Saturday Dec 30th Ride

Saturday's Forcast:
Tomorrow: Showers early becoming a steady rain later in the day. High 56F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

We still have a 20% chance for dry, so if it looks like the rain will hold off anyone thinking about a 10:00 am city ride? We stay close enough to coffee stops to scoot in if it rains, and just caffeine the day away.

Roark

Cycling Thursday, December 28

Anyone up for riding on Thursday morning around 9:30 - 10:00 am. We can do a city ride, or west county ride toward Babler and that area, or maybe someone has another idea. Mar

Saturday Ride Dec 23

It looks Saturday will be a cool weather riding day, getting up to all of 45 degrees. Anyone have any ideas for a ride starting 9:30-10:00 am?

Let me know,

Roark

Blogger & Email

Folks,

The blogger now works differently with the list server email. You cannot hit reply to a blogger email and broadcast to the list server. You must go to the blogger itself, or change the reply address to JitteryJaunts@googlegroups.com

I prefer of course you make your return comments on the blogger itself.

Roark

Ride Saturday Dec 16th

Folks,

The weater looks to be great for a December ride this Saturday. I could go for a city ride, or hooking up with Allen and his group. Let me know your thoughts.

Roark

BTW: I have upgraded to the new version of the blogger, so you will most likely be asked to upgrade your account as well. Just do what that ask, its easy.

Leland (Fishtown) Northport Suttons Bay Ride in Michigan

Folks,

Its cold out there, so just to put your mind off it, and to rides from our Summer trip to Michigan I have put together another ride. This ride will be only 65 miles, but this one we will want to stop and enjoy some of the quaint towns we will be riding through. For a starter we will be riding though Leland and its quaint historic fish town, a must stop for lunch (freshly smoked fish sausage). We will visit the historic Grand Traverse Lighthouse located at the lands end in Leelanu State Park. Some images to tease you are located above.

Overview: The ride starts in Suttons Bay with some hills and heads to the town of Lake Leland and then becomes relatively flat to the town of Leland. Leland is home to historic Fish Town with many stores and quaint places to eat. The ride continues on through Northport another quaint town. An out and back option takes the ride to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Leelanu State Park.. The rider should expect hills. The ride covers 65 miles.

CLICK ABOVE TO ZOOM ON MAP!

Ride Saturday 11/25/06

I missed the Thursday and Friday rides. Anyone have a plan for tomorrow?

Brian

Ride Friday November 24 9am

Hello all,

Let's shoot for a ride that starts at Forrest Park (Friday, November 24th). We can meet at 9:00 and be rolling by 9:15. Let's meet at the parking lot across from the visitors center. This is the lot that is just east of the tennis courts, and just north of the Muni. If you can't find it call me on my cell phone.

We can work out a route that includes the city, and maybe part of bike Saint Louis, or Grant's Trail, or a little of both. We should be able to stay away from the busiest of streets and stay away from West County. I'd like to be done by 12:30 or so to do some things around the house.

I'll probably actually start at my house and leave at 8:30 if anyone wants to come down to my house and start there instead.

Mike
314-239-6229

Dates for Summer's Michigan Trip

Folks,

Its time to choose our dates for the Michigan trip. We have two options 1.) Leaving Friday Evening July 13th returning Sunday July 22nd; 2.) Leaving Friday Evening July 20th returning Sunday July 29th.

I prefer the first choice myself, its easier if I go on vacation with my family the first part of August. Also the Traverse Bay Cherry Festival takes place the week of July 13th, that could be fun.

Please let me know your preference, and commitment to go. I need to look into renting a home now, if we want the best choices. My preliminary search has found we could get a house to sleep 8-10 for about $1200 for the week. Assuming we get 7 to go, that's $171 for housing each for the week.

I figure gas to cost each of us another $50, and food $250 for the week. I am sure there will be some other assundry expenses so figure another $100.

The trip cost should be under $600 each for the week. We could cut food expenses more by cooking if we have the house.

Let me know ASAP your commitment to going, and if the dates work for you.

Roark

Rides Wed, Thursday, Friday November 22-24

Hello all,

The weather looks promising for all three of these days if anyone is up for a ride. Wednesday I'm working, but might be able to do the "normal" Wednesday night ride if anyone is up for it.

Thursday, I was looking for anyone that wanted to do a shorter, morning ride, maybe something like 9-12 before I go to family and turkey.

Friday I'm pretty wide open, maybe something like 9 or 10 start for 3-4 hours?

Let me know if you're interested in any of these. I'm out of town Saturday and Sunday, so I'm hoping to get my riding in sooner.

Mike
314-239-6229

2007 3-State 3-Mountain, and 2007 Hilly Hundred

Hello all,

Just an FYI - I have finally reserved hotel rooms for both of these events.

At the 3-State 3-Mountain we have 3 rooms with 2 queens each at the downtown Days Inn. The is the best hotel in the whole city for location and price. Each room can handle 4 adults if you don't mind spoooooning, and they are only $70.00 a night, and they are walking distance from everything, and riding distance to the start. The event is Saturday May 5th. We'll drive down on the Friday, and come home on the Sunday. There are still rooms available at the hotel if anyone thinks we need more. Just for the heck of it I also have one room at the Motel 6, which is about $50 a night.

At the 2007 Hilly Hundred, the Super 8 was all booked, except for smoking, so I switched over to Motel 6. Probably not a great room, but man is it cheap - It's $44 a night. The Super 8 is $120 a night, as is the Quality Inn next door. I have 3 rooms, all non-smoking, and all with 2 double beds. It's on Walnut - that main drag through the city, so it's only about 1/2 mile further from the Hilly start, but it's closer to the downtown stuff. No continental breakfast here, but the money we save on the room will pay for breakfast twice, and dinner once, so I think we are ahead. The ride is October 13 and 14.

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

Saturday Nov 18 Ride

Anybody interested in a City ride this Saturday? I can't be gone all day, and need to be within an hour of the house since Maxine will be working Saturday. My thoughts are we leave between 9:30 to 10:00 am. At the halfway point we hit one of those coffee shops we havent seen since last Spring.

Let me know your thoughts.

Roark

Ride for Sunday 11/12

Folks,

I havent yet figured out what I am doing Saturday, but tradition says I will be on the Pasta Ride Sunday. Anyone plan to join me?

Roark

St. Boniface Pasta Dinner Ride
The popular pasta dinner offered by St. Boniface Church in Edwardsville
will be on Sunday, November 12, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Our umpteenth
annual bicycle ride will start at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge (OCORB)
at 10:15 and ride to the church for their tasty, well-serviced pasta
dinner. Madison County has a fabulous network of outstanding bike
trails, and we will utilize as many of them as possible. The route
choices will be approximately 40 and 50 miles on flat, paved trails.
The pasta dinner is $7.00 for adults, with a choice of mostaccioli or
spaghetti. In previous years there were choices of meat or meatless
sauces. The dinner includes salad and dessert. Be sure to bring a
couple
extra dollars to tip the friendly, attentive grade-school servers.
Also,
be sure to use good judgment in your choice of attire, since the dinner
is at a church.
Security at the OCORB parking lot will be arranged by Trailnet, Inc.
Parking will be $2.00 per car. Don’t leave anything of value in your
car

Elevation on Three Kaldis Ride

Folks,

I was playing with a new websight to do bike routes. Mappoint still is easier to generate routes with, but this sight calculated total elevation and a climbing profiles.

Specifically if we ever finish the Three Kaldi Century ride has 5980 ft of total climbing. The elevation profile is shown below. Double click on the image for a blown up view.

Out For Weekend Of Nov 4-5

Folks,

I am out for riding this weekend. It looks like I will be spending extra time with my office co-workers. So ride fast, stay warm, and ride without me.

Roark

Saturday/Sunday October 28/29

Anybody riding this weekend? It is suppose to be a beautiful weekend.

