Quite a Day

Jason, Dominik and I did about 40 miles today. The wind was really strong, strong enough that the Desplaines River had white caps heading up stream! We rode from LGP to the Cenntenial trail head and rode out to 135th and then back, stopping for some coffee at the D&D by the trail head. On the way back, while riding up Willow Springs road, Jason crashed pretty hard. It happened so fast, Dominik could barely avoid crashing into him. Jason got up pretty quickly and walked over to the side of the road while I grabbed his bike. He was OK, but sounds like his wrist is a little banged up. It could have been a lot worse. His bike suffered a little damage on the left shifter and rear quick release lever, but not to bad after all. We rode back and then Dominik and I headed to a CAMBR garage sale that had some pretty good deals.

Once I got home, Junior called me and wanted to do something fun on his birthday, so we decided to paddle Salt Creek. I called Dominik back and he made the return trip back with his kayak and we put in at Dean Farm.





Salt Creek was moving pretty quickly and was more fun than I expected. We encountered only one strainer that forced us to portage around it. It was located just downstream of the new bridge before you reach Wolf Rd. We paddled down to the Jackson st bridge and got out. Katy was waiting for us with the Tundra.





Great day of activities! Happy birthday Brother!

Mileage

I just rolled 100 miles for the year so far, with out question the farthest I have ever ridden in the month of January. 

There are a few days left still.........

DIY Free Motion Rollers

Today, I spent the day HVLP spraying a platform bed I am making. Its turning out great but whats even greater is that I have about 1.5 hours of dry time between coats. So during one of my breaks today, I rode indoors for 45 minutes.

A few years ago I got a fluid trainer to hook up to one of my bikes but I discovered quickly that it is about the most boring, unnatural feeling way to ride a bike I have ever experienced.

I can't stand it, but somehow Katy doesn't mind it. She of course is much tougher than I am!....so at least its still seeing some use.

So I started researching rollers and loved the concept of free motion rollers. You can Google "Inside Ride's E-Motion Rollers" to learn more about them, but at a $800+ price tag that just wasn't going to happen. So I picked up a cheap set of rollers from Performance Bike and modified them to be free motion.



They are a pleasure to ride. It feels much more like riding outside. You have to be careful though......If you stop paying attention you will shoot off the side of them(Its not nearly as dramatic as it sounds, I have done it many times!)

Halloween Cross #7

I raced again on Halloween in "4B".  Yes I was dressed as Luke Skywalker with Yoda on my back.  The course was way more fun than the last one but also had a few more hills.  I need to work on my off camber turns, as Yoda always seemed to want to lean the wrong way.

While this course was much harder than the last one, I certainly wasn't riding as hard as I could.

Yoda was starting to get pretty heavy by the end of the race but I did manage to make it on the podium!

 But it was for best costume as I finished about 7th from last.   I did win a bottle of Jagermeister and a stuffed pig for best costume however.  I also made the CCC newsletter.

CCC#7

I am signed up for another cyclocross race this weekend.  It is in St. Charles at Campton Park. I registered too late it appears, so I am in 4B(3:30pm start time) instead 4A(last race).  I will probably fare better in this category, but I wish I was in 4A getting beat on.

Here is a great slideshow/article about cyclocross in Bicycling Magazine, Check it out.

Endurance Cycling - 140 miles

My next big ride I am planning on doing is from LGP to the Wisconsin border and back.  I have done the ride before, but over the course of 2 days.  This time it will be one epic day of about 140 miles.  The weather is about to take a turn for the worse, so this is going to have to happen in the near future.  I have not been on the bike as much as I should, but I should be able to do it with a few weeks of roller work.

This is a great route composed of almost all trail, mix of paved and crushed limestone.  It is one of the great perks of the Chicago area, the bike infrastructure just keeps growing.  It's remarkable that I can ride to the WI border with only a handful of miles done on roads.

Here is the route, Google Maps has it as at 68.9 miles one way:

More than I bargained for

I went on a night ride last night that turned out to be more adventure than I bargained for.

I left around 10:15pm and headed to MB's in DG.  While riding through WS I got my first flat tire in a seemly very long time.  I rode through a construction zone and got a really nice snakebite flat.  I got it changed pretty quickly as I consider myself very quick and efficient at changing out a tube.  I got moving and ended up at MB's place around 11pm.  We chatted for a while and had a drink or two and then the weather turned to windy and rainy.  I decided to try to wait it out for a bit, but eventually I decided it was now or never.  The ability to sleep late in my own bed was my main motivator as Masters coaching is starting up next week.  Early Saturdays for months to come for me.  MB gave me a pullover coat and I verified my tire pressures and also inspected my tires.  My rear tire got a small hole in the sidewall, which is surprising considering they were Conti Gator Skins and are seemly bombproof.  I must have really done a number on them in the construction zone.

Well I set off at around 1:15am and got as far as the Hinsdale Golf Course when I flatted again!  Same tire!  So I pulled into a parkway and started changing my tire.  I used my spare tube on my first flat, but i had plenty of scabs with me that I figured I would just patch the tube, no big deal.  What I didn't factor in was that in the dark and rain, finding the hole proved to be difficult, eventually leading to impossible.  There was rain on everything and all the drops looked like holes.  Please keep in mind that I am running 2 Niterider lights and a back up Cat Eye.  It was as bright as daylight with these all pointing at the tube.  I would pump up the tire and then it would deflate before I could find the hole.  It was maddening and frustrating.  How can I not fix this flat?!?!

So after about 20 minutes of trying to fix it, I decided to just walk home, about 4.5 miles according to Google.  I have after all been really needing a good "adventure".  Not exactly what I had in mind, but I had to make the best of it.  Yes, I could have called Katy, but she had just gotten home from a business trip and was pretty tired.  Keep in mind I was kinda laughing this whole time and had committed mentally to the walk home.  So I called probably the one person who I new would be awake and completely unable to help me, Aaron in Portland.  We talked briefly as I packed back up all my gear and just started walking and listening to music.

It was quite a realization that my walk actually was a lot further than I could visualize.  I have ridden this route so many times that in my head it all seems so close.  It took me a little over 2 hours to walk home; about 4:00am (My Sidi Dominator 5's were surprisingly comfortable, I was really thankful that mountain shoes are my preferred choice.  I could never have done that walk in the slick carbon soles of a road shoe).  While it was really not a good situation, it wasn't really all that bad either.  I needed to suffer a little bit.  I really felt alive.  Some how I even enjoyed myself.

mental note: carry more than one extra tube

Night Rider

I went on about an 1:15 night ride from LGP through WS through H through CH and back. I have been riding my fixed gear quite a bit lately and it sure was a great feeling to take the Moots out. Instantly, I can just tell it fits me perfectly. What a great night for a ride!



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