After bringing home my new road bike this week, the reality of this whole experience has started to hit. I'm filled with a mix of excitement and nerves at the thought of what this summer has in store, and the only thing that seems to help ease my mind is to take my bike out for a nice long ride. Never before have I owned a road bike, and despite this fact, being on my new bike I could not feel more at home. While it's still a bit colder than I would have hoped this spring break, I have gotten the opportunity to ride around some of my favorite places in my hometown and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately over the past week, I found out that one of my friend’s parents has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and hearing this news has helped reassure me that I am doing the right thing. It feels wonderful to be a part of an organization like the Illini 4000 for Cancer, which is truly making a difference in other’s lives. I am ready to take my new cycling gear and put it to action as I join the rest of the team back in Chambana shortly after break. It will be exciting to experience our first ride together as a team and I will surely be blogging about the experience next week.
First Training Ride
Last weekend, 21 members of the Illini 4000, set off across the cold, wet, and windy Illinois landscape for Homer Lake in their first training ride of the season. While the conditions were less than ideal and several problems slowed our initial progress, the weather eventually cleared up, before deciding to hail upon us as we rode back into town on the return trip. In total, we all learned quite a bit about riding in groups and look forward to our journey next weekend.
One Week!
So much has happened in the last few weeks, and so much more will happen in the upcoming week. Here's a short run down of everything that has gone on.
A couple weeks ago we had our last team meeting before the ride, detailing many of the specifics of the wheres and whens. So in case you're interested, we're leaving at 9pm on Wednesday May 27th from Chicago's Union Station. We're supposed to arrive at the train station a few hours earlier, allowing us to pack what we need to into the support van, make sure all the bikes are packed properly, and in general make sure that nobody ends up being really late. So we'll have a few hours between then and when we actually board the train. Besides all that fun information, we also received our team backpacks (not I4k branded, just the same for all team members) which as you might imagine provided quite the distraction for the duration of the meeting. We also had a brief slide show, highlighting a few more things that we'll see and encounter on our journey this summer. I think it was at this point that it really hit me that I was going to be spending my entire summer on a bike. The nerves are undoubtedly building in anticipation.
The following weekend I organized an optional bike ride through some of the hilliest terrain that we have in the area. Unfortunately nobody showed up, however it was still a pleasant 70 mile ride, with a good chunk of scenery I had never seen before.
Last weekend I began my ramping up for the ride, trying to get a ride in every day. Long distances weren't the primary objective of these rides, just getting out and riding every day to build a good base for the first week. Most rides I've done are in the 30-40 mile range so by the end of the week, I should be nearing 200-220 miles for the week. This is about half of what I will be doing every week during the summer, but probably enough to prevent most of the anticipated soreness that people will encounter in the first couple weeks. I'll continue to ride as much as I can until we leave Wednesday evening.
Tomorrow morning I leave Champaign and head for home. I plan on spending my last week before this trip in the far north suburbs of Chicago. Besides offering a different environment to bike in (suburbia, where roads a much more likely to be crowded with people who are not used to cyclists on the roads), it also allows the the opportunity to try out the route that I designed over Spring Break. This is not the only reason I'm heading home though, I also have a few other things I'd like to do before leaving for the summer including a trip to the dentist, seeing family, visiting IMSA, and hopefully seeing a few friends as well. I don't know if I'll get to doing those last two, however I'll try to put in a good effort.
While at home there are a few things that I will need to take care of before starting this trip. While I have everything that I need for this trip, there's a few things that I could get which would make the experience a little easier. Most of what I could still use is cold weather gear, leg and arm warmers, as well as a rain jacket that would help keep me warmer than my current one. It would also be nice to pick up an additional pair of cycling shorts to replace the ones which I scuffed up from when I fell a few weeks ago and as well as a new seat bag and possibly a feed bag (a small bag that goes between the head tube/stem and the top tube used for holding food and other small objects).
There are also a few things I still need to do before setting out for out trip. There are a couple of things I still need to do in order to get this website where I want it, specifically integrating an online photo album and a few small modifications to the style of this website to incorporate potential Twitter posts. More importantly, there is still quite a bit of work left to get the Portraits Project ready for the trip. Not only do I need to roll out a new design which is only marginally conceptualized, but I also need to organize the paperwork and files which we'll need to conduct our interviews.
