Rides for the Labor Day Weekend

This weekend we will do the following rides:

On Saturday 9/1/2012 we will start from Panera in Wilmette at 07:00 AM and will do the St. Mary Loop to the Viking Park with one additional loop (total of ~90 miles). There will be two short stops at the park for bathroom and water. Bring food to eat on the bike. We will stop for food at the end of the ride at Panera in Wilmette.

On Sunday I am on call and will not be riding. You should plan to meet at Panera at 08:00 AM and maybe do a St. Mary loop around the cemetery with one loop back to Old Elm/St. Mary for a total of ~70 miles. This is just a suggestion. Maybe someone can come up with a better or different idea.

On Monday we will start from Panera in Wilmette at 08:00 AM and do the usual St. Mary loop around the cemetery for a total of ~50 miles.

If the weather is bad I will post a cancellation at least an hour before the beginning of the ride.

Felix

Final Training Ride in Hampshire! 8-25-12

A somewhat diminished group (due to illness and vacation) gathered in Hampshire on Saturday to run the course one last time.  Weather was fine at the outset but the south(east?) wind and heat increased throughout the day.  We wished to have nailed the sucker but that was not to be - 4 riders did complete in 4:53 rolling time, with one other rider limping in some minutes later, maybe after 5:00 but who was counting by then?
The good news is that the group dynamic has really improved - all pulling well together and communicating quickly when needed.  People are getting used to each others' styles and we are adjusting our pulls to what can keep the pace yet not wear us out.  Also getting to know the route quite intimately -- and getting better at knowing when to "esch" - as in, form an echelon....
Rest stops were not as quick as desired but we picked it up a lot and started eating on the bike more.
We missed our absent comrades, especially on the third lap.  It was 100 degrees on the course by then with a head wind (Rule 5 I know) and with only 5 of us still standing (sitting) in the group I finally hit the wall at about mile 96.  The 4 others went ahead and I dragged myself home, feeling really feverish since I couldn't dispel the heat I was producing..  Never so glad to see that water tower!!!  Two others also still on the course a little further back pulled themselves the rest of the way home too against the grinding wind. 
The kits got a thumbs up when another group (strangely, going the other direction) called out "nice uniforms!" and Hugo joined us for one lap



All in all I think it was a surprisingly good day and bodes well for the big game. 

Felix's report:

First - the bad news. We did not finish with Sub-5 time ;-(

Second - the good news. Upon dissection of the Garmin data, I think we did fairly well. I started a new lap every time we got out of the parking lot on Big Timber and stopped it when we got back to the parking lot entrance. The times are as follow:

Lap # 1 Distance 33.64 miles Time 1:33:46

Lap #2 Distance 33.59 miles Time 1:37:23

Lap #3 Distance 33.53 miles Time 1:40:39

Total Distance 100.76 miles

Total Riding Time - around 4:51:52

The extra 0.76 miles which we rode since we did three full laps instead of the sligthly shorter 3rd one on the real ride, is probably worth close to 2:30 minutes.

 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214873181#.UDlFZCYv5DQ.email

On the ride:
Felix
Mike
Phil
George
Herb
Bob
Dave
Hugo
Gary
Heidi

Sunday 8/26/2012 Ride

We will start from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 08:00 AM and do the usual St. Mary Loop. We will stop for food ath Panera at the end of the ride. Bring food to eat on the bike. If the weather is bad for biking I will send an email by 07:00 AM.
Felix

Saturday Hampshire Training Ride 8-11

Beautiful temperature in the 70's on Saturday, but very strong winds made this a tough ride.  We finished all 3 circuits with 5 hours rolling time - if we hadn't stopped to eat we would have ridden our first real sub5 --  Felix will post his Garmin and give an account of the ride.  But, as you see in the photo, it was the inaugural ride in our fabulous Sub5 kits!  Great design thanks to Melissa and Cons.  Motto on front of jersey very much needed to help combat wind fatigue....Mine was extremely comfortable.

On the ride:
Mike (taking the photo)
Felix
Phil
Martin
Cons
Bob
John
George
Heidi

and Rene joined us for the first circuit.

8/4 Ride Recap - We Could Not Beat The Heat

A large contingent from the EBC headed out to Hampshire for a training ride on the Sub 5 Challenge Course. The original plan was for three circuits of the 33.3 mile route. However, as the second circuit took a lot out of us. The heat approached 90 degrees and we had to combat a fairly windy day. We ended up deciding against a third circuit of the route.

The group included

Bob
Clay
Cons
Dave
Felix
George

Heidi
Herb
John
Martin

Michael
Phil
Randy

And the organizer of the Sub 5 Century Challenge Rene Boer joined us for the first circuit.

Rides for 8/4 and 8/5/2012

On Saturday 8/4/2012 we will do another practice run of the Sub-5 course in Hampshire, IL. We will start at 07:30 AM Sharp from the High School Parking lot. The plan is to do all three laps with minimum breaks in between. Bring enough food and drinks. We will again have a big cooler, courtesy of Herb, with ice where we can keep the drinks cold. If the weather is bad for riding I will post a cancellation by 05:30 AM on the day of the ride. If you are planning to join, send me an email or call me so we can look for you and make carpooling arrangements.

On Sunday 8/5/2012 we will do the usual St. Mary Loop starting from Panera in Wilmette at 08:00 AM. There will be a minimal break for bathroom/water 2/3 into the ride and a food stop at the end of the ride. If the weather is bad I will post a cancellation by 07:00 AM on the day of the ride.