6/30 Ride Recap - 60 Mile Loop to Rt 120

We extended our usual Lbertyville loop by taking River Road to Rt. 120. before turning back and heading for home.

The group included:

Dave
Herb
Martin
Mike
Randy P
Rich

Rich made a valiant attempt to stay with the group, but was still too sore from last week's crash to complete it with us.

While at Panera Bread in Wilmette, the group agreed to set a goal of maintaining a steady 22 mph pace for the entire ride. However, somehow by the time we got to Winnetka, 22 mph was no longer the speed limit, but had become the minimum. speed. We even took the three little hills on St. Mary's at 22 mph, with Dave setting the pace by pulling us up the first of the sisters. By the time we were headed back home down the Skokie Valley Bikeway, the minimum speed had popped up to 24 mph (and considerably faster than that on some of Martin and Mike's pulls).

During the ride, we caught up with a "shop ride" group that we rode with a few times in the spring. As we passed them on Waukegan Rd heading toward 176, they sped up to 25 mph to try and hang with us, but due to being able to draft off Mike and Martin, we left them in our dust. I was having trouble keeping up with Martin and Mike, but was highly motivated to stay well ahead of the other group. The other group got stuck at a light, and we were able to get so far ahead of them that they were out of sight by the time we got to 176. I have to admit that we were rather pleased with ourselves for showing up this other group.

Heading west on Everett, we took the sidewalk over the overpass. It was probably a good thing, because there was lots of traffic heading east.

It was a successful ride, and thanks to the front that came in yesterday, the heat was not too much of a factor, although it was starting to ampt up by the end of the ride.

Thursday 6/28, Saturday 6/30 and Sunday 7/1/2012 Rides

On Thursday 6/28/2012 we are going to join the Higher Gear Bicycle Store in Wilmette ride. It starts at 17:30 SHARP from their store in Plaza del Lago. The ride goes to Fort Sheridan and back with no stops. The pace is fast - the average speed with all stop signs and traffic lights is over 20 mph. There are sprints at well over 30 mph. There is plenty of free parking in front of the store if you come driving. I will post a cancellation an hour before the ride if the weather is not good for riding (including temperature above 100 degrees).

On Saturday 6/30/2012 we will extend our usual ride on St. Mary Road by staying on River Road until we run into Rt. 120 (Belvidere Rd). The ride starts from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00 AM. The total distance will be around 60-65 miles. We'll take a mid ride break at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff and may make a quick pit stop at the Lake Forest train station. A cancellation will be posted an hour before the ride if lighting or heavy rain is in the
forecast.

On Sunday 7/1/2012 we will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 08:00 AM. We will do the usual loop to the Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville. If the weather is not too hot and the group feels like it we will do an extra loop (Waukegan, Old Elm, Everett, St. Mary, Buckley, Waukegan). We will stop briefly for water at Panera on Rt. 176. Without the extra loop it will be around 55 miles, with the extra loop it will be around 75 miles. I will post a cancellation an hour before the ride if the weather is not good for riding (including temperature above 100 degrees).

Hello All,

I would like to setup a time to take some riding action shots of the group. I would need a ride to where ever we would do it. Also, I want to avoid Midday (harsh Light) so late afternoon or very early morning would be preferred. I would also like to take some group team photos once the jersey's are in as well. I would like your input for date(s) and places.

Randy W.

Police Crackdown on Cyclists?

Both the Judson Group and the Plaza Group got pulled over today for blowing through stop signs. In both cases the violations were pretty egregious, but it is something to keep in mind. Previously, I had not paid too much attention to the rumor that there was going to be a concerted effort across the suburbs to rein in bike groups going through stop signs and red light. It may just be coincidence that both groups got pulled over on the same day, but something to be aware of on future rides, particularly going through Winnetla. The Judson Group got pulled over in Winnetka. I presume it was at the corner of Oak and Greenbay. The Plaza Group was pulled over in Barington Hills.

