Best of 2017 - What was your best ride/experience/accomplishment of 2017? - The Chainlink2024-03-29T15:41:19Zhttps://thechainlink.org/forum/topics/best-of-2017-what-was-your-best-ride-experience-accomplishment-of?commentId=2211490%3AComment%3A1087031&xg_raw_resources=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=no2017 was a big year of riding…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-26:2211490:Comment:10872242018-01-26T21:45:18.555ZJasminhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Jasmin
<p>2017 was a big year of riding for me. Standing out among the 6500+ miles were:</p>
<p>Finishing the Horribly Hilly Hundreds</p>
<p>Climbing Mt Tam in California</p>
<p>Doing a bunch of road racing</p>
<p>Turin WNRs in the dark - exhilarating and slightly stupid</p>
<p>2017 was a big year of riding for me. Standing out among the 6500+ miles were:</p>
<p>Finishing the Horribly Hilly Hundreds</p>
<p>Climbing Mt Tam in California</p>
<p>Doing a bunch of road racing</p>
<p>Turin WNRs in the dark - exhilarating and slightly stupid</p> Mid/late September. Unfortuna…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-25:2211490:Comment:10869462018-01-25T14:51:53.179ZAlex Zhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/AlexZ
<p>Mid/late September. Unfortunately it was still 95 degrees the entire week!</p>
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<p>I Amtrak'ed to St. Louis, stayed at an Airbnb, and got up early to bike to the trailhead northwest of St. Louis. STL is a wonderful biking city, but the NW suburbs are less so. I took the sidewalk for a few stretches. Actually the Airbnb host rode with me for a bit of the way. :)</p>
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<p>I spent four nights on the trail: Marthasville (night one), Jefferson City (night two), Boonville (night…</p>
<p>Mid/late September. Unfortunately it was still 95 degrees the entire week!</p>
<p></p>
<p>I Amtrak'ed to St. Louis, stayed at an Airbnb, and got up early to bike to the trailhead northwest of St. Louis. STL is a wonderful biking city, but the NW suburbs are less so. I took the sidewalk for a few stretches. Actually the Airbnb host rode with me for a bit of the way. :)</p>
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<p>I spent four nights on the trail: Marthasville (night one), Jefferson City (night two), Boonville (night three), and Windsor (night four). On the fifth day I biked back east toward Sedalia, where I met up with Amtrak to head home.</p>
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<p>For timing reasons I didn't quite make it to the Katy Trail's western terminus (Clinton). Also, at Windsor the Katy Trail intersects with the Rock Island trail, which you can take northwest toward Kansas City. The Rock Island trail apparently is in pretty rough shape. If they smooth it out and extend it it would be awesome to bike directly from STL to KC (or vice versa, which would give you more downhill time).</p>
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<p>Highly recommend the Katy Trail! If you've biked west from Joliet on the I&M, or east from Pittsburgh on the GAP, it is a similar feel to that. Be mindful that west of Boonville it gets fairly desolate--not many opportunities to stop and get a Gatorade, etc.</p> What rme of year did you do t…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-24:2211490:Comment:10870312018-01-24T22:47:28.285ZDuppiehttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Duppie
<p>What rme of year did you do that ride. Did you do out and bqck? If not how did you get back ro the starting point?</p>
<p>What rme of year did you do that ride. Did you do out and bqck? If not how did you get back ro the starting point?</p> I can enjoy a Spotted Cow, bu…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-24:2211490:Comment:10870172018-01-24T06:45:06.133Zcurt(is) lockehttps://thechainlink.org/profile/curtismyers
<p>I can enjoy a Spotted Cow, but I wouldn't ride all the way to WI for a six-pack!</p>
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<p>I can enjoy a Spotted Cow, but I wouldn't ride all the way to WI for a six-pack!</p>
<p></p> I had two. For my birthday,…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-23:2211490:Comment:10870912018-01-23T05:41:36.720ZTim Heckmanhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/TimHeckman
<p>I had two. For my birthday, a friend (OLB) and I rode from Oak Park to Genoa City, where I picked up a six pack of New Glarus Spotted Cow, and returned the same day. The trip home from Elgin on after sunset on the Prairie Path was unique.</p>
