The Cue Sheet

The Newsletter of the Elmhurst Bicycle Club
Riding Strong for over 31 Years

August
2009

EBC'ers Enjoy SummerTour, July

Article and photo by George Hermach

Nine EBC'ers joined Tri-County Bicycle Association (a Lansing, Michigan club of which many of us are also members) on their annual SummerTour the second week of July. SummerTour is a five-day sag-supported camping tour with catered meals; this year in western Michigan. We started in Baldwin on Wednesday and rode to Silver Lake State Park south of Ludington where we camped for two nights. On the layover day we rode a loop route south, which included part of the paved Hart-Montague Rail Trail. Friday, we enjoyed a nice tailwind as we rode north to Orchard Beach State Park on Lake Michigan north of Manistee where we again camped for two nights. On the Saturday layover day we rode a loop north past several pretty lakes. Sunday's ride took us back to Baldwin. The scenery was beautiful, the route very nice but with some challenging hills, and the weather cooperated with the only rain coming Friday night. Daily mileages were in the 50-65 range. We all look forward to joining TCBA on next year's tour.

WOW July 8

Article by Art Frigo

Thanks to Hank Niedballa for leading six of us (Susan, Betty, Annette, Isaac, Sam, and yours truly) on an interesting, albeit damp, ride through the Hoffman Estates and Barrington areas. The ride included a stop at about 20 miles, where we were entertained by the singing and dancing of a group of summer-camp kids . We also stopped for a healthy lunch of pizza, burgers, and onion rings at the famous Penny Road Pub. This pub claims to be Chicagoland's premier music venue and bar. They book everything from touring national acts to local up-and-comers and music genres from metal to singer-songwriters.

July 4th 2009

Article by Larry Gitchell
Photos by John Park

Despite a flip-flopping weather forecast that ultimately settled on BAD, a record 29 riders in 3 groups attended this year's Fourth of July ride.

With two groups setting out at 7:00 and the third following at 8:30, our route carried through Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg, through the woods of the Poplar Creek Trail, to our first rest stop at Panera Bread in South Barrington. This Panera shares a building with L.L. Bean and the Pearl Izumi outlet store - look for an upcoming ride.

Continuing north, we pedaled through the pastures and stables of Barrington, over some excellent rural roads.?Many interesting (huge!) houses lined the route as we navigated into Fox River Grove for a second Panera stop (Is there a theme here?) Exiting our rest stop we proceeded north, over scenic roads until we crossed the Fox River near The Broken Oar - a combination biker bar and motorboat dealership!

A quick unscheduled stop took us into downtown Crystal Lake and a meeting with a charming Great Dane. A few sprinkles of rain didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm as we headed on to Woodstock. With a loop around Woodstock Square on the bricks, we turned south for our lunch stop.

Mrs. Gitchell and Vicki had set out a table of food and opened the barn to shelter our bikes from the gentle rain. Soon after Larry's group arrived, Peter Turula's fast group appeared, followed by Betty's moderate group, and one trailing rider who came along a bit later.

The rain showed no signs of letting up, so we decided to start riding back. Our bodies got damp, but not our spirits, as we pedaled through Lakewood, Huntley, and Algonquin on the way to our next rest stop beside the Fox River Trail. Perhaps the only regret was not being able to scream down the final descent, as we had to make sure we could stop even with our wet brakes, before hitting the back fence of the gas station on Route 31.

What drops into the valley must climb out. A few miles on the trail brought us into Carpentersville, where we ascended the east side of the Fox River valley and headed east. A few glimmers of clear sky began to appear in the northwest, even as we pedaled along in the rain. We soon arrived at our scheduled break in Hoffman Estates, where the Mobil station staff was very courteous about us dripping on the floor during our bathroom break. Continuing on down the Algonquin Road Trail, we navigated past Harper College and south into Schaumburg, for a third roll-by (but not stop) of a Panera Bread. A quick turn and passing over the Elk Grove Community Bridge brought us back to Busse Woods with just over 100 miles for the day.

Oddly enough, car problems outnumbered bicycle problems for the day. Our only mechanical was one broken spoke at the 9-mile point. After removing the broken spoke and re-truing, the wheel performed perfectly for another 90 miles. On the automotive side, we had a flat tire on one vehicle back in the parking lot, and another with an alarm system that wouldn't turn off due to a water-logged keyfob.

We'll look forward to trying this route again later in the season - next time, without the rain!

