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 Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 24, 2012 at 8:31pm

OK, maybe it just It felt like closer to 7...

To be fair, they were already rolling up the carpet at the endpoint when we rolled in.  

Jim S said:

wait, what? We rolled in to Evanston around 4, if I remember correctly.

 

Permalink Reply by Len Krietz on September 25, 2012 at 7:34am

I did the century and got to Sunset park around 1:30pm.  There was pizza at that time.  Maybe you got there too early?

Lisa Curcio said:

I am sorry I mentioned pizza, but just to keep the record straight, it was at the last rest stop. Since I only did the 50 I was there around noon or so.  You poor folks who did the century--even leaving at 6:30 a.m.--apparently did not have a chance.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on September 25, 2012 at 8:54am

No, Len--there was pizza when I was there.  It was the later folks who said they did not see pizza :-)

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 25, 2012 at 9:33am

My wife tried to comfort me regarding missing the pizza by saying it wasn't very good.   But she is pretty darn picky when it comes to food.  If it isn't Giordano's stuffed-crust (or similar) she doesn't much care for it.

Se we took advantage of modern cellphone technology and ordered a Spinach & Garlic stuffed-crust from Giordano's  as we drove home from Evanston.  It was almost ready for pick-up when we got back to Logan Square.

Yum!  What a way to refuel after a Century.   Food-snobery does have its advantages...

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 25, 2012 at 10:06am

The last time I checked my watch, at the rally-point shown on the map earlier in this thread, it was 6:40AM.  We waited a few more minutes before the 4 of us decided to push on.

We hit the first stop at around 8 and the second one around 9:30.  Both of them were VERY well stocked with all sorts of food, sandwiches, powerbars, powerballs, caffiene gummies -you name it (carbs, fats, proteins)   

We didn't dally too long at each stop.  15 was the longest I think -but I wasn't really timing them.  I don't like to stop much longer than it takes to pee, get some snacks, refill water, catch one's breath, and rearrange clothing to match the changing weather.  I start to stiffen up if I stop too long.   That bridge coming out of the 3rd stop (where we were supposed to walk our bikes leaving the park) really popped my knees when we went over it (in an almost-good way) due to them stiffening up from hanging around too long.   

We were not riding very fast so we were getting passed quite a bit -although we did pass quite a few slower folks too.  I think we passed the same gal with big SMV triangle on her back 3 times near the end.  We didn't stop too long at the stops and only made a couple unscheduled stops for my flat tire and a pee break or two.

My  only gripe is that there were no sandwiches or powerbars later on and I should have loaded up early on when I had the chance.   I suppose we were at the front of the pack when we left and as each stop was passed we were getting further and further to the rear of the pack.   Lesson learned -get some food this low-carb freak needs when the getting is good.   It's not a real complaint.  I really loved the ride otherwise.   Next time I'll grab a sandwich or 4 when I see them and carry them in my bag until lunch and dinner.   I had a big plate of scrambled eggs before we left the house and wasn't hungry again until lunch time.  And then there was nothing but carbs for me. 

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on September 25, 2012 at 10:08am

James, do you have our average speed for the ride? 

Permalink Reply by David Lieb on September 25, 2012 at 10:13am

I agree with KiltedCelt. It IS a social event. We should NOT be penalized for enjoying the day, enjoying the ride, admiring peoples' steeds, etc. Sure, we coulda hustled more, but it woulda detracted from the pleasures of the event. Arriving to a scene of rolling up the sidewalks kinda spoiled things for me. I expected the food to be comparable, perhaps adjusted for time of day, at each rest stop, but this was not the case. Nothing but crumbs at the last two stops and not much more at the one before. Oh well, I will stock up early next time and hope that the lines at the restrooms are shorter!

Permalink Reply by David Holmquist on September 25, 2012 at 10:14am


I think Dave Jacque and I were the first to leave, at about 6:40.  We were the only ones who had declared for the Metric, and a number of people who were doing the Classic were waiting for particular others to arrive.  I think the group ended up splitting into a number of smaller ones that had organized here for different rides and start times.


kiltedcelt said:

Exactly what time DID the Chainlink slow group leave?

            [snip]

Permalink Reply by Trish Finn on September 25, 2012 at 10:16am

I second what kiltedcelt said! It was a little disappointing arriving at a stop to see pretzels, oranges and packets of ketchup, mustard and relish. 

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on September 25, 2012 at 10:22am

when I did it in 2008, we ended after dark and my certificates were left filled out.  And there was some food at the last rest stops, just enough to give me the energy I needed.

kiltedcelt said:

Exactly what time DID the Chainlink slow group leave? When Bryan M and I arrived, we were there at Dawes at probably about 6:30 or thereabouts. We did meet up with David and Tricia as well as Mick aka 50mission. We all started out around 7:00 I think, realizing we'd probably gotten there too late for the rest of the group. We completed the ride with a total saddle-time of 7 1/2 hours, which I think is fairly respectable, but due to taking longer at the stops than we really needed to, Bryan and I ended up back at Dawes at a few minutes after 6:00 with David and Tricia just a few minutes behind.

On the one hand, I feel like we should've taken less time at the stops, but then again I see this as more of a social event than some kind of competition. At the rest stops, I want to get a snack and check out the fellow riders and their bikes. Maybe strike up a conversation or two. We (mostly Bryan), helped out a few folks along the way with potential mechanical issues as well as full-blown mechanicals which did eat up some time. Maybe if we'd ignored these people and left them to their own devices or the SAG wagons we could've saved a few minutes, but that's not cool.

I did notice that the snacks were all but non-existent at one of the last rest stops. My only real complaint is that even though you're supposed to be off the course at 6:00, they had to know there were going to be stragglers rolling in close to that time or even after it. I realize a lot of folks had probably been there at Dawes since 5:00 AM, but still, someone couldn't hang around and hand out certificates and leave a few snacks out past 6:00 PM, really? Okay, that's my only gripe. The ride was awesome, the support was awesome, it was great seeing the SAGs out there knowing that if you really needed one you wouldn't have to wait long, etc.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on September 25, 2012 at 10:22am

The flyer for the NSC clearly posted that the route would be closed at 6pm, 12 hrs from the start. That is a VERY long day for staffers who work all day for free. I do several organized centuries a year and most close the course at 3:30-4 pm. The rest stops were very well stocked and supported for most of the day. It is a social event, but it is not a sleep over.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 25, 2012 at 10:41am

I think I fried my phone battery somehow with my USB charger :(   I've never tried charging the phone from dead with the thing and the battery wasn't in good shape anyhow.  I didn't realize I had my headlight on for so long and let the battery go down to nothing before trying to charge it back so I lost my tracking at 54 miles.

Up until that point this is what Endomondo tells me:

Sep 23, 2012 6:35 AM
Distance
54.61 miles
Duration
4h:06m:11s
Avg Speed
13.3 mph
Max Speed
23.7 mph
Calories
3801 kcal

Supposedly it stops the clock when I stop but not always if it is only for a quick stop of 30 seconds or less waiting for a stoplight to turn -so average ROLLING speed might be a little more than that, but since there were so few stop lights in the run the first half I don't think that could have been very much.  Maybe another tenth or two at the most.   Say 13.5MPH although I don't think that 13.3MPH is all that bad either. 

Endomondo says we left at 6:35AM according to my phone time.  I guess our watches all must have been 5-6 minutes fast. 

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