my Fox Valley Permanent experience

I rode the FoxValleyPermanent route on Dec 17th 2011 starting a little before 9am.

Here is my notes on the ride and my gear, as well as some tips for myself for the next time. These notes may be useful to a newbie randonneur like myself or to someone unfamiliar with the route. I hope you enjoy!

=== weather

S-SE wind at ~10 mph all day, light snow before 10am, temps mostly in low 30s, some freezing mist after sunset.

=== clothing

My regular commute attire worked well for the most part. Constant effort on the bike kept me warm, and I carried an extra jacket in case I needed off the bike. Below is a list of what I wore. Some of these items are straight from my regular wardrope and are not bike specific. Fabric and brand details are for your information only, they almost surely are not the best options available, perhaps with the exception of wool :)

- wool cap under helmet(hard shell with few holes on top, hence warmer than most helmets)
- fleece headband (wore around my neck and occasionally pulled up over my nose)
- big safety glasses (wore them above my cap, otherwise temples lift the cap and let wind get to my ears)

- merino wool base top layer
- mostly wool long sleeved sweater
- PearlIzumi elite (100% polyester) windbreaker

- a pair of old thick-ish cotton pants
- long johns (not wool, mix of some synthetic fabrics)

- a pair of thick-ish wool socks
- hiking boots (no mesh, a bit too warm during normal use)
- PearlIzumi booties (big size, still difficult to wear over hiking shoes with wide and thick soles)

- barmitts brand neoprene covers on handlebar
- medium warmth gloves (nothing fancy, not lobster type)

- thin Sugino balaclava (had to use it to compensate for lack of wind proof briefs)

- fleece jacket with hood (used only when fixing a flat outdoors at Ottawa control)


=== lighting

My new SON dynohub and B&M Cyo headlight provided ample illimunation. So did two planet bike superFlash taillights attached to seat bag.
A helmet mounted light would make life easier, compared to the flash light I used to read the cue sheet and street signs.

=== fenders

I have SKS fenders with homemade mudflaps. Front mudflap helped keep slush off of chainrings. Front fender ends at top of wheel and was not sufficient. Tire shot slushy water forward, which diverted in wind and landed on my legs and shoes. Had to stay longer than I needed in the first control as I waited for my feet to dry and warm up.

=== tires

After checking the forecast in the morning, I decided to keep 28mm Grand Bois tires that I had on the bike. The route was plowed (except for a short section on trail, which naturally was not plowed). Roads were mostly dry past Batavia. Hence I had no trouble with tires. Tires had good sufficient traction on the trail section where snow seemed about 1/2¨ thick.
I had a flat in Ottawa, which could be avoided with a tire with thicker thread.

=== the route

Route is mostly low traffic or wide shoulder roads, which made it pleasant. I had two incidents though.

I made a dangerous mistake on the final leg to Naperville, by making a left turn couple miles too early. Instead of 248th St, I turned onto Lincoln Highway which has fast traffic and almost no shoulder. Had unpleasant times until I could find room to safely stop, turn back and get back on track.

The second incident is a mean dog that lives in 3600 block of East 2351st Rd. I sincerely hope for a detour around this section. This dog chased me twice, both on the way to and back from Ottawa. Lucky a car passed each time so the dog decided to cut its chase short and move off the road.


=== tips for next time

Next time, I would
- buy and wear windproof briefs
- add another wool top layer assuming the weather will be colder
- use goggles instead of safety glasses assuming the weather will be colder.
- put plenty of lotion (with sun protection) on face before the ride, and replenish at the controls. Lotion is easier to handle in room temperature.
- take several spare tubes, as it would have been painful to try to patch a tube on the roadside, in dark and cold. Changing a tube is painful enough even at a control where one can run indoors to warm up.
- not take banana, or any snack bar with high liquid content, as they feel ice cold. I did not eat a banana in fear of upseting my stomach.
- take a second thermos bottle, as liquids get ice cold pretty quickly in regular bottles.
- try caffeine free warm drink options (like herbal teas) as I had difficulty falling a sleep the night of the ride. Also add sugar in order to effortlessly take in some calories.
- mount a longer front fender that extends over the top of wheel and past 1 o`clock position.
- go to the start early and start the ride on time so as to enjoy the ride and the route better.

=== speed stats (in km & kph)

           distance         averageSpeed       duration
leg     route  bonus      route  withBonus  route   atControl
 1        24                   20.6                      1:10     0:24
 2        36                   18                         2:00     0:16
 3        52                   18.7                      2:47     1:02
 4        57     1            19.5     19.9           2:55       :20
 5        42     8            16.9     20.1           2:29
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         211     9            18.6     19.4          11:21    2:02


overall:                      15.7     16.4          13:23


Views: 621

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on January 1, 2012 at 7:10pm

Thanks for posting! A good read.

