After Saturdays ride was cancelled due to rain, the Sunday ride was lengthened out a bit.. The following group rode to the Wisconsin border.
Clay
Cons
Dave
Felix
Gary
Heidi
Herb
Martin
Mike
Randy P.
We practiced a rotating double pace line while heading north on Waukegan Road. It seems like the group is actually starting to get it, although we would have to add speed to stay on our target pace for the Sub 5 Hour Challenge.
This was the first time our group had been on Delaney Road this year (north of Gurnee). The winter was not kind to this road. The potholes were much worse than last year. Felix hit one of the potholes and double flatted.. It may be appropriate to try taking Washington Road west and heading north on Hunt Club Road on future rides.
The trip home featured a number of sprints, and along with a fast pace on the Skokie Valley Bikeway, led to an average bike computer reported speed for the full ride of above 19 mph.
In order to get back home earlier and to serve as training that is more like the conditions on the Sub 5 ride, we had decided before the start of the ride not to make a food stop. Somehow, on our way back home as we came within 5 miles of Panera Bread in Lake Bluff, the group thinking made a remarkable 180 degree change. After 55 miles of riding, the idea of a stop for food at Panera became much more appealing. We ended up stopping for a pleasant 20 minute break to refuel before heading for home..
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Rides for 4/26, 4/28 and 4/29
On Thursday 4/26/2012 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 4/28/2012 we will ride to the end of Cuba Road. The ride starts from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 07:00 AM. The total distance is going to be around 65-70 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 4/29/2012 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.
If the weather is bad I will post a cancellation on the listserve no later than an hour before the start time.
4/21 and 4/22 Weekend Ride Recap
Over the weekend the group did a couple of 62 mile rides. On Saturday, we took our first ride of 2012 to Gurnee that really was to the town of Gurnee (some geographically imprecise members of the group seem to consider our rides to the north section of Libertyville to be "Gurnee rides"). The group included:
4/21 Group
Bob B
Bob W.
Cons
Dave
Felix
Gary
George
Herb
Hugo
Martin
Mike
Randy P.
We headed north on Waukegan Road practicing a double pace line and veered west to Gurnee. We made a quick stop at Viking Park before heading back home. As we were heading back south on Waukegan, Bob Best got stuck at a light and fell a bit behind the group. He was unaware the group had turned east on Rt 176 to head over to the Skokie Valley Bikeway. We had paused to wait for him about 40 yards down Rt 176. As he headed straight through the intersection with his focus on making the light, he did not hear 5 us screaming his name. However, a woman in a car that was waiting at the light did. She turned south on Waukegan, caught up to Bob, and yelled out to him that his "friends" were waiting for him back at 176. Thus, he was able to turn around and join us. It was such an unusual event that the anecdote got retold numerous times. By about the 4th telling, the woman in the car had become topless.
The ride may have featured the fastest sprint yet for our group, in part due to the aid of a tailwind. As we were heading down Skokie Boulevard. I got up to about 33 mph, and Mike was outpacing me even after having been at the head of the group doing a long pull. Felix got up to around 37 mph, and Martin was still able to put ground between the two of them.
4/22 Ride
The Sunday ride was scheduled to be to Rooster's Restaurant in Bloomingdale, with a circuit of the Busse Woods bike path to view the elk. The group included
4/22 Group
Cons
Heidi
Martin
Felix
Herb
Dave
Randy P.
The ride was going along successfully until I missed a turn in Schaumburg. However, since the missed turn led us to a Dunkin Donut in Roselle, and a couple of the members of the group wanted to be home by noon, this mid ride break a few miles short of our planned destination ended up working out fine. It allowed the group to get back to Evanston by noon, and we had already seen the elk in Busse Woods.
The routes west and east were appreciably different. The route west had been painstakingly mapped out to minimize road traffic. However, in order to get home by noon, we took a "traffic be damned" route east via Golf, Busse, and Central.
After the ride, Heidi emailed the following:
P.S. to Cool Randy. Missed you on the rides. Hope you heal quickly.
4/21 Group
Bob B
Bob W.
Cons
Dave
Felix
Gary
George
Herb
Hugo
Martin
Mike
Randy P.