Greg

Saturday October 21st

I know how much everyone enjoyed 100 miles of Calhoun County. So before I fully recover my mental facilities; anyone up to try my 100 miles of the Hills of St. Louis County. Just think my 80 miles of hills ride, with 20 more thrown in for good measure.

Just to convince you more we can bail and make it 80 miles, if needed. Of course the Third Kaldis will be missed if we bail.

Sun Oct 15 Ride

Weather permitting, is anyone riding locally on Sunday? I'm looking to get in some riding but not over-do it since I'm recovering from a nasty cold.

Cheri

Calhoun County Century Ride

Is anyone up for the Calhoun county ride this weekend? As far as the weather goes it looks like Saturday is the better day. A little warmer Saturday and chances of rain on Sunday.
Greg Hobson


Caffeinated Cycling aka Jittery Jaunts

Some of The Sites You will See In Michigan

Just some snapshots to give you an idea of what you will see in Michigan.

Mission Penninsula Sunset

Sights Heading to Tunnel of Trees

Petosky View

Fishtown in Leland

Saturday's Ride Sept 29th

I thought since we are doing a Century on Sunday, that for tommorow a relatively easy City Ride would be good. Plan to leave my house if your joining me about 8:30 am. Figure somewhere in the 40-50 mile range with a coffee and snack stop along the way.

Roark

Century Ride For Michigan Trip

Ok.... I know every bike vacation needs a century ride. That said here is the one for Michigan; 110 miles of fun.


Antrim-Kalkaska Century
Preview: This is it, the long ride for the trip 110 miles! A counter clockwise ride starts from the city of Kalkaska. Terrain consists of rolling, steep hills near Schuss Mountain/Shanty Creek Resort, lovely wooded country side, and lakes. Return ride along the east side of Torch Lake is flat. Valley Road back to Kalkaska is lovely. This century ride will challenge the experienced biker.

You can view the cue sheet and map of the route with the link below :
http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/MichiganOverfiew.html

Ride Sunday Oct 1

Is anyone doing the Trailnet Ride the Rivers Century on Sunday? A couple of thoughts/questions....

I'd like to do as much as I can, but may need to bail early due to religious obligations that evening and Monday (synagogue and fasting). The route goes right by my house. Might be better to start from house in case need to bail early. Roark/Mark....would you be interested in that?

David (with Trailnet)....I'd like to support Trailnet but if I wanted to start from my house, can I have someone pay and pick up ferry/lunch/etc tickets for me?

Mike....If you're doing this ride, would you be willing to pick up the registration stuff and then hand them off when you catch up?

Cheri

Historic Tunnel of Trees Loop in Michigan

One more route done. Its starts and finishes at Petosky State Park (famous for Petosky stones).

Preview: It's the sweetheart of cyclists, and for good reason: a narrow, winding road shunned by most motorists, lined with tall hardwood whose branches rise and arch to form an expansive canopy shading smooth asphalt. The deep greens of ferns and trees are interrupted only by the clear blues of Lake Michigan. It's M-119, running from Cross Village to Harbor Springs. This ride features the especially scenic section from Cross Village to Good Hart. Things to see: Tunnels formed by tall trees, vistas of Lake Michigan through hardwoods, Cross Village, Good Hart, historic Legs Inn.

Directly below you will find a link to an article on the sites of the Tunnel of Trees:
http://www.traversemagazine.com/destination.htm?go=2000etree

If your interested in taking a look at the route use the following link:
http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/MichiganTrip/TunnelOfTrees.htm

Count me in for Michigan. Mark

Another Loop Planned In Michigan

I have finished putting together a second 24 mile loop "Forest Lake" just 7 miles south of the Old Mission Penninsula Tour. This would allow us to add more miles to the day of the Mission Penninsual Tour, 64 miles if we drove between loops, or 78 miles if we rode from one loop to the next.

This route is a mix of touring inland lakes and some hill climbs.


You can see the route details if you click the link below.

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/MichiganTrip/ForestLakeLoop.htm

Caffeinated Cycling aka Jittery Jaunts

Riding this weekend?
Mike/Ron, anybody riding this weekend?
Greg

Summer Touring The Northwest Corner of Michigan's Lower peninsula

Some of you might have heard me talking about doing our group bike ride next year to the Northwest Corner Of Michigan's Lower peninsula. The Grand Travis Bay area, would be the center of our explorations. This trip would compare in many ways to our Maine trip. It's certainly not flat, this is Boyne Mountain territory where the Michigan Ski areas reside.

Logistically, it's a one day drive (12 hours). We could rent a beach house, or hotel rooms and cram together like we did in Colorado. I believe we could find a room based on my experience this summer for $125 per night for four or five. Since we would be driving from here, with a Van or SUV with a trailer hitch, it will be easy to bring along the bikes in a trailer.

Some of our rides would include

Old Mission Peninsula Tour
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Forest Lake
Antrim-Kalkaska Century
Tunnel of Trees Loop
Torch Lake Tour

If there is interest I will be posting the routes as I work them out during the following months. The routes are based on the map I bought while up in Michigan published by the "Cherry Capital Cycling Club". The link below will take you to the web sight I am putting together describing the rides.

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/MichiganOverfiew.html


The first route I have worked out is right out of Travis City, "Old Mission Peninsual Tour"

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/MichiganTrip/OldMissionPeninsualLoop.htm

Preview: The 18-mile-long, 2-mile-wide finger of land that divides Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay is a cyclist's serendipity. Most of the 40-mile route is along flat shoreline, but there are scattered steep hills too, clustered at the tip. Atop them cyclists are rewarded with views of both bays, cherry orchards, and vineyards and then a blow-back-the-helmet descent. Several restaurants offer respite along the route, from a haunted inn to a belly-up-to-the bar pub to an old-time general store serving homemade ice cream. The Old Mission Lighthouse and Park at the tip of the peninsula (also the forty-fifth parallel, halfway between the equator and the North Pole) makes a perfect rest stop. Traverse City bills itself as the world's cherry capital, and indeed, the region grows more than three-quarters of the world's tart variety, the kind used in pies. You?ll see many of these orchards on the Old Mission Peninsula Cruise. It's favored by local cyclists, including members of the aptly named Cherry Capital Cyclists, for its beautiful scenery, good roads, and lack of traffic. This counterclockwise outer loop is the easiest of the many routes around the peninsula. Terrain: Mostly flat, with scattered short but steep hills mid-ride, at the tip of the peninsula.

NEVER PAY FOR COFFEE AGAIN AT KALDIS!

Yes....Its true, jittery jaunts does live up to its name..... the following link will take you to a coupon.... Unlimited free coffee (till Kaldis wises up!)..... print this coupon... keep it in your saddle bag.... and every time we stop at Kaldis.... you got free coffee...what could be better...


http://www.kaldiscoffee.com/Coupon.pdf

Sunday Sept 17 Ride

Is anyone doing the Trailnet ride on Sunday 9/17?

Tour de Wildwood
date: September 17 Sunday
time: Registration 7:30 – 9 am
location: Lafayette High School, 17050 Clayton Road, Wildwood, MO 63011
description: Routes: 19, 25, or 42 miles
Terrain: Moderately hilly to very hilly with big hills on all routes
Features: Join the community of Wildwood as they celebrate their 11th anniversary as an incorporated community. The tour includes a scenic pedal through west St. Louis County with a stop at Rockwoods Reservation. Helmets are required on this ride. Recommended for experienced cyclists.
fees: $6 Member, $9 Non-member, $3 Child under 13

Out of Town For Wednesday Ride Sept 13

Folks,

It sucks, but I am stuck out of town on business. So I wont be riding this Wednesdaynight. Feel free to meet at my house though.


Roark

Monday Sept 4th Spin

Here is my plan for tomorrow. Maybe 30-35 miles and a hill or two at an easy pace, all to start the MS 150 Taper. We will hook up a Starbuck's at the corner of Clayton and Lindberg at 8:15 am. Yes I will probably be there a few moments earlier to have a cup of coffee. I plan to swing through Kirkwood, and hit Marshal Hill just to keep the legs loose.

