The Chainlink

North Shore Century 2012

I figured that I would start a thread to see if we could get some sort of chainlink group to ride together. My plan is to ride at a fairly casual pace and enjoy myself, so I'm looking for others to do the same. And, as many people know, the ride is much more enjoyable and goes by faster when you're in good company. I know I already asked James, but who else would be down for this? And, what time would you all plan on meeting?

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on September 24, 2012 at 10:01am

David, there are probably other EBC members here, but you are the only one I actually know of.  Therefore, I ask you to pass on many, many thanks to all of the EBC volunteers for making it such a great day.  Pizza, for heaven's sake!  You thought of everything. 

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on September 24, 2012 at 10:22am


Pictures!

Permalink Reply by David Barish on September 24, 2012 at 10:28am

Thanks. I passed your note on to Neal.  It was nice to meet you yesterday.

Lisa Curcio said:

David, there are probably other EBC members here, but you are the only one I actually know of.  Therefore, I ask you to pass on many, many thanks to all of the EBC volunteers for making it such a great day.  Pizza, for heaven's sake!  You thought of everything. 

Permalink Reply by David Lieb on September 24, 2012 at 10:28am

Pizza? We never saw any pizza. I did see a hot grill and a package of hotdog buns at one rest stop, but no sign of hot dogs or brats or anything else that might have been intended to accompany them. The food at the rest stops got sparser and sparser at each one, too.

I was also surprised at the amount of debris scattered along the route by the cyclists. Dozens of sets of route instructions, lots of gloves, etc. 

We still had fun, however.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 24, 2012 at 10:35am

+1

Next year I'm going to load up my bag with the "breakfast" subs, and powerbars at the first stop so I can have something substantial to eat at lunch & dinner that wasn't a cookie/brownie/pretzel sugary-starchy carb.   I just can't do sugars/starches on a ride without bonking when I come down off the sugar high.

But that is a minor quibble.   I'll know better next time.

David Lieb said:

Pizza? We never saw any pizza. I did see a hot grill and a package of hotdog buns at one rest stop, but no sign of hot dogs or brats or anything else that might have been intended to accompany them. The food at the rest stops got sparser and sparser at each one, too.

I was also surprised at the amount of debris scattered along the route by the cyclists. Dozens of sets of route instructions, lots of gloves, etc. 

We still had fun, however.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on September 24, 2012 at 11:38am
Michael B and I met up with Bob and started at 7:30. Just under 6 hrs riding time. I think we passed the Chainlink group at about the 50 mile mark. Ride was nice. I made it back to see Julie, have a scoop of ice cream and get a nice stretch from the ladies at the massage tent http://connect.garmin.com/activity/226272591
Permalink Reply by Bryan McClaran on September 24, 2012 at 12:37pm
Pizza? Massage tent? Whut? Damn. I had a lot of bagels and pretzels, and possibly more bananas than I'd eaten all year. I mean, it was good and I'm not complaining, but pizza and massages? I missed out. Next year, there should be a beer tent at the finish line. Just an idea.
Permalink Reply by djm on September 24, 2012 at 1:55pm

Thanks to James, Jim and Brevet Mike for a very nice ride.  And thanks to EBC for hosting.

Permalink Reply by Will on September 24, 2012 at 2:04pm

I rode yesterday, but didn't meet up with any CL'ers there (sorry, Julie!) but rode with a friend of mine. Neither of us are particularly fast cyclists, but we kept a pretty good pace. We skipped the second rest stop, but I could not skip any of the others. My longest rides this year have been around 50-60 miles, so I just wasn't in good enough shape for this century, but ended up finishing, anyway. Also, I biked to Evanston, and then biked back home after the ride. My total for the day was around 122 miles, give or take. I'm sore today.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on September 24, 2012 at 2:15pm

Nice job Will.  That's a pretty good day of riding, I'd say.  in 2008 I did the same thing and was so zonked when I got home.  Luckily there was an open can of beans in my fridge so I didn't even have to take the time to prepare food.  I did ask my roommate to check in on me while I was showering since I was close to passing out.  But I was fine and so happy I did it. 

Will V. said:

I rode yesterday, but didn't meet up with any CL'ers there (sorry, Julie!) but rode with a friend of mine. Neither of us are particularly fast cyclists, but we kept a pretty good pace. We skipped the second rest stop, but I could not skip any of the others. My longest rides this year have been around 50-60 miles, so I just wasn't in good enough shape for this century, but ended up finishing, anyway. Also, I biked to Evanston, and then biked back home after the ride. My total for the day was around 122 miles, give or take. I'm sore today.

Permalink Reply by David Holmquist on September 24, 2012 at 2:25pm

I'm a bit embarrassed to submit my ride report, but here goes.  

I started out on the Metric at about 6:40 AM after riding 19 miles from Oak Park to Evanston.  My plan was to ride back to Oak Park after the event for a full 100 miles ... my first century.

The last thing I remember about the ride was turning eastbound on Tower Road just past mile 55.  Apparently I lost control of the bike a quarter-mile further on at the turn south onto Sheridan, went off the road, and hit a tree.

Headfirst.  I was wearing a Giro Hex, which now has a small dent over my left temple, and a crack through the foam underneath it.

I have no actual recollection of what happened or exactly where or, for that matter, when.  (I'll be curious to see the police report when I go back for my bike, which is locked up at the Winnetka police station.  I also don't know what condition the bike is in, now I think about it.)

The next thing I remember was waking up in the emergency room at Evanston Hospital strapped to a backboard and in a neck collar.  Long story short, I was diagnosed with concussion, had a head CT, was observed for a few hours and released in time to watch lots of riders go by on Ridge Road (the hospital is at mile 60 of the Metric route, on Ridge at Central) while I waited for a friend to pick me up.

Bummer!

Thankfully, no neck or shoulder injury.  Aside from the helmet damage and a bruise on my temple, the only ding to my body or clothes was a small scuff on the left shoulder of my jacket.  As I say, not sure about the bike.  Aside from being a bit thick-headed today, I'm feeling pretty good.

My thanks to whoever called the ambulance and looked after me.  I have a vague recollection of talking to a male Asian rider before they put me in the ambulance, who may have been part of a group who were just in front of me.  I was truly out of it at the scene.

And thanks to the EBC for a great event.  I thought the support at the rest stops was really well organized and saw a number of SAG wagons on the route.  I'm not a big fan of the "houses of the rich and famous," but the route was scenic in other ways, and lots of fun to ride ... until that @#$&ing tree jumped out in front of me.  I was also a pleasure to meet the early-arriving ChainLinkers.

Permalink Reply by David Lieb on September 24, 2012 at 2:29pm

kiltedcelt said:

Yeah dude! Sounds like we totally missed out on some nice grub. Too much lollygagging at the rest stops I think. Especially those last two.


Yeah, far too much time wasted there. Didn't think it was so bad until we got back to watch them roll up the sidewalks. Now they tease us with tales of pizza, brats, ice cream, caviar, champagne...

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