6/23/2012 Ride Re-Cap

The day started with nice weather, a good group of riders. We took the usual route for the typical Saturday ride to St. Mary Road with a loop around the Ascension Cemetery. We were riding in double (non-rotating paceline). We were able to stay close together and maintain decent pace for a good part of the ride. As we were getting more comfortable with each other in the paceline the speed was going up. With about 15 miles to go we had an unfortunate accident. We had three riders go down at about 27 mph with two others narrowly escaping the crash. One rider seemed to be injured the worse. He was taken to the Lake Forrest hospital and was found to have broken collar bone and shoulder blade in addition to several areas of road rash. His new carbon bike also sustained the worse damage - a broken chain stay. Another rider had a lot of road rash and several badly bruised areas, but was in good spirit and declined to have a trip to the ER for check up. He also discovered that his carbon handlebars were broken too. The third rider had some road rash and damaged front wheel, he also declined to be taken to the ER and appeared to have avoided major injury. It was a quiet ride back home with generous spacing in the paceline. The injured rider that was taken to the ER was released home after being tested for additional injuries.
As they say biking is inherently dangerous activity. We will all use this unfortunate accident to learn and become better and safer riders.

Here are some pictures from the scene. The broken bike pictures are too graphic to be posted.

Rides for Thursday 6/21, Saturday 6/23 and Sunday 6/24/2012

On Thursday 6/21/2012 we are going to join the Higher Gear Bicycle Store in Wilmette ride. It starts at 17:30 SHARP from their store in Plaza del Lago. The ride goes to Fort Sheridan and back with no stops. The pace is fast - the average speed with all stop signs and traffic lights is over 20 mph. There are sprints at well over 30 mph. There is plenty of free parking in front of the store if you come driving.

On Saturday 6/23/2012 we will do the usual ride on St. Mary Road with a loop around the cemetery. The ride starts from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 08:00 AM. The total distance will be around 50-55 miles. There will be no food stop during the ride, so bring snacks to eat on the bike. We will make a quick bathroom break somewhere during the ride. We will stop for food at the end of the ride at Panera Bread in Wilmette.

On Sunday 6/24/2012 we will do the Swedish Days Century Ride. The start/finish point is behind Central High School, near Burlington, Illinois. The school is located on Plato Road, 1 mile west of IL Route 47 and approximately 8 miles south of I–90 (44W625 Plato Road, Hampshire, IL 60140 for Internet maps). From here all routes travel the quiet and scenic paved roads of rural Kane County. The terrain is mostly flat, with an occasional hill. There are frequent rest stops, stocked with beverages and various selections of fruits, breads, and homemade cookies.

The plan is to start riding at 07:00, so plan to arrive there with enough time to register (you can register online ahead of time until Thursday). See the link on the web site http://www.fvbsc.org/swededays.html

We will ride as a group in a paceline trying to complete the entire ride under 5 hours ride time. We will stop briefly at all 4 rest stops.

If you are planning to join, send me an email so we can plan for travel or meet at the start.

Barrington Hills Ride Recap

We had a total of 12 riders for most of the ride. We started with overcast skies, but it felt hot and humid from the very beginning. The pace was not very hard and were riding in a double paceline for a good part of the way to Cuba Road. We made a needed stop at the Walgreens on Cuba Rd. for water and Gatorade and continued. It was feeling pretty hot already despite the temperature showing to be in mid 80s. We made the loop to Old Sutton and Penny and came back on Otis. We saw the other fast EBC group as we passed through downtown Barrington. We were doing mostly single paceline for the rest of the ride. We had to make one more water stop at Panera at Milwaukee and Deerfield. The temperature was in the 90s already. Cool Randy aggravated his sciatica and was having trouble keeping up with the group. He was offered to be put out of his misery by an anonymous EBC rider and he almost accepted the offer ;-)
We made it back with an average speed of around 19 mph for the entire 85 mile ride. I was glad I was not doing the Horribly Hilly Hundred ride in Wisconsin like Mike (125 miles with 10,000+ feet of climbing).
For the future long rides we will have to start practicing more strict paceline riding since we are not quite ready to maintain the target pace for the Sub-5 ride.