Roark

Rides Wednesday and Tuesday

Hello all,

I wanted to confirm what we were doing for Wednesday night. I spoke with Carrie and Dan and I think they were still planning on riding the "normal" Wednesday night ride. I know we probably are not supposed to use the Synagogue parking, but I ride to the lot, as does Carrie, and a number of others.

I think we can still do the "normal" ride for a bit longer, maybe until after the MS150? What do you all think? After that I'd be glad to look forward to some city rides and other rides to dinner and such.

On Tuesday I was hoping to do some sort of ride (maybe with Pam and David?). Maybe a city type of ride, or the Riverfront trail if that is what they are doing. Brian if you want to shoot for this ride let me know.

Mike

Break a leg...

Hello all,

You know how before actors go on stage if you want to wish them luck you say to them "Break a leg"? This is so the muses are fooled. If the muses think you want them to do well and you wish them luck they will inflict the actor with a bad performance. But if you wish the actor harm the muses will give them a good performance.

Well in the spirit of "Break a Leg" I think we need to creat an annual bike ride in honor of today's ride. It can be called the "I hope you get lots of flats" ride, and we can have it the weekend before Labor Day every year. What do you all think?

I think the muses did everything they could to give us trouble on our ride today, but all in all I think most of the ride was a good ride. I look forward to our next ride, and to next year :)

For those of you who were not on the ride today, we had a great route, with some good hills, and lots of good comraderrie (sp?)... and we had 6 flats on only 7 riders. Really 6 flats on 2 riders, but we roll and flat as a group, so it's 6 flats on 7 riders. On and off again rain wasn't too bad, especially since it was pretty dry the second half of the ride.

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

Tour of the Ozarks 9/16/06 - Team

All,

I have registered our family for this ride and since there were four of us, I started a team. I went with the name of the blog. We'd like to have you on our team.

Team name = Caffeinated Cycling
Team captain = Cheri Lopatin

Feel free to send this to others who you think would like to join us.

Here's the website to sign up.... http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1329648&refrid=16238944

Here's the website for the ride....http://www.touroftheozarks.org/

Thanks.
Cheri

Tour of the Ozarks and start times 8-26 and 8-27

Hello all,

I booked two rooms at the Super 8 in Rolla for the Tour of the Ozarks. Both rooms are 2 double beds non-smoking. I figure one for the Lopatins, and one for the guys. If you think we'll need more, let me know.

I have not registered for the ride yet. I wanted to learn more about the Lopatins team and registering with them.

On to this weekend's ride. Does anyone have an idea for start times? I plan on riding the Gateway of Hope thing. The official start time is 7:30. I'd like to start pretty close to that as it is going to be a hot day, and I'd like to not be out too much past noon or 1:00 if we can avoid it. I've got homework to do too. I'll probably ride to Forest Park for the ride.

I think I heard 7:30 at Roark's house for Sunday. I'm really looking forward to this ride. Let me know if there is a different start time. If I can get my butt out of bed I'll probably ride to this ride as well. If I can't get out of bed I'll be there by car. I suppose a third option is to ride to St. John's instead. I think you think you'll be at St. John's to pick-up Dan and others around 8:00 or 8:15? Is that correct?

And lastly, I wanted to publiclly let you all know why I've not been joining you all for Wednesday night dinner, and have also been pushing speed on other recent rides. I think most of you know this already. It boils down to I am always running behind on homework. My current class requires reading or discussion on blogs almost every night. It's very hard for me to get ahead, and most often I'm behind. As of right now I am slightly ahead, but I'm going to the basball game Friday night, so by Saturday I'll probably be behind again. But with an early start on Saturday, I will not have to push the pace. I do not want to push the pace on Sunday either.

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

Sunday August 27th Ride

A thought for Sunday. The MS150 has some hills, so I thought it might be a good time to ride the 80 miles of Hills Route we did earlier in the year. Kinda a last bit of memory muscle stimulation before the MS150.

I do have a 100 mile version, but thought for now we could just do the 80 miler. On the off chance everyone wants more I will have the extra hills and miles map with me.

Let me know your thoughts.

Roark

If you want to see what the route looks like, click on the link below!

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/New80HillyMiles.htm

If you want to see the 100 Mile Route taking in all three Kaldi's, click the link below!

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/ThreeKaldis.htm

Here is the scoop on Sunday's ride start times. Yes its times, you can pick up the train at three locations.1. We leave my house at 7:30 am.2. St. John's Hospital (Ballas & Conway) between 8:00 - 8:15 am.3. Kaldis in Chesterfield Valley 8:45 - 9:00 am (yes I have included 15 minutes for me to get a cup of coffee.

Upcoming rides

I was looking at the calendar and trying to figure out what all rides are coming up. I thought I'd throw this up and see what you all are planning.

Is anyone planning on doing the Gateway of Hope? I plan to register Monday or Tuesday. It looks like a good ride for a good cause, with roads I'm sure we are familier with.

Greg and I were thinking about maybe doing a 3-hour ride in Saint Charles on Sunday. Kind of a look see with regards to the 5-hour century. I think it will be good to see how it goes in three hours. I think too that we can do quite well with this, even if we don't hit the 5-hour mark (or the 60-miles mark in 3 hours). I think we have forgotten how nice it is to ride on smooth roads, and no hills, and hardly any stop signs and no lights. I think when we put all that together we will be surprised at how easy it is to keep a good pace.

I'll be out of town for Labor Day weekend, so no real riding for me. The weekend after that is of course the MS150, so I think we are all set for that. By the way, the Trailnet Wednesday night rides will be ending soon. I'm guessing we will keep them going and get our lights back on our bikes?

Is anyone planning on doing the Tour of the Ozarks? I received a message from Alan and Phil about this not too long ago. I think they are planning on doing the ride. I'll e-mail them to double check. If so I think I'm up for that ride too. It's September 16th. If we don't do that ride, maybe that's a good day for the 100-miles of hills, or the Calhoun Co. century. I'm hoping you all are up for both of those ideas before the year is over.

September 23rd I think I'll do the Sandy Creek Century. Last year I thought I'd never do it again, but now that it is coming up I think I'd like to give it a go again.

September 30 and October 1 I do not have any plans. Maybe they would be a good day for the 5-hour century idea, or maybe for one of the above mentioned century's of Roark's doing.

The Hilly Hundred is October 7 and 8. I've still not registered, but will probably register in the next week or so.

And lastly I think there may be another AYH century on October 14th, but I'm not sure. I'll have to look it up. Maybe there's another chance in there for that 5-hour century as well.

I guess that's a lot. I usually look forward to the fall for nice weather riding, and wrapping up the bulk of a good season. There will be plenty of shorter days the rest of the year, but I'm hoping to get some good rides in in September and early October.

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

Bicycle Fun Club Ride

I received the following response to an email I sent to Trailnet.

Greg,Thank you for your feedback. Our goal is to put on the best rides possible so that all have the best experience they can. We scouted this route out on Tuesday and two of our staff marked the route, as we normally do, on Thursday in order to have time to create the ride map. In our experience, we have never had a situation where the roads were graveled on Fridays or Saturdays, but in this case, Lower Marine was. We did not find out about the problem until well into the ride and no re-routing could have taken place. We are at the mercy of the various highway departments and their schedules. We are greatly concerned that this situation happened especially as we too are bike riders. We go through great pains when scouting and marking routes to avoid any dangerous conditions and when we have no choice, mark the roads and map appropriately. Our staff just returned from scouting the Peach Pedal route and it appears that the highway departments our doing substantial roadwork again limiting our route choices to roads with gravel. We will post this on information on our website. With regard to the Route 66 ride, you may notice we take breaks from certain rides to keep things fresh. That ride is indeed a nice one which we will try to bring back next year. The Watermelon Ride took place as the As the Crow Flies Ride held back on June 11.Again, we are quite upset that last weekend’s ride fell well below our high standards and apologize that we did not offer you a great ride.Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.Steve~~~~~~~~~Steve SleetProgram ManagerTrailnet 3900 Reavis Barracks Rd. Saint Louis, MO 63125p. 314/416.9930 x 106f. 314/416.9928http://www.trailnet.org

Bike Helmet

Mike and anyone else with a suggestion,
What is a good bike helmet to buy?
Thanks,
Greg

Bike Tire

Mike,
What kind of tire did you say you have on your bike?
Thanks,
Greg

Rides Sat 8/19 and Sun 8/20

There are a couple of rides this weekend and I wanted to see if anyone is interested in either/both. It looks like you need to download and fill out registration for the Saturday one.

