his rate to a safe place until he actually got to my house. This was a potentially threatening situation -- the VF rides generally don't have a sweep since all are experienced riders, but I think we should all consider if there is some way to lower the chance of this kind of thing (or an accident, for example) happening again and without the rest of our knowledge.
Cliff and I drank a whole bottle of a very good German pinot noir in the sunshine at my picnic table and all ended well with no harm done and it was another great day on the bike.
Comments/ideas welcome
After that effort, no one was in any hurry to leave our comfy quarters at Panera in Lake Bluff....but eventually we did and Felix led us on the St Marys/O'Plaine/Atkinson/Waukegan etc loop that goes by the forest preserve. Passing the silver lakes with the leaves drifting down in the sunshine as we paced along was fantastic.
I have new keywin pedals and discovered that they stiffen up in the cold and don't want to let me unclip....I was sure this would happen and I would have the inevitable tip-over - my plan was to stay close to Big Bob so I could lean on him instead of the pavement, but luckily I was able to get out every time -- also good time to practice the track stand.
But now I come to the real reason for this blog post. As we were returning Cliff slowed down and, when we turned to get onto Green Bay he stayed out of view. We waited for him and called his phone but he didn't show up or answer (did not hear the phone) so we assumed (correctly) that he didn't see us turn and went a different way. Because we know he can fix a flat (!!!) and knows his way home we weren't worried and decided to continue home. There was a plan for Cliff (and anyone else inclined) to stop at my house for wine on the way home and, sure enough Cliff turned up after awhile.
Cliff is on heart medication and it turns out that his heart rate went way up past where it should be with the medication. He slowed down to 12 mph (so of course he got left way behind) and still could not get his rate to a safe place until he actually got to my house. This was a potentially threatening situation -- the VF rides generally don't have a sweep since all are experienced riders, but I think we should all consider if there is some way to lower the chance of this kind of thing (or an accident, for example) happening again and without the rest of our knowledge.
Cliff and I drank a whole bottle of a very good German pinot noir in the sunshine at my picnic table and all ended well with no harm done and it was another great day on the bike.
Comments/ideas welcome
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Ride for Saturday 11/5/2011
Dear All,
I will lead a VF ride (20mph) this Saturday.
We will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 08:00.
Distance is going to be between 50 and 70 miles.
Destination either Libertyville or Cuba Road.
There will be a food stop in the middle of the ride.
If the weather is not good for riding, I will post a cancellation before 7AM on the day of the ride.
Felix
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