The last major item which I need to accomplish and won't be able to start until the night before is the packing of my bike so that it can be taken with me to New York on the train. Sometime between now and then I'll need to get a bike box (obtainable at nearly any bike shop) as well as a pedal wrench. I should be able to get these at any bike shop, so I'll probably get them wherever I go for the clothing and storage that I'm looking to get before I depart. With a box, a pedal wrench and the multitool I already own, I should have all the items I need to deconstruct the bike well enough to fit it inside the box. The other option is that I skip this and just buy a box from Amtrak. They tend to be larger, thus requiring less disassembly and we'll have the tool kit available at the train station so I wouldn't need to get my own pedal wrench.
I certainly have my work cut out for me between now and a week from now, but with a little planning, I should have no issues accomplishing everything before next Wednesday rolls around.
Tuscola Loop
Today was the final official training ride before we leave for New York. For reasons unbeknown to me not too many people showed up, which I found to be somewhat disappointing. Perhaps, after having done the largely anticipated camping trip last weekend, nobody thought that there was still going to be more. Or maybe everybody was competing in the triathlon (I know a couple of people were), but more likely, finals season was approaching and people had projects and papers which took more importance than riding down to Tuscola.It's a real shame that these people didn't make it out because it was a beautiful day to ride. In fact, with the exception of last weekend, all of the days we've gone out riding have been pretty nice. Besides the weather, today's route was also important as it incorporated the most city riding that we will experience before arriving in New York City. Until now, most of our rides have been on country roads or through small towns where there isn't much traffic, however our route this morning was going to take us through downtown Champaign in hopes that we would have to deal with the situations which generally present themselves in more populated areas. Unfortunately as we rode through downtown Champaign, we encountered none of these situations, mostly because there was almost no traffic to be seen. This may be typical for Saturday mornings, I don't know, but the streets did feel pretty empty.After our ride through downtown Champaign we headed south down State Street, passing (relatively) close to where I lived before cutting back towards 1st Street which we would take all the way down to Tolono. In Tolono we would find more nearly empty streets, however being a much smaller town, this was not entirely surprising. By the time we had reached the southern outskirts of Tolono, we had already formed a sizable lead over the next group of riders. We stopped for a few moments just to get our bearings and relax, hoping that those behind us would eventually catch up. As we were setting out again, we happened to see the next group of riders nearly a mile behind us. At least knowing that they were there, we continued on towards Tuscola, another 10 miles to our south.That sighting was the last we ever saw of any other riders that day. After reaching Tuscola, we stopped for at least 15-20 minutes, hoping that somebody else would show up, however we never saw anybody. We suspect it was because we stopped further along on the route than any other group, so they were all resting elsewhere in town. The ride back was otherwise uneventful.Sorry, no pictures from the ride this week.
A camping trip cut short
This weekend was supposed to be our camping trip shakedown ride. The plan was to do bike out to do a long ride out to Kickapoo State Park, spend the night and then come back the next morning. For many of us, I think this was the most anticipate training ride yet, not only because it would be our longest ride yet, but because camping is always fun and exciting. I will admit, it surprised me a little to learn that a few riders had never been camping before in their life, and that this would be a first for them.Before we could go camping though, we had to get there. Our plan was to break the day into two rides. The first would be a 42 mile loop into countryside for Uni High's Boomerang ride, which benefited a local Women's shelter, followed by a 30 mile ride from Urbana to Kickapoo. Because of the trip, and because we were participating in another group's ride, our departure time was bumped up an additional hour to 8am in order to get the van packed and make it to the ride registration on time. Geoff (one of our sponsors) was kind enough to cover the registration fee for all of this year's riders, so after collecting our route sheet and snacking on a few bagels, we set off into the morning sun.From the beginning it was clear that today would not be an easy day. Winds were a constant 20-25mph from the southwest, meaning it would be slow going for the segments that were into the wind. To complicate things, my rear tire got a flat before we had even left town! I don't know if I'd call it an honor, but it was the first flat that anybody had had on a training ride to date, which in it's own respect was momentous occasion. Being prepared for such a situation, I had the bike flipped over and tools out shortly thereafter, however it still took several minutes to get the tube off and the new one in, putting our group at least 10 minutes behind everybody else. While we aren't racing, it's still a good feeling