We headed north on Waukegan Road practicing a double pace line and veered west to Gurnee. We made a quick stop at Viking Park before heading back home. As we were heading back south on Waukegan, Bob Best got stuck at a light and fell a bit behind the group. He was unaware the group had turned east on Rt 176 to head over to the Skokie Valley Bikeway. We had paused to wait for him about 40 yards down Rt 176. As he headed straight through the intersection with his focus on making the light, he did not hear 5 us screaming his name. However, a woman in a car that was waiting at the light did. She turned south on Waukegan, caught up to Bob, and yelled out to him that his "friends" were waiting for him back at 176. Thus, he was able to turn around and join us. It was such an unusual event that the anecdote got retold numerous times. By about the 4th telling, the woman in the car had become topless.
The ride may have featured the fastest sprint yet for our group, in part due to the aid of a tailwind. As we were heading down Skokie Boulevard. I got up to about 33 mph, and Mike was outpacing me even after having been at the head of the group doing a long pull. Felix got up to around 37 mph, and Martin was still able to put ground between the two of them.
4/22 Ride
The Sunday ride was scheduled to be to Rooster's Restaurant in Bloomingdale, with a circuit of the Busse Woods bike path to view the elk. The group included
4/22 Group
Cons
Heidi
Martin
Felix
Herb
Dave
Randy P.
The ride was going along successfully until I missed a turn in Schaumburg. However, since the missed turn led us to a Dunkin Donut in Roselle, and a couple of the members of the group wanted to be home by noon, this mid ride break a few miles short of our planned destination ended up working out fine. It allowed the group to get back to Evanston by noon, and we had already seen the elk in Busse Woods.
The routes west and east were appreciably different. The route west had been painstakingly mapped out to minimize road traffic. However, in order to get home by noon, we took a "traffic be damned" route east via Golf, Busse, and Central.
After the ride, Heidi emailed the following:
I want to thank you for working out a route and taking us somewhere different! The roads were in really good shape, also good. I think, too, that since some people had time constraints it probably was a benefit that we missed the Rooster – it would have been better food but Dunkin Donuts was quicker.
After you left Cons was behind me and said it looked like my rear brake was rubbing against my wheel – at the next light I checked and sure enough, the brake had been closed against the wheel on one side for who knows how long!!! So I got a little bit more of a workout….(bonus pain).
P.S. to Cool Randy. Missed you on the rides. Hope you heal quickly.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ride to Bloomingdale - 65 Miles on Sunday 4/22/2012
A goal of this ride is to add some variety to our usual roster of routes. No one will know the route so well that they yell out "bump" 50 yards before we come to a dip in the road. Also, we'll be stopping at a restaurant with a unique personality, not a national chain.
We'll depart from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 7:00 am and head WSW to DuPage County. The highlight of the route is seeing the elk herd while making a circuit of Busse Woods. Other than the time on the Busse Woods bike trail, much of the ride will be wending our way along suburban streets. There are a few portions of the route that are on busy roads, but the traffic on them is comparable to a Cuba Road ride.
Our destination is Rooster's Restaurant in Bloomingdale. They describe their location as a "near landmark". We'll probably get to Rooster's at about 9:15 am, so save room for a second breakfast. Their menu is posted at http://www.roostersbarnandgrill.com/menu.html
This pace of the ride will probably be 20-22 mph , with some slower stretches due to the numerous turns once we get past Busse Woods (most likely a bit slower than the Saturday training ride - I would not call it a recovery ride, but it won't be at a death march pace either). However, there are lots of stretches that are suitable for sprints.
We'll depart from Panera Bread in Wilmette at 7:00 am and head WSW to DuPage County. The highlight of the route is seeing the elk herd while making a circuit of Busse Woods. Other than the time on the Busse Woods bike trail, much of the ride will be wending our way along suburban streets. There are a few portions of the route that are on busy roads, but the traffic on them is comparable to a Cuba Road ride.
