3/3/12 Mid-Day Update - Sunday Ride Cancelled
3/3/12 Update - Saturday Ride Cancelled - Today will be a day to hit the trainers.
3/2/12 Update - Hmmmm - The forecast is for 20 degree wind chill, 20 mph winds, and roads that may still be covered with a bit of snow. Saturday is not looking terribly promising for a group ride.
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After the taste of spring we had today (Leap Day - Wednesday 2/29). it is disappointing that winter weather will be back this weekend. However, there is no training at Vision Quest on Saturday, so we will be able to get in group rides on both days -- if the weather cooperates and the roads are not too wet.
Tentative plan is to head to Bluffington's on Saturday and to Panera in Lake Bluff on Sunday. For now, both rides are planned for 8:00 am, although we could move the start time of the Sunday ride back to 9:00 am in order to give the sun a chance to warm thing up a bit. If a decision to move the Sunday ride to 9:00 am becomes the plan, we'll post it to this page by Saturday afternoon
Both of the last two Sunday rides have featured all out sprints on most of the overpasses and hills along the route. It seems like this may turn into a trend. In the past, most of us are used to Martin becoming a little black dot on sprints, but due to his riding his fixie, it has been possible to keep him in sight on hill sprints the last two weeks. There were some great battles forf King of the Hill between Felix and Martin last Sunday.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Ride Recap - a Windy Ride on 2/26/12
We had a group of 5 riders for a 52 mile ride on a day when the wind was howling out of the south. The group include Charles, Dave, Felix, Martin and me. We started out heading north with the wind at our backs and enjoyed the benefit of getting pushed toward Lake Bluff. When we got to the intersection of Ridge and Old Elm, we stopped to determine whether we would continue heading north on Ridge and stay on flat terrain, or turn west and head for St. Mary's and the Three Sisters (the series of small hills). Due to tired legs from challenging workouts on Saturday at Vision Quest and cross country skiing in Wisconsin, the initial inclination was to stay on the flat route. However, when the suggestion that we head west to St. Mary's was made, no one seemed to want to be the one to veto it. Thus, we headed west to St. Mary's road.
For the next ten miles on Everett, St. Mary's and Atkinson Road, every hill and overpass became an all out sprint. In addition to the three little hills on St. Mary's that are the sisters, a couple of little rises that can only be considered cousins at best, became hotly contested to see who would become King of the Hill. Despite Martin being handicapped by being on his fixie, he was the one that made it to the top of the hill most often. However, Felix also was first to the top of a number of hills. During a couple of the races to the top of the hill there was almost as much drafting strategy going on as in a NASCAR race.
After a longer than usual stop at Panera Bread in order to give our clothes time to dry out, we headed back home riding into the wind. The trip home was challenging, however with Felix doing more than his fair share of pulls, the group benefited from drafting off of him and made fairly good time considering the conditions.
For the next ten miles on Everett, St. Mary's and Atkinson Road, every hill and overpass became an all out sprint. In addition to the three little hills on St. Mary's that are the sisters, a couple of little rises that can only be considered cousins at best, became hotly contested to see who would become King of the Hill. Despite Martin being handicapped by being on his fixie, he was the one that made it to the top of the hill most often. However, Felix also was first to the top of a number of hills. During a couple of the races to the top of the hill there was almost as much drafting strategy going on as in a NASCAR race.
After a longer than usual stop at Panera Bread in order to give our clothes time to dry out, we headed back home riding into the wind. The trip home was challenging, however with Felix doing more than his fair share of pulls, the group benefited from drafting off of him and made fairly good time considering the conditions.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Ride for tomorrow 2/26/2012
We are going to meet at Panera Bread in Wilmette at 09:00 and do a Panera to Panera ride. If the weather is not too bad ( the winds are expected to be in the 30s tomorrow) we can add an extra loop on St. Mary Road. Todal distance 40 or 50 miles. One snack stop at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
2/26 Ride - 50 Mile Panera to Panera Ride If Weather Cooperates
Tentative plan for the Sunday ride is take the same route as last week, via St. Mary's to Atkinson, with a stop in Lake Bluff. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and today's snow will have mostly melted by Sunday morning or at least the roads will be clear. The Tucson crew will probably find the concept that this ride includes some hill training to be a bit mirthful after the slopes that they conquered last week, but at least the Three Sisters provides a moderate climbing opportunity and the last slope on Atkinson prior to Waukegan is deceptively challenging. Weather permitting, we'll meet at 8:00 am at Panera Bread in Wilmette.