Morton Arboretum Ride and Tour, June 6

Article and photo by Petra Hofmann

A great ride. A really BIG thank you to Pam and Harold: Pam, for the idea and the entrance coupons; Harold, for showing me a few new sneaks across Butterfield. Especially, THANK YOU Gerry for presenting the animal home exhibits in such an interesting and informed way. And, and big thank you to all the riders who kept mostly to a single file line on the few busy streets which kept me from hearing and yelling too many 'car backs.'

Again, THANK ALL, and I look forward to another such adventure this Fall.

More pictures are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/petrahof/EBC_2009_Sum?feat=directlink#

Madison Weekend, May

Article by George Hermach
Photo by Susan Sperl

I want to publicly thank Larry Gitchell for the great job he did in planning and executing the Madison Memorial Day Weekend. The routes and rides were great, the accommodations were great, and the camaraderie was great. Even the weatherman cooperated, although we did have our share of wind at times. On Saturday, we rode south to Lake Kengonsa and had a nice lunch on the outdoor patio of Springer's restaurant overlooking the lake. Sunday's ride took us through the only Waunakee in the world and around Lake Mendota, with a lunch stop at the Blue Plate Diner. Monday, we rode to the brat fest in Madison (actually the World Bratwurst Festival where they anticipate selling nearly 200,000 brats during the 3-day weekend festival). The brats were good, and cost $1.50 each with the monies raised going to charities. The riders split into two groups, with Larry leading the faster riders and Sharon leading the slower riders. Both groups experienced the same routes and sights at their comfortable pace.

Madison is the most bike friendly city I've ever been in, with a clearly marked network of paved bike trails and marked bike lanes on the roads. You could actually get across town on bike routes, which makes biking feasible as a means of transportation. One important distinction I noticed in Madison was that when a trail or route was blocked by construction there was a signed bike detour route. This is a definite improvement over Illinois where the trails are simply blocked with no alternatives noted.

More pictures are at: http://albums.phanfare.com/2166665/3971323_4325866#imageID=70057337

Horsey Hundred, May

By Kären Schwartz

The Horsey Hundred ride is based out of Georgetown, KY. It is put on by the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. It is extremely well done with rest stops every 20-25 miles and food that consists of: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola bars, jelly beans, bananas, oranges and lots of gorp at every rest stop. The check in on Friday night is efficient and you get good cue sheets with maps of the route on the back. The route is marked by white arrows and notes as to which route is it. There is no need for the cue sheet as the markings are so well done.

The ride started for us at 6:20 -so as to beat the heat if it was going to be an issue. It was wonderful to begin a ride with no traffic, no WIND and the smell of honeysuckle everywhere. The scenery is unbelievable with rolling hills on narrow country lanes with green hills filled with beautiful horses. There are large barns for the horses that look like they would make nice houses as they are so lavish. The first 25 miles passes quickly with me exclaiming that I was in biking heaven! There was little to no wind, rolling hills and great company with George and Pussanee, Marty, Bob and Fran Jones and Bill and myself. The next 25 miles continued on in a similar manner with more rolling hills and great scenery, ending at a big horse area-Keeneland for another nice rest stop. At the 80 mile rest stop, they had Jelly Bellys so that was a great treat.

The route continued to be great, except for the last 5 miles that took us back to the start of the ride through town with traffic. We made it though and ended up with 100. 2 miles and 6,250 feet of vertical climbing. George then found us a good bar in town and we celebrated with some of the best tasting draft beer ever! It tasted wonderful. We also made friends with a local who entertained us with stories. It's always fun to talk to locals. I know that this is one of the things I enjoy about bike touring.

Spring Green Weekend May

By Nancy Shack

Thank you to Bill and Kären for organizing this weekend's outing in Wisconsin. Although the number of participants was less than in previous years, those who made the trek to Spring Green had a great time - at least I did! And of course, thanks also to Larry Gitchell for being an outstanding leader of the moderate paced rides.

Friday's 3:30 pm ride seemed in jeopardy due to threatening skies, but we were able to get in 28 miles and stayed dry. The Schwartzes' ride was canceled for that afternoon. Saturday provided a real test of fortitude and endurance, not so much due to hills, but very high and gusty winds. At times it was all one could do to keep from being blown off the road. However, 25 miles into the wind on the way to Muscoda meant a great tail wind for the return ride. I'm not sure that the trade off evened things up, but at least we have bragging rights for the outbound leg. Sunday dawned rather cool but beautiful and 30 miles seemed like child's play. I was reluctant to call it a day, but we all had at least a 3 hour ride home so it was time to say adieu.