to know that you aren't the last group, so we set off, set on catching up with the next group.We eventually caught up with the next group on the outskirts of Sidney, some 14 miles later. Sidney, as it is known to many in the cycling community is home to the Dairy Barn, which is apparently a very good place to go to get ice cream. For a few minutes, the three of us joked about calling the ride short and just hanging out there for a few hours, but in the end we plodded along leaving town headed to Homer.This is when our second mishap struck, once again to me. While I'm still not sure entirely what happened, I know that I was the last person in our group of three, travelling around 20-22mph (the wind was slightly at our backs, pushing us along). Whether it was a gust of wind, a rock, or just not holding onto the handlebars firmly, but all of a sudden the bike was sliding out from under me and I was going down. I hit the ground and scraped myself up pretty well, my right knee and right elbow seemed to take the majority of the fall, however there were also scrapes on my thigh, shoulder, and on my forehead where my helmet pushed against my head. All things considered, it was about the closest you could come to a best case scenario. Except for a few minor cuts on my knuckles, my hands were unscathed, I had fallen onto asphalt (instead of gravel), which kept the scrapes clean, and whatever cars that were behind me managed to stop in time. I picked myself up and and collected my cycling accessories which had scattered themselves around where I had fallen. While I spent a few minutes collecting myself from the shock of falling, Geoff and his friend took a quick look over my bike and readjusted a few bits that had been bumped out of alignment due to the fall. While we were doing that, the group we had passed about 20 minutes ago had caught up to and passed us yet again. While I was sore and shaken up, I was not bleeding heavily and not in desperate need of medical attention. Eventually we made it back onto our bikes an continued along to the designated rest stop.I was a bit surprised to find out that they didn't have a first aid kit with them there, but they ran to a local gas station to get some rubbing alcohol so I could at least clean out my wounds. After restocking on carbohydrates and water, we turned back to the west and into the wind. Most of the team was waiting at the rest stop so we did a bit of reshuffling of groups and at this point, I was more than happy to travel in one of the slower groups. Geoff and his friend went ahead with a few riders though we would catch up with them about half an hour later as something on Geoff's friend's bike had broken, so they were waiting for the support vehicle to arrive. It turns out that the bad luck wasn't limited to just me today.Eventually we made it back to Urbana, and set a departure time of 2pm for our next leg out to Kickapoo. In the hour and a half I had before then I decided it would be a good idea to purchase a new tube (since I didn't have any patched spares at the time) and then go home for a shower and bandages. I had two options for getting a new tube, either by visiting Durst, where I had originally purchased my bike, or going to The Itty Bitty Bike Shop at Rentertainment. The nice thing about The Itty Bitty Bike shop was that a portion of the proceeds went support local cycling organizations, so in the end, I made my way over there. After picking up a new tube it was time to go home to refuel and clean up before heading out again.While I was pretty set on still going camping (after all, this was the big event of the spring), I had already planned to ride along in the support vehicle for at least the ride out that day. It soon became apparent that I was not going to be able to clean myself up sufficiently before then, so I received approval to get driven out later. Then as my bandaging continued, my roommates began pressuring me not to go at all. Eventually I caved under evidence that I might have been suffering from a minor concussion and made sure it was ok that I missed the camping trip. So instead of eating lentils and bean soup that evening, we went out for a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and slept in my comfortable bed. While I certainly wish I could have gone, in retrospect, it really wasn't a good idea and I'm glad that my roommates were there to stop me from putting myself in a potentially worse situation.
Reconnecting to the cause
With all this talk of cycling, it's important to remember why we're doing what we're doing. This evening we visited the Carle Clinic Cancer Center in Urbana, where we received a tour of the facilities. Overall it was a very nice building, it was clear that quite a bit of thought had gone into designing a comfortable flow for those using the facility. From the entryway, to changing rooms and examination rooms, treatment facilities, and consulting areas, the layout created a warm and welcoming environment. Our tour leader also emphasized how the Center has become a place for holistic healing. Not only do they have dozens of cancer treatment methods at their disposal, but they also help their patients along by providing dietary and exercise advice, financial services, relaxation classes, and much more. From our tour we gained a better understanding of the process that somebody goes through from detection to treatment and all the steps along the way. Knowing that we have a quality facility for people in the region to visit for their cancer needs is a definite plus for our community.
The Illini 4000 has left the county!
