The Chainlink

I've never done a century ride before, and am wanting to do one this summer or early fall.
Anyone have any recommended rides?

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You got chased by a dog??!?!  Was it a little schnauzer or something?  I saw a white one just hanging in the middle of the road, and I honestly was surprised that it didn't try to chase me!  

 

And to set the record straight, I would not classify this year's ACC route as "flat"  I think we had more hills this year than most years I've ridden it.  

 

And good to see you too!

Julie Hochstadter said:

Agreed and good seeing you today! Despite the rain, wind, cold temps and getting chased by a dog for a quarter mile, it was a beautiful ride and very well organized. Good work!
Joe TV said:
Apple Cider Century is a nice one.
After riding a few group centuries I have decided to plan my own routes. Several recent rides have been boring rides in the corn fields, stale cookies, half bananas, and warm gartorcornsugar. Other than another shirt to wash my bike I have no need for poorly marked routes that barely draw a decent group of riders. I'll find my own way and leave at my own time. Thanks for the space to rant. =D

I agree with making your own routes. If find it more interesting, and it allows you to become creative combining different train (illinois amtrak allows bikes on trains if you book ahead on their site)..trails or roads. Sure, it can be fun to ride in a group, but A), you have to pay, and second, you don't get to decide to make a detour if you liked to go somewhere besides the posted route. Kind of like a Cruise in a way.

 

Also, something that's been touched upon...is being prepared to change for flats (pump, extra tube, patches). Depending on what kind of bike you have, an allen key set or an adjustable wrench can come in very handy. Of course, other things can go wrong, and if one's not very experienced, it might be a good idea to have somebody who knows, and check the bike out for you first.

Something has been tremendously helpful for me is the Google Maps app on my cheapo android phone (have a mount on my handlebars). Sure the routes suggested aren't always great, but if there's decent coverage, you can get through a lot of areas without getting lost.


 

 

Julie - sorry I didn't see you (among the other 5498 riders).  Whew! that was a tough one.  Wind, rain, and more hills than I remember, but at least I didn't have to contend with any dogs.  Stayed with friends in the area and rode to and from the event, so it was a total of 125 for me yesterday.
Cool video made at ACC with a Contour Camera.

Pretty good video, but what the heck is that camera mounted to?  It's going pretty fast, especially for a recumbent (if that is in fact what it is).  

 

Wait!  Just did some basic internet detective work (within the 15 min. edit window of this post) and found out that whoever made this video was in something very similar to this:

 

http://www.bluevelo.com/quest_velomobile.html

 


Julie Hochstadter said:

Cool video made at ACC with a Contour Camera.

A bit more on the velomobile, with which I am suddenly and completely obsessed, can be found here: http://www.bluevelo.com/Page_2.html -

The stats on aerodynamics and speed are quite impressive. A road full of these things is my idea of awesome future.

Ha... a Professor on campus rocks one of those.  It's always awkward watching him try to lock it to the bike racks.

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