Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Saturday & Sunday June 4th & 5th, 2011 Rides

Dear All,
I will lead VF (20+ mph) rides on both Saturday 6/4/2011 and Sunday 6/5/2011. Both rides will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00 AM.

On Saturday we can do a ride on Cuba road. The distance will be around 80 miles. We can stop for food at the Subway in Lake Zurich or at the Apple Haus in Long Grove.

On Sunday we can do the usual St. Mary /Cemetery loop. Total distance around 55-60 miles. Food stop at Panera Bread on Route 176/Waukegan Road in Lake Bluff.

If the weather is bad I will post a cancellation by 06:00 AM on the day of ride.

If you have any questions, send me an email at: vikfel @ yahoo.com
Felix

Butter Burger Century

Courtesy of Cliff Hoffman

Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day Ride Recap - 100 miles for a Butter Burger

Our group had a good ride to Pleasant Prairie WI, and we survived the ride home in the first 90 degree day of the year fighting against a stiff breeze out the SSW (Weather.com is reporting it got up to 19 mph by the end of the ride). We only missed one turn and only had one flat.

The ride up to the Culver's in Pleasant Prairie was really pleasant. The temperature was moderate and we had the wind pushing us. Felix pulled the group most of the way at a good pace. However, we're still trying to figure out how it could be that Cliff Hoffman, who was ahead of us, was better at navigating his way to Pleasant Prairie by himself than the combined wisdom of the nine other members of our group. He correctly made the turn we missed. Sadly, it does not speak well for the combined wisdom of our group.

The wind picked up over the course of the day. Between fighting the wind and the heat, the ride home was challenging. Cons measured the heat bouncing off the roads we were riding on at 96 degrees. We even made an extra stop at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff in order to cool down and re-hydrate

In regard to the ongoing battle between Cons and Martin to lower the weights of their bikes, Cons may be becoming a bit paranoid. He is convinced that Martin was not on the ride today because he was too busy scheming and planning how to get the weight of his bike lower than that of Cons bicycle.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

When It Rains It Pours

First Will got 4 flats, then it started raining. But, it still was a nice ride, with nice company!

5/29 Ride Recap - A Ride Filled With Lots of Laughs

Today's ride started out rather inauspiciously due to the heavy fog. The fog was so heavy that I almost turned back for home, before I realized that it wasn't quite so thick once I wiped off my glasses. The weather kept our numbers down, and since only Trish and Will had shown up for a different EBC ride they decided to join us. This got our total up to 6 riders (including Felix, Martin, John, and me). However, the six of us turned out to be a particularly compatible group. We had a nice leisurely ride up to Panera Bread in Lake Buff. My favorite line from the stop at Panera was John Chisholm's response to Trish's comment that Double Stuff Oreos are nutritionally void, "that's why I eat the whole box" (OK, you might have to of heard John's droll delivery of this line for it to seen as funny as it did in person).

Coming back home down the bunny trail (the Skokie Valley Bikeway), Will suffered two flats within a mile of each other. Now, typically hanging around while someone is fixing a flat everyone is antsy. However, for some reason our group found these stops to be a great opportunity for humor. Lot's of witty comments from the group, only a few of which were at Will's expense. The second flat could almost be classified as a third flat, as a new tube that was put on turned out to have a hole in it, so it actually turned out to be a three tube operation.

I'm not sure if the rest of the group got rained on at the tail end of the ride, because I broke off early to head home. However, I got caught in the rain less than a mile from home. With all the rain this Spring, this is the fourth time I have made it to within a mile of home prior to getting caught in the rain. My timing must be just a smidge off.

A report from Hugo contained good news. He indicates that his doctor thinks he'll be back on his bike in about 5 weeks. Here's hoping he heals even faster.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Ride Recap - 5/28 80 Mile Ride to Kenosha

George Ammerman led us on an interesting 80 mile route to Kenosha and back. It was a nice ride, particularly the section along Lake Michigan north of the Wisconsin state line. The wind was our friend for much of the day. It pushed us north and then died down once we got back to Green Bay Road on the north shore. .We stopped for an early lunch in Zion at It's All Good, which seems to be a popular spot among cyclists.