In what is sure to be the first in a series of repeat performances, the Illini 4000 had it's first trip which crossed the county line. No longer are we restricting ourselves to the empty farm roads of Champaign county, but Piatt county as well (and Vermillion county next weekend). This weekend's ride extended our daily distance once again, to 61.6 miles, barely enough for a metric century. Due to this extra distance we left a bit earlier as well, kick off time scheduled for 9am, opposed to the usual 10am, however despite the earlier departure, the weather was quite cooperative and warm.Pulling out of Champaign, the front group (which included myself) took an early lead over the rest of the field. By the time we had reached the outskirts of town, the groups behind us were nowhere to be seen. I guess people were just trying to take it easy. As we worked our way through the countryside we practiced more of our group riding skills particularly, looking out for cars. About 15 miles into our trip, we stopped for an early break and waited for everybody else to catch up to us. We had about a 10 minute wait before the next group arrived, indicating that we had managed to pull about 2-2.5 miles ahead. After we had rejoined and rested for a short while we set off again.This time I chose to hang back and try to stick with the second group, whomever that happened to be. While the group went slightly slower than I really wanted to go, it was ok. At least this way I could talk with some people. Shortly thereafter we pulled through Monticello. The approach we took on 900N/1500N was considerably less hilly than the county road a mile to our north, which I had used last fall, though there was short downhill as we passed the airport and came into town proper. Eventually we made it through town and out traffic on the last leg to Allerton Park. It was at this time we learned that the front group was actually behind us as they had missed one of the turns and had to turn around, so inadvertently I was once again leading the way.Allerton presented a few surprises as we entered, including a very steep though still quite short hill, forcing most of us to downshift into our "granny gears". While waiting for the other groups to arrive, Sean led some stretches, just to make sure our muscles stay loose and we don't cramp before getting back on our bikes for the return trip. Soon enough everybody had found their way and we headed back to Monticello. In town, a group of us decided to go on the recommendation of one of our sponsors to a local restaurant called "The Brown Bag", which not only has great sandwiches, but also delicious pies. Not wanting to over eat and be uncomfortable on the way back, I stuck with a sandwich. While waiting to order our lunches, several locals came up and asked us what we were doing, after all, it's not everyday that you see a dozen cyclists standing around in your favorite restaurant. Most were impressed that we had ridden out from Champaign, and then stunned to find out that we'd be biking across the country this summer.The ride back to Champaign was fairly uneventful. The dozen of us began splitting up into our smaller groups and from there we didn't see too much of each other as we travelled at our own pace back into town.
Rantoul Loop
Yesterday was our second training ride, and what a beautiful day it was for a ride. The temperature was in the low 50's, a little wind, and sun everywhere. It was also ideal for a marathon, which we crossed paths with a couple of times before leaving town. Following our cue sheets for the day, we were soon out of town on our way out to Rantoul. After battling against the wind for an hour we had reached Rantoul, and waited for everybody to regroup before doing a bit of urban riding. Rantoul happens to be one of the few places in this county that I hadn't biked to yet, so it was a bit of a new experience seeing what was around. Overall, it seemed like a pretty decent place, though we did run into our first real problem with our cue sheets trying to get out of Rantoul. Who would have thought that a road labeled "NO Rd" wouldn't have existed?It ook us a little bit of wandering through an industrial park, but we eventually found ourselves a mile south of where we intended to be. Thanks to the mile road grid system setup in many farming counties, we were soon able to get back on cues. From there is was a little more work as we worked ourselves further east, but as soon as we turned south, it was clear sailing all the way down to St Joseph. Unlike last week, where I tried to keep up with the fast group, I decided to hang back. There didn't seem to be much point in over exerting myself, particularly after last weekend's very long ride. Though despitetrying to take it easy, I still ended up in the second group of riders. Once we departed our first rest stop, I took the lead on our route through Rantoul. As the group started to separate as we headed out from town, I once again found myself in the lead group, however the group had a different composition and wasn't trying to make it a race to the next stopping point. No doubt we were going fast, but we weren't pushing ourselves in the process and could have kept up the pace as long as the wind was blowing in our favor. Eventually some others caught up to us while we stopped for a quick stretch and we followed them into St Joseph where we tried to regroup once again. While most of the riders eventually found their way to St Joseph, a few of us wanted to take off and get bak to town, so I don't know exactly how far behind the last few people ended up.After getting back into town, and knowing that my day was approaching a metric century (100km or 62.13) miles, I decided to ride around town a little bit longer as I took care of a couple errands and met up with those who were getting back into town. Having met and exceeded that goal, I then treated myself to some frozen custard for dessert and spent the evening relaxing.<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/champaign/127123948498030666">I4k 4/11 Training Route</a>