Our destination is Rooster's Restaurant in Bloomingdale. They describe their location as a "near landmark". We'll probably get to Rooster's at about 9:15 am, so save room for a second breakfast. Their menu is posted at http://www.roostersbarnandgrill.com/menu.html
This pace of the ride will probably be 20-22 mph , with some slower stretches due to the numerous turns once we get past Busse Woods (most likely a bit slower than the Saturday training ride - I would not call it a recovery ride, but it won't be at a death march pace either). However, there are lots of stretches that are suitable for sprints.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Rides for Thursday 4/19/2012 & Saturday 4/21/2012
On Thursday 4/19/2012 I will lead a VF ride with the Higher Gear Bicycle Store in Wilmette. The ride starts in front of the store (in Plaza del Lago) and leaves at 17:30 sharp. It goes to Fort Sheridan and back without stops. There is plenty of free parking if you come driving. If you come biking from far away, consider having lights for the ride home. If the weather looks bad I will post a cancellation on the listserve by 16:00 on the day of the ride. Send me an email if you are planning to join so I can look for you.
On Saturday 4/21/2012 we will do a ride to Gurnee from Panera Bread in Wilmette starting at 08:00 AM. There will be a stop about 2/3 into the ride for bathroom, water and snacks. I will post a cancellation on the listsetrve by 07:00 AM on the day of the ride if the weather looks bad.
On Sunday we will do Randy's ride to Bloomingdale, IL. He will post more information about it.
Felix
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Ride Recap - 4/15/12 Panera to Panara
A group including Felix, Martin, George and his friend Michael, and me rode 42 miles today. The weather during the ride turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.. The SSW wind which was forecast at 19 mph was not nearly as much of a factor as we expected it to be. While it helped us to ride at a 25 mph pace on the way north, it probably only only added a couple of mph to our pace (oh yeah, and there was a 28 mph pull led by Martin) . We were able to come home riding into the wind at a 21 mph pace. The only time the wind seemed to be anywhere near the forecast speed was when we got hit by one particularly strong gust of wind coming home on Skokie Boulevard. For just a second, I was nervous about staying vertical.
After yesterday's 82 mile ride, we shortened up today's ride a bit and only went 42 miles. However, there was no "recovery" aspect to the pace. Martin had fresh legs, and Mike, Felix and I all pushed the pace upon occasion. In particular, it was not apparent that Felix had done a hard ride yesterday based upon his blazing sprint during the last 1/3 mile of the "bunny trail." One member of the group who had tired legs from the Saturday ride was heard to mutter, "If I had known the ride was going to be this fast, I would have gone with the Turin group".
The weather was nice enough that when we stopped at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff, we chose to sit outdoors on the patio. It turned out to be a successful ride.
After yesterday's 82 mile ride, we shortened up today's ride a bit and only went 42 miles. However, there was no "recovery" aspect to the pace. Martin had fresh legs, and Mike, Felix and I all pushed the pace upon occasion. In particular, it was not apparent that Felix had done a hard ride yesterday based upon his blazing sprint during the last 1/3 mile of the "bunny trail." One member of the group who had tired legs from the Saturday ride was heard to mutter, "If I had known the ride was going to be this fast, I would have gone with the Turin group".
The weather was nice enough that when we stopped at Panera Bread in Lake Bluff, we chose to sit outdoors on the patio. It turned out to be a successful ride.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Ride Recap - 4/14/12 Ride Around Lake Geneva
Nice ride today, and the rain held off. We took an 82 mile route from the Wild West Steakhouse that took us around Lake Geneva.
There were about 17 riders, with over half of the group accounted for by members of the Evanston Bike Club contingent. EBC participants included:
Big Bob
Cool Randy
Dave
Felix
Gary
George
Heidi
Herb
Ian
Dave
Randy
The pace was pretty quick on the way north to Lake Geneva, with one of the wind aided sprints exceeding 30 mph. We also cruised down some of the hills, of which Lake Geneva offered quite a few, at over 40 mph We took it a bit easier on the way home. .
The following link is to the Felix's Garmin data from the ride.
http://connect.garmin.com/
There were about 17 riders, with over half of the group accounted for by members of the Evanston Bike Club contingent. EBC participants included:
Big Bob
Cool Randy
Dave
Felix
Gary
George
Heidi
Herb
Ian
Dave
Randy
The pace was pretty quick on the way north to Lake Geneva, with one of the wind aided sprints exceeding 30 mph. We also cruised down some of the hills, of which Lake Geneva offered quite a few, at over 40 mph We took it a bit easier on the way home. .
The following link is to the Felix's Garmin data from the ride.
http://connect.garmin.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)