<p>Earlier in the summer, I left work after a half day and camped outside Morris. The next day, I made it close to Ottawa before the trail faded away, and returned to Oak Park the same day. One hundred ten miles in a day on a Cross Check loaded with…</p>
<p>I had two. For my birthday, a friend (OLB) and I rode from Oak Park to Genoa City, where I picked up a six pack of New Glarus Spotted Cow, and returned the same day. The trip home from Elgin on after sunset on the Prairie Path was unique.</p>
<p>Earlier in the summer, I left work after a half day and camped outside Morris. The next day, I made it close to Ottawa before the trail faded away, and returned to Oak Park the same day. One hundred ten miles in a day on a Cross Check loaded with camping gear was pretty darn tough.</p>
<p></p> Passing 100,000 km (62K+ mile…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-19:2211490:Comment:10867512018-01-19T21:52:42.020ZJeffBhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Jeff500
<p>Passing 100,000 km (62K+ miles) since I started keeping track back in 2005</p>
<p>Passing 100,000 km (62K+ miles) since I started keeping track back in 2005</p> "Never Stop Pedaling!" ". . .…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-18:2211490:Comment:10867962018-01-18T02:02:17.558ZTom A.K.https://thechainlink.org/profile/TomKrystyn
<p>"Never Stop Pedaling!" ". . ." My personal cycling inspiration motto passed on to me from a late cyclist. <br></br> Like Gene Tener, I am a mature rider and the next ride is usually the best ride. :-)</p>
<p>But my best ride/experience/accomplishment of 2017 was;</p>
<p>'The Midnight Bike Ride' with Professor Gilfoyle from L.U.<br></br> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35277301?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35277301?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721"></img></a></p>
<p>After a tough cycling season with health…</p>
<p>"Never Stop Pedaling!" ". . ." My personal cycling inspiration motto passed on to me from a late cyclist. <br/> Like Gene Tener, I am a mature rider and the next ride is usually the best ride. :-)</p>
<p>But my best ride/experience/accomplishment of 2017 was;</p>
<p>'The Midnight Bike Ride' with Professor Gilfoyle from L.U.<br/> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35277301?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35277301?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>After a tough cycling season with health issues and disappointment from cancelled fun rides I happened on Professor Timothy's ride to join in from 10pm till 5am riding with the 'kids', alumni and friends. I ended up helping out with minor repairs from mechanical's and getting greased blackened hands from a lot of dropped chains but really enjoyed being with everyone on this ride. Hope all is good for the next ride! . . .</p> Ride: Promintory Point. Exper…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-17:2211490:Comment:10865552018-01-17T21:55:14.688ZGene Tennerhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/GeneTenner
<p>Ride: Promintory Point. Experience: Watching the dogs have fun at the dog beach. Accomplishment: Not getting hurt and still riding at this advanced age.</p>
<p>Ride: Promintory Point. Experience: Watching the dogs have fun at the dog beach. Accomplishment: Not getting hurt and still riding at this advanced age.</p> Nice! Good luck!tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-17:2211490:Comment:10867922018-01-17T19:55:24.143ZAlex Zhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/AlexZ
<p>Nice! Good luck!</p>
<p>Nice! Good luck!</p> Tried the Kickstand Classic b…tag:thechainlink.org,2018-01-17:2211490:Comment:10867112018-01-17T19:28:43.853ZDave Jacquehttps://thechainlink.org/profile/davejacque
<p><span>Tried the Kickstand Classic bicycle "race" back in October. It was a hoot. I did the 19 miles at an average speed 16.26 mph. I handily beat my goal of 15 mph, and finished 236th out of 349 participants -- but 2nd out of 11 in my age group. Next year’s goal: finish in the top half.</span></p>
<p><span>Tried the Kickstand Classic bicycle "race" back in October. It was a hoot. I did the 19 miles at an average speed 16.26 mph. I handily beat my goal of 15 mph, and finished 236th out of 349 participants -- but 2nd out of 11 in my age group. Next year’s goal: finish in the top half.</span></p>