Kickapoo, just for kicks
It was such a nice day yesterday, that Keith and I decided to do a bit more riding after the day's training ride was complete. Given that the winds were out of the east, we decided to pick a destination to the east. We do this primarily because after working hard to get to your destination, you get a nice relaxing ride back. Going out with the wind may place you out further than you have energy to return, but this way it generally works out pretty well. In any case, we happened to settle on Kickapoo State Park. I had never actually biked all the way out there, so it seemed like it could be an exciting trip.Leaving around 1:45, we started out journey east, taking many of the same roads we had used earlier for the training ride, however once we hit S Water St (2100E) we headed north through St. Joseph and over I-74 to 1700N. From here it was pretty much a straight shot all the way into Vermillion County and Kickapoo State Park. As soon as we neared the park, it was clear that we were no longer traveling through the farmlands of east central Illinois. There were hills (kind of) and trees, and not a soybean or corn stalk to be seen. All was a welcome change of scenery after having spent week after week biking over the same landscape.30 miles since our start, we finally arrived at Kickapoo. I probably should have grabbed a picture of the park entrance, however I wasn't really thinking too much about it at the time. Keith and I sat around for half an hour, but seeing as it was getting to be late, and knowing that we'd probably need a couple of hours to get back, our break was shorter than we really wanted. However the return ride was much kinder to us than the return ride from Homer Lake. We maintained a pace between 18mph-19mph without much difficulty and by 6:40, were back in Urbana.Between the morning and the afternoon rides, I knew that I was approaching 100 miles for the day. I was about 34 miles out to Homer Lake and another 61 to and from Kickapoo, so I thought I might as well round off my first century by riding another 5 miles or so. Despite the fact that I had nowhere near enough training this season take on a ride of today's magnitude, and that my energy reserves and water was running thin, I spent my last hour of sunlight plodding on. If I could just make it those few extra miles, I knew that I would have achieved an important cycling milestone. When it was all said and done, and the miles were totaled up, I had ridden 104.8 miles. For this accomplishment, I treated myself to some custard, and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing.Next weekend looks like it will be even nicer than this weekend, so there might be another long ride in store.
Training Ride Recap
Yesterday was our first ride as a group. The day started off at a nice, but not too chilly 47 degrees with winds from the east at 10mph, and the temperature slowly warmed up through the afternoon. At 9:45am we assembled ourselves at Allen Hall, and after a few last minute checks and reminders, we were ready to set off across through the barren fields out to Homer Lake. Of course we couldn't leave without first taking a team photo. This was the first time (almost) everybody was together with their bikes.With the formalities out of the way we were on our way through the streets of Urbana and out to the countryside. One we hit Homer Lake Road (about 1/4 of the way there), we begun to split up, with the stronger riders splitting off and taking the lead. I ended up in a group which kept a steady pace of 15-16mph, not the fastest of the groups, but a nice quick and easy pace.Upon arriving we snacked, chatted, and made minor adjustments to our bikes while waiting for everybody else to arrive. Once we had all made it, there were a few announcements, reminders, and additional chit-chat before we made the return journey. On the return, I tried to keep up with the fast group, though, even with a slight wind at my back I was finding it difficult to keep up with the 21mph pace. I did hang on in the end, however it was clear that my muscles were pushed a little beyond their capabilities.Overall, I think it went well. Everybody seemed knowledgeable and well prepared for the trip ahead, and I look forward to next weekend's ride, where we'll step up the total distance to 50-60 miles. My guess is that we'll probably take a trip out to Monticello, but that has yet to be determined.
The first group ride approaches
Tonight was the safety briefing preceding our first group training ride this Saturday. Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera and get some pictures of us as we bike out to Homer Lake (about 35 miles round trip). Additionally, it appears that the weather is going to cooperate with us, sunny with temperatures in the upper 50's.