It seems a bit ironic that John and Felix really picked up the pace after Martin had left the ride to head home to Deerfield.

A long time EBC member, Heidi, joined us for the part of the ride and was well prepared for our pace. A highlight for the ride for me was riding by my wife, who was part of a triathlon training group that was running and biking around Fort Sheridan.

There were some mild complaints that the weather forecast was for a really nice day, and instead we got a gray chilly day. However, the superstitious among us careful not to complain too much about the weather being chillier than predicted, because that would probably be a nice thing if it happens on Monday. Let's hope the forecast I saw for Monday that predicted 90 degrees is also off. Also, despite threatening skies for much of the ride, the rain held off until after we were home. It says something about our weather this spring that a ride in which we did not get rained upon is notable.

Kenosha 5/28/2011

It started with wet roads, but we remained dry for the entire ride. Nice group and nice ride.



Thursday, May 26, 2011

10 signs that cycling has taken over your life

I saw something interesting at:
http://chasingwheels.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-signs-that-cycling-has-taken-over.html

1. Distances are measured by how long it would take you to cover it on a bike. New York to Los Angeles is 208.34 hours. 197.59 hours if you use your aero wheels.

2. You mutter "car back" while driving when you see headlights behind you. (+1 if your significant other actually understands why you do this.)

3. You start drafting behind people on the sidewalk.

4. You read articles about cycling and impotence, shrug your shoulders, and go for a 50 mile ride.

5. You try to lift your butt off the car seat when you drive over a bump.

6. You shave your legs more than your wife or girlfriend. She borrows your Nair.

7. You have quads like a horse. And biceps like vermicelli. And you think this looks good. (Urkel wants his arms back.)

8. You calculate the cost of your last carbon fiber purchase in $/gram. And discover that cocaine is actually cheaper.

9. You traded in your perfectly good car to buy a new one with paddle shifters... because they just make more sense.

10. Someone tries to schedule a meeting at 12:25 and you hear something about cassettes.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ride Schedule for the Memorial Day Weekend 5/28-5/29-5/30

Dear All,
On Saturday 5/28 we will do a Very Fast (20+mph) ride to Kenosha. George Ammerman will take us on his usual route. We will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00. Total distance will be around 85 miles. We can brake George's tradition of making this ride non-stop, and make one food stop on the way back at It’s All Good CafĂ© in Zion. Bring some pocket food since it will be about 60 miles into the ride.

On Sunday 5/29 we can do a easy (18 mph recovery ride) Panera to Panera. We will start at 07:00 from Panera Bread in Wilmette. Total distance around 40 miles.

On Monday 5/30 we will do a faster (20 mph+) version of Ken's Butter Burger Century. We will start at 07:00 from Panera Bread in Wilmette. Food stop at Culver's in Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin. Total distance just a little over than 100 miles.

If the weather is bad, I will post a cancellation on the listserve by 06:00 on the day of the ride.
http://evanstonbikeclub.org/  (click on Listserve-Rides link on the top)

If you have any questions about the rides, send me an email at vikfel at yahoo.com

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sunday 5/22/2011 Ride Recap

This was the first really nice day for biking for the year. We started with the temperature in the 60s and finished with the temperature in the 70s. It was sunny most of the time. There was wind from the SW. It did help us make a very good time going north. After short discussion (and few arm twists) we decided to extend the usual Panera to Panera ride with the look around the cemetery at the end of St. Mary Road.
Certain "lazy" rider with a power meter in the bottom bracket (no names mentioned) made many not so lazy sprints (mostly uphills). The rest of the group was going steady in a pace line. We had the usual stop at the Panera in Lake Bluff. The wind was in our face on the way home, but other than slowing us down a little, could not spoil the beautiful day. Everybody made it home in good spirits. Hopefully the good weather is here to stay. Stay tuned for a busy ride schedule on the Memorial Day weekend.
P.S.
Cons pulled a fast one on Martin. Not only he had his new, light saddle on, but he somehow convinced Martin to use his old and "heavy" saddle. I bet now the weight difference is at least 0.03 pounds.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Great Bicycle Weigh-in

True to form for two 5-year-olds, Cons and I decided to go to Higher Gear to weigh our bikes. We stopped by Cons's house to replace his seat with a new, lighter one, as he has had the seat since Christmas and had meant to install it. Rich also came to be the witness and we installed the seat. Cons removed one of the two water-bottle cages because Ionly have one, but I made sure he put the bolts back in the frame as I have all 4 bolts.