We met a gentlemen named Tony Berry at the parking lot as we were packing up. He's from Utica, IL and he has just begun a 2 year, 10,000 mile cycling trip (but I'm not entirely sure that it is an uninterrupted 2 years.) You can take a look at what he has written to date: http://www.eftenergysolutions.com

Reason to Ride April 7(even if the weather is awful)

By Kären Schwartz

I have to admit that Bill and I were not real enthused about having to lead a ride today. The temperature was 38 degrees at the start and the wind was blowing at 20 mph. However, the sun was out and four other riders showed up so we headed out. The ride turned out to be a fun outing! Who would have thought that it would turn out that way. The sun warmed the air so it was in the mid 40's by the halfway point in the ride and we stopped for coffee and rolls at the Great Harvest Bread Company in Naperville and they had hot cross buns for sale. Having one of those will perk up your day. While talking to Hans at the Great Harvest Bread Company, we mentioned birds that we had been in seeing the area. Hans then told us that taking a short detour on the way back we could see baby great horned owls! He then directed us through the Green Trails subdivision and in a park off of Abbeywood, there was a tree just off of the bike path with a large owl nest in it. On the branch just below the nest were two huge "baby" owls. They had been out of the nest for two days and were about 5 weeks old. They looked to be about 24 inches tall. It was so neat to see them so close up. They weren't flying yet and were just sitting on the branch below the nest. Biking outside can be an adventure even if the weather seems to be against you at the start!

Safety Concerns

By George Pastorino

After the news of the Cyclist killed on Sunday came out, I received 2 e-mails from newer club members who had concerns about safety lapses on our Club rides. One had concerns about rolling through stop signs and the other was worried about riding 2 a breast. Both asked me to address this matter in an e-mail to the club, as they felt uneasy doing it since they were so new. Both of their concerns are legitimate and do happen on our rides, but I do not think they by themselves are the main problem. Riding 2 up is fine, if there is little traffic and plenty of room. The problem is when we do it in heavy traffic, with little room for cars to pass. Stop signs are another issue. We will never have a longer Club Ride through residential areas where the entire group comes to a complete stop at every stop sign. This is not realistic and should not be the goal for quiet residential streets.

The biggest safety issue I see is rider apathy and lack of awareness of their surroundings and the risk involved in riding a bicycle with cars on public roads. For the vast majority of people, it's most dangerous recreational thing they will do in their lifetime. Every year about 800 road cyclists are killed. Far more than Mountain climbing, skydiving or the other so called extreme sports. Yet, there is a big difference is how cyclists approach their sport vs how lets say mountain climbers approach theirs.

I will use mountain climbing as the example because I have climbed 14,000 ft peaks and have some experience, though I am not a expert at all, more like an advanced novice. While on a big mountain there is an awareness among climbers that every choice they make directly impacts their ability to continue to live. Wrong choices are the most common cause of death with both mountain climbers and cyclists. Yet, one group.... the mountain climbers, accepts it and is aware of it every moment and the other group...road cyclists, either does not accept it or forgets about it....either way our awareness as road cyclists of the risks of our sport is lacking.

I will site an example close to home for me. Last year Pussanee was finishing a long pull on the front of a paceline and put her left hand out as she was pulling off. She failed to look over her shoulder and was nearly hit by a speeding car. I was very shaken by this as you can imagine. Pussanee is one of our safest and most careful riders, but just a moment of mental lapse almost got her killed. This is example is repeated often and if there is no car coming, we get away with it, but it is a potentially fatal wrong choice none the less.

What do? Ride less? Stop riding? Of course not, those who know me understand that I am a avid and passionate road cyclist who rides 4000+ mile per year and I will never stop riding. I believe the most important thing we can do is to increase our awareness that every time we ride a bicycle on a road with cars, our life is at risk. That awareness will make us realize that each choice we make while riding impacts our ability to continue to live. Moving to the left without looking back can be just as deadly as a mountain climber not carefully monitoring where is he in relation to the cliff. They accept that risk and continue to climb with great awareness, we as road cyclists should accept that risk and continue to ride...with greater awareness.

More EBC Heroes

By Nancy Shack

I want to acknowledge two more great guys who are riding with Mike Delaney on the tandem. Jerome Hughes and Jeff Wincentsen both heeded Steve Sinderson's call and Mike now has a couple more men to captain his bike.

I admire all of you so much!

Please submit articles and/or photos for the newsletter to Cindy Reedy (cmreedy_prodigy.net) AND Sharon Hermach (ganskesh_hotmail.com). The deadline is the 15th of the month.

Note: The most current ride schedule can be found on our website at http://www.elmhurstbicycling.org/rides/currentRide.aspx.