Rides for the week 7/4, 7/5, 7/7 and 7/8/2012

On Wednesday 7/4/2012 we will start from Panera in Wilmette at 07:00AM and either do the usual St. Mary Loop or just ride to Bluffington's in Lake Bluff.

On Thursday 7/5/2012 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 7/7/2012 we will start at 07:00AM from Panera in Wilmette. We are going to do the usual ride on St. Mary Road with a loop around the Ascension Cemetery. We will add an extra loop back to Everett , St. Mary, Cemetery, Waukegan and the total will be around 70 miles. There will a water/restroom stop at Panera on Rt. 176 and food stop at the end of the ride at Panera in Wilmette.

On Sunday 7/8/2012 we will start at 08:00 AM from Panera in Wilmette and do the usual St. Mary ride with a loop around the cemetery.

Last Year's Practice Rides on the Sub 5 Course - Summary

I was checking into our practice rides on the Sub 5 course from last year:

Here are the dates with links to the recaps

7/16 - 2 Circuits of the Course
http://ebc20mph.blogspot.com/2011/07/sub-5-hour-century-course-ride.html

7/31 - 2 Circuits of the Course (on a hot day)
http://ebc20mph.blogspot.com/2011/08/71-sub-5-hour-century-training-ride.html

8/6 - 3 Circuits of the Course
http://ebc20mph.blogspot.com/2011/08/8611-ride-recap-training-ride-on-sub-5.html

8/21 - 3 Circuits of the Course
No summary of this ride

8/28 - 3 Circuits of the course
http://ebc20mph.blogspot.com/2011/08/sub-5-hour-century-ride-recap-82811.html

Thus, we traveled out to Hampshire 5 times for practice rides, with the first jaunt being on 7/16. Notably, we did not step it up to 3 circuits of the course until 8/6.

7/1/2012 Ride Re-cap

Despite of posting the ride for 8AM I was convinced that it was starting at 7. When I arived at Panera and saw nobody there, I checked the posted time and I realized my error. I could have slept one more hour. Shortly after Alvin Spector showed up and we had a little chat. He did not want to wait until 8 and went to ride by himself.  One by one the usual suspects started to roll in. We had a new rider -Richard, the husband of Tracy (the nutritionist who gave us the lecture at the last EBC meeting). There was another EBC Show and Go ride at 8 that was planning to ride Panera to Panera.

At 8AM we started with:
Mike
Joe
Martin
Dave
Cons
Richard
Felix

We decided to practice riding in a single paceline at 22-23 mph. We were mostly succesful. Despite of being a fairly small group, we were not particularly smooth. There was some surging after stops and corners, there were few jerky moments when the pace slowed down for road obstacles and we had to react at the last moment. Once we got to the bike path and later on St. Mary we kind of settled in the pace and were smoother. We did the usual loop around the cemetery and on the way back from on Waukegan Road from Buckley to Rt. 176 we decided to pick up the pace as usual. Mike did a hard and fast pull and then Martin took over. I was hanging for my dear life, at some point I looked at my heart rate and it was 188. We made a short stop at Panera for water. At that point it was getting hot and we decided to skip the extra loop. The other EBC group was rolling in as we were getting ready to get back on the road. They had a flat on the way.
We did the usual ride back via Waukegan Rd, Everett, Old Elm, Fort Sheridan, Sheridan Rd, St. John's, Roger Williams to Green Bay Rd. On Green Bay Rd. we picked up the speed slightly and arived at Panera as a group. Despite of the high humidity it ended up as a nice ride.

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.