When Cons, Rich and I got to HG Wilmette, Fred, the chief mechanic, was out to lunch. The lady behind the countrer sensed this was something so silly that Fred should probably not miss it, so she called him, and Fred showed up within minutes. The verdict? First the scale showed Cons's bike to be 13.15 pounds, but it also showed my bike to be 13.15 pounds on Thursday...it seems to be a zero-ing issue with that particular Park digital scale. We reset it and started making measurements that made sense. Cons's bike was 14 pounds even; mine was 14.02 pounds. The difference was 0.02 pounds, about 10 grams, or the weight of three pennies. (Interestingly, my bike weighed 14 pounds two days ago on the same scale...it must have gotten dirty.) So my bike is officially heavier than Cons's bike, but only after the seat-change.

Obviously we are not taking ourselves seriously, and nobody wants to start drilling holes in his bike just to make it lighter. It is great to have a light bike only if it is strong as well. That said, do we REALLY need both wheels and brakes?

Ride Recap - 5/21 Ride - Martin Decided to Wreck Cons Day

The ride got off due a somewhat belated start due to Martin's arrival with a hand held scale. After weighing Cons' bike, Martin gleefully announced that his bike was 0.2 pounds lighter. Of course, that led to Cons disputing the accuracy of the scale. Much discussion ensued. Finally, Cons seemed to accept the fact that Martin's bike might be lighter, but mentioned that he still had tricks left to pull. The battle is joined.

Shortly into the ride, Tom received a distressing call from his wife that one of their sons had taken a nose dive off of a coffee table and that she was off to the Emergency Room. He quickly departed. Hopefully, nothing serious.

Fortunately, the rest of the ride to the Cuba Marsh was uneventful. We made good time, particularly on the Cuba Road rollers. On the way back, we stopped in Long Grove at the Apple Haus. I don't recall anyone in the group taking a pass on their pastries. The Apple Fritter I ordered did not last long. Highly recommended as a good destination for a bike group.

The ride ended up being just short of 70 miles. I think we all enjoyed being out on a nice day that did not require pulling on the tights.

Friday, May 20, 2011

I Have Such A Deal For Anyone That Still Believes Lance Armstrong Was Drug Free

It is sad that iconic figure Lance Armstrong is getting dragged into the drug sewer. He was a hero to a lot of people and raised large sums for good causes. However, it is almost impossible to believe that anyone could possibly have performed at the near super human level that Lance did without performance enhancing drugs.

My own experience riding a Century two days after oral surgery while still taking pain killers and steroids has convinced me that the benefits of the drugs upon my performance was so great, that if most of the peleton was using drugs, it would have been nearly impossible to compete without using them. I got off my bike pain free after a long, hard ride. I guess its a good thing I did not ask my oral surgeon if I should ride in the Century so soon after the procedure, because I found out afterwards that he would have vehemently discouraged it. However, prior to my next Century, I wished I had saved some of the painkillers so I could have used them for another pain free ride.

So here is an instance where I had zero financial reward for enhancing my performance by taking drugs, but I would have done so if they had been readily available. No one can possibly convince me that if my livelihood was dependent upon performing well, and my competitors were doing so that I would have been drug free. Sorry, Lance but your claims of being drug free just are not credible.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Saturday & Sunday May 21st & 22nd, 2011 Rides

Dear All,
I will lead two Very Fast (20mph+) rides this weekend.
Both rides will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00.

On Saturday we can do a slightly faster version of Cliff's ride to Volo Bog. Distance around 90 miles. Food Stop in the middle.

On Sunday we can do the usual St Mary/Libertyville loop (50-60 miles) or Panera to Panera (40-45 miles) with one food stop in the middle (Panera Bread in Lake Bluff on Rt. 176).