I was thinking about the century on Saturday and then the short route (with the family) on Sunday.

Saturday is the AYH Beer & Brat 5 Star Century out of Milstadt, IL
Beer & Brat 5 Star Century
Join us for the Beer and Brat Century. Sign in and start riding at 6:00 A.M. from the Millstadt, Illinois VFW Hall. Complete a metric century loop (67 miles) in the morning, have lunch at the VFW Hall on us, and finish your ride after lunch. The roads will be clearly marked, maps will be available, as well as SAG support and rest stops. For those riders completing the century, a patch will be available. Timing your ride is an option. Cost: $25 for HI-USA members; $30 for non-members, includes lunch. Sign up in advance at our website: http://www.blogger.com/www.moonlightramble.com or call the office for advance reservations: 314-644-4660.Contact Email: davereiter1@earthlink.netContact Phone: 314-406-2359 Fax: 314/644/6192Web site: http://www.moonlightramble.com/featured_rides_06.htm


Sunday is Trailnet's Peach Pedal out of Marine, IL
Peach Pedal
time: Registration 7:30 – 9 am
location: Mills Apple Farm, 11477 Pocahontas Rd, Marine, IL 62061
description: Routes: 34, 42, or 51 miles
Terrain: Flat to gently rolling, no big hills
Features: Pleasant ride through the countryside returning to the farm for fresh peaches from the orchard. The bakery will also be open selling pies and other baked goods.
fees: $6 Member, $9 Non-member, $3 Child under 13
sponsor/partner: Ride Sponsor: HYPERLINK "http://www.thehubbicyclecompany.comthe/ Hub Bicycle Co.
Stop in for $3 off coupons, while they last
contact info: For more information, HYPERLINK "mailto:bicyclefun@trailnet.orgEmail us or call 314/416-9930 ext. 109 or 618/874-8554 ext. 109 directions: From St. Louis cross the PS Bridge and take I-70 East. Take IL-4 (Exit #21) and turn left on IL -4 heading north. Take a right on IL 143. In the town of Marine go left onto N. Duncan St then turn right onto Pocahontas Rd and follow to Mills Apple Farm.

Let me know what you all think.
Cheri

Performance Drinks

Cheri,
You had mentioned before you had an extra Accelerade on the order you made. If you still do I would like to buy it from you.
Greg

5 hour century

This post is for Greg, and maybe other too.

Last Sunday Greg and I got to talking about trying to do a 5-hour century some time this fall. I think if we had a group that was pretty committed to this we really could do it. Probably out in Saint Charles County, so we don't have to deal with so much traffic, and almost zero stop lights. We can easy make some loops that are 20-30 miles with no lights, and we'd only have to do them 3 or 4 times and we'd be done. I think a group of 5-8 riders who could pace line at 22-23 should be able to get the job done, and we'd bank some time for a stop or two. If we really had our act together (I'm volunteering) we could park a car or two in different places on the route, and the car's could have extra bottles of performance drinks, and some food or gels that we could change out on or bikes / into our jerseys in less than 5-minutes.

I know of at least two guys who are not on this blog who I could probably talk into helping with this. They are both good cyclists, but not crazy types. They would both be able to take their pulls at the above speeds.

Speaking of pulls, if we had say 6 or 7 cyclists, you'd only have to pull 60-90 seconds on the front. Or even less if you were not fully recovered. A 90 second pull on a flat road would leave you with almost 10 minutes before you got to second position. We'd all have to work together with each others plusses and minuses to make it work the best for the team. We could / should probably practice with some 20 mile hours or 40 miles in less than 2 hours on some of our rides leading up to this. We may need to look at some investment in gear, but not much. I'm only talking about things like gel bottles that make it easier for you to eat while in the back, while trying to stay on a quick line. If you have an extra bottle cage to cary more water (like the cages that go under you seat) that may be a plus too, but probably not completely necessary.

Let me know what you all think.

Mike

100 miles of hills, and Calhoun Co. Century

Hello all,

I think you all have done two rides that I didn't get to do, and I'm simply posting a request to put them back in the rotation soon. I've missed out on hitting Calhoun County twice and would still really love to get up there with the group. Let me know if we can work it into the schedule.

Also, I think you all did a very long ride that combined the best of Dr. Dan's ride, plus the ride over to Saint Charles County, plus Reise Road and parts of West County (maybe the Adams / Marshall Road hills?). I think Roark had this route worked out, and I think it came in as a hilly century. Anyway, I'm hoping we can do that ride sometime soon as well.

Mike

Sunday August 13 Bike Ride

The I Scream For Ice Cream bike ride is this Sunday in Edwardsville. Options include 20,33, and 45 miles. Anyone interested two loops?

Brian

Ride Saturday, Aug 12

Is anyone doing this ride out of Rockwoods Reservation that John sent out via email (below)?

"This ride is a doozy and very scenic while your suffering up the climbs. We'll be leaving from Rockwoods Reservation. Meet at 7:30 and leave at 8:00am. Just for kicks (don't know if I'll do this every time), here's a link to the route on GMap. If you click on the elevation (small/large) tag, you can see just what we'll be doing climb-wise. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=346734 Normally, this route goes up Melrose and down Allenton but, the road between Allenton and Eureka is closed and I don't know if it's ridable. That's why we're spending a mile or so on the shoulder of Hwy 109 to Alt. To get to Rockwoods Reservation: Take I-44 to Eureka Hwy 109 Exit., go North. About 3.9/4.0 miles will be Woods Rd. Take a left and then a right on Glencoe. About 1.7 (give or take) miles on the left, you'll see the Visitor's Center and parking. We'll leave from there. Don't know if the Visitor's Center will be open that early for restrooms or water. Please plan accordingly."

Rockwoods - Rockwoods
via some BIG Hills

Start From Rockwoods Reservation Office
R Glencoe
L Woods
R Hwy 109 (shoulder)
R Alt
L Forby Rd
R N. Central Ave
X I-44
R Hwy W
R Hwy FF
L John McKeever Rd.
R Byrnesville Rd.
BR Upper Byrnesville Rd.
R Lynch
S Lynch becomes Hwy F
X Hwy FF
R Hwy O/F
S Hwy F becomes 1st St.
(For Food in Pacific see opposite page)
S Hwy F become 1st St.
X Bus 44
S Hwy OO/First St.
BL Hwy OO/Park St.
S Hwy OO
X Hwy 100
S W. Manchester Rd.
L Bouquet Rd.
R Melrose
X Hwy 100
Cont Manchester
R Glencoe Rd
R Rockwoods Reservation

40.6 Miles


Food Options in Pacific
Off of Hwy F/1st St.

R E. St.Louis Ave -Depot Rest.
R Bus 44 -Subway

Ride Sunday August 6

I am up for riding Sunday August 6. Let me know if any one is planning any specific rides.

Mark

7/29-7/30 Weekend Rides

I will not be riding Sunday 7/30. I am going out of town on bussiness for the week Sunday. I will return just in time on Thursday August 3 to go out of town to Michagan on vacation. I will not be joning you all to ride again till Wednesday August 16th.

This Saturday 7/29 I will be doing a team ride from "The Hub" Bicyles. My plan is to ride from my house at 7 am to "The Hub" to meet the team. Of course I will be riding home as well. This puts the ride for those who join me from home at 50-60 miles.