Charting a route
Whether it was through my own initiative or being asked of me, I became responsible for charting a safe route between Highland Park, IL and Lake Geneva, WI. While there wasn't anything wrong with last year's route, one of the riders has a family friend who is willing to serve as a rest stop. Since it wasn't anywhere near the route from last year, it became my responsibility, being the local expect on roads in that area, to find a new route with our added waypoint.At first glance, Lake County's bicycle map isn't very encouraging. Any road that is either orange or red, should be avoided at all costs. These roads have little to no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic traveling at faster than comfortable speeds. All in all, very dangerous for a group of cyclists, particularly around suburban drivers with little to not experience around cyclists. However the good thing about Lake County is our large number of forest preserves. Something like 5%-7% of the land in the county is set aside as forest preserve, much of it with rideable trails. Thus when I originally typed in our stopover address into Google maps, I saw that our destination was near my own house and began finding a series of road and trails that would lead us safely through the many busy roads in the county.After a couple days of researching online through satellite photos, driving, and looking up other maps online, I think I had a plan. Much like the previous year, we would begin going north along the McClory Bike Path, however this year we would take advantage of the North Shore Path to work our way out to the Des Plaines River Trail. From here we would have to take a short jog on Milwaukee Ave (IL-21) to get to Grayslake's wonderful set of trails (the green squiggles in the middle of the map). From there we could work our way up towards Rollins Savannah, and the residential neighbourhoods of Round Lake. From there it would be an easy little bit of navigation to get ourselves to our rest stop on Lake Shore Dr. From there we would have to travel south for a little while just to get to some safer roads, but otherwise we would be cutting down towards Volo bog and then back up towards Johnsburg and out to the Prairie Trail in McHenry County which would carry us up to Wisconsin. Wednesday, I drove some of the roads after the rest stop just to make sure they were indeed suitable for cycling and for the most part the looked great, so my plan for Thursday were to ride some of the trails and start establishing the distances between each turn for the cue sheet.With this in mind, I drove to each of the trail sections that we would be riding and rode them just to get an idea of the turns and distance associated with each, first was a brief section over the channel in Round Lake, followed by an investigation of the construction being done along one of the streets. Turns out that the construction banged up the street pretty well and would be quite impassable all summer, so scratch going through Rollins Savannah, we'd have to travel down the path along Washington. Not nearly a scenic, but certainly not too inconvenient. Next was tracing the route between the savannah and the Des Plaines River Trail. There seemed to be a number of paths through several subdivisions, it was just a matter of figuring out the right one. It was clear that this was going to be a wonderful route, as the scenery through the prairie was quite beautiful. However there was one small snag in the plan, between the prairie and the Des Plaines River Trail lay Milwaukee Ave. While I thought that it wouldn't be too bad, the road was in much worse condition that I had anticipated. The road was busy and shoulderless. No way were we going to be able to ride on this. Furthermore, the connection between the trail and Milwaukee Ave was nowhere to be seen. While there was a dog park, I would later find out that it had no connection to the rest of the forest preserve. Of course this only happened after a couple of territorial dogs had decided I didn't belong there. After a nice little jog up and down the river trail, I was getting a sense that this probably wasn't going to be a good route. Between the unsafe stretch of road and the washed out sections of trail, it was clear that another route was going to need to be devised. Despite the downsides, I still finished mapping it out, in case a better route couldn't be found.After returning home that evening, with 38 miles of biking under my belt, I started to look for alternatives to the river trail, eventually settling on a path through Libertyville. At this point, since I was rather set on the rest of the route, I opted to complete the cue sheet (turn by turn directions) to the best of my ability. It was only then that I realised that my intended rest stop didn't exist. Rechecking the original email I received, I pulled up the location in the original broken Mapquest link and in Google Maps to see that they were referring to different places, furthermore that Google wasn't even pulling up the correct street. Lake Shore Drive is not Lake Shore Road, despite the similarity in name. With a good third of the route no longer applicable, I went back to the maps to see what options existed to get to our new destination. Thankfully a different set of trails, some which I had already looked into for the previous destination, did the trick pretty well.After driving the newly added sections on Friday, there are still a few small portions which I'm not thrilled about, however they're much better than what we had to deal with in the previous incorrect route. Hopefully this new route will be as scenic as the last, but that remains to be seen. And without further ado, here is a the proposed route:<a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/highland-park/529123813478882809">I4k - Jun 22</a>
Team Update
The weather is finally starting to turn around and warm up from the cold and windy winter that we had this year. It seems that this winter was windier than most, however it could just be that I'm more aware of the weather these days, trying to fit in whatever time on my bike that I can manage.While we have been practising and training every weekend as a team, last weekend the weather was nice enough for an impromptu ride through the country side. It was also my first opportunity to try out my new cycling shoes and pedals. To say the least, I now understand why people love their clipless pedals. The connection that you have with the bike is simply amazing. Unfortunately for us it decided to briefly rain and for a few minutes hail on us during our outing, but that didn't deter us. After all, we had promised ourselves to get frozen custard at Jarling's when we returned. All in all, I'm excited that I'm doing this trip and the people that I'm going with.