Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James Alexander on August 27, 2013 at 3:00am

My "plan" is to do the whole series next year. I did not prioritize properly this year, but there will be no backsliding.

Permalink Reply by spencewine on August 27, 2013 at 3:40am

My goal is a Super Randonneur Brevet Series and perhaps a 1000km to boot. I'll be based in San Francisco, so I think it's doable as there are 1-2 rides every month and several clubs in the surrounding cities (Davis, Santa Rosa, etc) hosting brevets.

Permalink Reply by David P. on August 28, 2013 at 3:26am

Mine is to actually follow through on my goal for this year, which I did not prioritize highly enough. :)

Permalink Reply by Jeff Bull on August 29, 2013 at 1:44am

Ride more. Suck less.

Permalink Reply by Glenn Bradford on October 21, 2013 at 10:37am

Okay wow, I'm late to the game here. I'm not part of GLR, but I've been having great fun on long rides in and I'm interested in this group because they are doing the same thing! So my big question for 2014 is, how do I get started? Next summer I would like to train up to rides from Chicago > Milwaukee > Madison. 

Biggest question on my list is managing nutrition on these long rides. Over 120 miles I really start to get sick of typical snack/energy food used for shorter rides.

Cheers - Glenn

Permalink Reply by Deet 4.5mi on November 10, 2013 at 3:54pm

I plan to do the entire series in 2014.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on November 12, 2013 at 5:54am

I'd like to do some brevets, but the reality is that it is hard to do, living in the city without access to a car.

So instead I do long rides starting at my house.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on November 12, 2013 at 7:55am

Is there any interest in an urban brevet series, that would start in the city?
If so, what would be a good start location?

The difficulty I see is riding through sketchy neighborhoods, especially for longer distance brevets. For example - while I have commuted between the Loop and Naperville, riding the section between Fulton&Green and Oak Park might not be all that pleasant in the middle of the night if for example there was an out-and-back 400K brevet.

But I live in the suburbs, and don't make any claim to be an urban cyclist, although I would be willing to work on some permanent routes that started in the city if there was sufficient interest.

Other options would be to take Metra to suburban/rural ride starts, with the start time adjusted to work with Metra schedules. Some Chainlink members use that approach to ride the FVP (Fox Valley Permanent).

I too like to ride from my house whenever I can.

Permalink Reply by Deet 4.5mi on November 12, 2013 at 8:05am

I am intrested in a urban route and i would be willing to help set it up. It would be nice if there was an established 100k and 200k in or around the city. The FVP is a great route, but for the carless folks  like my self it takes the entire day when you facotr in the train, and being at the mercy of the metra after 8 hours of riding is always a little intresting.

 Eric Peterson said:

Is there any interest in an urban brevet series, that would start in the city?
If so, what would be a good start location?

The difficulty I see is riding through sketchy neighborhoods, especially for longer distance brevets. For example - while I have commuted between the Loop and Naperville, riding the section between Fulton&Green and Oak Park might not be all that pleasant in the middle of the night if for example there was an out-and-back 400K brevet.

But I live in the suburbs, and don't make any claim to be an urban cyclist, although I would be willing to work on some permanent routes that started in the city if there was sufficient interest.

Other options would be to take Metra to suburban/rural ride starts, with the start time adjusted to work with Metra schedules. Some Chainlink members use that approach to ride the FVP (Fox Valley Permanent).

I too like to ride from my house whenever I can.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on November 12, 2013 at 8:35am

OK then! This time of year is a good time to plan for next year.

What would be candidates for start locations?

Deet 4.5mi said:

I am intrested in a urban route and i would be willing to help set it up. It would be nice if there was an established 100k and 200k in or around the city. The FVP is a great route, but for the carless folks  like my self it takes the entire day when you facotr in the train, and being at the mercy of the metra after 8 hours of riding is always a little intresting.

 Eric Peterson said:

Is there any interest in an urban brevet series, that would start in the city?
If so, what would be a good start location?

The difficulty I see is riding through sketchy neighborhoods, especially for longer distance brevets. For example - while I have commuted between the Loop and Naperville, riding the section between Fulton&Green and Oak Park might not be all that pleasant in the middle of the night if for example there was an out-and-back 400K brevet.

But I live in the suburbs, and don't make any claim to be an urban cyclist, although I would be willing to work on some permanent routes that started in the city if there was sufficient interest.

Other options would be to take Metra to suburban/rural ride starts, with the start time adjusted to work with Metra schedules. Some Chainlink members use that approach to ride the FVP (Fox Valley Permanent).

I too like to ride from my house whenever I can.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on November 12, 2013 at 8:46am

Planning a route from the Wilmette Purple Line Stop would be relatively easy. Ride there if you want. CTA it if not.

Most other slingshot approaches would likely involve Metra.

We have a ton of rides down to Indiana that leave from Buckingham Fountain. (Munster, Crown Point, Whiting). Once you're east of Munster, there should be lots of rural route options.

Eric Peterson said:

OK then! This time of year is a good time to plan for next year.

What would be candidates for start locations?

Deet 4.5mi said:

I am intrested in a urban route and i would be willing to help set it up. It would be nice if there was an established 100k and 200k in or around the city. The FVP is a great route, but for the carless folks  like my self it takes the entire day when you facotr in the train, and being at the mercy of the metra after 8 hours of riding is always a little intresting.

 Eric Peterson said:

Is there any interest in an urban brevet series, that would start in the city?
If so, what would be a good start location?

The difficulty I see is riding through sketchy neighborhoods, especially for longer distance brevets. For example - while I have commuted between the Loop and Naperville, riding the section between Fulton&Green and Oak Park might not be all that pleasant in the middle of the night if for example there was an out-and-back 400K brevet.

But I live in the suburbs, and don't make any claim to be an urban cyclist, although I would be willing to work on some permanent routes that started in the city if there was sufficient interest.

Other options would be to take Metra to suburban/rural ride starts, with the start time adjusted to work with Metra schedules. Some Chainlink members use that approach to ride the FVP (Fox Valley Permanent).

I too like to ride from my house whenever I can.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on November 12, 2013 at 10:43am

Any specific limitations to brevets? Types of roads? Are trails allowed?

You can skip riding in the city by using one of these ‘L’ stops:

• Linden Purple Line stop for northshore brevets (runs from 5:30am to 2am on saturdays)
• Forest Park blue line stop for west side brevets (runs 24 hours a day)
• East 63^rd Green Line stop for Indiana bound brevets (runs from 6am to 1am on sturdays)

Or you could start downtown-like Buckingham fountain in Grant Park.

 

This year I’ve done various rides into NW Indiana (all around 200 km from the northside) and Midewin Nat’l Tallgrass prairie south of Joliet (230 km from the northside)

Both rides used trails when available. They do go through a few rougher neighborhoods, but nothing too bad (this coming from an urban cyclist)

East of Munster, IN it becomes pretty rural as Kevin said. South of Joliet, it becomes pretty rural as well

I think by planning some of these rides you may tap into a different market.

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