I posted the following to my MS150 Team describing the ride.

Our next team ride will be Saturday July 29th. The ride will start at the Hub Bicycle Company in Webster Groves starting at 8:00 am. The Hub is one of our jersey sponsors and is located at 40 West Lockwood Ave in Webster Groves. Our own Ryan Heine will be leading us out, with me at the tail end.



The route description follows. We will go the 34 mile short version, and extend the (42 miles) ride if everyone seems to be doing well. Our food stop will take place in Webster after the ride. Please RSVP as soon as you can.



The typical route (route1.gif):

1. Start at the Hub on Lockwood & Gore in Webster Groves,

2. Follow Lockwood west, and then Adams.

3. Right onto Geyer follow to the T at Clayton

4. Left onto Clayton and follow through to Mason Ridge right after Mason Rd.

5. (Rest Section) Right onto Mason Ridge.

6. Left onto Mason, Cross over 64/40.

7. Left onto Conway at the bottom of the Hill (another T)

8. Right onto Babler at the top of the hill.

9. (Rest Section) Follow to the next T, at Ladue

10. Right onto Ladue for a short down and up jaunt.

11. Right onto Mason

12. Follow to the T at Conway again.

13. Left onto Conway, Follow to the 270 overpass.

14. Right onto the outer road and follow to Mason

15. Left back onto Mason, over 64/40 again and then left onto the other outer road.

16. Follow to Clayton road.

17. (Rest Section) Left onto Clayton road, Follow to Ballas Rd.

18. Right onto Ballas. Follow the rolling hills for a while.

19. Ballas makes a fork intersection with W. Adams,

20. Stay left onto W. Adams and up the long hill.

21. Follow W. Adams to Lockwood and the Hub, the same way we went out.



I believe this route is around 34 miles with a fair number of short rolling hills and one long hill.



Route2.gif -- yellow addition not fully tested yet.

The second map highlights an alternate route that should add another 8-10 miles onto the route along with Marshall hill:

Same as above except:

16. Past Clayton stay on the outer road (Des Peres Rd.)

17. Follow to T at Des Peres Hospital.

18. Right on Dougherty Ferry Rd.

19. Somewhere Past Big Bend turns into Forest Ave.

20. Left on Didian Ave. Over the RR.

21. Left on Marshall Road

22. Follow to Big Bend, Cross onto Old Big Bend

23. Follow to S Ballas.

24. Right onto S. Ballas. Follow to W. Adams

25. Right onto W. Adams

26. Follow W. Adams to Lockwood and the Hub, the same way we went out

Saturday July 22nd

I am being lazy. Since Sunday is a 100 miler, I am going to ride around 9am Saturday with John J from my house. Nothing to intense.

Roark

Sunday - July 23

I have this wild idea about doing the 100 mile Calhoun County ride again this Sunday.
Anyone have any thoughts about this wild idea?

Weekend Rides July 15th & July 16

Here is what I know about this weekend. If you want to hook on with Alan and his group on Saturday, plan to leave his house at 7am. I would give him a call to confirm the start time. I will be traveling with family to see the a dead president in Springfield IL on Saturday.

Sunday I plan to ride with Alan's group. Alan didn't know the exact start time for Sunday but will coordinate it with me late afternoon Saturday. I will post the info as soon as I know. On the off chance Alan does not plan to ride, I am thinking an early morning city type loop.

Thats all I know.

Roark

Fastest Speed On Bicycle

Is it true that John Howard set a record in 1985 by riding his bicycle 152.3 miles per hour?????

Saturday July 8th Team Ride

Folks,

I am doing a team ride this Saturday starting at Kaldis in Chesterfield Valley at 8 am. Its about 30 miles, with just a couple of climbs. It might challenge my MS150 team, but for the rest of us, think recovery ride.

Roark

Coupons for Sun 7/9 and Sun 7/16

Hey all,

I picked up coupons at Maplewood for the Trailnet rides on 7/9 and 7/16 and tried to get enough for anyone who needed them. I've got about 10-12 extra. Let me know if you want any and I can get them to you....either at Wednesday night ride, at the ride itself, or some other way. I think I'm going to do the 7/9 Big Bottle ride, but don't think I'll do the 7/16 Joie de Vivre ride. A lot of stuff on the schedule that weekend and will hopefully squeeze in a local ride at some point.

Cheri

Bike Tour Of Colorado

Whats there to say, long climbs, litteraly breathtaking views! The hotel options have been great, and camping sucks. Today is a day off with a massage scheduled.

Roark

600k

A few of you have asked me how the 600k went, so I thought I'd give a quick post. All in all it went pretty well. 600k is about 375 miles, and the time limit is 40 hours. I was with 1 other guys most of the time, and 1 other guy kind of cat and mouse. For the most part we finished togehter in 34 hours 32 minutes. I finished 3rd a couple of minutes behind the other 2 because I wanted to pull my own way in down the stretch. Not a bad time considering we were in Anna, Il for almost 9.5 hours not pedaling.

Nine or ten riders started in Edwardsville on Saturday at 4am and rode east for about 40 miles, then mostly south in a round about way. We made it to Anna Illinios that day at 6:30, which was 227 miles give or take. This qualifies as my second double century, and we did the 200 miles in 12 hours 15 minutes, which was about 15 minutes faster than my previous double. If you've never been there, Anna is about 15 miles South / Southeast of Carbondale. It gets pretty hilly down there too, so the last 40 miles of day one, and the first 60 miles of day two were fairly hilly. Not as hilly as west county, but hilly enough considering the miles in our legs. Saturday was a pretty good day for biking except that it did get pretty hot from about 1pm to 5pm.

On Sunday we again started at 4am. This meant me and one other guy who stuck together into Anna had gotten about 6.5 hours sleep, plus time for dinner and winding down the night before. Keeping a good pace the first day is a good thing because it allows for more sleep time before you have to get going again. We saw some of the other riders on day two. One group of three had riden about 260 miles on day one, but got to their hotel around 2am, and then only had 3 hours of sleep. One other guy who was in the back of the pack rode straight through, and we didn't see him in front of us until about the 310 miles mark. He looked like hell too, and was moving at about 11-12 mph. Day two wound up being about 152 miles for us due to a couple of small wrong turns. So in the end I rode about 379 miles, even though the ride was only supposed to be 375. Sunday was considerably cooler too. I had a wind vest on all the way until noon, which by that time we only had about 40 more miles to go. I'm not 100% sure, but I think our riding time was right around 20.5 hours, so our average speed on the bike was somewhere around 18.5 mph. The guy I was with most of the time was a real tank. We pulled 50 / 50 for the first half of both days, but by mid day it was starting to be more him than me. By the end of the second day we split up a bit because I told him I didn't feel right following him pretty much 100% of the time. I was fine to ride, and was not having any real difficulties, I just couldn't ride at his pace.

I learned quite a bit about long distance riding too. A race bike is good for speed, but not so good for comfort. It is now 3 days after and the tips of some fingers are still tingeling, but they are almost back to normal. No saddle sores, although my sit bones were pretty worn out. My neck was worn out too, but I could have riden the next day if it had been an even longer ride. I'm pretty sure another bike is in my near future. Probably something with a more upright position, and maybe a steel / carbon frame for more comfort. I also think it will be a triple, and it may even have a rear rack for gear. Too much junk in your jersey pockets really adds to fatigue. Plus starting at 4am and riding through the heat of the day is very challenging when it comes to managing your gear.

The good news is I know I'll do these again next year, and I'm pretty sure Paris-Brest-Paris is still on the radar.

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

Team Prices on Accelerade, Endurox, and Accel Gel

All,
I have the order form from PacificHealth Laboratories for the team prices on Accelerade, Enderox R4, and Accel Gel. (If you want to see a product comparison on the gel, you can look here....http://www.accelgel.com/pages/comparison.html)

I'd like to get a count of who all would interested in ordering any of these. We have to order them by the case.