If you have any questions send me an email at: vikfel at yahoo.com

Felix Angelov

Thursday May 19th, 2011 After Work Ride

Dear All,
I will lead a Very Fast (20+ mph) ride on Thursday at 17:30. The ride will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette. Destination is Fort Sheridan. Distance around 35 miles. No food stop, bathroom stop as needed at a train station.
If you are planning to join me, please reply directly to me via email vikfel at yahoo.com
Felix Angelov

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Weighing bikes

According to Fred of Higher Gear, Cons's bike is 13.1 pounds on their scale including pedals. This is about one pound lighter than my bike, which is a huge difference in this weight range.

Most of the difference may be contributed to wheels (at least 200g), and maybe the frame (about 100g). Other components should be comparable as a whole but I might have overlooked something.

I will go over to HG one day and weigh my bike on the same scale as well...before I go, I will visit Fermilab and fill the tires with helium first. I expect to meet Cons there getting his helium from his cousin, who works there.

Monday, May 9, 2011

After Work Ride on Thursday 5/12/2011

Dear All,
I will lead a VF (20+mph) ride on Thursday 5/12/2011. The ride will start at 17:30 from Panera Bread in Wilmette. Destination Fort Sheridan, distance around 30-35 miles.
I will post cancellation on the listserve by 16:00 on the day of the ride if the weather looks bad.
If you are planning to join, please send me an email at vikfel @ yahoo.com
Felix Angelov

Rides for Saturday and Sunday 5/14 and 5/15/2011

Dear All,
I will lead Very Fast Rides (20+ mph) on both Saturday 5/14/2011 and Sunday 5/15/2011. We will start both rides from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00.
Saturday we will do a faster version of the ride to Algonquin via Cuba Road. We will stop for food somewhere in the Long Grove Area. Distance is going to be around 80 miles.
Sunday we will do the usual St. Mary loop. We will stop for food at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff. Distance around 60 miles. We can make it Panera to Panera (45 miles) depending on how the group feels on that day.
I will post a cancellation if the weather is bad by 06:00 on the day of the ride.
If you have any questions, please send me an email at vikfel at yahoo.com
Felix Angelov

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day Ride Recap

We had 9 riders on today's ride who did not let their obligation to be dutiful children get in the way of a good bike ride. It was our first ride of the year to Gurnee, about a 60 mile round trip, A nice ride on a sunny day was brought to a jarring stop due to Hugo taking a terrible spill. He hit a big piece of loose asphalt, and went over the handlebars. Fortunately his Bianchi frame made it through the fall with just a few scratches to the brake hoods. Unfortunately, Hugo did not make out so well. He chipped a tooth, smashed his lip, left some blood behind, wrenched his back, ripped his pants, cracked his helmet, and had a number of nasty looking road rashes  There were only two riders behind him, and both Lauren and John were able to avoid Hugo's prone body, although John had to take a path between Hugo and his bike. Hugo, hope you heal quickly.

Cons spouse deserves our good samaritan award. She came all the way out to Gurnee in their SUV and picked up Hugo and his bike. Cons, you must have really been on your game the day you asked her to marry you.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Could not escape the rain

After cancelling the morning ride when reading the forecast and looking at the local radar image, it did not rain the whole morning. The afternoon forecast looked much more promising and the radar showed no rain in sight. We went for a short ride to Fort Sheridan with Martin. It all looked good untill on the way back (downtown Highland Park) it started raining. We stopped at Higher Gear Cycling store hoping that it would be over soon. After about half an hour we gave up and took the ride of shame (Martin's wife kept us dry by giving us a ride in her van).
Tomorrow looks like it will be dry and good for biking (if we can trust the forecast).

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Rides for Saturday and Sunday 5/7 and 5/8/2011

Dear All,
I will lead Very Fast Rides (20+ mph) on both Saturday 5/7/2011 and Sunday 5/8/2011. We will start both rides from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00.
Saturday we will do a faster version of the ride to Gurnee. We will stop for food at the Avalon Restaurant. Distance is going to be around 70 miles.
Sunday we will do the usual St. Mary loop. We will stop for food at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff. Distance around 60 miles. We can make it Panera to Panera (45 miles) depending on how the group feels on that day.
I will post a cancellation if the weather is bad by 06:00 on the day of the ride.
If you have any questions, please send me an email at vikfel at yahoo.com
Felix Angelov