The Chainlink

So I did this ride yesterday, solo. Fortunately the weather was  better than the forecast in some respects (sun, temps), but spot on otherwise (NE wind).

I plan to do this ride again in each of the next three months, if there is some decent weather forecast for a weekend - decent meaning clear conditions, reasonable wind, and preferably sunny skies. 

Riding solo is getting a bit old, and the route is not getting any easier. If anyone would like to join me on these rides, please let me know.

Thanks,

Eric

Views: 879

Replies to This Discussion

Keep us posted. Maybe i'll join in.
 
Bill W. said:

No problem...I'm waiting for my rusa renewal to complete as well. I may do my 200k out of chicago and do fvp next week or soon there after

Deet 4.5mi said:

Hello Bill I am on the near west side. While i am planning on doing the ride a couple of times this summer, i dont think ill be able to attend on Sat.
 
Bill W. said:

I live in chicago deet where abouts do you live...

Application is in doing the ride the 14th.

What time are you starting Deet? 

I was planning on starting by 8 and finishing no later than 6.

I'm going to ride on 9/28/2014. Will be a six am start.

Thinking of riding this tomorrow (Saturday). Daylight start - 7:00 AM. 
Willing to push this back a little to accommodate the first METRA train.
Planning to finish in 10 hours or less (15 MPH riding average, 1h15m for stops).

Sorry for the late notice, let me know before 8:00 PM tonight if there is any interest.

--Eric

I ended up doing the ride one week later (Oct.25th) with a 7AM start. It was foggy all the way to Plano, where it suddenly cleared up to blue skies. Ended up fighting headwinds whenever headed north on the way back, but conditions were pretty nice otherwise.

A couple of miles south of the US-52 crossing there is a farmhouse with two dogs and I was watching for these. On the way back I saw one running in the ditch behind me with a gap of a few dozen yards. I checked for traffic then turned around towards the dog and yelled "GO HOME". And the dog stopped and started trotting back to the farm house. I did have to yell a couple of more times. So I think these dogs just want to chase but you should definitely be watchful for them.

I do plan on riding the FVP at least the next couple of months. This time I finished in just under nine hours but I was very speedy at the controls. Plan will be to try and ride in the daylight, which will mean probably starting between 6:00 and 7:00, and completing the ride in 10 hours or less. If anyone is interested in riding at this pace please let me know. Anyone on the ride must be a RUSA member.

--Eric

In case you didn't know, there is now an option to ride this route in reverse. That's what I did last Sunday with a 6:30AM departure.

Had to navigate many closed roads due to the Naperville Marathon, but the officials generally let me ride anyway as it was well before the race start.

It was a pretty windy day for a ride, and at one point headed towards Ottawa I was only going 9 MPH. 
Coming into Ottawa I had to get on the sidewalk so an enormous corn picker could get past.

Sweet tailwind coming home.

--Eric

Are you going to attempt a ride this month? I am thinking about the 31st

Not the 31st, but my next attempt will be in February. If the weather does not cooperate here I plan to do a 200K ride in Louisville on 02/21.


Deet 4.5mi said:

Are you going to attempt a ride this month? I am thinking about the 31st

I'm thinking of attempting this in July, probably either the 17th or 24th, taking the first Metra to the start. If anyone is interested in riding with me, please let me know. I am a slow rider, finishing the FVP last month in a little under 12 hours.

There is a detour on the first leg of the ride due to a bridge closure on Warrenville Rd.

Thanks for the advance warning, I will generate an updated cue sheet with the detour. Mileage is not affected. Metra ontime performance has suffered recently, plan accordingly, if a late train affects your start time, I can take that into consideration.

Eric

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service