Accelerade comes in a case of six. Each 56-serving container comes out to $20.50.
Endurox comes in a case of six. Each 28-serving container comes out to $27.00.
Accel gel comes in a case of four boxes. Each 24-count box comes out to $16.15.
These prices do NOT include shipping yet. Shipping is between $11-20 per case....or free shipping if we order six cases.

I'm double-checking, but I think that a case needs to be all one flavor.

Accelerade flavors: fruit punch, orange, lemon lime, blue raspberry, and lemonade (new).
Endurox flavors: fruit punch, tangy orange, lemon lime, vanilla, and chocolate.
Accel gel flavors: vanilla, strawberry kiwi, cholocate, and citrus orange (new).

I'm in for two Accelerades and two gels. I'm ok with any of the flavors (for Accerade and gel), but since I've been drinking only the fruit punch Accelerade for a while, I may be ready to switch.

Let me know within the next couple of weeks.

Cheri

Bicycle Fun Club Ride

The Bicycle Fun Club Ride this Sunday June 11 is only 40 miles, if anyone is interested we could meet in Alton and ride about 13 miles to Brighton for 66 miles or for those who want more miles meet at Lewis & Clark in Hartford for 82 miles.

Sunday June 4 Pancake Ride

Looks like I might be doing this one alone. There is a 100k and 100 mile option. The ride starts from New Baden IL City Park between 6:30 and 8:30 AM. It costs $30 and includes lunch. I am confirmed and preregistered. If anyone else is interested we can carpool or agree to a meeting time.

Brian

Greg's 100 Miles Loop Through Calhoun County via The Golden Eagle Ferry!

! CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE MAP

!CLICK ON LINK FOR CUE SHEET ON ROUTE

http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/Gregs100MilerGoldenEagle.htm

Up for your consideration next Saturday, June 10 (not this Saturday Ron). A Century ride over in Calhoun County via the Golden Eagle Ferry. This is a ride Greg Hobson suggested, and worked with me to create. There will be lots of hills once we get to Calhoun County. How many hills, and how much climbing I can't say for sure. It will be a new ride for all of us. If you think next Saturday would be a good time to try this ride let me know.

Why Mark Needs No Excuse To Ride Ever Again!

Guys,

I hope you all read the post, cause now we know why Mark rides!

Potential Mrs. McCartneys queue up
By Ellen Futterman
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/30/2006
There are a few things you can count on in life: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; what goes up will come down; and if there's a story about Paul McCartney in this newspaper, Linda Dana will check in.Dana, 49, of west St. Louis County, is the consummate Paul girl. She's a former president of the St. Louis Beatles Fan Club, and she once paid $475 to sit in the 14th row at one of McCartney's Chicago concerts.Dana and I first met in 1993 when the cute Beatle performed at the old Busch Stadium. We reconnected in 2002 before McCartney's concert at Savvis Center, at which time Dana made it clear that she was no fan of McCartney's then-new wife, Heather Mills. I believe Dana's exact words were, "She's a blond woman with a cause."Last week, in the wake of McCartney's separation after four years from Mills, I asked readers who would be a good match for McCartney. A day or so later, an email arrived from Dana, reiterating her "blond woman" line, pointing out that she had been right about Mills.

FULL TEXT GOTO:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/everyday/story/A4FA406680B2FF828625717A0032026E?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22Dana%22

Plans for 80 Hilly Miles Saturday June 3rd

! CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGE VIEW

!CLICK BELOW FOR ROUTES QUE SHEET
http://www.geocities.com/rdweil@sbcglobal.net/New80HillyMiles.htm

Folks,

I just looked at my calendar, only a few more weekend to train before BTC. With that in mind, I plan on doing the revised 80Mile Hilly Ride from my house on Saturday June 3rd.

We will need to leave early because my Mom is in town for Joseph's graduation (with her new boyfriend too), and I said I would not ride. That of course is before I realized that I would be out of town Memorial day weekend followed by Mom's weekend.

Assuming the bears don't get too upset by my short absence, I plan to leave my house at 7am. With just some short rest breaks (read only one coffee stop), that gets us back to my house by 2 pm.

There will be at least 5500 Ft of climbing in the 80 miles.

Roark

Memorial Day Weekend & Lake Wobegon

Folks,

I am off to ride the loop around Lake Wobegon this weekend. So ride hard, ride far, ride fast, and ride without me!

Roark

Weekend Rides 5/20-5/21 & Mike's Insanity

Folks,

Here are my weekend plans for riding.

Saturday I am doing the Old St. Charles Loop, that starts from my house at 8:30 am. I will be meeting my MS150 team at 10 am in Creve Coeur Lake Park, and riding with them to Miss Aimee B's in St. Charles. After riding back to Creve Coeur Lake Park, and dropping off the team I will be going up Hog Hollow, and out to Webster to ride Marshall Hill and W. Adams. Total miles about 65. Cheri and Bill are joining me. I think most everybody else is doing the AYH Century ride (at their own risk).

Sunday I am planning to do the shortest version of the Fun Club Strawberry Festival Ride, with Maxine and Samantha. We will be tagging along (they don't know it yet) with Cheri, Amanda, and Melina. I am thinking to start around 9:00 am. No need to get up to early for 12 or so miles.

Now for Mike's insanity part. Mike will be returning from the Attack on Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. He has requested those of you planning to do the long version of the Strawberry ride wait for him to start with you at 9:00 am. He will not be going home first, he will be fresh off his long long drive, and long long bike ride with the long long climb at the end, to the Strawberry Ride Start. Let's just hope with all that long long stuff, he took a long long shower, and had a large large cup of coffee.

Mark, if you still want to do breakfast before the ride, lets plan so we get to ride about 9:00 am. That puts breakfast about 7:30 am I guess.

There is of course the possibility the Maxine and Samantha will pull out on me, then I will be doing the long ride.

Roark

The headwind was only bad for the last 90 miles

Hello all,

I thought I'd do a quick post and respond to some other posts and give you an update on me real quick.

I hope those of you who rode Saturday had a good day. More on what I did below. I won't be in town to enjoy the AYH century this weekend. I'll be off in NC climbing Mt. Mitchell. I've got my fingers crossed for nice weather down there. So far the long range forecast looks good. I might get out Monday for the St. Charles Co. soccer field hammer fest, and maybe for the Tuesday night ride that starts at the Synagogue in U-city. Wednesday night is Lynda's b-day, so the most I'll do is a hill workout on the trainer, and then 2 days off for rest and drving to go to NC.

By the way, Ron, the photo's of 3-state look fantastic. Thanks for sending / posting these.

This past Saturday I tackled my second long distance brevet. This one was 300k (187 miles). And of course I went to the baseball game on Friday night. The brevet started at 6am, so a 4:30am wake up call after hitting the hay at 10:30 was a heck of an early start! There were about 11 or 12 of us that started that morning. It quickly broke in to 2 groups, with me in the front group with 4 other guys. It was cold, damp and windy all day. It kind of felt like March all day. We started over in Edwardsville going generally East and South. We never got caught in the rain, but it was humid, cool and overcast all day. We had some tailwind as we started, and through the first part of the day. (The whole ride was in Illinios farm land, so not many hills, but nothing to break up the wind either.) The wind built in all day too. But this was a bad thing, because when we hit about the 100 mile mark we started to head West and North, and the wind that day was coming out of the NW. So by the time we made the turn we were dealing with steady winds of around 12-15 MPH, and I know a few gusts were getting up around 20 MPH. We dealt with that for about 90 miles straight, which was the better part of 7 hours.

Thank goodness I was with 4 other guys. It was a pretty good group of experienced / stronger riders. We worked very well together and stayed as a group all day. We stumbled back into Edwardsville at 6:08 PM that evening. 12 hours 8 minutes total, which includes stops. Our riding time was a bit over 10 hours and our average speed was about 18.4 MPH. ( Do your remember that "older" rider I told you about from the 200k? Get this - he rode the 300k the weekend some of us were in Chatt. He went solo, in on and off rain, in stronger winds, and finished in 12 hours 30 minutes. If I had been solo Saturday I'd have taken at least 14 hours. If it has been raining it probably would have been 15 -16.)