Permalink Reply by ilter on January 2, 2012 at 8:48am

Thanks! Good to get some feedback :)

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:

Thanks for posting! A good read.

Permalink Reply by terryg on January 4, 2012 at 9:03pm

Congratulations on finishing, and thanks for posting this useful information!

Permalink Reply by ilter on January 24, 2012 at 5:41pm

I attempted FVP again on Jan 15th, but failed to meet closing times for Yorkville and Naperville (the last 2 controls).  Weather was breezy, with a constant south wind with gusts.  I just did not have the power to fight the wind all day & had to stay longer at controls to rest and refuel.

Lessons learned:

- shouting ¨no, bad dog, no!¨ can keep dogs from chasing you

- if you were to take the FVP route here:

    http://sites.google.com/site/ottawapermanent/

and add all west-bound pieces end to end, repeat the same for east, south and north bound pieces, you would end up with something very close to a square. And most roads are out in the open with no wind protection.  Therefore a strong South wind works against you (either as a head or cross wind) 3/4 of the time.  A SE wind (like in my December ride) would be a head-ish wind only 1/2 the time.

Long story short, N/S/E/W winds are evil, NE/SE/NW/SW are tolerable, no wind is grand.

- when you cannot ride faster than 5 kmh, walk. You might get a nice photo or two:

    http://www.thechainlink.org/photo/v-g-trail-aurora-1

Permalink Reply by JD on February 16, 2012 at 11:55am

I am new to Radonneuring, etc.  Is anybody planning on doing the FVP anytime soon (within the next month or so weather permitting that would want to ride together)?  

Are there other Permanents close by let's say in the 200k or less category?  

Thanks

Permalink Reply by ilter on February 16, 2012 at 4:31pm

JD,

I try to ride the FVP once a month, & might do the next ride on Feb 25th if I can arrange on time.

Would be nice to fight the winds together :)  Though I may be too slow of a companion, as it takes me ~14 hours to complete.

I think FVP is the closest permanent, and there are some others in southern IL & Madison, WI.

You can see all of them on a map, go here & find the ¨show a map" button:

         http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/permsearch_GF.pl


JD said:

I am new to Radonneuring, etc.  Is anybody planning on doing the FVP anytime soon (within the next month or so weather permitting that would want to ride together)?  

Are there other Permanents close by let's say in the 200k or less category?  

Thanks

Permalink Reply by ambimb on February 19, 2012 at 2:44am

Riding the FVP once/month!? That's very impressive. Now I'm really going to have to try it. Is it that great or are you just trying to rack up kilometers for the Super Randonneur designation, or both? 

Permalink Reply by ilter on February 19, 2012 at 10:18am


Once a month, but only since december :)  Have you heard of the R-12 recognition ?

 http://www.rusa.org/award_r12.html

Using that as motivation to continue longer rides over the winter. 


ambimb said:

Riding the FVP once/month!? That's very impressive. Now I'm really going to have to try it. Is it that great or are you just trying to rack up kilometers for the Super Randonneur designation, or both? 

Once a month but once a month since when ? Since december, so only twice so far :)  I am attempting R-12 (you ride once a month for 12 successive months & RUSA recognizes that).

Permalink Reply by JD on February 20, 2012 at 12:16am

Thanks for responding, I am going to train and for a Delavan 200K  in May.  I will not be able to make FVP on Feb 25, but maybe in March.  THanks again 
ilter said:

JD,

I try to ride the FVP once a month, & might do the next ride on Feb 25th if I can arrange on time.

Would be nice to fight the winds together :)  Though I may be too slow of a companion, as it takes me ~14 hours to complete.

I think FVP is the closest permanent, and there are some others in southern IL & Madison, WI.

You can see all of them on a map, go here & find the ¨show a map" button:

         http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/permsearch_GF.pl


JD said:

I am new to Radonneuring, etc.  Is anybody planning on doing the FVP anytime soon (within the next month or so weather permitting that would want to ride together)?  

Are there other Permanents close by let's say in the 200k or less category?  

Thanks

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on April 2, 2012 at 4:37am

ilter, are you going to be doing the FVP any time soon? I'd like to get some long'ish ride in before the 200k in May. Maybe we can do a ride?

Permalink Reply by ilter on April 2, 2012 at 1:27pm


Hi Jim,

I rode it two days ago, & will probably ride it again on the weekend of 21th. How about a shorter unofficial version before then?  We can have a 70 or 100 mile route if we drop Ottawa checkpoint. That we can complete in daylight.  The whole route is about 210km/130 miles & it takes me over 13 hours to complete.


Jim S said:

ilter, are you going to be doing the FVP any time soon? I'd like to get some long'ish ride in before the 200k in May. Maybe we can do a ride?

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on April 2, 2012 at 4:47pm

Sure, sounds good to me. I'm almost positive I'm free that weekend, so this should work out well. Are you still averaging between 16-20 kph? 

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