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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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MeganK on
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Even though we rolled in a few minutes past 6:00, I'm surprised to hear that there were people out later than us. MeganK mentions coming in at 6:45 and seems to imply that there were folks still out behind her group.
A couple rolled in to Evanston about 10 minutes after us and we left the last stop just after a woman arrived and sat down to eat some bagels and... bagels. The volunteers manning the last stop stayed after they were supposed to close, which was really nice of them. On the bright side, the lake was a beautiful pink color that late in the evening.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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As far as the road-markings they were really good. I was a bit concerned coming out of Waukegan on Sheridan (I think) when we didn't see any paint on the road for like 3-4 miles straight and through a lot of traffic-signal intersections. It seemed like we had missed the route and were just traveling blind southbound down the road. But we were following and passing other riders there, and the one person paying attention to the cue sheet in our group said it was OK so we kept on going. Without that I would have been pulling over to read mine (I don't see well enough to even TRY and read a cue sheet while moving without reading glasses and I can't do bifocals) Someday in the far future all cue-sheets will be downloadable and there will be an app for that...
My thought was that whatever locality it was that we went through there was really fussy about marking up the roads so the organizers didn't. It's not good to piss off the locals in situations like this so I understand not marking where they don't want any paint on the roads. Then there was the 5 or 10k run (or whatever it was) that had arrowed-out the road too, with a similar color red paint. That got a little bit confusing. This sort of stuff happens though -that is why there is a cue sheet. For the most part 95% of the route was VERY well marked on the road, with most-all left-turns well-marked/warned well ahead of time so that we knew to get over to the left-turning lane ahead of time rather than at the last minute and being forced into a pedestrian-turn. BRAVO! That was awesome and well-appreciated.
As far as the "shindig" at the end there wasn't much of it at a quarter to 5 or whatever time Jim S. said we pulled in. They were rolling up the carpets but there were still 2 people signing completion certificates and The Chainlink table was just closing up (I watched as Lisa put the last of the stuff away and she and her Husband folded up the TV-tray tables and carried them away.) There was no food anywhere that I saw, although they were still selling T-shirts. I heard last-year's T-shirts were on sale at like $5/each which was a great deal. There were no more water bottles but that is typical. I didn't want to take a bottle at the start as I had brought my own and don't like using a "new" bottle without washing it first (crazy me not trusting these far-east factories to wash stuff before they ship it -all that plastic yuck and melamine, then again I won't wear a new T-shirt before I wash it either.) I did find a good bottom-half of a new bottle among the many junk ones strewn-about on the ground. (cyclists are slobs it seems) The top was defective but the bottle was good. I like these slightly taller bottles because they hold more water so I took it home. I have plenty of bottles at home to steal the top off of.
I might be a cry-baby but I still had a good time and got a free bottom-half of a water bottle out of this fun ride ;) Next year I'll HTFU and fill my huge handlebar bag with sandwiches at the first sign of them. Hurrah for me, and too bad for everyone behind.
kiltedcelt said:I guess those of us who're acting like crybabies need to just HTFU as the fixed-gear kids would say. Next time I do an organized century like this I guess I'll stock up on everything that looks good at the first rest stop. Those little sandwiches would've been awesome later on. I'm not a huge fan of masses of sweets and carbs and such off the bike. On the bike, I like to have something with a decent amount of carbs like Clif chews or Clif bars just to keep a little gas in the tank between stops. That's what helped me seeing as how the food choices got leaner as the ride went on.
Overall though, I feel like I had a WAY better time this year then last. I learned last years lessons well. Start early, ride with other people, and be prepared for the weather. It's a good thing I had brought my rain jacket (just in case), because I needed that extra layer for the first hour plus in the saddle that morning. I also thought initially that I could get away with shorts for the whole ride but wore tights knowing that I could take them off later if I needed to. The tights stayed on the whole day and I was comfortable.
Also, I felt the route markings were really good. I never consulted my cue sheet once. There were a couple times when I wondered if we might have made a wrong turn because we hadn't seen a route mark in a while, but eventually we'd ride past one and know that we were still on the right track. Even though we rolled in a few minutes past 6:00, I'm surprised to hear that there were people out later than us. MeganK mentions coming in at 6:45 and seems to imply that there were folks still out behind her group. I still wanna know where the band was. I thought there was some huge after-ride-party or something. Last year I can understand there not being a shindig because the weather was so crappy. Was there a shindig and it was just over way earlier than 6:00?
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Permalink Reply by Madopal (16.5 mi) on
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Wow, kudos to you all. That was one chilly morning. I've got a monthly total that's going to be a stretch for me...I'll probably have to do 80+ this Sunday. I actually got up early last Sunday to maybe tag along, but when I saw it was in the 40s at 6am, I went back to sleep. Not ready for Bike Winter just yet. :)
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Permalink Reply by mike w. on
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It was a good day, and i enjoyed riding with Dan, James, and Jim. Sorry i got a bit slow in the last quarter, but i don't think i was too far behind at the finish... had to stop for a cramp just at the Wilmette border.
i call the return leg of this ride the Riches-to-rags-to-riches ride. This year's route was slightly different, and i'm glad we were off the bike trail through Waukegan/North Chicago and stayed on streets. The route was very well marked on the 100, but i do know that part of the world pretty well and it's hard for me to get lost between Kenosha and Evanston.