If anyone wants to join me :) , (you can join me for all or part) my next brevet will be a 600k over June 3 - June 4. That ride has a 40 hour time limit. It goes from Edwardsville to south of Carbondale and back. The riders will probably stop for the night in Anna, IL around mile 225. That way on Sunday we "only" have about 150 miles to get home (by 8pm on Sunday).

Talk to you all soon,

Mike

3 State Challenge Photo's

Here are some of the shots, we'll see how well this works.
I can only load five at a time and it's very slow.
I think I'll send all of them using the web site I used for the Maine shots.

Ron

Laumier Jaunt for Saturday May 13

Click On Map For Enlarged View!

A lovely jaunt with all the major hills of the 79 mile ride, with all the coffee stops, ending at Laumeir Park for the Art Festival. If we leave my house at 9:00 am, then we should be able to get to the art festival about 3:00 pm, with an hour or so for coffee stops along the way. This assumes a 15 mph pace. The distance 74 miles.

Saturday May 13 Ride

I think Roark is busy with mothersday activities this weekend. Lets get out there anyway. There is a Lewis and Clark "Departure Days" bicycle ride and recumbent rally or we can plan our own ride. There is the hilly babler ride or the ride to six flags with the hilly loop on the other side of highway 44.

Weather Permitting Saturday's 79 Hilly Miles

79HillyMiles

Cycling Distance: 78.8 miles

Click on the map to get enlarged view!




So what makes this route so fun, well we ride into St. Albans the hardway, we ride up Allenton Hill, Basset Road, Woods Avenue, Marshall Hill, West Adams, and N Warson. That's just the highlights to name a few. The only question is will the weather cooperate.

Be at my house to start the ride at 8:00 am. First coffee will be at Kaldis, in Chesterfield Valley. Don't expect to stop till we get to the Head Store in St. Albans. Our next pause will be at the service station at the base of the Six Flags Allenton climb. If our legs hold out, we go on till we get to Kaldis in Kirkwood. Then its an easy sprint home ending with the N Warson climb.C

Final Weekend (4/29-4/30) Ride Before 3 State 3 motion

Folks,

This is it! One more weekend to train for the 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge! Mark and I think we should do a final 70 mile hill training ride. I think we should do the 70 miles on Saturday, and an easy recovery ride on Sunday. The 70 miles, should not be a hammerfest, just one last push at hilly base miles. Let me know your thoughts so I can see about putting something together. We can start at my house and ride out to St. Albans, loop back via the Marshal Rd Climb and West Adams.

Roark

Merlin Tour in Chattanooga TN

If your going to the Three State Three Mountain Bike Tour, you can join us for a Tour of the Merlin Factory. Stewart Munson, the new owner of Maplewood Bicycles has graciously offered to arrange a tour of the Merlin Factory. Let me know if your interested, so I can forward your name onto Stewart. We will have to take the tour Friday afternoon, so we might have to leave earlier Friday morning. I believe Lightspeeds are also manufactured at the same facility.

Saturday & Sunday April 22-23

Time to start thinking of the weekends ride. We are still doing hill training to get ready for 3 States 3 Mountains.

Saturday I will be riding later in the afternoon due to a Bar Mitvah commitment. Mark will be joining me. Cheri might as well. One option is to start in Chesterfield Vally, maybe out to St. Albans. Another option would be to ride from my house, and hook into some of the hills of Kirkwood including West Adams & Marshall Hill.

Sunday I am up for the regular early start. I know BFC is doing a ride. If anyone has an idea for something hillier, I am open to that as well.

Roark

Ride Wednesday, April 12

Hello all,

Do we have any kind of proposed plan for this Wednesday's ride? I'd propose we do the BFC Wednesday night ride (Paul's ride). It has the right amount of hills and distance, and I think we need to keep working as hard as we can. We can eat in the loop after if we bring our lights, which I'm sure most of us will. If nobody wants to do this, I can really go either way, it's just a proposal.

I plan on getting on my bike around 5pm so I can ride to meet you wherever. I can either make it to Roark's house, or I can meet at the Synagogue, or I can meet you in the loop if I'm running late.

Mike

Rides Saturday 4/15 & Sunday 4/16

The plans are forming for this weekend already!

Saturday looks like we start from Kaldis in Chesterfield Valley to do Babler and the 10 hills of Dan. We ride at 9:00 am, so plan on meeting for breakfast at 8:15 am. Its lots of hills.


Sunday we will be riding from my house, for those not in Easter Services. We will be repeating the out Old St. Charles and over to Kirkwood route. We will be climbing Adams as will as Hog Hollow. We might throw in an extra climb or two if everyone still has legs from Saturday. Plan to meet at my house at 9:00 am.

This Weekend Ride 4/8-4/9

Unless I can figure how to get out of it, I will be traveling to KC come this Friday, returning Sunday. So have fun, ride fast, but do it without me.


I will be riding Wednesday as usual. Wednesday night rides are now officially back to road bikes.


Roark

A Post From Mark About Sunday April 2

Who wants to ride on Sunday morning from Kaldi's in Chesterfield valley. We can do the Babler Ride. Let's plan on leaving Kaldi's by 9:00. Don't forget it is Daylight Savings Time so 9:00 will be an hour earlier this Sunday. Be there for breakfast around 8:00.

Mark

Saturday April 1st Ride Option With Alan

Alan is riding again. He is riding out of Columbia Il, this Saturday. I can't join him because of my team ride, but if your interested give him a call.

Roark

Saturdays Ride April 1st

Folks,

You know I am doing my MS 150 first team training ride this Saturday April 1st. My thoughts are, if any of you are interested to ride to the starting point from my house. The starting point is the Lewis & Clark center at the confluence. Its about 23 miles from my house to the confluence. This makes for a relatively flat 66 mile ride. I need to be to the start about 9:30, so we would need to leave my house at 7:30. If your interested in riding with me, let me know.


We have space reserved at My Just Desserts for lunch.

Good news for those of you who liked last years jersey. I am working with the graphic artist again. Our theme is cycling along the Mississippi. We have already received commitment for slots, from sponsors for a subsidy of $40 per jersey, up to a maximum of 35 jerseys. Two slots are still open.

April 1st DRS Team Training Ride

April 1st DRS Team Training Ride

Once again I will be leading the company sponsored team, I am a glutten for punishment. DRS did up their donation. I have planned the first of the season team training ride on Saturday April 1st. I have copied below information from the email I sent out to my team.

Everyone is welcome to join us. If your interested in longer miles, there is the possibility of starting from my house at 7:30 am and riding out to the Confluence to meet the group. Afterward we all ride back to my house. Since I plan to bring Joseph and a friend, I have to first make sure they get a ride to the start point, before I can ride from my house.

The ride is meant to be kid and spouse friendly. We currently have about fifteen showing interest

From the email:

The ride will be approximately 20 miles round trip. The terrain will be mostly flat, traveling the levee tops along the bike trail from the Missouri & Mississippi Confluence to Alton and Back. We will have lunch at “My Just Deserts” in Alton; plan on some great pie. This will be an easy ride to help get everyone back onto their bikes.

Please RSVP as soon as you can, so I can reserve enough space at “My Just Deserts” for our group. You’re welcome to invite friends, whether or not the friend is considering the MS 150.

We will be starting at 10 am from the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center near Hartford, Illinois show on the map below. You can plan to visit the museum before or after the ride. We will meet in the parking lot. The map below shows the location of our start at the intersection of New Poag Rd and Highway 3. If you want more information about the museum

http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/section1/illinoiscities/Woodriver/interpretivecenter.htm

The new Confluence Tower might be open, plan to visit.

http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/section1/illinoiscities/towers.htm

Saturday March 25 - Sunday March 26

GONE TO CINCINNATI !

RIDE!

HAVE FUN!

DO IT WITHOUT ME!