Monday, February 20, 2012
The YouTube Bicycle Stunt Video That Has Received Over 29 Million Views
If you have not seen videos featuring street trails rider Danny MacAskill, they are an amazing display of stunts and skill.
The following video has been viewed over 29,000,000 times,
The following video has been viewed over 29,000,000 times,
Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill April 2009
and another of his videos has been viewed over 17,000,000 times
And the following video of a couple of girls performing bicycle stunts as a team is stunning
Sunday, February 19, 2012
2/19 Ride Recap
As Martin and I were sitting at Panera Bread, we decided that the weather really should not be too cold for Cons. So we rode over to his house to show off the fixie that Martin had constructed using a circa 1980's Schwinn steel frame, parts found in his workshop, and 21 cm tubular clincher tires that Cons had given to him (it is the ultimate hipster bike - lots of gawkers).
We arrived at Cons house to discover that he was still asleep, but Melissa was more than happy to wake him. . Cons came down the stairs in bathrobe literally wiping the sleep out of his eyes. However, despite being rudely awoken to find two knuckleheads in biking kits in his front hallway, he was a gracious host. So of course, we repaid his hospitality by aggressively twisting his arm and making him join our ride
The three of us put a twist on our usual Panera to Panera ride by attacking the mild inclines of the Three Sisters on St. Mary's Road and heading north to Atkinson Road. Obviously, this ride was not even in the same area code in regard to hill training as that of the Tucson crew, but at least we got a little climbing in and got to feel a bit of burn in our legs. Martin was remarkably fast on the hills on his fixie, but once he lost momentum on a hill he was vulnerable to being attacked (admittedly, it only happened on one hill, but after getting schooled by Martin when trying to race up the other hills, it was fun to be able to challenge him at least once)
We stopped at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff and were joined by the group from the EBC 9:00 am ride.
We came home via the Skokie Valley Bikeway. The ride ended up being about 55 miles.
It turned out to be a fun ride on an unusually sunny day. Cons actually seemed appreciative that we had dragged him out of his bed and made him join us
We arrived at Cons house to discover that he was still asleep, but Melissa was more than happy to wake him. . Cons came down the stairs in bathrobe literally wiping the sleep out of his eyes. However, despite being rudely awoken to find two knuckleheads in biking kits in his front hallway, he was a gracious host. So of course, we repaid his hospitality by aggressively twisting his arm and making him join our ride
The three of us put a twist on our usual Panera to Panera ride by attacking the mild inclines of the Three Sisters on St. Mary's Road and heading north to Atkinson Road. Obviously, this ride was not even in the same area code in regard to hill training as that of the Tucson crew, but at least we got a little climbing in and got to feel a bit of burn in our legs. Martin was remarkably fast on the hills on his fixie, but once he lost momentum on a hill he was vulnerable to being attacked (admittedly, it only happened on one hill, but after getting schooled by Martin when trying to race up the other hills, it was fun to be able to challenge him at least once)
We stopped at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff and were joined by the group from the EBC 9:00 am ride.
We came home via the Skokie Valley Bikeway. The ride ended up being about 55 miles.
It turned out to be a fun ride on an unusually sunny day. Cons actually seemed appreciative that we had dragged him out of his bed and made him join us
Tucson Bike Camp Report
Yesterday we completed the Assault on Mt. Lemmon. 62.5 total miles, 7300 feet elevation gain (we reached 8300 feet altitude), we went from desert to snow covered mountain and reached speeds in excess of 40 mph downhill. Everyone had a blast.
Here is the link from the Garmin:
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/150628577
The week is over. We logged in a total of 384 miles. We climbed almost 20,000 feet. We spent 24 hours in the saddles. Calories burned 15,000. Calories eaten xxx,xxx.
Phil Procida went above and beyond to help us have the best possible riding and eating.
Here is the link from the Garmin:
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/150628577
The week is over. We logged in a total of 384 miles. We climbed almost 20,000 feet. We spent 24 hours in the saddles. Calories burned 15,000. Calories eaten xxx,xxx.
Phil Procida went above and beyond to help us have the best possible riding and eating.
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