As for the whining i've seen here about food, stops, etc.: Really?? i wonder if certain people have stopped to think about what it really takes to pull off an event like this? Beyond the route-planning... Figure the turnout can vary wildly depending on the weather, and consider the pre-planning it took to have all those sandwiches ordered, made, and delivered on time -not to mention the cash outlay for about 1000 Cap'n Nemo's sandwiches with the chance of geting stuck with leftovers if the weather kept riders home. Also let's consider the other edibles on offer: Homemade baked goods -someone volunteered to make those in their own kitchens and at their own expense; The Cliff's products: have you priced their Gel Shots lately? They were passing those out by the hundreds along with a variety of other energy bars &c. Maybe that all was a corporate donation, but someone had to do the legwork to procure them... all VOLUNTEER.
The Sag wagons -radio linked and dispatched and constantly circulating all routes. i don't think 15 minutes went by on the ride that i didn't see one pass. Think about the gas expenses and the windshield time those volunteers spent for our comfort and safety. IMHO, they were above first rate and we owe them a gratitude.
The ride closed at 6:00 but some volunteers stayed on awhile to cover. Think about how many of them were up at 3 or 4 AM Sunday so the ride could start on time.
The NSC is a first-class event and we're damned lucky that the Evanston Bike Club hosts it in our own back yard. THANKS, EBC!
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Permalink Reply by Trish Finn on
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nicely said kiltedcelt
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Permalink Reply by Michael A on
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I guess I should apologize, I have the chainlink set to email me when a thread I take part in has activity, the Monday following the ride my email was blowing up with the same few people, over and over expressing disappointment with lack of a party at the end for them. We rolled into the finish at about 4 and there was no "party". The ride had a set schedule and if the goal was for you to be back at the finish at a certain time there were several ways of achieving that. 1)start earlier 2) spend less time at rest stops 3) ride a little faster or 4) do one of the shorter routes. This is a ride I have done for the past few years running, and it is by far one of the well supported centuries out there. I was not happy with some of the road markings, the red/orange flouro spray paint was not easy to see at times, and the markings were not consistantly placed at intersections. Is there room for improvement on any ride, of course. Will I pay to ride the same routes I train on for free to help support a local bike club, AS OFTEN AS I CAN. Thank you EBC for all the time and effort you put into this ride.
END OF GRIPE
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Just in case I may have come off as unappreciative I also would like to thank the Evanston Club, all the varied volunteers, the MANY MANY Amateur Radio operators who had a massive network going during the ride including a ton of SAG wagons and an operator at each stop, and all the other volunteers along with those from The Chainlink like Julie who cut her ride short so she could work the table.
The small issue that I couldn't find lower-carb food in the afternoon is very minor. NOT a big deal.
This was still a GREAT ride.
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Permalink Reply by Neal J. N ey on
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I just wanted to let everyone know that if you did not get a certificate and want one you can send me a message at nney60202@gmail.com and I will mail one out to you.
Neal J.Ney
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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on
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new forum rule = no whining unless you have personally planned and successfully implemented a century ride in the past :))
Well said mike w and Michael A.
mike w. said:As for the whining i've seen here about food, stops, etc.: Really?? i wonder if certain people have stopped to think about what it really takes to pull off an event like this? Beyond the route-planning... Figure the turnout can vary wildly depending on the weather, and consider the pre-planning it took to have all those sandwiches ordered, made, and delivered on time -not to mention the cash outlay for about 1000 Cap'n Nemo's sandwiches with the chance of geting stuck with leftovers if the weather kept riders home. Also let's consider the other edibles on offer: Homemade baked goods -someone volunteered to make those in their own kitchens and at their own expense; The Cliff's products: have you priced their Gel Shots lately? They were passing those out by the hundreds along with a variety of other energy bars &c. Maybe that all was a corporate donation, but someone had to do the legwork to procure them... all VOLUNTEER.
The Sag wagons -radio linked and dispatched and constantly circulating all routes. i don't think 15 minutes went by on the ride that i didn't see one pass. Think about the gas expenses and the windshield time those volunteers spent for our comfort and safety. IMHO, they were above first rate and we owe them a gratitude.
The ride closed at 6:00 but some volunteers stayed on awhile to cover. Think about how many of them were up at 3 or 4 AM Sunday so the ride could start on time.
The NSC is a first-class event and we're damned lucky that the Evanston Bike Club hosts it in our own back yard. THANKS, EBC!
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Good rule!
Another good rule is if you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to have a back-up plan in case you can't eat whatever is available, when it is available. This is just like being prepared for equipment failure or multiple equipment failures (I had a flat about half-way into the century and was wishing I'd brought a second spare tube at that point onward, although I did have both sticky patches in my kit -as well as the traditional glue-type, and tire boots too)
I bet that most of the mechanics at the stops had spare 700 tires available for purchase should someone's tire be slashed beyond booting -but if you were riding a 650b or even a 20" it probably would have been a good idea to bring a spare folding tire along just in case.
Be Prepared.
Julie Hochstadter said:new forum rule = no whining unless you have personally planned and successfully implemented a century ride in the past :))
Well said mike w and Michael A.
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