ROARK

Ride For Saturday May 11th

Looking ahead to this Saturday, if it doesn't rain, the weather looks to be excellent, no tights!

So here is my thought, a city ride with some hills thrown in! We will loop through Clayton, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, The Hill, Soulard, Riverfront, Downtown, and Forest Park. Tentative start time 10 am from my house.

Some of the hills to keep building on last week include:

The climb from N Ballas up West Adams into Kirkwood.

We will tour the Hill to climb a Hill

Lastly don't forget that lovely short climb up Washington Ave from the Riverfront

Ride This Saturay March 4th

Time for the first ride in March (ok John and I already got ours on March 1). My thought, lets start training for Colorado. I still have that extra hilly route into St. Albans on my PC. We can start from Kaldis in Chesterfield Valley at 10 am.

Roark

Lets Ride Saturday Feb 24th

Folks,

The weather bird whispered:

Feb 25 Saturday
Plenty of sun. Highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 20s.

That translates into lets ride! I have two routes planned but never used, the Heather Hills with Grants Trail Route, and the new extra Hilly St. Albans Route.

Let me hear from you if you want to ride this Saturday, and which route is prefered.

Roark

With the thought everyone has been off their bikes for too long, lets plan on a city ride. The Holly Hills with Grants Trail Loop I described a few posts back. If your coming, plan on my house at 10 am. This puts us in range to hook Mike on about 11:00 am. We will skirt around Soulard.

Roark

ITS COLD OUTSIDE

GONE SKIING!

See ya all with warmer weather next weekend!

Rooms for MS150

Folks,

A heads up, I reserved my usual block of 20 rooms at the Midway Budget in for Check in September 8, and check out September 10. You can wait to get your room from the block, or better reserve a room now outside the block. That way there can be more of us staying at the hotel. If you want to reserve a room now the number is 573-445-9565.

Ride?

Ok, we haven't been able to ride the last two Saturdays due to rain. Here is the good news, rain is not predicted for next Saturday, the bad news is a high of only 37 degrees is predicted. So I leave it up to your input, on when, how, and where we ride. Options include a ride starting out at Babler with Hills that John emailed. Other choices include either of our last two weekends cancelled rides. That would be the hilly route into St. Albans or the city loop that does Holly Hills and Grants Trail.

Saturdays Ride - Jan 28

Time to think of Saturdays ride. Thought we might mix the terrain a bit, with the Holly Hills Loop. We should be able to get in 40-50 miles. Some city flat miles, changing to a few hills as we climb up Holly Hills and head to Webster. Of course we can get in two coffee stops. Let me know your thoughts.


See comments for more details!

Official Start Time at My House 10 am for Saturday's Ride.

Holly Hills to Grants Trail Link...if we ride

Bike Tour of Colorado

Mark, Roark, Ron, (and Dan)

I have Dan and Nick's applications and money for the BTC, so we are half way on the 6. I just need to be able to hook up with the three of you Saturday. I was thinking before / after the ride Roark is proposing at Roark's house? If you are not doing the Saturday ride let me know, because we need to hook up somewhere. Mark if you'e not riding, maybe you can get something to Roark Friday? Ron, if you're not riding maybe I can see you Satuday after the ride? (ASAP).

I think I have now been converted to a hotel guy. Roark seems to have a pretty good plan. I'm willing to go all 5 of us in one room too. I think it won't be too bad, and it will be cheaper too. We will still wind up with 2 days of camping, which should be the right amount of fun too.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with NONE of the meal plans. I spoke to Nick, the guy who is our number 6 who did it last year, and he is not getting any meal plan either. Last year he did the dinner plan. He said it was good, but you didn't have much choice (you ate what they cooked), and it was a touch pricy. I think if we aren't out on the road forever (up early), we should be into camp in time to find a restaurant for dinner before the crouds are too bad. I think this way we will get more of the local flavor / variety. I'm sure we can wing it on lunch (but have power bars just in case). And I think breakfast we can wing it too, but it should be even easier if we are at some hotels. Even if we need to go the pop-tarts and instant oatmeal (and a microwave) route, I'm sure breakfast will work itself out. But I'm really thinking we'll find some restaurants in the towns before we head out, or maybe even things at the hotels.

That's about it for now. Call me if you need to work out a meeting place. 314-239-6229

Mike

Saturday Jan 21st Ride

Folks,

Its time to start thinking of riding this Saturday. Unfortunately, my wife is working and I can't abandon the kidlets all day Saturday. I was thinking about a short 20-25 mile loop starting from my house. Of course there will be time for some coffee. I could just break off at some point from a longer ride and head home.

Now for future considerations I have been working on a new Hill Training Ride into St. Albans. It looks to be VERY hilly.

Sunday's Ride

We haven't even made it till Saturdays ride, but the question is about Sunday.

I will be spinning with Cheri & Brain on Sunday Morning. I assume Mark will be joining us as well. That said I can ride in the afternoon, everyone at my house is out. If the weather is bad Saturday my plan is to move Saturday's ride till Sunday say at noon. If the Saturday ride goes off, then I plan an easy ride of some unknown flat route Sunday.

Roark

Start Time For Saturday's Ride

We need a start time for Saturdays ride. Since no one has suggested one, I am, 10 am. The start point is of course my house. We will be heading to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and back. We will either do the out and back option via downtown St. Louis, or loop out back via Bellfontaine neighborhood, using Johns route. If we ride out and back its flat. If we loop though Bellfontaine there will be some hills the last part of the ride. Not to worry I know coffee shops for both route options. Either way, figure about 50 miles.

Roark

PS: Based on Mikes request to find an alternative to the riverfront trail over to the Chain of Rockes Bridge I have consulted Google Earth. The route to follow is from Washington Ave - > N on Leonard K Sullivan -> W on Biddle Street -> N on North 1st Street -> W on North Market Street -> N on North Broadway -> East on East Grand Ave -> North on Hall Street -> East on Riverview Drive -> Down to Chain of Rocks Bridge

PSS: Some Zig - Zagging might be needed, no telling how good the roads are in industrial sections of North St. Louis

.

I thought that I would try to map out our route on Mappoint. I've also included the written version. This is pretty close to the route we took. (Mike and Roark can correct any of my errors.) It shows 47.5 miles. I logged 50.0.....pretty close. I've put it in a 'photo album' so it's on a web site. We may even be able to use this type for upcoming rides since you can print the pictures for the turn by turn directions.

Cheri

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/clopatin/album?.dir=/cf33&.src=ph&.tok=phftBREBKlWstsak

Weekend (1/14/06 - 1/15/06) ride(s)

Thought that I would start a new string of blogs to discuss this weekend's rides. Anyone have anything in mind? Sat is supposed to be rain. Sun is supposed to be sunny with high of 45. Should be eagles at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge if interested in that route.

Cheri

Sunday Ride January 8th

Folks,

I thought instead of all those emails, we would just blog our weekly rides, and our coffee shop evaluations. So this is it, the first post.

Just for the record, Sunday was a good day for riding. I spun with Mark, from 9 am - 10 am.

We all set out from my house at 11:30 am for a hilly St. Charles loop of 39 miles. We had eight riders; the only ones I knew though were Mike, Ron, Dan, Brian, and myself. I don't lead rides without a coffee stop, so we tried the Crooked Tree Coffee House at 559 1st Capitol Drive in St Charles.

The food was good, and even better they had eight types of coffee. I only got to try four flavors before I over caffeinated, choclaterazzmatazz will have to wait till next time. Service was a bit slow, but I thought the food was alright. We finished back at my house with 39 miles.

I might be crazy but that ride wasn't enough, Cheri gave me a call, that with temperatures hovering about seventy degrees, she wanted her chance to ride once Brian got home. Off I want again with the caveat, that my legs were worn out. With lights blinking in the rear, and headlights lighting the front I put in another 13 or 14 miles.

Just so you know we have only begun to try each and every one of the St. Louis regions indepdant coffee stops.

Roark