Higher Gear Ride recap

Four EBC riders - Heidi, Hugo, Clay and I joined Fred and several other riders for the usual Thursday evening ride to fort Sheridan. Martin is still recovering from his surgery, Cons is on a business trip out of state, Randy Randy is working late at his new job, Mike is in Wisconsin getting ready to do the Horribly Hilly Hundred ride, the Northwestern Riders are either done with school and gone home or are training or competing some where else. The ride started at a steady pace with a decent double paceline. We all stayed together to the S-turn just before Fort Sheridan where we split into two groups. The pace picked up, but there were no sprints and no rabbits to chase. On the way back the pace felt faster with mostly riding in a single pace line, there were only two short sprints - one just south of South Ave and the usual one at the end of the ride on Sheridan road. Kudos to Heidi for staying with the group the whole time!

Rides for Thursday 6/14, Saturday 6/16 and Sunday 6/17/2012

On Thursday 6/14/2012 we are going to join the Higher Gear Bicycle Store in Wilmette ride. It starts at 17:30 SHARP from their store in Plaza del Lago. The ride goes to Fort Sheridan and back with no stops. The pace is fast - the average speed with all stop signs and traffic lights is over 20 mph. There are sprints at well over 30 mph. There is plenty of free parking in front of the store if you come driving.

On Saturday 6/16/2012 we will do around 80 miles - either North to the Wisconsin border, or West to Barrington Hills. The ride starts at 07:00 from panera Bread in Wilmette. We will decide the direction on the morning of the ride based on the wind. There will be no food stop. We will stop for bathroom and water as needed.

We will stop for food at the end of the ride at Panera Bread in Wilmette.

On Sunday 6/17/2012 we will do the usual ride on St. Mary Road with a loop around the cemetery. The ride starts from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00 AM. The total distance will be around 50-55 miles. There will be no food stop during the ride, so bring snacks to eat on the bike. We will make a quick bathroom break somewhere during the ride. We will stop for food at the end of the ride at Panera Bread in Wilmette.

Ride Recap - Weekend of 6/9-10/12

On Saturday, we rode 68 miles to the Cuba Marsh. It was a day on which the wind was our friend, as it was out of the southwest and picked up a bit as the morning progressed, thus giving us a bit of a push home coming back east.  We got in some practice at rotating double paceline riding on Deerfield Road going west. On the way home, going east on Deerfield Road we took advantage of the wind at our backs for an energetic 31 mph sprint.

The group included:

Bob
Cons
Brian
Dave
Gary
Herb
Hugo
Mike
Randy

Sad to say, this ride is not quite the same now that the Apple Haus is closed. We attempted to check out the new restaurant that has replaced it, but they were do not not open till 11:00 am. Instead, we stopped for a mid ride break at Panera Bread in Deerfield. Given the heat, it was definitely a two stop to refill water bottles type of day.

On Sunday, we did a 51 mile loop around Ascension Cemetery. We kept up a good pace on the ride, with an average bike computer time of over 20 mph. The group included:

Dave
Felix
Gary
Heidi
Herb
Joe
John
Martin
Randy
Rich

We were certainly loyal Panera Bread customers. The ride started and finished at Panera in Wilmette, and we took a mid ride break at a Panera in Lake Bluff.

There are three spots on this ride that have become the regular locations for sprints: 1) the overpass on Everett; 2) Waukegan Road from Buckley to Rt. 176; and 3) Geeen Bay Road (usually starting around Tower Road, but sometimes in Glencoe). However, there is construction on the the Everett Road overpass, so we had to take that a bit slowly today (and the construction will be ongoing for a couple more weeks). We still were able to get a good work out in on this ride, due to chasing Martin down Waukegan and Felix down Green Bay. It turned out to be a successful ride, and we completed it before the nasty heat of the day arrived.

Rides for the Weekend of 6/9 -10

On Saturday, we will  ride to Cuba Marsh. Tentative plan is to turn back for home at Quentin Road, making it a 60 mile ride. However, if the group is feeling good, we could extend the ride for some bonus miles .Departing Panera Bread in Wilmette at 7:00 am. Given the projection that the temperature is headed to 90 degrees on Saturday, seems likely that 60 miles may be satisfying enough.

On Sunday, we'll head north to Libertyville. We'll do the usual St. Mary's loop around Ascension Cemetery. 52 miles - departing from Panera at 7:00 am.